My Fabulous Forty-Something Father Becomes a Bride - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Having Father take our place as the bride was absurd, of course. Yet the four of us sat around the table all night, emptied five pots of tea, refilled the snack plates six times, and still failed to think of anything better.

Neither of our parents would throw us into that pit of fire. Father would have to be the substitute bride.

The next morning, he draped himself in his bright red official robe, lowered the bridal veil over his face, and climbed into the sedan.

It was not that we lacked wedding clothes. It was simply that Father…

Well, Stepfather. Though thin, Stepfather was still a grown man. There was no adjusting a one-size-fits-all bridal gown enough to make it fit him.

My eyes filled with tears. “Mother, will Stepfather still send his salary home?”

I could not bear to lose the love he gave me.

People said your money always followed your heart. Stepfather might not shower us with affection, but every coin he gave my sister and me was all he had.

Smack!

Mother’s palm came flying. “What do you mean, stepfather? He is your father! You have only ever had one!”

I ducked aside in one smooth motion. “But yesterday, you said—”

Her palm came at me again.

Disaster. Mother had evolved and unlocked a seamless combination attack. I had not reached my next stage yet.

For the first time in years, one of her slaps found its mark.

The resulting chaos ended with me three steps up the wall and my sister finally soothing Mother’s temper.

Then Mother told us about her past with Father.

Father had once been the penniless son of a penniless scholar. He was handsome, clever, and full of promise—but penniless all the same.

Mother, meanwhile, had been a wealthy heiress. She had money, but both her parents were dead, and a pack of distant cousins and relations circled her estate like wolves.

So she sought Father out. They immediately struck a bargain.

Father married into her household, and the two became husband and wife. Mother paid for his studies and examinations; Father helped her fend off all those greedy relations.

After several years together, Father passed the provincial examination and planned to continue his studies in the capital, hoping to earn the highest imperial degree.

Mother, having secured the businesses her parents left behind and amassed more money than she could spend, planned to retire on the spot and live as a happy parasite.

Just as she was preparing to lie down for the rest of her life, she looked over at Father, who was preparing to set sail on a grand career, and decided it was time for them to part ways.

Father did not agree. Mother, however, felt she would never be able to hold on to a man like him. She did not feel secure.

They separated, reconciled, and tangled with each other for more than a year. In the end, they stayed together.

“And what does any of this have to do with you finding another man?” I asked. “Let me be clear: my heart may not reject your behavior, but my mouth remains morally obliged to condemn it!”

Mother’s palm came at me again.

Cornered, I broke through my limits and evaded a three-strike combination.

“Chu Yunian, I am the registered head of a female household. You are listed under my household register!”

“Legally, you and Yu Huan are my daughters alone. You have nothing to do with that man Yu Fengdeng. He is a household of one. Even if his entire clan were condemned, the punishment might not reach us. Do you understand now?”

I nodded.

Father was my father, Mother was my mother, and Sister was my sister. Yet Father, Mother, Sister, and I were not legally one family…

Oh!

Now I understood!

The edict only said that the Yu household must marry one of its members into the Empress’s family. Since Mother preferred the life of a rich idler, she rarely took my sister and me out into society. We attended only small gatherings hosted by her close friends or by families Father had known for more than a decade.

The Yu household had only one member: Father.

If he did not marry, who would?

The Emperor and Empress had left him no room to maneuver.

Of course he had to be the bride.