“We agreed on five taels of silver for the body! Why are you only giving me two?”
“Don’t you start with me!” the woman shrieked. “You never mentioned your second daughter-in-law was this fat! If my son isn’t satisfied with her in the afterlife, he’ll claw his way out of the grave to find me! Two taels is more than enough!”
Old Madam Zhao, knowing she was in the wrong, could only clutch the two taels and grumble about her bad luck. “My daughter-in-law? She’s your daughter-in-law now! Get, get! She has nothing to do with me anymore. Hurry up and take her away!”
The woman finally ordered her men to roll the recently deceased body—which had only just drawn its last breath—into a straw mat. The porters then hoisted the stretcher and began to carry it away.
Bai Qianqian felt her body swaying. Her vision was obscured, preventing her from seeing her surroundings. With a desperate effort, she pushed aside the coarse mat blocking her view.
One of the porters, who had been struggling to carry the body, happened to glance down. He found himself staring directly into Bai Qianqian’s wide-open eyes.
“Aah! The corpse is alive!”
The porter dropped his end of the stretcher and bolted.
“What are you screaming about? How could a corpse—” The woman started to curse, but as she met Bai Qianqian’s gaze, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
“Aaaah!”
The group, who had just barely cleared the Zhao family’s courtyard, scrambled back inside in a blind panic.
“Didn’t you say she died of an illness?” the woman shrieked, her voice trembling as she confronted Old Madam Zhao. “How did she wake from the dead? Did you murder her? Is her spirit seeking revenge?”
“Wake from the dead?” Old Madam Zhao scoffed, refusing to believe it. “Her death is none of our business. Are you just trying to trick me into giving the silver back?”
“If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself!”
Old Madam Zhao, stubbornly refusing to believe the supernatural claims, marched out of the courtyard. She came face-to-face with Bai Qianqian and immediately fainted, her eyes rolling back into her head.
The other woman, terrified that Bai Qianqian would target her next, frantically pinched the old woman awake.
Old Madam Zhao scrambled backward, trembling. “You… are you a human or a ghost?”
“What do you think I am?”
Bai Qianqian stared at the old woman, her head spinning as strange, unfamiliar memories surged through her mind.
“Mother,” she said, her voice a chilling rasp. “Why didn’t you call a doctor for me? I’m so angry… so I’ve come back for you!”
“Aah!”
“Your mother-in-law is the one who sold you to me!” the woman screamed. “This has nothing to do with me!”
The courtyard erupted into chaos. The woman who had come to arrange the ghost marriage for her son was now desperately pleading for mercy.
Bai Qianqian watched them cower in terror. She let out a cold sneer and swayed unsteadily back into the house.
Only after she shut the door did the woman finally breathe a sigh of relief, before immediately turning her fury on Old Madam Zhao.
“Fine!” the woman shrieked. “You’ve finally admitted it! You did something shameful! We’re calling off the ghost marriage—give me my silver back!”
Old Madam Zhao hadn’t even processed what was happening before the two taels of silver—which she’d barely held for a moment—were snatched from her hand. Outraged, she lunged at the woman, and the two began to scrap.
But an old woman was no match for the younger, stronger one. Old Madam Zhao ended up with a swollen face and disheveled hair, losing the silver in the struggle.
It was then that she finally came to her senses. What kind of ghost would dare appear in broad daylight?
Realization struck, and she immediately turned her fury on the house, screaming at Bai Qianqian from outside.
Inside, Bai Qianqian remained motionless, her mind reeling. I was just streaming. How did I end up in this world? Am I even alive?
“Come out, Madam Bai!” Old Madam Zhao pounded on the door, her voice shaking the frame. “You dare to fake your death and trick me! Give me back my two taels of silver! You jinx! You ate the Zhao family’s food for years and contributed nothing!”
Bai Qianqian had never been insulted so viciously in her life. Her thoughts coalesced, and she marched over to yank the door open. Old Madam Zhao, caught off guard, stumbled straight into the room.
