86 Chapter 86

It was now the day after the event, and Jiang Mang was cultivating inside a locked room. The previous day, after Jiang Mang had asked the question to cancel the marriage the discussion had turned silent, but the elder had become enraged. Jiang Mang then explained that he didn't know that winning the duel would result in him becoming a bridegroom. He also explained the fact of him already loving someone and thus not wanting to marry someone he didn't love. The elder questioned him about this supposed loved one, and he explained his encounter with Feng Xue and his promise to her.

The elder had at that point calmed down, while Xia Mei was only shocked but nothing more, as she could understand Jiang Mang's reasoning. The elder eventually didn't let Jiang Mang go because the information about Xia Mei finding a fiancee had already spread. She decided to take Jiang Mang towards the Xia family and let the patriarch solve the problem.

Jiang Mang didn't work against the elder as he understood the precariousness of the situation. When he ended his cultivation session, he got up because he had sensed someone opening the door. It was the elder of the Xia family, who would take Jiang Mang and his companions towards the Xia family in Ice city.

The elder mentioned that it was time to leave, when he arrived inside the main hall behind the elder, he reunited with his sisters. They asked, what had happened, and he explained helplessly the situation. They were surprised by it but didn't find it troublesome. Lu Chang and Zi Bai, who had seen Xia Mei approved of her as a sister in law if Jiang Mang still ended up marrying her. Xiao Liu, on the other hand, mentioned that Xia Mei would be lucky to dual cultivate with Jiang Mang due to his abundance of yang energy.

The result of his explanation was thus being teased about it. Xia Mei entered the hall after five minutes and ended looking at Jiang Mang. She felt that he would be an excellent husband and wished for her father to keep the marriage because other men could probably not match Jiang Mang in character and talent. She also believed that he would forget that other girl as long as he became used to her while becoming her fiancee.

She had unknowingly fallen in love with Jiang Mang.

Her arrival meant that the group was ready to depart. The elder summoned a flying artifact and brought everyone on board before departing towards Ice city.

Xia Mei sat with Jiang Mang's group and ended up getting along with everyone, especially with Lu Chang and Zi Bai. The two sisters talked a lot with Xia Mei and made her feel welcome. They also talked about their little brother Xiao Mang and all of his embarrassing moments, when he trained the harm dao with elder Zhu. They also explained their relationship with him and why they treasured this little brother a lot.

These stories made Xia Mei laugh a lot, while also making her fall deeper for Jiang Mang, who treated two outer hall disciples so well that they managed to transform so much in only two years. They have even gained the potential to become core disciples of the Zither Palace.

The journey was quite short and only took two hours. They had arrived before ice city. They immediately landed and made their way towards the Xia family mansion. When they arrived, Jiang Mang and his companions separated. He and Xia Mei followed the elder towards a room, where the Xia patriarch was waiting.

When he arrived inside the room, he sensed an extremely powerful person inside. He greeted the patriarch politely after Xia Mei and then sat down before the patriarch next to Xia Mei.

Patriarch Xia asked the elder about all the details, before asking the elder to leave the room. Now there were only Jiang Mang, Xia Mei, and patriarch Xia inside. Patriarch Xia was the first to speak and said the following words towards Jiang Mang: "Young friend Jiang, I as a father have the responsibility to ensure my daughter's happiness and future. I also am a patriarch responsible for upholding my family's reputation. Through some small observations, I am sure that your character is extremely good. Your talent is bountiful if you can defeat my daughter while being of the same age. You would be a perfect son in law, and I am certain that you would make my daughter happy. The only problem is that you aren't willing."

He then paused for a second before he continued his monologue: "You participated in the event and beat my daughter which is the condition to marry her. You didn't know this, but it still happened. This means you have fate with my daughter and all the more reason to marry her. The problem, however, is that you love someone else. Now if I were to indulge you and cancel this engagement, then two things will happen my daughter's reputation will be ruined, and so will my family's reputation. This I can't allow as I will then be shirking my responsibilities."

That last sentence was said with a heavy tone. The patriarch paused three seconds to let his words sink in before continuing:

"Young friend Jiang, I will now tell you my personal opinion and a secret rule of our family before I ask you again if you want to cancel the marriage and if you can cancel it. I find your love to be ridiculous, because you haven't lived with her, had sex with her, or experienced life and death with her. I have to mention that not many people can marry the persons they love in their lives. I also believe that you will come to love my daughter if you were to get to know her for a longer time. My personal opinion aside our family has a hidden rule, and that is when a girl with the frost sword profound spirit loses for the first time to a man of equal age or younger. They have to marry that person because the frost sword spirit will vanish from our line if it isn't passed down from to a child from the person that defeated it. It will mark that person with a frost mark on their left shoulder.

I have also sent a message towards the Zither palace and your masters that if you possess that mark, my daughter will marry you with or without your consent, and they agreed as it wouldn't harm you while they didn't want to antagonize me"

The patriarch paused and looked at Jiang Mang, who had a thoughtful expression. He then asked Jiang Mang: "Do you still want to cancel the marriage with my daughter, and can you cancel it if you possess the mark."