50 The Long-awaited Wedding (1/2)

”The bride's entourage has arrived!”

Shura heard a shout outside the grand hall. Shura and his family had been waiting in the finely decorated grand hall. The preparations were finished. They could immediately begin the ceremony when the bride and her family arrived.

Shura watched in his seat as the newcomers arrived. His parents sat to his right while his siblings sat to his left. His grandparents were also there, but they sat in an inconspicuous corner of the hall, uninterested in the fanfare and the attention.

First to enter were the bannermen. They held exquisitely-carved banners with the symbol of a silver hawk, the crest of Tai Province Lord's family, the family that was about to become Shura's in-laws.

A sea of people entered the spacious grand hall. The stream of newcomers showed no sign of stopping. At the end of the group were warriors in full armor armed with weapons. The way they carried themselves didn't hint that they were going to a festive event at all. There were over a hundred of them.

Shura's father, the Province Lord of Qi Province, Lord Qi, frowned at the appearance of the soldiers. Shura shared his father's thoughts. Was this still a wedding?

Shura looked down at his sword. It leaned against his leg. He shook his head. Even on a wedding, there was no escaping a sword's reach.

The entourage finally all arrived in the grand hall. There was a large number of extra guests among the newcomers. The group had twice the soldiers of Lord Tai, their banners were bigger and more decorated. It had the symbol of a bleeding crescent moon. Leading them was a middle-aged man in a blood-red robe. This man must be the leader of the group. He had a regal bearing and exuded an aura of disdain. Next to him was a handsome young man in a deep blue robe.

Shura was acquainted with the crest of the silver hawk, but this other group had an unknown insignia that was more intricate. Was this group led by a Region Lord? Not only were there more soldiers, but Shura could also see that this second group had plenty of experts.

Shura's eyes moved through the large mass of people and finally stopped at the only woman among them. It was his soon-to-be wife. It was odd though. Shura was already dressed in a scarlet wedding robe, but his bride wasn't. She wore a simple white robe.

'Is this not the wedding day?' Shura thought.

Shura smiled, he could barely contain his laughter. So it turned out that he wouldn't be getting married so simply after all. Anyone with a brain could see that something was wrong.

”What is the meaning of this?” Shura's father said to the Tai Province Lord who stood next to his son and daughter.

”I've come to tell you that this marriage is not happening. Your untalented son is unworthy of my daughter. The Region Lord Gu's son is deeply in love with my daughter. Such a match is made in heaven. I've come all the way here to tell you this in person so you don't lose face,” Lord Tai said.

Shura's father's face darkened. His pupil dilated and he clenched his fists.

Shura's mother had an angry expression on her face. Shura had never seen his mother so angry before.

”Peace, peace, everyone.” Shura stood and spoke. As he said this, his gaze never left the woman he was supposed to marry. She stared back at him. She was indeed beautiful. Silky black hair fell like waterfalls down her back. She had creamy white skin without a speck of blemish and a well-proportioned figure. Her face was also stunning.

But that wasn't what caught his eyes. He stared at her eyes and her his. He couldn't see any care in those eyes, only indifference. That was, she didn't care about him, and it didn't matter to her whether she married him or not. It was pure indifference, a cruel indifference to his eyes.

It was something expected. They didn't know each other, it was an arranged marriage. She couldn't be faulted for not caring. Yet those eyes... the indifference within them...

The word peace scarcely left his mouth before he recalled a similar look of indifference that another woman had given him. That woman was someone who should've cared about him, yet only indifference was in her eyes then.

Peace was not forthcoming for him at that moment, even though he had spoken of it to everyone only moments before. He gripped his sheathed sword tightly. Speaking of peace while carrying a sword wasn't convincing either.

Today was an important day to Shura. Its importance wasn't in that he was or wasn't getting married. The importance was that today's event taught him the meaning of ”caring”. If he cared very much about this marriage going through, his fury and stress would've been greater than his father's.

But now that this had happened. It turned out that Shura really didn't care. Since he didn't care, it didn't affect him, and thus he could still talk with ease.

But that was only for the 'marriage part'. That look of indifference really angered him, and he cared about that. Was it so much to ask for some decent human relationships in his life?

”If the esteemed Lord Tai and that middle-aged man in fancy red robes wanted to simply annul the engagement, there was no need for you to come all the way to our humble dwelling, especially not with all of these armed warriors,” Shura said.

”So please clarify your real intentions. Why did you really come?” Shura spoke with a refreshing smile on his face. No one could connect this smiling man to the groom that wasn't getting married to a beautiful girl today. Nothing about him hinted at disappointment at all.

”Who are you? How dare you speak out, boy!” Region Lord Gu shouted.

Region Lord Gu did not like this nonchalant and disrespectful youngster at all. He could feel that this youngster didn't have any respect toward him appropriate of his station and rank at all.

”Who am I? Yes… who am I? I also want to know the answer to that. But there's one thing that I know for sure, and I don't need to ask anyone this: whether I have a wife or not, I would still be myself,” Shura said.

”Big talk for a plain and untalented fool,” Alyan said with a sneer as he came up to stand beside his father.

Shura looked at his own father. Within that exchange of gaze, Shura's father understood a little more about this strange son of his who spoke when he was born. He also understood Shura's intention: ”I don't care whether this marriage goes through or not, but I do care about you having all these armed people in my house.”

”My son is right. Whether this marriage goes through or not is irrelevant right now. Why have the two of you come with all of these warriors and experts? Are you looking to start a battle against my family?” Lord Qi said.

”If we are, then what about it? Even if you are a Lord, did you ever take a look at your own small and mediocre province? You're insignificant in the greater scheme of things. What do you have compared to me? I am a Region Lord. Speaking with you is already giving you enough face,” Region Lord Gu said with disdain.

”A Lord is one word shorter than a Region Lord, and thus more to the point. As for you yourself, you've been a dead man ever since you stepped foot through this hall with malicious intentions,” Shura said.

”Insolent!” Alyan said and made a throwing motion at Shura.

Shura unsheathed his sword and cut the projectile into two. The piece of metal was cut in half in midair and fell harmlessly to the ground and made a clang sound.

”It was a good idea to keep this by my side after all,” Shura said as he looked at the drawn sword in his hand.

”Let me make the decision for our side,” Shura said.

”This marriage? You can annul or cancel or whatever you want. It doesn't matter. But I don't like how you've come here acting all high-and-mighty and with these many soldiers and experts.” Shura said as he eyed the many soldiers that stood behind the two lords.