After Zhu Hongzhang left Azure Cloud Hall, he cast a deep, guilt-filled glance at Zhu Changsheng.
Once Zhu Hongzhang’s figure disappeared beyond the courtyard, Zhu Changsheng walked up to Zhu Yuanshu and looked down at her.
“I hope you won’t regret this in the future.”
“What do I have to regret?” Zhu Yuanshu raised her head to meet her gaze, standing up from the ground as she spoke. “I told you earlier in the room that you should just focus on preparing for your own marriage. Stay out of my affairs.”
Zhu Changsheng smiled self-deprecatingly and decided not to continue the conversation with Zhu Yuanshu.
After Zhu Changsheng left, Madam Zhu said anxiously, “Shu’er, you’ve angered your father like this. In the future, when you marry into Prince Jing’s Mansion, you’ll still need to rely on your father’s influence. A woman without her natal family’s support will be looked down upon and mistreated after marriage.”
Just like her…
“Mother, if Father doesn’t agree to let me marry into Prince Jing’s Mansion, what do you expect me to do? Should I just obey Father’s wishes and marry Wei Yuan, only to become a widow?”
Zhu Yuanshu’s words silenced Madam Zhu before she could speak further.
Naturally, Madam Zhu did not want her daughter to marry into the Wei family and become a widow.
“But your father…”
“Don’t worry, Mother. Once I marry into Prince Jing’s Mansion and gain the favor of Prince Jing and Princess Consort Jing, Father will no longer be angry with me. After all, what grudge can last overnight between father and daughter?”
Her mind was fixated only on her dream of becoming a Noble Consort, unwilling to dwell on the unpleasantness that had just transpired.
At that moment, Nanny Min entered the hall carrying a black altar.
“Madam, Young Miss, the steward from Prince Jing’s Mansion sent this item. The steward said that due to Young Miss’s special Fate Pattern, to ensure that the fortunes of Prince Jing’s Mansion remain unaffected after Young Miss marries in, she must drip three drops of blood onto the Talisman Paper inside the Black Altar at the hour of Zi on the third day of the third month. Then, she must carry the Black Altar and enter through the back gate of Prince Jing’s Mansion.”
“What?” Madam Zhu was shocked by such a crude wedding ritual. “Is His Highness Prince Jing not planning to hold a banquet?”
“I asked, Madam. The steward said that the coffins of the Wei family’s sons will soon arrive in Shengjing. With the Martyr’s Grand Funeral underway, it is inappropriate for the royal family to hold celebratory events. Thus, Young Miss must endure this inconvenience. However, Prince Jing has promised to hold a wedding banquet to make up for it once Young Miss is with child, during the full-month celebration.”
Madam Zhu frowned, displeased. “Even if she isn’t marrying as a principal consort, for Prince Jing to take a secondary consort with such simplicity… If there truly is a conflict with the Wei family’s funeral, the wedding date could be postponed.”
“No.” Zhu Yuanshu refused outright.
To avoid complications, Zhu Yuanshu insisted, “If it’s the hour of Zi on the third day of the third month, then I’ll enter the mansion even earlier than Zhu Changsheng. Mother, let’s just follow Prince Jing’s instructions.”
“Yuan Shu, marrying like this will put you at a disadvantage. You…”
“Mother, surely you don’t want Lady Xiang to discover, after Elder Sister marries into the Wei Mansion, that it was Elder Sister who married Wei Yuan instead of me? If Lady Xiang brings the matter of Elder Sister substituting for me in marriage before the Emperor, my marriage to Prince Jing might fall through.”
Madam Zhu opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words in the face of Zhu Yuanshu’s reasoning.
Seeing that she had persuaded Madam Zhu, Zhu Yuanshu said, “Then it’s settled, Mother. His Highness Prince Jing and Princess Consort Jing are both good people. They won’t treat me poorly once I enter the mansion. The wedding ceremony is just a formality. Whether life turns out well isn’t determined by a single banquet but by the person I marry.”
After all, she was marrying the future true Son of Heaven. There could be no delay.
With this thought, she glanced in the direction where Zhu Changsheng had left, a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips, her heart swelling with pride.This lifetime, it was finally her turn to live a good life.
Yet Zhu Yuanshu had no idea that it was this very black altar that had imprisoned Zhu Changsheng for an entire lifetime, leading to a desolate return with nothing gained in the end!
The third day of the third month, Qingming Festival.
As the hour of midnight arrived, the bride boarded the sedan chair.
The creaking sound of the sedan chair being carried echoed through the dimly lit garden.
The two maids, Shui Yao and Fu Xin, stood in the shadows, watching the four sedan bearers until Zhu Yuanshu was carried out of the Zhu Mansion. Only then did they turn and return to the Moon Gazing Tower.
“Eldest Miss, Second Miss has boarded the sedan chair and left the mansion,” Shui Yao whispered softly. “She boarded the bridal sedan holding the black altar.”
Zhu Changsheng pressed her lips together, then lowered her gaze to the golden jade stone resting on the table.
The stone emitted a faint, almost negligible light.
This was her fate.
When the light vanished, it signified her fragrant demise.
The jade had ceased to glow three months prior, but because Zhu Yuanshu had intervened in her karma and taken over her fate, the stone had once again begun to emit a faint glimmer.
