Chapter 192 Marriage, what is it?
Although Qiao Ziming is middle-aged, he looks no different from a man in his twenties or thirties. Apart from a few wrinkles on his face, he truly deserves the title of a handsome middle-aged man.
Just then, a hint of impatience appeared in his gray eyes hidden beneath his black hair.
When he looked at Qiao Mei, he showed no affection like a father would when looking at his daughter. Instead, he looked at her as if she were a stranger, glancing at her briefly before looking away.
When Dai Qin saw him coming, she concealed the infatuation in her frog-like eyes and repeated what she had just told Qiao Mei.
"Look at this child, she still has royal blood in her veins, how can she think about arranging her own marriage? Your Highness, you need to give her a good talking-to. As the Crown Princess, the marriage I chose for her is already a step up for her given her current status!"
The Crown Princess assumed that Qiao Mei and Xu Hui had not yet been recognized by the Xu family. Under these circumstances, they had also separated from the royal family. Given Qiao Mei's current status, this marriage was indeed a step up for her.
But Qiao Ziming frowned after carefully examining the candidate.
Clearly, they knew this person's character.
Even so, compared to the benefits the Crown Princess could offer, it didn't really matter whether he cared for Qiao Mei, his daughter who was of little use to him, or not.
So she also joined the Crown Princess in persuading Qiao Mei.
“Father, but I already have a boyfriend and I plan to marry him later.”
As she said this, Qiao Mei deliberately made her right hand, which was adorned with a red agate bracelet, more visible, so that Qiao Ziming could see it before she continued, "My mother agrees to my relationship with him, and she also said that if you knew about it, you would definitely agree as well."
The red agate bracelet on her wrist was very eye-catching. The moment Qiao Ziming saw it, he couldn't help but recall the time when he gave the item to Xu Hui.
At that time, when he met Xu Hui, who was beautiful, capable, and academically outstanding, he was almost completely captivated by her. He even felt that his dissolute life might finally settle down with her.
So, disregarding royal protocol, they used the highest grade red agate reserved for the Crown Princess to create this bracelet for her.
But to his surprise, he overestimated himself.
In the second year after he got together with Xu Hui, he began to feel bored with her. However, since she was the first woman he had ever fallen for, her status was different. Unlike the other women he had gotten tired of, he did not immediately go through the divorce proceedings with Xu Hui.
His thoughts returned, and the words of persuasion he was about to say caught in his throat. He roughly understood the meaning behind Xu Hui's suggestion that Qiao Mei wear the red agate bracelet.
It's likely that she wanted to use their past relationship to get Qiao Mei a free marriage from him.
He admitted he wasn't a sentimental type, but when it came to his ex-girlfriend, he wasn't stingy with helping her with such a small matter.
So when the Crown Princess tried to reach out and grab his arm to urge him to continue speaking, he suddenly turned around, no longer looking at Qiao Mei, but instead grabbed Dai Qin's arm and led her outside.
“Indeed, it’s not a big deal. If the child has his own plans, we don’t need to push him so hard. Let’s go, don’t you have other wives to entertain?”
Dai Qin also noticed the red agate bracelet on Qiao Mei's wrist at this moment, and her neck turned red with anger. She wanted to say something more.
But when he met Qiao Ziming's slightly warning gaze, he could only suppress his frustration and reluctantly leave.
Once everyone had gone far away, Qiao Mei finally breathed a sigh of relief, took off the bracelet on her wrist, and put away her quantum brain bracelet.
"Fortunately, this bracelet is of some use, otherwise I would have had to trouble Boss Shang again and owe him another favor."
Having witnessed the entire process, Ao Cang saw Qiao Mei's predicament when she was being harassed, and also her forced forbearance.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly spoke up: "Actually, I might be able to help you, An'an, but I'm not sure if those resources will still be useful after so much time has passed."
Qiao Mei looked up at him: "What assistance? I've never heard you mention it before?"
"I'll tell you after the ball. There's a lot to say, so we need to organize it all together. Also, my new identity can't be empty-handed, and I don't want to put you in a difficult position like before."
After saying that, Ao Cang asked her again, "By the way, An'an, what was the marriage you were talking about with the Crown Princess just now?"
He only knew that Dai Qin wanted to match Qiao Mei with another man, but as for what this marriage meant, he had heard about it when he listened to the believers' prayers as the Dragon God.
Most of the prayers I hear are for good weather and wealth; I've never heard the word "marriage" mentioned.
"Huh? You don't know?" Qiao Mei was stunned for a moment, then directly opened her light brain bracelet, entered the word 'marriage' into the interstellar encyclopedia, and let Ao Cang see for himself.
As he examined it closely, she asked him in a low voice out of curiosity, "Don't you dragons ever have cases where a female dragon and a male dragon mate and reproduce?"
Although, so far, it seems that the only dragon she has ever seen is Ao Cang.
After reading the explanation in the interstellar encyclopedia, Ao Cang raised his golden eyes to look at Qiao Mei and nodded: "Yes, but it was a long time ago. After I became a god, I forgot who gave birth to me in the first place, and I have no desire to reproduce with anyone."
"If that's the case, what's it called?"
"Like you humans, we are also called partners, but there is no such thing as marriage. As far as I remember, it seems that as long as they recognize each other, they will directly have children together. However, because dragons are more powerful, it is difficult for the female dragon to bear offspring."
Qiao Mei: "........."
So all that time she gave Ao Cang birth control pills beforehand was for nothing?
Just as he was thinking this, he heard Ao Cang continue, "But since you have this rule here, of course I won't wrong you, and I will try my best to marry you according to the rules here."
"The interstellar encyclopedia says that after marriage, you're supposed to live together for life, but given An'an's health, it might not be possible for you to be that close to me. So I'm planning that when we actually get married, I..."
"Hey, don't say it yet. If you say it now, what surprises will follow?" Qiao Mei said this, but in her heart she was thinking that she might not even be able to stay with him until then.
The end of the year also happens to be the time when the story in the book is coming to a close.
Giving him expectations too early will only lead to greater disappointment later.
Ao Cang, unaware of Qiao Mei's thoughts, assumed she was discussing serious matters and nodded without saying anything more.
When they returned to the ballroom, they made no attempt to hide the presence of other guests and asked Qiao Mei directly if they wanted to buy engagement rings after the ball.
Ao Cang: I want to get married...
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