The morning of the wedding dawned gray and still.
The Lei household was quiet with no laughter, no music, no bustle of preparation. The servants moved like ghosts with downcast eyes, their voices hushed.
The wedding robes hung in the main hall, pressed and ready. Red silk, embroidered with patterns of fertility and prosperity.
Lei Mi dressed in silence.
Madam Lei reached up to adjust her daughter's veil, but her fingers trembled.
"Meimei..."
Lei Mi caught her mother's hand before she could continue.
"Don't, Mother."
Her voice was soft, but there was an unusual firmness to it.
"Not today."
Madam Lei pressed her lips together. Her trembling hands slowly stilled. She wiped away the tears that had already fallen and nodded stepping back.
"The wedding procession is already waiting in the front hall."
Seeing her mother's tears, Lei Mi sighed and gently wiped them away.
"Mother....don't cry" She paused.
"Be happy your daughter is getting married today" Her thumb brushed her mother's cheek again.
"I'll be alright"
Madam Lei nodded, but her sadness only seemed to deepen.
Seeing her mother's state not getting any better Lei Mi patiently comforted her then when they were both ready, they went to the front hall.
In the front hall, there was no groom.
A young servant, likely one of Ling Feng's personal attendants, stood at the head of the procession. His expression was blank. Behind him, several Ling household servants carried the formal wedding gifts: silks, jewelry and a pair of jade bracelets.
Everything was in order on the surface, yet the procession felt strangely hollow.
Lei Dashan stood near the doorway, his jaw clenched as he watched the empty space where the groom should have been.
"How can they allow this? The groom hasn't even shown his face!"
"That..."He stepped forward.
Dai Yu caught his arm and pulled him back. "Enough."
"We already embarrassed ourselves once. Don't make it worse."
He fell silent, though the anger on his face remained.
Lei Mi slowly walked forward silently to the palanquin. Her veil covered her face. No one could see her expression.
She climbed inside.
---
On the other side, Ling household was well decorated.
Red banners hung from the eaves silently rustling in the wind. The courtyard had been swept clean, the stones washed. A proper wedding setting with everything in place.
But no matter how lively the scene was it still felt deserted.
Walking through the outer halls, the servants she met were few, their faces blank just like the servant from before, their movements mechanical. She was led through the courtyard without a word.
Finally nearing the main hall, Lei Mi saw an old nanny waiting at the entrance to the main hall. She was Madam Ling's dowry maid surnamed Gu who had worked for her for decades. Seeing her Lei Mi immediately recognized her from the gift exchange before this marriage.
"Miss Lei." Nanny Gu bowed slightly.
"I apologize on behalf of my lady. As the mistress of the household, she has been occupied with several urgent matters and could not welcome you personally. She therefore sent me in her place to receive you and convey her sincerity."
"Please don't take this matter to heart" Nanny Gu bowed once more
Lei Mi waved her hands quickly "No need for this."
"I already consider you half a mother, so there's no need for such formalities."
Nanny Gu smiled warmly.
What a foolish girl.
"The young madam is truly considerate."
Lei Mi lowered her eyes, returning the smile.
Nothing but a performance.
Snakes hiding in green grass.
All of them.
Having delivered her mistress's message, Nanny Gu gestured toward the corridor. "This way. I will show you to the young master's courtyard."
Walking into the Ling Feng's courtyard.
The inner room was surprisingly clean, especially considering the current state of its owner.
After sending Nanny Gu away, Lei Mi finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her veil still covered her face as she surveyed the room.
It appeared to have been arranged recently. The bed was made, the curtains slightly drawn, and several candles had been placed neatly on the side table. A small table near the window held a pitcher of water and an empty cup.
Unlike the brightly decorated front hall, the room felt strangely bleak.
Slowly walking forward, she sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her veil. The room was quiet. The afternoon light filtered through the paper windows, casting soft shadows across the floor.
Though it didn't do anything to soothe the coldness she felt when she sat alone.
She sighed.
