Chapter 7 — The Wedding Soup
My wedding day arrived quickly.
The Xue residence was hung with lanterns and red silk. I sat at my dressing table while the bridal matron arranged my hair.
Just as the phoenix crown was about to be placed, Xue Zhenzhen arrived carrying a food box.
When she saw me in bright red wedding robes, her smile stiffened for a split second—then smoothed back into place.
“Elder Sister,” she said warmly, “today is your great day. I simmered lotus-seed and lily soup for you. May you and Young Master Shang grow old together and be blessed with children… And it’ll help line your stomach—weddings are long, and you shouldn’t go hungry.”
Her words were earnest. Her posture was humble. She looked like the picture of sisterly care.
I lowered my eyes to hide my mockery.
“You’ve gone to such trouble,” I said.
Then I looked up with the shy smile of a bride and took the bowl—warm, fragrant, perfectly timed.
A maid knocked at the door. “Miss, Madam asks you to go to the ancestral hall and light incense for the old matriarch. She loved you most.”
“Alright,” I answered. I set the bowl down and turned to Xue Zhenzhen. “Please wait. I’ll finish it when I return.”
Xue Zhenzhen smiled quickly, a little too quickly. “Of course.”
I watched the tension in her face, and my steps slowed.
Then I turned back.
“Actually… I’ll drink it now,” I said lightly, as if to reassure her. “So you don’t have to worry.”
Under her startled gaze, I lifted the bowl and drank every last drop.
“Thank you, Zhenzhen,” I said, placing the bowl down neatly. “This life, I’ll definitely be happy.”
She blinked, stunned.
I stood and followed the maid out, my bridal smile still in place.
The moment I crossed the courtyard gate, my expression fell.
“Is it arranged?” I asked.
The maid nodded. “Don’t worry, Miss. I switched it myself. What you drank was clean. The bowl with ‘extra’ has been sent to the Second Miss’s room.”
I gave a small, satisfied smile.
I didn’t need to do much.
I only needed her to taste the bitter fruit she had prepared.
When I returned, Xue Zhenzhen was already gone.
The bridal matron said she had left not long after.
Fine.
I put on the phoenix crown.
At the auspicious hour, with a red veil over my head, I was led to the wedding sedan for the Shang household.
Before I stepped in, the maid whispered to me: Xue Zhenzhen had drunk the soup.
“Good,” I said.
My smile lasted all the way to the bridal chamber.
When Shang Zhiyuan lifted my veil, he saw a bride smiling like a flower.
“A Ning,” he asked softly, “are you happy?”
I looped my arms around his neck, lips curving.
“Of course,” I murmured. “I’m becoming Zhiyuan-gege’s wife.”