Wang Xiangxiang thus married into the Chu Family, while the Yang Family had no idea; they still thought she had married into the Han Family of Lin County.
Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming had even felt pity for Chu Lian all night, until the next morning.
The family was eating breakfast inside the house when they suddenly heard the sounds of music and drumming outside, which left them quite puzzled. It sounded like a wedding procession, but they hadn’t heard of anyone in the Yang Family Village getting married that day.
The music and drumming grew louder, as if it had entered their own courtyard, and the family couldn’t stay seated any longer. They hurried out to see what was happening.
As soon as they stepped out, they were all stunned—the wedding procession had indeed entered their home.
A middle-aged woman in red attire approached them with auspicious words, "Congratulations, dear father-in-law, I am Matchmaker Zhu, representing the Han Family of Lin County to welcome the bride over."
Hearing these words, the family’s eyes widened in surprise. If this was the Han Family’s wedding procession, then who had come yesterday?
Although they were perplexed, they roughly guessed that the bride might have been taken by someone else. Yang Family’s patriarch stepped forward, "Matchmaker Zhu, yesterday was the sixth of May, which was the joyous day for my daughter’s wedding, and the Han Family’s wedding procession already took her away. Are you really from the Han Family? If so, shouldn’t you have come yesterday? Why today?"
Matchmaker Zhu felt a bit embarrassed, as their procession had been intercepted by unknown people yesterday, and they were only released this morning; hence, they could arrive only today.
The situation must have been sabotaged by someone. They had already sent someone back to the Han Family at a gallop to inform them, and the reason they came was to see if the bride was indeed kidnapped as they suspected. Sure enough, she had been taken away.
Not having brought the new bride back would surely result in punishment for them; they could only redeem themselves by finding the bride.
"Dear father-in-law, to tell you the truth, our wedding procession was intercepted yesterday. We were held up all night and were only released this morning. After we got out, we hurried over here and, sure enough, something did happen—the bride has been taken away."
"Now you must hurry and find the bride. You owe the Han Family an explanation. Otherwise, offending them will make life difficult for everyone."
Hearing the matchmaker’s words, the family realized the gravity of the situation. Thus, the patriarch spoke, "Matchmaker Zhu, you go back first. We don’t know what happened either, let our family discuss this thoroughly."
"Alright then, the Han Family will soon learn of the news. When the young master Han arrives, think about how you’ll explain it to him," Matchmaker Zhu said before taking the wedding procession and leaving Yang Family Village.
After the wedding procession departed, the family returned inside the house.
Upon entering, Yang Ming’s mother anxiously asked, "My child’s father, where exactly did Xiangxiang end up marrying off to?"
Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao exchanged glances, both already having an idea in their minds. Yang Ming spoke up, "Dad, Mom, I’m afraid this is Brother Chu’s doing. My sister might have married into the Chu Family."
The family was astonished to hear Yang Ming’s words; no one had seen any signs between those two.
"Don’t worry, I and Yang Ming will head to the Chu Mansion in Shibao Town right away," Xiaoxiao said reassuringly, while also admiring Chu Lian’s audacity to pull off such a bold act as kidnapping a bride.
The two entrusted their child to the elder sister-in-law and set off for the Chu Mansion in Shibao Town in a horse-drawn carriage.