Thanks to An Hei’s four subordinates that he had brought to the mortal realm, things on his side were soon taken care of. They had managed to find a beautiful estate in the capital city that had been empty for a few years. After hiring a few servants, it soon returned to its original splendor. It might not be able to compare to the snake king’s palace in the demon realm but for a man that pretended to be a high-ranking mortal, it was enough.
Naturally, the preparations for the wedding had also been continued. The betrothal gifts had been brought over and the wedding day came closer and closer. Now, An Hei and Ling Ling just needed to wait until the auspicious date arrived that had been divined for their wedding ceremony. Before that, An Hei had one last thing to take care of though.
Weighing the list with names in his hand that Yuan Hao had brought over, he narrowed his eyes. He was intent on helping his future sister-in-law find a good husband as well. The wedding was a good way to make that happen. After all, it would be quite high-profile, and inviting a few unmarried men as guests wouldn’t be too much.
By now, An Hei already had a pretty good guess about which men might be a good fit but this was something he couldn’t decide on his own. Instead, Madam Yang was the one who should make a decision. The only problem was how to bring it up to her.
He had thought about this quite a bit already. Bringing it up directly seemed a bit too forthright. After all, he was still unrelated to them. After his wedding with Ling Ling, things would be different but by then, the opportunity would have passed.
On this day, An Hei’s subjects had already returned since most of their tasks had already been finished and quite a few of the others could be given to the mortal servants they had hired for the estate. Now, they exchanged a glance when they saw their king in this kind of a bind.
"Your Majesty, what exactly is the problem? Do you feel these men won’t do?" Yuan Hao couldn’t help but feel guilty. Maybe he hadn’t done his task well enough? That would indeed be a problem. The wedding was getting closer. If they didn’t check again fast, things would become troublesome.
An Hei shook his head though. "No, that’s not it. Rather ... I don’t know how to bring this up to Madam Yang." He furrowed his brows and stared at the names on the list again. He could just invite them and hope for the best but that didn’t seem like a good idea either. In any case, he would likely have to utilize the name of the Yang family to make the invitations for the wedding. After all, he was new here and nobody had heard of him. He didn’t think that anyone would show up to a stranger’s wedding even if they were invited. They might think people were out to rob them.
Despite having sent his subjects to inquire about the mortal realm, An Hei still hadn’t realized that he shared a name with the Kishin empire’s imperial family. If he had, he definitely wouldn’t have needed to worry about this. That name alone would allow him to invite anyone he wanted to without having to worry about them not appearing. Who would dare defy the imperial family, after all? Every citizen of Kishin would have been honored to be able to attend one of their members’ wedding. But without that knowledge, An Hei could only worry.
Yuan Hao also didn’t know what to suggest to get around that. But, fortunately, somebody else did.
Xu Fu pondered for a moment and finally, determination appeared in her eyes. "Your Majesty, I don’t think you need to worry about this. From what I found out while I investigated, women are treated differently here compared to the mortal realm. Marrying a man is important to them. A woman without a man will not be worth much. And having a good husband is something the mortal women pride themselves in. Madam Yang should be anxious by now concerning her daughters’ marriage. Her younger daughter has already found one so that is one worry less but there isn’t even a suitor in sight for her older daughter. Furthermore, the Yang family originally had a high status. Naturally, she would wish for her daughters to regain that status by marrying a husband that can provide them with that. You have that ability but will the future husband of the older daughter have it as well? It is hard to say.
That is to say that Madam Yang would be ecstatic to have a way to provide her daughter with an opportunity to find a husband like that on her younger sister’s wedding day. It would rid her of her worries and provide her other daughter with a secure future. As a mother, that is certainly all that she wants. So I would suggest that you don’t worry about this. Just make the suggestion. If you don’t want to do it yourself, you may send me. Maybe it would be easier for her to accept if the suggestion was made by another woman."
An Hei fell into deep thought. Xu Fu actually knew more about the mortal realm after having investigated it for him. While she had told him, his understanding only came from hers and she certainly couldn’t tell him every last detail. In other words, he felt that it was best to trust in what Xu Fu said and go with her suggestion. "Very well. Go over immediately then. While you are at it, you may inquire how they are doing otherwise as well. The wedding is getting closer. There should be much to do for them."