Lei Mi opened the dowry box. Beneath the neatly folded clothes lay three meat buns, wrapped carefully in a piece of cloth. They had grown lukewarm, but she recognized them immediately.
Her mother must have packed them before dawn.
Lei Mi sat down and ate one, then carefully wrapped the remaining two.
She had woken before dawn and spent the entire morning preparing for the wedding without eating. The long carriage ride had only made her hunger worse.
She hadn't expected anyone in the Ling household to provide her with food. Her mother, however, had thought ahead.
Finally feeling a bit better, she stood up and walked to the window. Looking out at the courtyard below. A few servants moved through the garden, their heads down. No one bothered looking up at her.
She really was alone here.
She let out a slow breath and closed her eyes.
*Let him not come back, *she silently prayed.
Let him stay wherever he is.
---
A few hours later, the door opened again without a knock.
And a young servant boy stepped inside. It was the very pageboy who served directly under Ling Feng. The one who led the wedding proception from earlier.
"Here" he said plainly. The disgust from earlier still present.
As he set a single bowl on the table near the door. Inside something that might have been porridge, but it was watery, and a thin skin had forming over the surface. It looked like it had been sitting in the kitchen for hours. Or even days.
"Your meal," he said.
Lei Mi looked at the bowl, her expression still gentle. Then at him.
"Thank you."
He snorted audibly clearly dissatisfied.
"There's no need to thank me. I was only following orders."
He glanced at her smile, his expression turning sour.
"You don't have to put on an act. There's no need to pretend to be kind."
With that said Lei Mi watched him leave.
Like master, like servant.
Her gaze fell to the bowl. The porridge was thin enough to see the bottom.
Who ordered this?
Lei Mi frowned.
It could have been anyone. Madam Ling, Ling Feng, or even a servant acting on their own.
She eventually dismissed the thought and returned to the window.
I need to carry this out properly if I'm going to survive here.
---
Later that day
The room slowly colored with an orangish glow under the sun set. The candles were slowly lit burning low.
Lei Mi now sat on the bed, her red robes still on, her veil discarded beside her. Getting hungry again, she ate another bun and drank some water from the pitcher on the side table.
Ling Feng still hadn't come back.
Not like she had expected him to.
Seeing that it was about time, Lei Mi slowly rose from the bed and left the room.
She made her way through the rear corridors until she reached a secluded spot near the kitchen, concealed from the main courtyard by a low wall.
No one would pay much attention to her movements. To the servants, she was merely a rejected bride who had been left alone in their young master's courtyard.
After checking that no one was watching, she crouched and lifted a loose stone. A folded note disappeared beneath it.
She replaced the stone, brushed the dust from her fingers and returned without looking back.
---
Meanwhile, across the capital, one of its largest brothels was alive with music, laughter and the glow of red lanterns.
Ling Feng sat slumped at a table, a wine cup in his hand.
Min Rui, a famous beauty known throughout the capital, leaned against his shoulder. Her dark hair fell neatly over her back, and her brown eyes held a carefully maintained gentleness.
"Young Master Ling, you've barely touched your wine."
Her voice was soft and almost coy. She had learned that such a tone pleased him.
Ling Feng barely glanced at her.
Min Rui's smile remained, though her fingers tightened against his sleeve.
She knew who he was thinking about.
She always knew.
Wei Mei.
The name had become an unwelcome presence between them, even when it wasn't spoken.
Min Rui had long since realized that no matter how closely she imitated Wei Mei's mannerisms, she would never truly become her.
A substitute is still a substitute.
She lifted the wine cup and offered it to him.
"Another cup, Young Master?"
"Mhmm..."
He nodded.
She poured.
He drank.
She was close enough to remind him of the woman he wanted, but never close enough to replace her.
Ling Feng barely noticed the resentment behind her smile. His thoughts had already returned to Wei Mei.
He remembered the disgust in her eyes during their last meeting. The memory only made him reach for another cup.
He drank again, and then again, until even the wine could no longer drown out the image of her face.