Chapter 255: Family Reunion
Chapter 255: Family Reunion
Xiang Ling’s eyes grew wide as she felt her lips coming in touch with the warm and soft pair that belonged to the Mer Crown Prince. He cupped her face between his palms and pulled her head up as he deepened the kiss.
All that she could hear was the loud thumping of her heart and the dead silence in the hall while she stood there like a statue. She was so taken aback that she wasn’t even able to enjoy the kiss properly. Before she could have been able to pull herself together, Zhe Yuan was already ending the kiss.
Pulling back from the kiss, the man gave her a wide smile before he pulled her into a tight hug. He snuggled his face into her hair and inhaled deeply as he was craving her scent.
Finally, Xiang Ling was able to find her voice and quickly whispered, "Ah Yuan, we are in public. Everyone’s watching."
"I don’t care. And neither should you." The man responded as he pulled back from the hug only to place another sweet kiss on her lips. "Welcome back, LingLing. I missed you so much."
All of Xiang Ling’s resolves crumbled down as she was unable to hold herself back. Throwing her arms around her man, she hugged him tightly despite being aware of the eyes of dozens of people who were present there and were watching the two of them in shock. "I missed you too."
The two finally pulled apart couple of moments later and created some space between them. Xiang Ling turned to face the customers and addressed them, "My apologies for disturbing you all. Please continue and enjoy your time here."
She then turned to face the Crown Prince, Su LiangLin, and the Seventh Prince, all three of whom were staring at her with their jaws hanging open in shock.
"This is Wen Zhe Yuan, my fifth husband." She introduced Zhe Yuan to the three of them before whispering their identities in the Mer Crown Prince’s ear so that no one else could hear her.
"Fifth husband? You got five husbands, Sister Chen?" Wu Ding asked excitedly.
"Not five, but six." Xiang Ling answered and felt the tips of her ears warming up when she noticed the look that Su LiangLin was giving her.
"Young Master Wu, how about this - you all stay at the Inn for tonight and enjoy the services here. Tomorrow, you can look for your own accommodation within Dongzhi City if that’s what you want."
"Sister Chen, are you are no longer joining us for dinner?" Wu Ding asked while looking a little bit sad at the idea of not being able to have dinner with his ideal.
"I can’t. My family is waiting for my return. I must head to Chen Manor now. But I’ll be back here tomorrow." Xiang Ling assured the kid and the sparks finally returned to his eyes when he heard about her plan of returning to the Inn the very next day.
After taking their leave, Xiang Ling followed her four husbands to Dongzhi City. By the time their horses arrived at the entrance of the Chen Manor, it was already half past eight.
Uncle Sun was the first one who noticed the group entering the manor and he screamed at the top of his lungs, announcing Xiang Ling’s return to anyone who was in close proximity to hear. It took no time before several of the servants gathered at the front garden to welcome Xiang Ling and the three Young Masters.
"Ah Xiang..."
Xiang Ling was busy accepting the greetings of the servants when her ears registered the familiar voice of her second husband calling her. As she looked up in the direction from where the voice came, she found him standing not too far away from her.
He was wearing light blue colored silk robes that matched with his beautiful sapphire blue eyes. A long white fur cloak was draped over his shoulders to protect him from the chilling cold of winter. His long white hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with a silver hairpin securing it in place. He looked just as handsome as always.
"Li Xian."
A bright smile bloomed on Xiang Ling’s lips and she immediately ran to throw herself at the man who caught her in no time and pulled her into his warm embrace. The two stayed like that for a while before finally pulling back.
"Welcome home." Li Xian whispered before placing a sweet kiss on her forehead.
Dao Ming also arrived there and pulled her into a hug like the others as soon as she stepped away from Li Xian. She returned the hug and patted his back softly until they had to part when her two brothers also arrived there with their wives and kids.
"Aunt Ling, you are back!"
Yejin came running and threw her arms around Xiang Ling’s neck as the latter crouched down to receive her niece. Caocao was also there barely a second later, throwing himself into his aunt’s warm embrace.
"Did you two miss me? Because I missed you both a lot." Xiang Ling said while rubbing their heads and causing the kids to giggle.
"Aunt Ling, you are ruining my hair!" Caocao complained as he tried to fix his hair.
"Is that so? My bad." Xiang Ling accepted her mistake before turning her gaze toward her brothers and sister-in-laws.
"You are back at perfect timing. Let’s have dinner together." Hao Ran said as he came to pick both Yejin and Caocao in his arms.
The family headed toward the dining hall and in no time the place was filled with chatters as everyone dived into a questioning segment. Xiang Ling had to answer a lot of questions about how she ended up getting entangled with the Crown Prince and his Consort.
"Since when you became friends with the Crown Princess?" Zuan Hu questioned while passing Xiang Ling the bowl of soup.
"We met a couple of times during my traveling back in the days. I had no clue back then that she will become the Crown Princess in the future."