“Lady Yao, quick, quick, stop the bride from crashing into the coffin to kill herself!”
Lady Xiang suddenly screamed loudly.
The common people blocked outside the general’s mansion heard it clearly.
They were about to stage a scene where the bride would crash into the coffin for love.
Lady Yao immediately rolled up her sleeves and shouted for the servants around her to rush forward and grab Zhu Changsheng.
Lady Xiang stood in the courtyard directing and kept shouting: “Save the bride, don’t let her crash into the coffin, quick, quick…”
Led by Lady Yao, a group of maids and matrons quickly surged into the spirit hall.
Zhu Changsheng watched the crowd rushing in from outside, not showing a hint of panic on her face.
Just as Wei clan matriarch Lady Yao was about to charge in front of her, reaching out to choke her neck…
Zhu Changsheng pulled a whip from under her loose sleeve and expressionlessly lashed out.
“Smack!”
“Ah…”
Lady Yao screamed in agony.
“Smack, smack!”
The whip danced through the air like a long dragon, blood splattering wherever it landed.
Lady Yao was hit the worst; she crawled out of the spirit hall, crying and wailing: “She’s insane, the bride is insane, she actually dared to hit me.”
None of the maids and matrons who followed Lady Yao into the spirit hall were spared.
Zhu Changsheng dragged the long whip, gave it a light flick, and parted her red lips: “Although I am a new bride, I am not ignorant of the Wei Mansion’s rules. If you are willing to help the Wei Mansion properly complete this funeral, I, as the new bride, will be immensely grateful to the clan elders. But if you try to seize the opportunity to plot murder, I won’t mind using my methods to drive you out of Wei Mansion.”
“You…” Lady Xiang looked at the maids, matrons, and Lady Yao who had been beaten by Zhu Changsheng until they were crawling away, angrily pointing at Zhu Changsheng and saying: “You must die today. If you can crash into the coffin and kill yourself before the Wei family’s spirit, we can give you a grand burial and inform the Emperor of the noble character of the Zhu family’s daughter.”
“Why should I die?” Zhu Changsheng retorted.
“Because you are the Celestial Lone Baleful Star. You will bring death to the Wei family.”
“All the men of Wei Mansion have died in battle, and the women and children of the Wei family have also perished. May I ask… who else can I bring death to?”
Zhu Changsheng took a step forward toward Lady Xiang.
Lady Xiang saw the blood on her whip and instinctively stepped back: “Wei Mansion and the Wei Clan share the same lineage. There’s no guarantee you won’t bring death to the remaining members of the Wei Clan. You must die.”
“Guards!” Lady Xiang was determined to put Zhu Changsheng to death.
But before her order could be carried out, Zhu Changsheng raised her whip again.
“Smack!”
The loud crack of the whip echoed through the courtyard.
Lady Xiang widened her eyes and retreated several more steps, staring blankly at the cracked floor tiles in front of her, her heart pounding with fear.
She hadn’t expected Zhu Changsheng to possess some Internal Energy.
With one whip strike, the stone tiles split open. If this whip had landed on her body, wouldn’t it have torn her skin open, even shattered her bones into pulp!
“Since you fear being brought to death by me, then I, Zhu Li, will never enter the Wei Clan’s genealogy in this lifetime.”
Zhu Changsheng slightly raised her head and spoke in an icy voice.
The Wei clansmen found it absurd.
“If you don’t enter the Wei Clan’s genealogy, then you are not considered a member of the Wei family?”
“But I am Wei Yuan’s wife.” Zhu Changsheng glanced sideways at Wei Clan Leader: “The person is dead, but rules are made by the living. The Wei Clan’s genealogy can also be decided by me.”
“You… what do you mean by that?” Lady Xiang asked.Zhu Changsheng said, “All the men of the Wei Mansion are stationed at Linshui Pass, guarding the border and expanding the territory, unable to spare time to manage clan affairs. Now that I am widowed for Wei Yuan, I have plenty of time to establish a new lineage and rewrite the clan register. My name may not appear in your records, but your names can likewise be absent from the register in my hands. So… whether I am considered a member of the Wei Family is not for you to decide. Whether you can continue receiving clan allowances from the Wei Mansion and gain recognition from the Wei Family ancestors is for me to decide. I… am the one in charge of this Wei Mansion!”
She nearly uttered the words, “The Wei Mansion is not yet extinct—it’s not your turn to make a fuss here.”
As she spoke her final sentence, she took a step forward.
Sunlight pierced through the dark clouds, illuminating Zhu Changsheng’s fair and delicate face, lending her features a touch of heroic resolve as an aura of solemnity and severity radiated from her.