Xu Fu inclined her head and then left her king’s estate, making her way over to the estate of the Yang’s that was a little outside of the capital city. She arrived there soon and greeted the servants that were currently tidying everything up around the courtyard. Looking around further, Xu Fu smiled.
When she had seen this estate originally, she had been shocked. It truly hadn’t been a place their king’s future queen should live. But now, thanks to the people their king had contracted and sent here, this place looked as if it had returned to the state it had originally been in: The wall surrounding it looked sturdy, the pathways leading inside and through the state had been rid of the weeds, and the doors, windows, and railways had been given a new layer of paint. The estate might not look as if it was in its heyday but at the very least, it looked like it was in a good condition.
This really went to show how much their king valued his future wife. If it was any different, he wouldn’t have gone to this extent to make sure this place she had grown up in would be restored to this degree.
Xu Fu retracted her gaze and notified one of the servants who then led her inside to meet Madam Yang. Xu Fu immediately bowed when she saw her.
"Madam, excuse my unannounced visit. My Lord sent me over to discuss a matter regarding the wedding with you. I hope the time is convenient for you. Otherwise, I could return later."
Madam Yang was slightly surprised. She had seen Xu Fu already when An Hei discussed with Ling Ling back at the matchmaker’s house so she had recognized her instantly. She couldn’t imagine just what it was that An Hei would send her over to discuss though. Usually, he had always brought matters up himself. So if he sent Xu Fu now, that had to mean something special.
Unsure of what to expect, Madam Yang motioned for Xu Fu to sit down. "Miss Xu, please sit down. Would you like a cup of tea as well?" She didn’t know what exactly Xu Fu’s position was but from the way she had been treated, she felt that it couldn’t be low. Thus, she didn’t dare treat her like a simple servant.
Xu Fu smiled and sat down without pretending to be polite. In any case, she was here on her king’s behalf to discuss important matters. It would indeed be quite awkward to stand around. "The matter I have come to discuss is something my Lord has been thinking about since meeting your family the first time that day at the matchmaker’s house."
Madam Yang nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. This sounded like it wasn’t that something was wrong with the preparations. That was good. She really wouldn’t be able to take it if the wedding had to be postponed or might even fall through.
"He was afraid that he might offend you if he brought it up so he sent me instead, hoping that you would feel better about having another woman bring this up."
Madam Yang raised her brows, a little confused now. "I am afraid I don’t quite understand what you might be talking about. Mister An has never given me reason to feel slighted before." Quite the contrary. He had clearly been helping them a lot. But that also made her worry more now that Xu Fu said such things.
Xu Fu smiled a little apologetic. She really believed what she had told An Hei but that didn’t mean that this wasn’t a topic that could easily make a person feel embarrassed. Madam Yang had originally had such a high status. Naturally, she would feel bad that she now had to rely on others to find a good match for her daughters. Thus, she could only bring this up with as much empathy as she could muster.
"Well, from woman to woman, I know that life isn’t always easy for us. We depend on our fathers, then on our husbands, and finally on our sons. Madam Yang has been put into a difficult position with having neither of these people in your life as do your daughters." To be honest, Xu Fu could only imagine how this kind of life might be. In the demon realm, women were much freer. They didn’t need to marry if they didn’t want to and they still had all the rights that men had. Maybe it was because their magical abilities closed the gap in physical disparities that often existed between both sexes or maybe it was because different values had been passed down from the high gods that had created them. She didn’t know. But she did pity the mortal women that didn’t enjoy the same freedom.
Madam Yang’s smile turned indeed a little stiff when she heard that. This was indeed a problem she had been worrying about for the past eight years. But there was nothing she could do to change it, could she? If she hadn’t had children already and if her family had still been alive, she would have been able to remarry. But neither of that was true so she was caught in this position where she could help neither her daughters nor herself. And there was no way to change that.
Xu Fu sighed when she saw her expression. "I know it can’t have been easy. Your younger daughter is now about to marry my Lord. So you won’t have to worry about her any longer. But there is still your older daughter left. Finding a husband — a good husband — for her, won’t be easy. There isn’t much that you can do about that and you have certainly tried your best despite the circumstances. In any case, your daughters are very close, that much is obvious at a glance. And my Lord knows that it will pain your younger daughter to see her older sister unhappy so he would like to help if offering his help won’t make you feel slighted."
