The next day
Unlike most pre-wedding days, the Lei household was quiet. Because of the solemn air within the residence, Madam lei had dismissed all the servants early, the corridors lit by a few remaining candles that flickered in the drafts.
The wedding robes hung in the main hall, pressed and ready. It was a reddish pale silk, embroidered with patterns that symbolized fertility and prosperity.
Lei Mi sat in her room, her hands folded in her lap.
She was not nervous.
She had been preparing for this day for weeks. Not for the ceremony itself, but for everything that would follow.
A soft knock at the door.
"Come in."
Her mother Madam Lei entered, her eyes slightly puffy and her face pale. Her hands were tightly clasped in front of her. She closed the door behind her and stood there, as if wanting to say something but in the end merely tightened her fists.
Seeing this Lei Mi didn't rush her and just waited.
Finally, Madam Lei spoke.
"You know"
"You don't have to do this."
"I'm here... I've saved up over the years so I can take care."
Lei Mi turned toward her, and the expression on her face stopped Madam Lei mid-sentence.
"I do."
"My dear this isn't the time to be stubborn. Ok listen to your mother we...we'll run. Far away leave the capital. Start somewhere else."
"This. We can't what if the Old fox Madam Ling harms you"
"If we leave then what?" Lei Mi's voice was oddly calm. "We'd be fugitives. We'd have nothing. And they would win."
Madam Lei's hands tightened.
"Meimei mom has listened to you all her life for once just listen to your mom. I don't care about winning all I want is for you to leave a happy life."
"I know." Lei Mi rose and walked to her mother. "And I will."
She took her mother's hands in hers.
"You suffered for years in this household. You were poisoned, humiliated, overlooked. And now father thinks he can just discard me to appease that beast in the Ling family." She paused. "I'm not going to let go so easily."
"The Lei family"
"I refuse to let any of them have the last laugh even if it kills me" Lei Mi said coldly.
The room fell silent. Tears glistened in Madam Lei's eyes.
"Don't do this..."
"I already made my decision, mother"
"What are you going to do?"
Lei Mi smiled softly the light from the window glistening in her eyes.
"I'm going to be exactly want they want me to be."
---
Across the capital, the Ling household was anything but quiet.
Ling Feng sat slumped in the main hall, a half-empty wine jug at his elbow. His robes were disheveled, his hair loose, his eyes bloodshot.
"Wei Mei," he mumbled soullessly.
"Wei Mei..."
Master Ling stood in the doorway, his jaw tight.
"Disgusting."
"Even now, on the eve of your own marriage, you drink yourself into this sorry state."
"Get up."
Master Ling strode forward and kicked the couch.
The couch toppled, sending Ling Feng sprawling across the floor. He groaned and tried to push himself upright, but his trembling arms gave way.
"I said get up."
"You're getting married tomorrow."
Ling Feng let out a hollow, bitter laugh.
"Married. To her. To that—" He waved a hand vaguely. "That woman."
He slowly sat up and leaned limply against the overturned couch.
"You did this to yourself."
"I didn't do anything."
Master Ling's face twisted.
"You did everything."
"You and your mother."
"And now we all pay for it."
With that he snorted and turned around walking away.
Ling Feng watched him go, then reached for the wine jug again.