Time passed quickly as she thought about these things.
After Song Chaoyu accompanied Princess Tiyue through all the necessary rituals in the palace, the sky had already brightened, and Prince Wen was waiting for Tiyue.
The wedding of Tiyue and Prince Wen was different from that of Song Chaoyu and Mu Changxi.
After all, Tiyue was a princess from the Southern Kingdom and was married from the palace, so the scale was naturally grander.
However, they omitted many of the common folk rituals. Instead, from early morning, they had to pay respects to the Emperor, Empress, and the Empress Dowager.
Only after performing the grand ceremony for the Emperor, Empress, and Empress Dowager could they proceed to the sacrificial altar for offerings under the watchful eyes of civil and military officials, and then Prince Wen could escort Princess Tiyue out of the palace.
This entire process took so long that it was well past the auspicious hour for weddings in ordinary families, and it was nearing noon.
Prince Wen was fine, as he was a man and did not have to wake up as early as Princess Tiyue to get dressed.
Princess Tiyue, on the other hand, was in a bit of a sorry state. After getting up, she had been preoccupied with "battling wits" with Song Chaoyu and had not eaten anything beforehand to line her stomach.
She was also dragging a heavy phoenix robe and wedding attire, performing a series of rituals and walking a great distance. Before noon, she was already ravenously hungry.
However, she still had to maintain her composure, not showing any signs of losing grace, lest she shame the Southern Kingdom or the Prince Wen's manor.
Thus, the phoenix coronet on her head felt even heavier, and she even felt as if her vision was blurring with stars.
The attendants accompanying Princess Tiyue were mostly in the same state. Everyone had expended too much energy before noon without eating, appearing somewhat listless.
But Song Chaoyu was different—
It wasn't her wedding day, so she didn't need to pay as much attention to the rules. She had also known from early on that the wedding rituals were tedious and arduous.
Therefore, she had asked Qiū Qíng to prepare some easily portable snacks for her, which she kept in her sleeves.
When no one was paying attention, she ate a couple of bites to line her stomach, and she wasn't as hungry.
The head palace maid attending Princess Tiyue was named "Hu Ya." She was a palace maid brought back from the Southern Kingdom by Princess Tiyue and was Princess Tiyue's closest confidante.
She had been standing behind Song Chaoyu. As Princess Tiyue and Prince Wen paused at the palace gate, Hu Ya's body swayed.
Perhaps another imperial wet nurse present felt that this situation could not continue and approached Song Chaoyu to discuss: "Princess Chang, what do you think... could we get something for Miss Hu Ya to eat? She looks like she's about to faint, she's really very hungry and very tired!"
Hu Ya looked very frail, holding Princess Tiyue's dowry box, and was struggling to walk.
In fact, Hu Ya was usually a very gentle and sensible person. Perhaps she hadn't expected today that weddings in the Great Yue Dynasty were so exhausting.
If it were someone else, Song Chaoyu would have taken extra care.
However, at this moment, she remembered Tiaohong.
Her own Tiaohong was now sent to the woodshed of Prince Wen's manor, and she didn't know how she was being treated. Why should Princess Tiyue's personal maid be well-fed and well-cared for?
Therefore, Song Chaoyu smiled and shook her head at the wet nurse: "Madam, it's not that I'm being pedantic or rigid, but there are no such rules. And look, aren't the rest of us, including you and I, up since late last night, following along without eating anything? Why must Miss Hu Ya eat something?"
Song Chaoyu shook her head and sighed, "If we make an exception for her and let her eat, then the other young maids will also ask us for food. What would you say, give it or not give it?"
It is said that "one does not strike a smiling face." The wet nurse knew that Princess Chang, Song Chaoyu, had always been good-tempered. Moreover, the eunuch Xiang had strictly forbidden the spread of what had just happened to prevent future talk of the wedding being inauspicious, so the imperial wet nurse was naturally unaware.
Therefore, the imperial wet nurse nodded in agreement: "Princess Chang thinks things through thoroughly. Since that is the case, we must adhere to the rules. Let's just hope Miss Hu Ya can hold on!"
As she spoke, she seemed to murmur with some dissatisfaction: "That's true. She is serving her master, so why does she look weaker than her master? Our servants in the Great Yue Dynasty are not like this!"
The imperial wet nurse was dissatisfied with Miss Hu Ya, and the wedding procession temporarily halted at the palace gate.
Still adhering to the rules, Prince Wen helped Princess Tiyue down, and they knelt and bowed towards the main hall where the Emperor was located at the palace gate, formally bidding farewell to her parents.
However, it was already close to noon, and the sun was becoming increasingly scorching.
Even Song Chaoyu, who was wearing less heavy attire, had a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, let alone Princess Tiyue in her heavy robes.
Song Chaoyu clearly saw that the red silk she was holding was slightly dampened by sweat.
But Princess Tiyue was still managing. She could still force herself to kneel and bow with Prince Wen, and Prince Wen was taking good care of her.
"Bang—"
Just as the two of them were kneeling and bowing towards the palace, there was a sudden noise from Hu Ya's side—
Song Chaoyu looked over and realized that Hu Ya, whether from hunger, exhaustion, or the heat, had fainted directly at the palace gate!
At the same time, the dowry box she was holding, which contained the most precious jewelry, crashed to the ground with a loud noise.
Princess Tiyue's head ornaments and jewelry were scattered all over the ground in an instant, and the dragon and phoenix auspicious purple sandalwood red lacquer carved dowry box, specially made for this grand wedding, also shattered into pieces after hitting the ground!
This was truly an ominous sign, wasn't it?
Princess Tiyue, covered by her wedding veil, had no idea what had happened.
Prince Wen's brow, however, furrowed deeply.
At the same time, Eunuch Xiang stepped forward and exclaimed in a low voice: "Oh dear, what is going on here? On such a fine day, are you, this servant, going to ruin it with such bad luck? What is to be done?"
There was no more time, and they could not linger here.
Song Chaoyu immediately stepped forward, tore off a piece of red cloth, and said to Eunuch Xiang: "What are you waiting for? Wrap up these ornaments, and then drag this servant away. If something like this happens here, the Emperor will soon know. Such an incompetent servant should be sent to the Imperial Household Department for punishment."
Song Chaoyu's handling of the situation was reasonable.
However, Eunuch Xiang shivered—
He had just helped Princess Tiyue deal with Tiaohong, and now Song Chaoyu was going to deal with Princess Tiyue's maid.
This Princess Chang was indeed not to be trifled with!