Chapter 174: The Wedding (Part Two)
Chapter 174: The Wedding (Part Two)
"Ah Xiao, have you seen the Young Masters this morning?" Xiang Ling asked as she was unable to hold herself back anymore. Ever since Zhang Xuan’s arrival at the manor, she had barely seen any of her husbands. None of the five joined her for meals either.
Fu Xiao, who was busy tidying up the dressing table, stopped working and turned her gaze toward Xiang Ling. "My Lady, us servants and your brother and sister-in-law might have accepted the fact that you are marrying Young Master Zhang today, but the Young Masters are different. They are your husbands. You can’t really expect them to not feel even the slightest bit sad, can you?"
Xiang Ling let out a deep sigh before she spoke while fumbling with the sleeve of her wedding dress. "I know that they all are unhappy, but they shouldn’t be ignoring me like this."
"If you are missing them this much, why didn’t you go to look for them?" Fu Xiao asked while giving Xiang Ling a confused look.
"Even though I want to go... I can’t go out while looking like this. Can I?" Xiang Ling defended herself while spreading her arms out to show Fu Xiao the wedding dress she was wearing.
Fu Xiao was ready to say something in response, but as soon as she opened her mouth, they heard knocking on the door. Xiang Ling recognized the presence of the men even before Fu Xiao opened the door.
"Young Masters." Fu Xiao greeted the five men before she stepped aside and watched as all of them entered the bed-chamber and made it suddenly look crowded with their presence.
"Ah Xiao, give us a moment." Xiang Ling signaled the woman who immediately took her leave and closed the door behind her.
Left alone with her five very angry and unhappy husbands, Xiang Ling suddenly find the air inside the room getting heavier. All five of them were dressed nicely for the ceremony, however, the looks on their faces said that they were going to a funeral instead of a wedding.
"She didn’t look this pretty when she married me." Zhe Yuan finally broke the silence as he muttered the words while addressing Xiang Ling as a third person. The displeasure was clearly evident in his tone and expression.
"That’s because you didn’t marry me." The words were out of Xiang Ling’s mouth before her brain processed what she just said. As she took in the look on her husbands’ faces, she quickly amended. "What I’m trying to say is that... you didn’t marry my current self. You married my past self." This time, she chose her words wisely as it gave the right message to both the parties - those who knew she was not Chen Xiang Ling, and those who still thought she was Chen Xiang Ling but a much better version of her.
Silence once again took over the room and it finally became too much for Xiang Ling to take in. "How long are you all going to stay silent? Did you all came here to stare at me? Aren’t you going to say something?"
No one spoke and it made her heart ache in a way she never thought was possible. "I know that I have let you all down, and I don’t even know how I’m going to make things right between us all again. I can’t stop the wedding, but I can give you all my words today - from now on, I will never take any interest in another men. I will be loyal and faithful to the five... six of you, and make sure to not let you all down again. Can you all forgive me this time?"
The silence stretched for way too long that Xiang Ling felt her heart sinking. It seemed like the men were not going to forgive her this easily. Just as she was about to accept her fate, Wei Guang decided to finally break the long silence. "It’s good as long as you are happy with this wedding. Stop thinking about other matters."
Yes! She wanted him to speak, to say something to her, but the words that came out of his mouth were not the ones she wanted to hear. She watched as he moved toward her and stopped right in front of her. With a small but warm smile on his lips, he started fixing her clothes and hair. "Today is your big day. You should be happy."
"Wei Guang!"
Xiang Ling didn’t even realize that she had shouted his name out loud in anger until she heard the dead silence that followed her shout. "What do you think you are doing?" These next words were just as soft and low as the shout of his name was loud and powerful.
The man didn’t say anything and just stared at her in silence, but there was a look in his eyes that told her he understood exactly what she was trying to ask him.
"I asked... what do you think you are doing?" Xiang Ling repeated her question as she tried to hold back the tears that were suddenly threatening to spill from her eyes. "Is that what I am to you? A part of your life that you can share with anyone?"
Her questions, or more like accusations, were like a sharp slap across Wei Guang’s cheek. "Isn’t that what you want? For us to accept him in this house, in your life?"
"Right! That’s exactly what I want. I want you all to give me another chance and accept my marriage with Zhang Xuan. But you... you should be the last person among the five of you who should agree to it!" Her voice was once again loud and she almost felt grateful when she sensed Dao Ming placing a spell around the chamber to keep their voices from going out. The last thing she wanted was to attract the attention of everyone else in the manor.
"I can understand for a moment if they agree to accept Zhang Xuan as my husband. But why you? Why do you have to always be the understanding one? Why are you always ready to step back?"