Chapter 246: Civil Affairs Bureau
Mu Tangfeng had no idea his impulsive act would cause such a misunderstanding among some Beastmen. After all, compared to cat, dog, or rat Beastmen, Paradise Bird Beastmen were a rare species that many had never seen before.
He flew a wide loop about a kilometer around the church. Shi Lan had experienced flying with him before, so she wasn’t scared. In fact, she found it thrilling.
There was a large clock face at the top of the church. Shi Lan took a few photos there with Mu Tangfeng before they returned to the church.
Inside the church, Mr. and Mrs. Mu looked at He Hanshi and the others. They felt the same way Jiang Xia’s parents did, admiring their own son’s courage.
’To think he actually dared to compete with the Eldest Prince and Admiral He for a female.’
’Thankfully, Shi Lan didn’t know about their son’s old reputation and was still willing to have him. Otherwise, he would pale in comparison to such outstanding males, and the outcome would have been even worse.’
Mr. and Mrs. Mu chatted with He Hanshi and the Eldest Prince in the church, but they could clearly sense the men were distracted, their gazes frequently drifting toward the entrance.
As people who had been through this themselves, they knew exactly why. However, as parents, they had a vested interest in creating more opportunities for their son.
Thankfully, their son returned before long.
Jiang Yan saw the flush on Shi Lan’s excited face and walked over enthusiastically. "Lanlan, since I’m here anyway, I might as well go to the Civil Affairs Bureau and take pictures for you guys."
Shi Lan smiled. "Okay! Thanks, Yanyan. I’ll leave it to you to get lots of beautiful shots of me."
"You can count on me."
The proposal had gone on for several hours, and before they knew it, it was already past four in the afternoon. Shi Lan didn’t delay any longer, and the whole entourage set off for the Civil Affairs Bureau in a grand procession.
The interstellar singlehood rate was high. Even though one female could have multiple Beast Husbands, the demographic gap between females and males was so vast that the Civil Affairs Bureau was still quiet and nearly empty.
When Shi Lan’s group arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, two human receptionists immediately gave them a warm welcome.
The receptionist’s eyes first fell on Shi Lan. He asked in a gentle tone, "Miss, are you here to get married?"
Shi Lan nodded. "I’d like to register my marriage with my five Beast Husbands at the same time."
Hearing this, the receptionist finally turned his gaze to the men behind her. A job at the Civil Affairs Bureau was considered a cushy, high-paying position, so the male receptionists here had all gone through a rigorous selection process. B-level spiritual power was the basic requirement, and these two were both males with A-level spiritual power.
The two of them couldn’t perceive the spiritual power of the five men across from them at all, which could only mean they were at least A-level males.
Wait!
Receptionist A rubbed his eyes and said uncertainly, "Admiral He? Is that you?"
A figure he usually only saw on the Star Network had suddenly appeared right before his eyes. He subconsciously suspected he had mistaken the person, but the man’s bearing and short, silver-white hair perfectly matched the photos of He Hanshi on the Star Network.
He Hanshi was usually rather indifferent toward people he didn’t know well, but today was the happy occasion of his marriage registration. He still managed a gentle smile. "Yes, it’s me."
"Oh my god, you... you’re getting married?"
Receptionist A was in disbelief. Receptionist B seemed to recall something, and his eyes instantly lit up. "I remember now! The big ad screens today were all talking about your proposal. Is this young lady your future wife?"
"Miss Shi Lan?"
He Hanshi nodded again. There was nothing to hide; if he’d wanted to hide it, he wouldn’t have announced it to the entire network.
’Ad screens?’
Jiang Xia’s and Mu Tangfeng’s ears twitched. ’He Hanshi actually pulled a stunt like that?’
Shi Lan was also a little surprised and looked at him subconsciously.
Receptionist B had clearly been slacking off at work quite a bit, as he knew all about the day’s trending news. Unfortunately, just as he’d wanted to keep following the story, the Star Network had crashed, making it impossible to search for any more information.
And now, the very people at the center of it all had appeared right in front of him.
The ’Shi Lan’ whom everyone had been wondering about turned out to be such a beautiful female in person.
’No, wait, the Eldest Prince was in the ad too.’
Receptionist B’s eyes scanned the group. Since Ye Ming used to always wear an eyepatch, he didn’t recognize him at first glance. But relying on his sharp eye, honed by years of chasing gossip, his gaze landed unerringly on Ye Ming.
’The Eldest Prince wears an earring and has green eyes. Only this man fits the description.’
Suppressing his excitement, he tentatively asked in a low voice, "Are you the Eldest Prince?"
Ye Ming pressed his lips together slightly and gave a small nod.
’What? The Eldest Prince is here too?’
Receptionist A didn’t spend as much time on the Star Network as B, so he was still a bit confused by what B was saying.
But after seeing Ye Ming confirm that he was the Eldest Prince, he finally couldn’t hide his astonishment. "Your Highness, you’re getting married too?"
’What’s going on? I haven’t heard the Monarch say anything about this. And there wasn’t a live press conference like there was for the Second Prince.’
’Is the Eldest Prince this low-key?’
Unaware of the Eldest Prince’s announcement on ad screens across the network, Receptionist A began to doubt himself. He’d probably been offline for too long and missed some crucial news.
Right now, although both receptionists were brimming with the desire to gossip, they could also sense that the group was growing faintly impatient. This was especially true of Mu Tangfeng’s gaze; he was squinting at them with a frown, which made the two of them afraid to chat any further.
’Who would dare? They were A-level males, which barely counted as outstanding, but in front of He Hanshi and Ye Ming with their 3S Spiritual Power, they were just small fry.’
’As for the other men, any male who dared to compete with these two for the wife was definitely no ordinary person either.’
’Of course, Shi Lan was the most incredible one of all.’
Receptionist B knew that she was an S-level female. On the way to the registration area, he glanced at her frequently, his face filled with curiosity and admiration.
’An S-level female... How blissful would it be to marry her? Just being able to say you did would be a huge point of pride.’
He Hanshi impassively stepped forward. On Shi Lan’s other side, Yan Huoshui also stepped up. The two men’s sharp, icy gazes fixed on him in unison.
Receptionist B instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He no longer dared to let his mind wander. Not even wanting to linger, he pushed the job onto his colleague, made an excuse, and slipped away.
Receptionist A was baffled, but he was honored to be able to help the Admiral and the Eldest Prince with their marriage registration.
Soon, they arrived at the registration area.
Registering a marriage at the interstellar Civil Affairs Bureau generally involved three steps: registering information, taking photos, and having the announcement entered into the Marriage Administration Office’s records.
The announcement and entry process was essential to prevent bigamy, marriage fraud, and the like from either females or males, thereby protecting everyone’s marital rights.
And now, the group needed to register their information.
Jiang Yan hung back, recording a video of Shi Lan and the others from the moment they stepped into the Civil Affairs Bureau.
After Shi Lan and the others had each filled out their information, Receptionist A asked, "By the way, Miss, for the ’primary husband’ section here, you need to fill in the specific name of one Beast Husband."
He pointed to an item on Shi Lan’s information form where she had only written the word ’None.’
When the receptionist asked about the primary husband, the men—who had been filling out their marriage registration forms with faint smiles—found their smiles fading as tension crept into their expressions.