When it came to his people, Xia Yi never bothered to dress things up with lies. Bias was bias. Even if he admitted to favoring the Demon Empress a bit, Ziji and Biji wouldn't mind.
Besides, so what if he was biased?
It was only natural.
"He-he, we're not Lord's wives anyway. It's perfectly normal for Lord to be a little partial." As expected, Ziji chuckled while helping Xia Yi straighten his long hair.
Although Gu Yue had asked them to address Xia Yi as "Lord," Ziji felt more at ease around him than even around Gu Yue.
She knew Xia Yi wouldn't nitpick over such trivial matters. When it was time to joke, she joked freely.
"Heh…" Ziji's blunt words made even the thick-skinned Xia Yi a little embarrassed. He gave an awkward laugh and quickly changed the subject. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Tell me, what kind of custom is this? I'm getting married and still can't see my bride?"
Xia Yi was quite exasperated. Three days ago, he and Yali had returned from Mingdu, and Gu Yue and the others had gone into hiding, claiming it was a custom that the bride and groom couldn't see each other for three days before the wedding.
He hadn't seen Gu Yue or the others for three days.
In the Douluo Plane, he had never heard of any such pre-wedding tradition.
As for soul beasts, they didn't have such strange customs either.
But Gu Yue and Leng Yaozhu had clearly coordinated this; he had no choice but to go along.
"Lord, please be patient. That's just how the tradition goes." Biji smiled slightly, her face calm as she comforted Xia Yi. "How many in the world would envy Lord being able to marry so many beautiful, breathtaking wives at once?"
She knew the truth.
There was no custom—it was just that Gu Yue and the others had made a pact, with Gu Yue standing him up.
On one hand, they were afraid Xia Yi might get too carried away and lose track of time.
On the other hand, they wanted to take time to compose themselves, to be in their best condition and show their best side to him today.
The women had agreed to use this "custom" as an excuse to avoid Xia Yi.
And none of them felt guilty for brushing him off—in fact, they found it rather satisfying.
They all knew Xia Yi would take this special day as an opportunity to do something particularly wicked—things he had long wanted to do but never had the excuse for.
"Would you say I'm now the man who holds power over the world by day and sleeps with beauties at night?" Xia Yi chuckled slyly. He, of course, knew there was no such custom.
But even knowing that, he had to pretend he didn't.
If word got out that all his brides had been avoiding him right before the wedding, it would be embarrassing.
"Lord, all the major factions should be arriving soon. As the groom, you should go greet them. Once the lucky hour comes, you'll be able to see your brides." Ziji said with a smile.
"Alright." Xia Yi smiled faintly—he was in a great mood today.
"Oh right, Lord, there's something I'm not sure how to handle." Biji suddenly remembered something and asked Xia Yi.
"Didn't Yue'er have you and Ziji take charge of the wedding plans? I've already followed your instructions and behaved myself for three days. You don't need to ask me—just handle it as you see fit." As Xia Yi finished speaking, his figure had already vanished from the room.
He obviously knew what Biji was going to ask.
So he slipped away immediately.
Better to let Biji and Ziji take the initiative—otherwise, he'd look too wicked.
He believed Biji and Ziji wouldn't disappoint him.
"Lord, I really can't decide this on my own…" Biji looked troubled as Xia Yi once again left her holding the bag.
"What's the issue? What can't be arranged?" Ziji asked curiously.
"Well, the Lord is marrying several brides all at once today. What do we do about the bridal chamber tonight?" Biji shrugged helplessly. She didn't know how to arrange it.
Ziji also hesitated. So many brides—it wasn't an easy task.
Even though they all naturally regarded Gu Yue as the main wife…
And they believed that even if Xia Yi had multiple wives, Gu Yue had to be the "big sister."
But the problem was, the groom himself had never said anything about who ranked first or last.
No matter how close they were to Xia Yi, they couldn't overstep and assign a hierarchy to the brides.
"Biji-jie, do you think the Lord deliberately left us with this dilemma?" Suddenly, Ziji's eyes grew dark with suspicion.
"You mean Lord intended…?" Biji froze, realizing a possibility.
"That's right. I remember Lord specifically told us to make the new bed a little bigger." Ziji bit her lip. As long as there was a bedroom, there had to be some order. But since Xia Yi didn't say anything, they couldn't assign the brides to separate rooms based on rank.
Since Xia Yi remained silent, they could only put all the brides in the same room.
"Sigh, do you think Lord will shamelessly tell the brides tonight that we made this decision on our own?" Ziji laughed bitterly.
"No doubt about it," Biji said, shaking her head. "This blame is ours to bear."
"It's just… would this make things hard on Gu Yue? Will she be okay with it?" Biji looked at Ziji worriedly.
With Gu Yue's pride, it was already something that she accepted sharing a husband. But to sleep together under one blanket with other women—would she be angry?
Biji was concerned.
It was such a wonderful day—if something went wrong, it'd be a huge disappointment.
"Eh, do you think Gu Yue hasn't already shared a bed with the Demon Empress and Lan Fozu before?" Ziji rolled her eyes. "You weren't there in Mingdu, but the day after Gu Yue and Lord finally got together, she told me in private—if she weren't already a married woman, she'd have joined that night."
"Let's just arrange it like this. Gu Yue likely already guessed how it'd go. She hasn't said anything, has she?" Ziji added with a shake of her head.
If Gu Yue cared about ranking, she would've brought it up with Xia Yi already.
The fact that she hadn't said a word meant she didn't mind.
Since Gu Yue didn't mind, and Xia Yi wanted it this way…
As loyal subordinates, they had to take the blame and ease their Lord's burden.
On the wedding night, they couldn't let their Lord be disappointed.
Time passed slowly, and Sky City grew more festive by the moment. Cheers rose everywhere, joy ringing into the skies. Soul beast powerhouses, members of the Leng clan, and disciples of the Forging Association moved through the city like hosts.
Long ago, a grand wedding stage was set up in the vast plaza of Sky City, decorated with fluttering flags and overflowing flowers.
"Divine Pen Douluo congratulates Master Xia Yi on his wedding!"
"Fierce Wolf Douluo, congratulations to Master Xia Yi!"
"Titan Giant Ape congratulates Lord on his wedding!"
"Sky Azure Bull Python wishes Lord a joyful wedding!"
"Bright Dragon King congratulates Lord!"
"Dark Dragon King congratulates Lord!"
…
The voices of congratulations never ceased in Sky City. The skies churned with energy as powerful presences arrived one after another. Divine-level auras spread outward, causing even the human powerhouses present to change their expressions.
(End of Chapter)