Seeing Zhu Changsheng like this, the Wei Clan Leader and Lady Xiang felt a sudden chill in their hearts, their steps involuntarily retreating backward.
In Zhu Changsheng, they saw the presence of Old Madam Wei in her lifetime.
That Old Madam Wei was famously known for preferring action over words, never bothering with the formalities of noble families. The Wei clansmen respected her, yet they also feared her.
After being disciplined by Old Madam Wei several times, Lady Xiang no longer dared to cause trouble under her watch—a classic case of bullying the weak but fearing the strong.
But now that Old Madam Wei was dead, should they still fear a mere young girl?
At that moment…
Zhu Changsheng turned and walked up to Zhu Yuanshu, delivering a fierce slap across her face.
Zhu Yuanshu staggered backward from the blow, clutching her stinging cheek as she angrily exclaimed, “Zhu Changsheng, how dare you strike me! I am the Concubine of Prince Jing—”
“His Highness Prince Jing has arrived—”
Before Zhu Yuanshu could finish her words, an announcement echoed from outside.
Zhu Yuanshu’s face instantly paled, her gaze instinctively darting toward the courtyard gate.
Why would His Highness Prince Jing come at this time?
“I sent someone to invite His Highness Prince Jing to the Wei Mansion to preside over the funeral rites.”
Zhu Changsheng lifted Zhu Yuanshu’s chin with her slender hand, her tone icy with threat: “If you don’t want your identity exposed, stay out of my sight. Otherwise…”
She tightened her grip on Zhu Yuanshu’s chin, squeezing until her face turned deathly pale: “Everything you have gained now will vanish like a mirage—empty and fleeting.”
Zhu Yuanshu let out a muffled groan, wrenching herself free from Zhu Changsheng’s grasp and retreating several steps.
She absolutely could not allow His Highness Prince Jing to enter the Wei Mansion to preside over the funeral rites, giving Zhu Changsheng an undeserved opportunity to rise in status.
“I’ll spare your wretched life for now.”
With that, she hurried out of the main courtyard to intercept Prince Jing.
Zhu Changsheng turned back, sweeping her gaze over the crowd in the courtyard: “Is there anyone else who objects to my marriage to Wei Yuan?”
She shook the whip in her hand, scattering droplets of blood across the floor tiles—a sight both startling and chilling.
At that moment, Lady Xiang leaned close to the Wei Clan Leader’s ear and whispered a few words.
The Wei Clan Leader’s eyes flickered briefly as he looked at Zhu Changsheng and said, “Since you possess such remarkable capabilities, I presume you can handle the Wei Mansion’s funeral affairs entirely on your own, with no need for us, the clan elders and uncles. In that case, I shall withdraw all the servants from the mansion. The Wei Mansion’s funeral arrangements will be entirely entrusted to you.”
“Very well!””You…” The Wei Clan Leader had merely intended to intimidate her, but he never expected Zhu Changsheng to respond so bluntly. This thoroughly enraged him: “Have you ever handled a funeral before? How dare you speak so arrogantly? Do you not know that the Emperor places great importance on the funeral affairs of the Wei Mansion? Over a hundred morticians were hired just to preserve the bodies in the coffins. In particular, Wei Yuan’s body was restored by a master craftsman, with his torso made of special materials. The slightest mishap could damage the body. How would we explain that to the Emperor then?”
“I will take responsibility before the Emperor and ensure no one in the clan is implicated. I ask that the Wei Clan Leader keep his word and promptly withdraw the Wei Mansion’s servants from the estate.”
“Fine, fine, fine. You arrogant and ignorant woman.” The Wei Clan Leader had not anticipated that Zhu Changsheng would be impervious to both soft and hard tactics, defiantly challenging him. Determined to teach her a lesson, he turned to the clan members: “You all heard her. This new bride has no need for us. In that case, there’s no reason for us to busy ourselves here and invite gossip. We can simply sit down and enjoy the feast when it’s time.”
“Steward Zhao!” the Wei Clan Leader called loudly.
Steward Zhao approached. “Clan Leader.”
“Withdraw all the servants from the Wei Mansion.”
“Yes.”
Steward Zhao immediately went to relay the order.
Soon, all the servants Lady Xiang had placed in the Wei Mansion were withdrawn.
Even so, Lady Xiang still felt something was amiss.
Before leaving, Lady Xiang glared resentfully at Zhu Changsheng, then swept her gaze over the courtyard filled with coffins, a venomous scheme forming in her mind: “You’d better watch these coffins carefully. Don’t let the Emperor find out you failed to protect these loyal and courageous bodies. Hmph!”