She died in Changqing Palace and was reborn at the age of five.
After her rebirth, she entered Qingyun Taoist Temple and became a disciple of True Lord Changguang. Together with him, she took up the work of a Corpse Stitcher, learning skills such as face painting, corpse stitching, and medicine…
All in the hope of changing the fate of her previous life and avoiding Prince Jing.
But just three months ago, True Man Changcheng frequently visited Qingyun Taoist Temple, inquiring with her master, True Lord Changguang, about a person whose Fate Pattern absorbed the fortune of six relatives to strengthen their own destiny.
And the person possessing such a Fate Pattern was none other than her, Zhu Changsheng.
This True Man Changcheng was the very person who, in her previous life, helped Prince Jing plot to seize her Fate Pattern.
From this, it was clear that Prince Jing’s Mansion had already set its sights on her. She needed to rely on this marriage with the Wei family to counterbalance Prince Jing’s influence!
“The person in this mirror is that lingering ghostly spirit. It has been following me since birth, and the bronze mirror cannot reflect my true appearance. Therefore, my master told me that this is a debt from my previous life. Thus, she has always been inseparable from me. I carry a yin debt, and my yin energy is too heavy, making me unsuitable for marriage. However, I am suitable for a ghost marriage. Now that I have told you the truth, Young General Wei, do you still think this marriage between us is holding me back?”
Zhu Changsheng picked up the red cloth and covered the bronze mirror.
Wei Yuan suddenly snapped back to reality.
If not for the many strange occurrences after his death in battle, he would never have believed what was before him while he was alive.
“Actually, there is another reason why I took on this marriage with you,” Zhu Changsheng added.
Wei Yuan stared at her blankly.
She turned to face him, her red lips parting slightly: “The Qingming Festival on the third day of the third lunar month is my seventeenth birthday. If I do not find a suitable person to marry before then, I will not live to see eighteen.”
“My Fate Pattern Afflicts Six Relatives. If I marry a living person, I will inevitably bring misfortune to my husband and children. I absolutely cannot marry a normal husband, for fear of causing his death. But Young General Wei, you are different. You are already deceased. The entire Wei Mansion perished in battle. The heroes fought enemies on the battlefield while alive, carrying righteous energy. Even after death, their righteousness remains vast. Although there are no living people left in Wei Mansion, the righteous energy suppresses evil. Therefore, the Evil Spirits outside cannot easily invade Wei Mansion, and they can also restrain the ghostly spirit by my side, helping me through this tribulation.”
Zhu Changsheng fabricated a few lines. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t live past eighteen; she just wanted Wei Yuan to agree to the marriage. If he refused, she couldn’t force a ghost… no, he wasn’t even a ghost now, merely a soul body.
It took Wei Yuan a long time to digest Zhu Changsheng’s words: “You… you think that because everyone in my mansion died in battle, I and the Wei family are most suitable for you?”
“Yes.” Zhu Changsheng nodded.
Wei Yuan didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about such a reason.
He never expected that after his death, he would have such romantic luck, being remembered by a woman.
After all, no living person would willingly enter a ghost marriage with a dead person.
But he felt uneasy: “I…”
“If you are worried about my future, in a few years, after the Evil Spirits around me have left, I will willingly request a divorce from you. So, what else is there for Young General Wei to worry about? Or… does the General not wish to help this young woman through her tribulation?”
“No!”
She helped collect his corpse; he would save her life. He would lose nothing; on the contrary, he should be grateful to her for bringing him back from beyond the frontier to his homeland, allowing his soul to return to its roots, like fallen leaves returning to the soil.”Though I am already dead, if I can still help you after my death, I would be willing to assist you in overcoming this calamity. However, the vast estate of the Wei Family is not so easily managed. With all the men, women, and children of the Wei Mansion dead, if you enter the Wei Mansion, you will likely be constrained in every matter by the Wei clan relatives. I worry for you…”
During his lifetime, his mother and grandmother kept the clan members in check. Now that everyone in the Wei Mansion has died, she is merely a newlywed bride…
“I am not even afraid of the dead, let alone the living.”
She lightly tapped the table a few times. Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Immediately after, the voice of the maid Fu Xin rang out: “Shui Yao, didn’t I ask you to fetch some food?”
“Fetch what food? Prince Jing’s Mansion has come to propose marriage.” As Shui Yao’s voice fell, Wei Yuan’s soul instantly flew into the umbrella. The black umbrella closed on its own and landed in Zhu Changsheng’s hand.