“You old hag,” Bai Qianqian said, her voice a low, menacing snarl. “I remember everything. You stole my silver, blocked others from calling a doctor, and tried to arrange a ghost marriage while I was dying. Now you have the nerve to come here and harass me?”
Her grim voice and fierce expression sent a jolt of terror through the old woman.
“I’m your mother-in-law!” Old Madam Zhao scrambled to her feet, trying to regain her composure.
“That silver should have been handed over to me for safekeeping. What daughter-in-law dares to hide a private stash? You’ve eaten the Zhao family’s food every day since you married in, yet we still had to pay for a doctor you didn’t even deserve!”
“Hmph!” Bai Qianqian sneered. “I married into the Zhao family, which makes me a Zhao daughter-in-law. Why wouldn’t I deserve the same care as anyone else? You, on the other hand—a mother-in-law who was so eager to arrange a ghost marriage before I was even dead! I’ll be taking this to the Village Head to see if he can bring me justice.”
She turned and strode toward the door.
“Get back here!” Old Madam Zhao grabbed her, but she was no match for Bai Qianqian’s newfound strength.
The commotion drew the attention of the laborers in the fields nearby.
“Old Madam Zhao, what are you doing to your second daughter-in-law?”
“Didn’t they say she was on her deathbed? She doesn’t look sick at all.”
Seeing the crowd gather and the situation turning against her, Old Madam Zhao decided to strike first.
“Oh, the tragedy!” she wailed, collapsing into a dramatic heap. “Look at her! She woke up and immediately went mad! Even her own mother-in-law can’t restrain her!”
“Could she be possessed?” someone whispered.
“Possessed? What are you talking about?” a woman nearby scoffed, keeping her distance. “This mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have been at each other’s throats a dozen times already. Let’s not get involved—neither of them is any good. We’ll just end up with trouble ourselves.”
The other women watched from the sidelines, none daring to intervene.
“What’s all this racket?” Old Master Zhao’s face was livid as he watched his wife make a fool of herself in public. “Get back inside! Haven’t you brought enough shame on us already?”
Silenced by her husband’s roar, Old Madam Zhao scrambled to her feet, her face flushed with embarrassment.
Bai Qianqian, however, spared the old man no respect. She turned to him, her expression dripping with sarcasm. “I’m not even dead yet, and this old hag was already arranging a ghost marriage for me. You share a bed with her—how could you not know? Don’t think for a second you can just sweep this under the rug!”
Old Master Zhao had never been pointed at and berated like this in all his years. His face darkened. “You’ve clearly lost your mind from the fever! You are still our second son’s wife. We would never stoop to such filth!”
Old Madam Zhao flinched, her guilt written all over her face.
“Hmph! The woman who came to arrange the ghost marriage hasn’t even gone far!” Bai Qianqian retorted. “You should think before you speak, Old Man. I’m going to find her right now and bring her back to testify against you!”
Bai Qianqian had read the family’s expressions clearly. The hot-tempered Old Master Zhao had been kept in the dark, but the others were shifting their gazes, their guilt obvious.
“Oh, my head… I’m feeling faint! This unfilial daughter-in-law has truly sickened me! I can’t… oh!”
Old Madam Zhao immediately shot a meaningful glance to her eldest daughter-in-law.
The younger woman caught the hint instantly. She hurried over, pretending to support the old lady. “Madam Bai! Look what you’ve done! You’ve upset Mother so much she can’t stand! Help her inside this instant! What is all this nonsense for?”
Old Master Zhao finally understood his wife’s game. The rigid posture he’d held moments before collapsed as he found himself torn between saving face for his wife and reasoning with Bai Qianqian.
“Look at them,” Bai Qianqian sneered, her gaze sweeping over the women. “The guilt is written all over their faces. How can you not see it?”
She was determined to cause a scene while there were witnesses. Today, she would not only expose them but also demand compensation from the Zhao family.