Qiao’er angrily closed the door and walked into the room adorned with red lanterns, festive and cheerful.
Seeing her young lady still waiting under the red bridal veil for the groom, her grievances filled her eyes with redness.
Xie Ruotong reached out to lift the red bridal veil.
Qiao’er wanted to stop her, but since the groom wouldn’t be coming tonight, what was there to stop.
"Mu Dong came over and said, the groom got drunk and didn’t want to disturb the young madam’s rest, so he went to sleep in the study," Qiao’er explained with a suppressed tear and a smile.
Xie Ruotong actually heard the conversation between Qiao’er and Mu Dong just now.
Having been trained as an assassin since she was young, she could hear even the faintest sounds.
She could guess that Song Yanqing had gone to Xie Ruilin’s place.
And all her waiting was merely for an outcome.
With the outcome thus, there was no need for her to wait any longer.
"Qiao’er, help me change clothes and wash up," commanded Xie Ruotong.
"Yes," Qiao’er promptly came forward and helped her young lady out of the dazzling bridal gown.
While helping her young lady change, Qiao’er thought to herself that the groom would definitely regret not seeing how beautiful the young lady looked.
Moreover, during the ceremony in the main hall, when the young madam’s veil fell off, the groom didn’t even glance at her.
The young lady was so beautiful; the groom would definitely regret it.
He would definitely regret it!
"Miss, are you hungry?" Qiao’er asked Xie Ruotong as she helped her out of her clothes.
She had been waiting for the groom in the room all day.
She hadn’t even had a sip of water.
In the end, she waited in vain.
"A little," said Xie Ruotong. "Are you hungry, Qiao’er?"
"Hungry," Qiao’er nodded honestly. "I’ll go check if there’s still any food and bring some to miss."
Xie Ruotong waited in the room.
She thought to herself that she might as well settle for what had come.
And there wasn’t much else to pursue.
It was but a process every woman went through.
If married well, it’s about a couple sharing a harmonious and happy life together.
If not, it comes down to oneself, taking extra care of oneself.
Qiao’er came back clearly upset.
Her hands empty, holding nothing.
"What happened?" asked Xie Ruotong.
"The cooks are all gone, I asked the servants and they said there was no food left. I wanted to find the master and madam, but I was refused entry, they said it’s been tiring today and everyone has gone to bed. I thought about going to the second Miss’s courtyard, thinking maybe the groom might be there..." As she spoke, Qiao’er quickly realized her mistake.
"Continue," Xie Ruotong didn’t seem to mind.
She only cared about how they could get something to eat.
Otherwise, they might be too hungry to sleep through the night.
"Chun Tao was guarding the courtyard gate, she wouldn’t let me in to disturb anything, fearing as if I might take the groom away," Qiao’er grew more indignant as she spoke.
"Do the servants not listen to you?" Xie Ruotong hadn’t really considered disturbing Song Yanqing and Xie Ruilin’s bridal chamber.
"Yes," Qiao’er said, feeling even more aggrieved, "I told them I was brought by the young madam, but they still ignored me. It makes me so angry!"
"Have you looked for Mu Dong?" asked Xie Ruotong.
"I forgot," Qiao’er suddenly got a spark of realization.
"Go find Mu Dong, Mu Dong will find a way to send us something to eat," she suggested.
Qiao’er hurried out again.
This time when she returned, she was much happier.
Mu Dong quickly arranged for some pastries to be delivered. "Young madam, the cooks have indeed gone to sleep, as the wedding banquet had them busy for days, so the master and madam let them rest. Thus, there’s no hot food, but I found some pastries made by our house’s chef, which are his specialties. You can have some to fill your stomach, and first thing tomorrow morning, I’ll have the chefs prepare a fine meal for the young madam."
"Good, thank you, Mu Dong."
"It’s my duty," he replied.
"It’s late, you should rest, Mu Dong."
"Yes, I will take my leave now. If the young madam needs anything else, just have Qiao’er girl come find Mu Dong."
Xie Ruotong and Qiao’er started eating some of the pastries together.
The pastries were delicious.
But the more she ate, the more aggrieved she felt.
Though officially the main wife, why did the young madam have to face such treatment.
"What’s wrong? Doesn’t it taste good?" Xie Ruotong noticed Qiao’er’s reddened eyes.
"No, it’s just that when I went to the second Miss’s courtyard earlier, Chun Tao’s arrogant attitude angered me. I told her that the young madam hasn’t eaten yet, and Chun Tao claimed I was lying, saying that the servants had delivered lots of pastries to the second Miss’s room, and even dinner, so how could the young madam have nothing to eat..." The more Qiao’er spoke, the redder her eyes became. "Why did no servant come to our courtyard to bring food."