Upon hearing the words “Prince Jing,” Zhu Changsheng stored the umbrella away, turned to open the door, and said to Shui Yao, “Come in and speak.”
Both Shui Yao and Fu Xin knew of her past, as their Fate Patterns were somewhat stronger than others, allowing them to see things ordinary people could not. She also trusted the two maids deeply.
Shui Yao quickly entered the room and closed the door behind her.
Fu Xin remained outside, guarding the door.
Zhu Changsheng asked, “Prince Jing’s Mansion has come to propose marriage?”
“I was just about to go to the kitchen to fetch food for you, miss, when I heard a commotion from the corridor opposite the courtyard. I went closer to listen casually and heard the second young lady claiming the identity of the eldest young lady herself.”
Zhu Changsheng’s brows furrowed deeply. “What did Yuan Shu say?”
“The second young lady told the steward from Prince Jing’s Mansion that she had been frail since childhood, and her parents sent her to Yuanzhang Village to recuperate in peace. She only returned to the Zhu family these past two days. The steward then asked if her name was Zhu You, and the second young lady said Zhu You was her childhood name.”
Zhu Changsheng’s eyelids twitched. “Foolish.”
So, Zhu Yuanshu’s rejection of Wei Yuan was actually driven by her ambition to become the Concubine of Prince Jing.
If Prince Jing discovered that Zhu Yuanshu had deceived him, she would surely meet a gruesome end.
No, she had to stop Zhu Yuanshu.
Arriving at the front courtyard.
Dowry gifts from Prince Jing’s Mansion were being carried into the Zhu family’s main courtyard, one chest after another.
Zhu Changsheng walked straight through the corridor and entered the courtyard.
Standing in front of the storeroom, Zhu Yuanshu instinctively stepped inside upon seeing Zhu Changsheng’s figure. She grabbed Madam Zhu’s sleeve and whispered urgently, “Mother, that jinx is here. The people from Prince Jing’s Mansion are still in the Zhu household. If Zhu Changsheng reveals her identity and tries to steal my position as the Concubine of Prince Jing, then your daughter will have no choice but to marry a dead man.”
Madam Zhu’s expression changed. She turned to look outside.
Sure enough, she saw Zhu Changsheng approaching.
She quickly instructed the steward to watch over the storeroom and then, taking Zhu Yuanshu with her, walked straight toward Zhu Changsheng.
“Changsheng, why have you come here? I was just checking your dowry and was about to go to your courtyard to find you. Since you’re here now, let’s go to my west wing room.”
Madam Zhu grabbed Zhu Changsheng’s hand and pulled her toward the west wing.
Zhu Yuanshu walked on the other side, tightly gripping Zhu Changsheng’s other arm, half-pushing her away from the area.
Zhu Changsheng sneered and allowed herself to be led to the west wing.
Once inside the west wing, Zhu Yuanshu released Zhu Changsheng’s hand, her face darkening. “Who told you to go to the front courtyard? Didn’t I warn you to stay quietly and prepare for your marriage, and not to interfere with my plans?””You are the daughter of the Prime Minister, and the Emperor holds Father in high regard. Prince Jing already has a principal consort. If you go there, you can only be a secondary consort—a secondary consort is still a concubine. With Father’s status, finding a suitable match from a noble family to be the principal wife would be a thousand times easier. Sister, that Prince Jing’s Mansion…”
“Shut up! My affairs are none of your business.” Zhu Yuanshu’s face instantly darkened, her expression twisted as she snapped, convinced that Zhu Changsheng was jealous of her and afraid that Changsheng would steal Prince Jing away. “His Highness Prince Jing is mine. Don’t you dare try to ruin my good fortune. And also…”
In her obsession to marry into Prince Jing’s Mansion, she had become utterly deranged.
Zhu Yuanshu pointed at Zhu Changsheng, her eyes blazing with fury as she warned, “If you dare break off the engagement with Wei Yuan, I will make sure you die a miserable death.”
“Zhu Yuanshu…” Zhu Changsheng’s expression stiffened. Seeing the sheer hatred on Yuanshu’s face, her clenched fists slowly relaxed.
In her past life, she had never harmed Zhu Yuanshu, so she couldn’t understand where this animosity came from. She had only wanted to advise her that Prince Jing’s extravagant betrothal gifts to marry a daughter of the Zhu family were meant to take her life…
“Since that’s the case, then may you find your own fortune.” Zhu Changsheng stopped arguing with her and turned to leave.
As the saying goes: Good advice is wasted on those destined for doom!
The glory and wealth Zhu Yuanshu pursued were nothing but a path to the Yellow Spring Road…