Chapter 287: Madam Sheng’s Timely Rescue
Chapter 287: Madam Sheng’s Timely Rescue
The Chen Manor was filled with a deep silence after dinner hour as everyone watched County Magistrate Chen taking his time in assessing all six Young Masters who were standing in a line and waiting for their trial to be over.
"What is father doing? It’s been way too long." Xiang Ling asked in a whispered tone and was on her way to stand up and head toward her husbands when she got pulled back on her seat by Madam Sheng and Zuan Hu.
"Sit here and don’t even think about speaking a single word. Let father do whatever he’s doing." Zuan Hu ordered Xiang Ling and Madam Sheng quickly nodded her head in agreement. But Xiang Ling was getting worried for her husbands.
Several more long moments of silence passed before County Magistrate finally let out a deep sigh and spoke, "Since you all are married to my daughter, you all better behave from now on. You can win her by your charms and good looks, but it will take more than that to impress me. Hopefully, you all will not give me a reason to change my mind about any of you."
Madam Sheng finally stood up from her seat and headed toward her husband. "What are you doing? It’s understandable if you want to test or ask questions about Zhang Xuan. But why are you making all of them suffer when you have known the others for years?"
County Magistrate Chen turned his attention toward his wife and answered, "Did I ever pay any of them attention before? Of course, Wei Guang is an exception because he’s the first one who married my daughter. But I never paid much of an attention to the others. So, what I didn’t do in the past should be done now. I have to make sure that she didn’t pick wrong men just because she was infatuated with their good looks."
"Father!"
Xiang Ling had enough of County Magistrate constantly calling her out for falling for her men’s looks. "I wasn’t infatuated with their looks." She tried to defend herself, not knowing that she had no chance of clearing her name.
County Magistrate turned his full attention toward his daughter and spoke, "Xiang’er, try again and recall what you said everytime you married each one of them. I’m marrying him because he is so good looking. I’m marrying him because I don’t want anyone else to steal such a handsome man. I married them because they are too handsome to not be my husbands..."
Xiang Ling felt her cheeks warming up and it was more because of the frustration she felt and less because of embarrassment. At this point, there was nothing she could do to clear her name.
"Want to say anything else?" County Magistrate Chen asked when he noticed just how silent his daughter became after he reminded her of the exact words she told him and her mother when she married her husbands.
Instead of saying anything, Xiang Ling returned to her seat next to Zuan Hu and settled down in silence. Before County Magistrate could have enjoyed the small moment of victory, his wife was there to set the records straight for her daughter.
"Look who’s speaking! If you were that worried, you should have done this much investigation back then when she brought them home to marry them. What’s the point of causing so much drama now? And don’t forget that unlike you who left his daughter all alone for an entire year, these men have been staying by her side all this time. They treat her much better than you."
Looking at County Magistrate Chen’s helpless face, Xiang Ling finally felt a little bit better. It was good to know that there was someone in the family who could torment the man who had been tormenting her ever since they met this evening.
"I’m just-"
"If you don’t want to spend the night in your study, you better keep your mouth close and let these kids rest." Madam Sheng’s threat was loud and clear, not caring that there were more than two dozen ears listening to her very word and trying their best to suppress their smiles at the poor condition of County Magistrate.
Magistrate Chen opened his mouth again to say something, but before he could have spoken more than a single word, Madam Sheng quickly added - "Don’t even think about using Yu’er. You will not find a bed to sleep in her place either."
Magistrate Chen immediately turned his attention toward his Concubine only to see the woman turning her attention away. That move alone was enough to confirm that both his wives were teaming up to torture him. Not wanting to actually end up in his study for an entire night, he quickly stood in and dismissed everyone. "It’s getting late, you all should head to your courtyards. Hurry."
No one wasted any time as they all stood up from their seats and headed out of the dining hall.
"Thankfully, Mother saved us and the Young Masters, or father would have spent the entire night tormenting all of us. His fatherly love for Xiang’er has been awoken. I’m sure we will get to see such scenes way more in the future." Chen Ming stated with a long sigh as he followed his wife in the direction of their courtyard.
Xiang Ling heard her second brother’s words loud and clear. Shaking her head, she shared a quick look with her husbands who all seemed worried about their future. "You all better not give him a chance to interrogate any of you again in the future. Considering my past actions, I’m hardly in a place to save any of you from him."
The men nodded their heads in understanding, including Xin Cheng and Dao Ming. They all returned to their courtyard and headed to their respective rooms. Xiang Ling was about to close the door of her room, when she noticed Zhe Yuan.
"You said you will reward me again." The man reminded her.
With a smile on her lips, Xiang Ling pulled the man inside her room and locked the door with a spell.