My Fabulous Forty-Something Father Becomes a Bride - Chapter 5
Chapter 5
On the day Father married into the ducal household, the Duke and Duchess begged and pleaded for him to go home. They no longer demanded either of his daughters. They even said they would accept a maidservant in our place.
Father refused.
“A marriage uniting two great families is a grave affair,” he declared. “How could you choose some servant girl at random? Only a person of noble standing and impeccable lineage could be a proper match!”
Hope appeared on the Duke and Duchess’s faces. Perhaps, they thought, the old scoundrel had staged this entire performance merely to warn them.
Surely the real Miss Yu would now make her entrance?
Father took the red veil back from the attendant and dropped it over his own head. “Hurry now. We mustn’t miss the auspicious hour!”
Naturally, the ducal household refused to let him through the gates.
Father wrapped the imperial edict around himself and shouted, “I am here to wed by imperial command! Whoever bars my way shows contempt for the throne!”
To be fair, the Empress had never specified which daughter of the Yu family was to marry. That omission was meant to display her generosity and leave Father some small measure of choice.
The edict imposed only two requirements: first, the bride must belong to the Yu household; second, that person must marry into the other family.
By happy coincidence, Father met both.
No one had imagined he would come in person.
With an edict bearing the Empress’s phoenix seal wrapped around him, no one dared lay a hand on Father. They could only appeal to reason and sentiment.
“My lord, surely the person marrying as a bride ought at least to be a woman?”
The Duke and Duchess were too rattled to continue. The other members of the household dared not approach, and Father had the groom firmly under control. So they dragged a lucky guest from the banquet to serve as their spokesman.
Father’s eyes bulged. “Is my obedience to the edict not enough for you? Do you demand that my wife marry into this household as well?”
“Husband and wife becoming co-brides—there has never been such an outrageous custom!”
The lucky guest was a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, a man who could normally improvise elegant prose at the drop of a hat. For the first time in years, he found himself speechless.
“I didn’t—I never meant—”
They did not dare touch Father. Father, however, had no reservations about hitting other people.
He fought his way through every obstacle, swinging the young wastrel around like a club as he advanced from the front gates to the ceremonial hall.
He completed the wedding bows before an empty place of honor. The ceremony was done. Onward to the bridal chamber!
Under ordinary circumstances, the groom would have gone back outside to drink with the guests.
But a third-rank official becoming a bride was such an astonishing scandal that both the men planning to storm the bridal chamber and the guests waiting to drink with the groom had enthusiastically gone elsewhere to trade gossip. The young dandy was given no chance to escape into the banquet.
Father used the red wedding silk to tie him up like a parcel, then stuffed the large red flower from the knot into his mouth to stop his shouting.
The entire household was still reeling from Father’s grand entrance. Somehow, no one had even arranged where he should go next.
Father stroked his chin, considered the situation, and drew upon the authority and competence of a third-rank official. He immediately took command, issued orders, and organized the rest of the ceremony himself.
Then he found someone to lead the way, hoisted the dandy, and headed for the bridal chamber.
The young man thrashed and made muffled noises, but a body hollowed out by drink and pleasure was no match for Father’s. Years serving in distant provinces, climbing mountains and crossing rivers, had made him far stronger than he looked.
Father merely appeared graceful and refined. In a fight, he had all the delicate vulnerability of a brick wall.
He could defeat a hall of scholars with his tongue and three men at once with his fists. Whenever debate at court failed him, he was invariably the first to snatch up his ceremonial tablet and catch his opponent unawares.
At the bridal chamber, a maid finally appeared.
Her eyes widened in alarm. She turned to flee.
Father gave her a sidelong look. “Come back.”
Trembling, the maid returned.
The dandy struggled even more violently.
Father spoke in a gentle voice. “Did you need something from this old man?”
“The concubine says she is unwell and asks the Second Young Master to visit her,” the maid stammered. “She requests that the young mistress—”
The words she had rehearsed came out, but where was the young mistress?
Where was the lady supposedly sent from the Yu residence?
In his capacity as principal wife, Father held a long, heartfelt conversation with the concubine. He expressed profound understanding of her powerlessness. Drawing upon what he had seen while serving in the provinces, he spoke of the tragic past in which a powerful man had taken her by force. He compared her lack of choice with his own and forged a deep emotional connection, then went on to discuss numerous heroic women from history…
In short, the conversation ended with the concubine and Father weeping in each other’s arms.
All her hostility toward Father vanished, replaced by pure admiration.
The dandy remained bound nearby, making a steady stream of muffled, indignant noises.
When the conversation ended, Father picked him up and swung him all the way back to the bridal chamber.
According to Father, he remained vigilant throughout the night and absolutely did not allow the young man to sully his chastity.
