The wedding procession left just like that.
In this place, the custom was for the bridegroom to wait at his home while the matchmaker led the wedding party to the bride’s home to fetch her.
After the bride was taken away, the bride’s relatives could not go to the groom’s house to attend the wedding banquet.
The Yang Family quieted down in an instant.
At this moment, Wang Xiangxiang sat in the wedding carriage, covered by a red bridal veil. Her eyes were already red from holding back tears, struggling not to let herself cry out; she did not want the Han Family to see her so unwilling.
She wished the road to Lin County would stretch on indefinitely, but to her dismay, she arrived at her destination before sunset nonetheless.
Covered by the bridal veil, Wang Xiangxiang had no curiosity about the Han Mansion. She was in low spirits and merely wished to quickly end the wedding ceremony, so she obediently sat inside the carriage, waiting for someone to give her instructions.
She heard a man’s voice which must be the voice of the steward in charge of the wedding, "Please, groom, kick at the carriage door thrice."
At this moment, Wang Xiangxiang, sitting in a carriage, could only listen as the groom kicked the carriage door three times in response, and she kicked from the inside as a gesture of acknowledgment.
The carriage door opened, and the matchmaker handed over a big red embroidered ball. Wang Xiangxiang grabbed one end of the embroidered ball and followed it into the courtyard. Upon entering, she heard the steward’s voice again, "Please, the bridal couple, step over the fire basin so that your life together may be prosperous and thriving."
Covered by the red veil, Wang Xiangxiang could not see the path before her and walked with tiny steps. Upon seeing the fire basin beneath her feet, she stepped over it.
After walking a bit further, the steward’s voice reminded them once more, "Please, the bridal couple, step over the saddle so that you may live a peaceful and safe life."
Wang Xiangxiang followed all these steps, after all, the Han Family was a big and established household, and it was normal to have many rules.
Having crossed the saddle, Wang Xiangxiang followed into the front hall.
By now, there should have been many guests gathered in the front hall, but since Wang Xiangxiang was under the veil, she could not see and could only wait for further instructions.
Inside the room, the steward’s commanding voice rang out, "Bow to the high hall."
Wang Xiangxiang stood in her designated spot, guided by the matchmaker beside her. Hearing the instruction, she bowed deeply to what was in front of her.
"Bow to heaven and earth."
Wang Xiangxiang gracefully turned around and, through the veil, bowed once again towards what she presumed was the sky outside the door.
"Husband and wife bow to each other."
Wang Xiangxiang turned, glimpsing Han Yongsheng’s figure in a bright red robe, and they both bowed to each other.
"Escort to the bridal chamber."
Thus Wang Xiangxiang was led to a room adorned in festive reds—her bridal chamber.
Seeing Han Yongsheng leave the room after having brought her there gave Wang Xiangxiang a sigh of relief. The ceremony was finally complete, and no one had disrupted the process, allowing her to enter the Han Family as she had wished.
It also signified that she and Chu Lian were now destined to be strangers for life. Thinking of Chu Lian getting fall-down drunk at the Yang Family the previous day, her heart ached with the desire to cry, but she resigned herself to the idea that it was all the work of fate.
Wang Xiangxiang, desolate, sat there. Having not had a drop to drink on the way, she felt neither thirst nor hunger—perhaps it was the result of her emotions.
She really felt exhausted under that bridal veil. Her mother told her it was up to the groom to lift the veil, as it would be unlucky otherwise.
But her current state rendered such superstitions irrelevant. Just as she was about to lift the veil, she heard the sound of a door opening.
She straightened up in fright, hardly daring to breathe, while she waited for Han Yongsheng to come closer.