From there, the tensions just escalated. What should have been a simple matter escalated into the night. Dinner was brought out. As the night wore on, the families feasted but tension lingered.
Word ca from Shen Weijun, they wanted Zhang Alix and she was willing to marry as well. This matter concerned the family interests after all. Elder Zhang could not control his excitent while Old Tai’s displeasure deepened.
So people congratulated Xixi as the whole family called her. The cousins in Liwu’s generation whispered among themselves, so pitying Liwu. The Bureau and governnt officials watched her silently, their expressions mostly unreadable.
Liwu sat quietly, eating her food elegantly like she had been raised to do. Her aura remained heavy with misfortune. She felt every glance, heard every whisper. And in her mind, she wondered when she could escape the stuffy hall.
"She is really going to die an old maid." A servant whispered.
Old Tai slapped the table. Cutlery rattled and a plate cracked. The servant was dragged out by a butler. It was safe to say that she was fired.
"You can’t fire them all." Liwu said. She stood slowly, knowing all too well that Elder Zhang would frown on what he perceived to be inappropriate behavior. Sothing as small as leaving the table before the elders. "There was a robbery at an Uncle Shi’s downtown. I must get to the scene."
The hall fell silent, all eyes upon her.
Suddenly, a deafening crack shook the manor. Another dragon statue at a different window fell down, smashing Liwu’s car. This one was bigger, so the damage was extensive.
"Aunt Liwu." Zaozao shouted.
"I know Zaozao." Liwu jumped in, stopping the little one from delivering the bad news.
So people stared at her in astonishnt, torn between awe and dread.
Old Tai and his wife grabbed one of Liwu’s hands each. "My granddaughter did not do that. Maybe a system host sowhere has awakened. This cannot be blad on my baby."
"That is true." Alix supported him.
"It is a fact." Caishen declared, as if he had seen this before or read it sowhere.
Liwu laughed. Her great grandfather’s love was blind. Not just him but all the Tai’s, her parents and so of her siblings. The others loved her but feared her.
"I have to go." She pulled her arms away and looked at her sister Xixi. "Congrats, too bad I cannot be a bridesmaid."
Elder Zhang gasped in horror as if the thought alone was outrageous.
"You will co, right?" Xixi asked.
"Of course she will co." Alix shouted. "Fake or real wedding, everyone in the family must attend."
Liwu was certain Elder Zhang would disagree. As she walked out, she felt their eyes in her back. She clenched her fists and kept going, even when she heard her mother calling her na and asking her to wait.
***
The wedding which had the attention of the whole world was held at one of the best hotels in the city. The wedding hall was lit with incense that was thick enough to choke a cow. Guests buzzed like bees in their beautiful dresses, suits and shiny shoes. The live band sung and played their instrunts so loudly that one aunt muttered, "If the system gods don’t bless this marriage, at least they will go deaf."
Zhang Alix was dressed in crimson robes with an image of a dragon. She looked stunning--until her face turned paled and she announced suddenly, "I will not marry. I cannot do it. Shen Weifeng is a playboy, his mother is a well-known angry shrew. Everyone has heard of his faithfulness to that actress Manman. Even if this marriage is just for show, I can’t do it. I don’t want to endure humiliation, I am not the female lead of so sadistic novel."
Gasps. Jewels dropped. One aunt fainted dramatically, though she landed on a couch in the dressing room.
"You had two weeks to prepare for this day. We have only minutes until you walk down the aisle. You cannot do this right now." Old lady Zhang tried to put the veil on Xixi’s head.
Xixi grabbed it and ripped it apart with her bare hands. Then she started hunting for a pair of scissors like a desperate woman out of her mind. "Get this dress off ." She scread. "You cannot make go out there. When they ask if I take him to be my husband, I will say I don’t. I won’t marry a man that hates my very existence, you cannot make . Police, soone call the police! Forced marriage is illegal. Where is my phone?" She flung away everything she could get her hands on, looking for the phone or scissors.
She found the scissors and held them like a weapon.
Old Lady Zhang fainted.
In panic, Tai Alix, rushed to the dressing room after being summoned by old Lady Tai.
She approached her daughter slowly. "Xixi...."
"I won’t do it mom." She burst into tears.
Everyone knew the decision was sealed. Xixi had the oddest system. It was a Tearforce system. As soon as she cried, everyone was compelled to move heaven and earth to do as she desired. It was simple but powerful, the perfect system for her.
Alix hugged her. "Alright, stop crying. You don’t have to marry, soone else can go."
Quickly, Zhang Xifeng could see where the direction was heading. "Not , I am not marrying. I have a boyfriend; I am sorry for hiding it but...."
"We know." Half the won in the room said. So even rolled their eyes.
"I’m allergic to weddings." Another said.
All the eligible won, sisters and cousins shook their heads. One even rushed out of the room claiming that she had urgent embroidery to finish.
There was just one person that had not said a word. She had entered the room just before Zhang Alix’s panic attack started. Her pink dress was stained with wine which had spilled just as she entered the wedding venue.
"That leaves Liwu." Soone said.
Old lady Zhang who had just recovered gasped and fainted again.
Old lady Tai laughed. The unlucky great granddaughter was the only one left standing. How ironic!
"Will you do it?" Alix asked Liwu. "I swear to co and rescue you if they do anything to harm you. What the hell am I saying.... let’s just call it off. We will find another way to make peace. I will give presidency of the Bureau to Shen Weijun."
Gasps followed.
"You would hand us over to our enemies!" Zhang Panpan shouted. "We might as well kill ourselves right now. The Shen’s have been trying to bring us down for years. If there is no bride, they will strike."
"Hard." The wife of the second Zhang elder added.
Liwu stepped forward. "I understand what is at stake. They asked for a daughter of Tai Alix, and that qualifies . For duty and the honor of our family, I am willing to step in."
"Duty and honor!" Zhang Xifeng shouted, "More like doom and horror. Older sister, think twice. What is the worst that could happen if there is no bride? At worst, the system wars will continue."
"But we will be the bad guys now." Grandma Tai flicked her forehead. "They will claim we broke the agreent. It will stain everything your mother has struggled to build. We don’t have much of a choice.
"I am sorry." Xixi wailed, "I am sorry."
Everyone reached out to hug and comfort her. Others begged her to stop crying.
anwhile, on the groom’s side, chaos was also brewing.
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