In a small, quiet room of the An Manor, Qinqin helped An Yimei put on her red wedding dress. Far away in the main courtyard, loud music and laughing echoed for her older sister, An Yulan. But in this small room, it was very quiet.
Yimei’s wedding dress was plain. It did not have fancy gold thread or expensive silk.
An old matchmaker stood by the door and said impatiently, "Hurry up, Young Miss! The carriage for the eldest grandson is waiting in the side alley."
Qinqin was very angry. "My Miss is a true daughter of the An family! Why must her carriage wait in a small side alley while Eldest Miss uses the grand front gate?"
"Qinqin, it is fine," Yimei said calmly, looking at her face in the mirror. "A side door is big enough for me."
Suddenly, loud laughter came from the door.
An Yulan walked into the room wearing a shiny, expensive red dress with gold embroidery and pearls. Behind her was Second Madame, smiling meanly.
"Sister," Yulan sneered, looking at Yimei’s simple dress. "You look so plain! But you are marrying a man who cannot walk. He cannot even stand up to bow with you today!"
Second Madame laughed too. "That’s right. You have bad luck, Yimei. You only belong in a ruined house."
Yimei stood up slowly and looked at her sister. Her face was completely calm.
"Sister," Yimei said softly, "you fought very hard to take the marriage you wanted. I hope that when you reach the end, you do not regret it."
Yulan felt a cold shiver go down her back. For a second, Yimei did not look weak at all. She looked like someone who was not afraid of anything.
"Regret?" Yulan forced a laugh. "I am marrying the future top scholar! You are the one who will be poor!"
The air in the small side room suddenly became very cold as Master An walked inside. His heavy footsteps broke the quiet room.
Behind him, Second Madame and An Yulan were still laughing meanly. They were making fun of Yimei’s simple red dress. But the moment Master An looked at them, their laughter stopped completely.
Master An looked at Yulan’s expensive dress, full of shiny gold thread and real pearls. Then he looked at Yimei’s plain, simple dress. Finally, he looked out into the yard at the wedding gifts. Yulan had piles of heavy wooden boxes overflowing with gold, silk, and jade. Yimei only had a few cheap, empty wooden boxes.
Master An’s face turned very dark and angry.
"What is going on here?" Master An shouted, his voice loud and strict.
Second Madame quickly stepped forward with a fake smile. "Husband, you are here! We were just helping Yimei get ready. Since she is marrying into the northern house to take care of a sick man, we thought she didn’t need such a bright dress or heavy boxes of money—"
"Quiet!" Master An cut her off, slapping his hand hard against the wooden door.
He turned his angry eyes straight toward An Yulan.
"You cried and begged your mother to let you marry the second son, Bai Wenliang, instead of the eldest son," Master An said coldly. "I let you have your way because you said he was smart. But you forgot one very important rule."
Yulan blinked, her face turning pale. "F-Father... what do you mean?"
"The wedding paper from the Bai family says that the First Daughter of the An family must marry the Eldest Son, and the Second Daughter must marry the Second Son," Master An explained, his voice hard as stone. "If you wear the fancy dress of the First Daughter and take all the gold while marrying the second son, you are breaking the law!"
He pointed a sharp finger at the shiny golden crown on Yulan’s head and then pointed out to the yard.
"If the Bai family sees you taking the First Daughter’s gold while marrying the second son, they will say our family cheated them!" Master An looked at Yimei. "If you want the second son, you must take his lower position and his smaller share. You cannot take the head wife’s money and glory while sleeping in the second son’s room."
Second Madame gasped in shock. "Husband! You cannot do this!"
"Change the dresses! And swap the boxes of money!" Master An ordered the servants outside strictly. "Do it right now!"
"No! Father, no!" Yulan screamed, holding onto her gold sleeves. "This is my dress! Mother paid for this silk and packed these gold boxes for me! Why should this illegitimate girl take my money?!"
"Because she is taking your place as the wife of the Eldest Son!" Master An barked loudly. "You wanted to trade husbands, Yulan. That means you trade your clothes and your money, too! From now on, Yimei gets the gold dress and the rich dowry of the First Daughter, and you take the plain dress and small share of the second daughter. If you complain one more time, I will send you away with nothing at all!"
Yulan choked on her tears, her face full of hatred and shame. She looked at Yimei, expecting to see Yimei laughing at her.
Instead, Yimei just stood there quietly, watching the silly fight with calm, unbothered eyes.
Under Master An’s strict watch, the scared maids ran forward. They took the golden crown and the rich red-and-gold dress off Yulan and gave them to Yimei. Outside, the workers quickly swapped the wedding chests, moving all the heavy boxes of gold and treasure to Yimei’s side. Then, they forced the plain, cheap red dress onto the crying, shaking Yulan.
When they finished, Yimei stood in the middle of the room, wearing the heavy, beautiful golden silk gown. The pearl crown sat perfectly on her head, making her look like a queen. Outside her door sat a huge pile of treasure.
Yulan stood next to her in the cheap, plain cloth, looking like a simple servant maid.
"Get into your carriages," Master An said coldly, turning around to walk away. "Do not make a fool of this family again."
As Master An walked out, Yulan glared at Yimei, her whole body shaking with anger. "You... you stole my dress! You stole my money!"
Yimei smoothed her heavy golden sleeves and looked down at her crying sister with calm eyes.
"I did not steal anything, Sister," Yimei said softly, her voice smooth and cool. "You chose the second son. I only took the path and the dowry that you threw away. Remember how you feel today... because this is only the beginning of what you lost."
Leaving Yulan crying on the floor, Yimei pulled down her thin veil and walked out toward her carriage looking strong, proud, and ready for her new life.