This meant Zhu Changsheng was about to experience a true rebirth.
Her fingers gently stroked the rough, dull surface of the jade as she murmured softly, “Kind words cannot persuade those destined to die!”
“Master.”
A servant’s voice came from outside the courtyard.
Zhu Changsheng placed the jade back around her neck and rose to greet Zhu Hongzhang.
“Changsheng,” Zhu Hongzhang entered the room, looking at Zhu Changsheng, who was already fully made up and dressed in her wedding robes.
His gaze fell on the large white begonia hairpin adorning the side of Zhu Changsheng’s hair.
A bride should have been adorned with golden hairpins and jade ornaments, but since the man Zhu Changsheng was to marry had died in battle, such festive items were kept to a minimum.
“Changsheng, I’ve wronged you,” Zhu Hongzhang felt a deep pang of guilt. “Your father couldn’t keep you at the Zhu Mansion to grow up, and now that you’ve finally returned home, you have to clean up your sister’s mess.”
“Father, you speak too gravely.” She understood his good intentions; otherwise, she would not have grown up safely in Yuanzhang Village.
She did not want him to remain trapped in guilt.
“I’m almost seventeen, with no suitors at the door. Father must be planning to support his daughter for a lifetime.”
Her Fate Pattern was unique—it Afflicted Six Relatives. She had to distance herself from family and friends to ensure the safety of those around her.
Of course, there had been those who proposed marriage to Zhu Hongzhang, but he dared not conceal this matter. Whenever he spoke of Zhu Changsheng’s Fate Pattern to suitors, they would vanish without a trace the very next day, fearing they would be afflicted to death by Zhu Changsheng.
Thus, until the age of seventeen, no one had come to propose marriage to Zhu Changsheng.
Zhu Hongzhang had also resigned himself to supporting her for the rest of her life.
Now that Zhu Changsheng had spoken these words openly, a sudden wave of sorrow washed over Zhu Hongzhang, lamenting the injustice fate had dealt his daughter.
“Now, your daughter is finally about to marry. The Wei Mansion is vast and prosperous. I won’t have to worry about pleasing my in-laws above or striving to win my husband’s favor below. There is also a great fortune awaiting my management. As long as I guard the Wei Mansion well, living a worry-free life for the rest of my days won’t be a problem. I can even return home often to visit you, Father. Such a good life must be the fortune I cultivated in my past life. Father need not worry for your daughter. Having grown up freely outside, I am unaccustomed to the constraints of family discipline. Now, with neither husband nor in-laws alive, I alone will have the final say in the Wei family. How delightful!”
Zhu Hongzhang was actually amused by her words, tears welling in his eyes, his throat choked with emotion.At that moment, the steward of the Zhu residence entered: “Master, Eldest Miss, the Wei Clan has sent someone to say that the bridal sedan for Eldest Miss must enter through the side gate of Wei Mansion. The main gate must be reserved for the Wei men who died in battle. The deceased are of utmost importance, and funeral matters take precedence. Eldest Miss will have to endure this slight.”
“Whose idea is this?” Zhu Hongzhang’s expression changed, and he turned sharply to ask Steward Feng.
Zhu Changsheng had already guessed whose idea it was.
Before Steward Feng could reply, Zhu Changsheng spoke first: “I heard that when Lady Wei and Old Madam Wei were alive, Lady Xiang liked to frequently go to Wei Mansion to stir up trouble, causing several disturbances there. Later, Old Madam Wei used forceful means to forbid her from ever setting foot in Wei Mansion again. Now that all the men of Wei Mansion have died in battle and the women and children of the Wei family have taken their own lives, I’m afraid Lady Xiang now holds sole power in the Wei residence.”
Zhu Hongzhang’s face darkened; he had heard many things about Lady Xiang.
In Shengjing, she was notorious as a troublemaker, having nearly ruined the relationship between General Wei and his wife several times. She was savage and difficult to deal with.
If they yielded to Lady Xiang this time, Chang Sheng would certainly not have a good life in Wei Mansion in the future.
“I’ll go find someone from the Wei family.” Zhu Hongzhang turned and was about to leave Moon Gazing Tower when Zhu Changsheng stopped him.
“Father, it is I who will live this life. Father cannot stand up for me in every matter in the Wei family. That would easily give people grounds for gossip. Dealing with a brute like Lady Xiang, reasoning with her is useless.”
Zhu Changsheng looked back at Shui Yao: “Shui Yao, bring me the red bridal veil.”
“Fu Xin, bring the spirit tablet I prepared earlier.”
The two maids responded in unison with an “Aye.”
They brought the red bridal veil and Wei Yuan’s spirit tablet.
The red bridal veil was placed over Zhu Changsheng’s head, and the spirit tablet was handed to her.
Zhu Changsheng lowered her head beneath the veil: “The funeral must be held, and the wedding must take place. Only by passing through the main gate of Wei Mansion will I become the mistress of Wei Mansion.”
“Lift the sedan—”
The suona horns sounded, and firecrackers shook the sky.
The Zhu family’s wedding procession and the coffins of the Wei men emerged onto the main street from two different alleys.
When Wei Yuan’s coffin came out of the alley, the Zhu family’s bridal sedan merged into the procession.
The groom led in front, the bridal sedan followed behind.
Joy and mourning walked together!