Chapter 248: The Bai Family’s Turmoil
In the interstellar Bureau of Civil Affairs, it wasn’t unusual for a female to register a marriage with multiple Beast Husbands at the same time.
So, the photographers here were well-practiced, having Shi Lan step forward to take photos with each of her different Beast Husbands.
The Bureau of Civil Affairs had many backdrops for the photos; it wasn’t just a plain red screen.
Shi Lan took her picture with He Hanshi first. They chose a manor backdrop similar to the theme of his proposal. She took out the Xia Donghua flowers he had given her, and the two linked arms, standing side-by-side on the platform with smiles on their faces.
Then it was time for the next one.
The five proposals had all been in different settings, so the backgrounds for each marriage certificate photo were also different.
Soon, the marriage certificate photos for Shi Lan and He Hanshi’s group were finished.
After everyone had chosen their favorite photos one by one, they waited for their information to be entered by the Marriage Administration Office. During this time, Shi Lan and the five men took a few group photos using the bureau’s backdrops. Jiang Yan also ran around excitedly, chip in hand, taking many beautiful pictures of Shi Lan.
A dozen or so minutes later, Shi Lan and the others all received their marriage certificates. There was one difference, however: Shi Lan’s certificate had five photos, proving she had five Beast Husbands. At the same time, the personal information on her chip automatically changed from "Unmarried" to "Married." Tapping for details revealed the information for He Hanshi and the others.
Shi Lan stared at the marriage certificate in her hand, feeling a bit dazed. She had never imagined she would get married one day, let alone to five people at once.
He Hanshi and the other four admired the photos for a long while before carefully placing them in their storage spaces to prevent them from getting lost.
Noticing Shi Lan spacing out, He Hanshi walked over and casually wrapped her in an embrace. "What are you thinking about, Lanlan?"
Shi Lan snapped back to reality, shook her head, and smiled. "Nothing much. It’s just a bit surprising to suddenly have a marriage certificate."
Jiang Xia clingingly took one of Shi Lan’s hands. "Wife, you can’t go back on your word now. We’ve already married you, and we won’t accept a divorce."
Hearing this, the relaxed and happy expressions on the other men’s faces subtly tightened with a hint of tension.
Jiang Xia had switched to the new term of address very quickly. Shi Lan was still getting used to hearing the word "wife," but she quickly recovered and denied it. "Of course I won’t."
"Come on, let’s go get a nice meal to celebrate getting our certificates."
She put away her marriage certificate and rallied her spirits.
Jiang Yan was too embarrassed to be a third wheel, so she made the excuse of going home to edit photos and quickly slipped away. In the end, it was just the six of them going to eat.
In the Hovercar, Shi Lan happily scrolled through the photos they had taken that day.
She was composing a post she planned to send out later, but just then, her chip started buzzing with several news alerts.
She glanced at them casually and was about to close the notifications when she suddenly saw He Hanshi’s name.
Curious, Shi Lan tapped on it and found that the news was about He Hanshi’s proposal. She scrolled down and saw the aerial photo of the romantic message spelled out with roses.
Shi Lan: "??!!!"
Shi Lan was stunned. She clearly remembered that there were no outsiders present during the proposal, so how could there be such a high-definition photo on the Star Network?
Wait a minute. She suddenly recalled Server B accidentally mentioning an advertising screen. It seemed He Hanshi had announced it himself.
She couldn’t help but ask about it. He Hanshi looked at her, a pleased smile gracing his lips. "Mm, it’s a good thing. I wanted to tell everyone that I was about to have a wife."
Jiang Xia’s eyes darted around, and he immediately contacted his parents to make arrangements.
’He hadn’t thought of that. Since He Hanshi made an announcement, he had to as well. That way, whenever people saw Lanlan, they would know she was his wife. And when he was out, no other females would bother him. He was a beast who had a wife.’
Mu Tangfeng couldn’t resist taking action either.
’Admiral He did it, so it must be the right move. Besides, he also wanted to tell people that Shi Lan was his wife.’
As for Yan Huoshui, although he wasn’t as fast as He Hanshi and Ye Ming, he had taken action the moment he heard the words "advertising screen" at the Bureau of Civil Affairs a short while ago.
So, when Shi Lan got out of the car at a popular, recommended restaurant on Capital Star, she looked up and saw her own name glittering in gold on a huge, high-definition, 3D rotating screen on a nearby building.
The building next to it was displaying Ye Ming’s proposal ad. A little further down was Yan Huoshui’s. After a moment, the ad screens flashed, and Jiang Xia’s and Mu Tangfeng’s appeared as well.
Shi Lan hadn’t expected all five of them to buy ads. Even though there were no front-facing photos of her, she would definitely be recognized immediately walking alongside them.
’Now I’m really famous,’ she thought.
The restaurant was crowded. The group was exceptionally good-looking, and not long after they stepped out of the Hovercar, she heard someone whisper, "Is that Admiral He?"
"Huh? These guys all look so familiar. I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere."
"They must be celebrities..."
To prevent a commotion, Shi Lan quickly led them away before anyone could figure it out. She decided to find a more private, less mainstream restaurant.
He Hanshi recommended a place.
It was still early, around six in the evening. While Shi Lan and her new husbands had already begun their celebratory dinner, a storm was brewing on the other side of town at the Bai Family residence, where the atmosphere was heavy.
Mrs. Bai’s favorite Pet Servant had been secretly investigating something recently. Ever since attending the Eldest Prince’s birthday banquet a few days ago, he had noticed Mr. Bai acting strangely.
Because Mrs. Bai often complained in front of the Pet Servant about being forced to marry Mr. Bai as her primary husband and had considered giving the position to another Pet Servant. However, Mr. Bai’s child was too successful—and the Bai Family’s only daughter—which made his position relatively secure.
But the Pet Servant was resentful. He had always felt that he was more qualified to be the primary husband in every aspect—ability, physical condition, and the wife’s favor.
In the Bai Family, the secret competition among the Beast Husbands was fierce.
The Pet Servant had always been looking for a chance to bring Mr. Bai down. At the last banquet, he had seen Mr. Bai anxiously watching a certain female. He also recalled once seeing Mrs. Bai take out a photo of Mr. Bai’s mother, cursing her for forcing the marriage. So, when he saw Shi Lan’s somewhat familiar face, a bold idea sparked in his mind.
He bribed a server to get the half-finished drink Shi Lan had left behind, took it to a hospital to extract the genetic information, and combined it with a strand of Mr. Bai’s hair, which was easy to obtain. As expected, the results allowed him to uncover the secret.
Shi Lan was Mr. Bai’s real daughter. And Bai Rao—he had tested her as well—had no biological relationship with Mr. Bai whatsoever.
This proved that Mr. Bai had switched the children in the past.
The Pet Servant easily found out that Shi Lan was known as a "useless female" at school; it was common knowledge at Capital Star School. Therefore, even though he had noticed the Eldest Prince treating Shi Lan differently at the banquet, he was confident that the Imperial Family would never choose a useless female.
This was why, as soon as he confirmed the information today, he had eagerly confronted Mr. Bai.
The Bai Family had been arguing about this matter at home all afternoon, and no one had paid any attention to the various proposal announcements from Ye Ming and the others on the Star Network.