“Who dares lay a finger on her!” Leng Feng drew his sword and stood beside Shen Mingshu, the blade pointed directly at the young man’s chest.
The sallow-faced youth, named Zhang Dahai, was too frightened by Leng Feng’s sword to step forward, but he still stiffened his neck and shouted, “Who the hell are you? She’s my wife!”
Yun Niang rushed out from inside, still wearing her apron. “What’s going on here? Old Zhang, why are all of you gathered here?”
Shen Mingshu immediately grabbed her hand and complained, “Mother! Aunt Zhang insists I’m Zhang Dahai’s wife! She even said we’re getting married today!”
Yun Niang’s expression instantly darkened. Her previously warm smile vanished as she gritted her teeth and said, “Zhang Cuilan, have you lost your mind? Since when did my Shenshen become Zhang Dahai’s wife?”
Zhang Cuilan was momentarily stunned at being called by her full name, after all, she was older, and everyone usually referred to her as Old Zhang.
She planted her hands on her hips and pointed at the two chickens on the ground. “See that? These two chickens are the betrothal gifts I gave your family! The Mingshu girl already accepted them, but now she wants to back out. There’s no such good deal in this world!”
“Bullshit! Betrothal gifts require my consent! With your son’s face, even dogs would turn away, how could he ever be worthy of my Shenshen? I’d rather die than let her marry him!”
Yun Niang kicked the two chickens back toward them. “Take these damned birds and get out of here!”
No wonder Aunt Zhang had always been so solicitous toward her and Shenshen, she’d had this ulterior motive all along!
Shen Mingshu watched as Yun Niang and Aunt Zhang tore into each other, a faint smile flickering at the corner of her lips before quickly disappearing.
Her lips quivered, her eyes reddening as she said, “Mother! Aunt Zhang called me to open the door earlier and forced these two chickens on me. I barely managed to catch them to return them, and then she showed up with all these people. I don’t want to marry Zhang Dahai!”
Pei Jingheng watched her shifting expressions, amusement glinting in his eyes.
The little girl was quite the actress.
Hearing Shen Mingshu’s words, the surrounding villagers also grew suspicious. “Aunt Zhang, what kind of betrothal is this?”
“Even if our village can’t afford the full three letters and six rites, this is way too slapdash!”
Aunt Zhang stomped her feet in frustration, screeching like a shrew, “What do any of you know? She took my chickens, that makes her my daughter-in-law! Today, no matter what, she’s coming home to marry my son!”
Yun Niang turned and grabbed a broom from the yard, swinging it at her. “In your dreams! I’ll beat the life out of you, you old hag!”
Zhang Dahai tried to intervene, but Leng Feng blocked him with his sword. He could only watch helplessly as Yun Niang thrashed Zhang Cuilan until she rolled on the ground.
The villagers around them merely watched the spectacle, no one stepping in to help.
Shen Mingshu figured Yun Niang had probably vented enough anger by now.
“Mother, stop. I have something to say.” She pulled Yun Niang back and said coolly, “Aunt Zhang, the person you really want me to marry is your eldest son, Zhang Dashan, isn’t it?”
“Zhang Dashan? Didn’t he die ages ago?”
“It’s been over a decade.”
“If Zhang Dashan hadn’t died young, Aunt Zhang would be living a comfortable life by now.”
The villagers buzzed with chatter.
Shen Mingshu raised her voice. “Actually, Zhang Dashan’s corpse has been lying in the Zhang household all this time. If you don’t believe me, go and see for yourselves.”
“What? Keeping a corpse in the house? For over ten years?”
“If the corpse isn’t buried, it’ll turn into a revenant!”
“Zhang Cuilan, are you trying to kill everyone in the village?”
Zhang Cuilan, who had been helped up by Zhang Dahai, turned pale and shrieked, “Nonsense! Absolute nonsense! These two little sluts took the betrothal gifts and then went back on their word! They’re just trying to smear our name! Don’t you believe them!”
Zhang Dahai also tried to speak up, but stuttered as soon as he opened his mouth, “Th-that’s right! They’re spouting n-nonsense! There’s no… no corpse of my elder brother in our house!”
Seeing that the villagers’ emotions were stirred, Shen Mingshu raised her voice and declared, “I’ve long noticed the stench of death on Zhang Cuilan and Zhang Dahai, but couldn’t find proof until recently when I accidentally overheard her saying she wanted me for a ghost marriage with her son. But Zhang Dahai isn’t dead.”
“Yesterday she tried to give me a red padded jacket, and today she brought two guide chickens, those are only used for ghost marriages! That’s how I confirmed Zhang Dashan’s corpse is in her house. If you don’t believe me, let’s all go to the Zhang residence and see for ourselves!”
Someone immediately responded, “Yes, we’ll know once we see!”
Zhang Cuilan frantically tried to hold the crowd back, screaming, “Lies! She’s lying! You can’t go to my house!”
But she and Zhang Dahai were no match for the crowd, and everyone headed toward the Zhang residence.
Pei Jingheng was about to follow when Shen Mingshu stopped him. “Young Master Pei, the Zhang house is too heavy with death energy. Your body can’t handle it.”
Pei Jingheng was taken aback. “What do you know?”
“The moment I saw you, I recognized your imperial destiny, yet you bear a fatal calamity, someone has stolen your fortune.” Shen Mingshu’s expression was solemn, her phoenix eyes bright as she gazed at him. “Don’t worry. You are my destined one. I will definitely resolve this calamity for you.”
Pei Jingheng was stunned. By the time he regained his composure, Shen Mingshu and Yun Niang had already walked far ahead.
Leng Feng exclaimed excitedly beside him, “Master, she just said she’d help you resolve the fatal calamity! Even Master Qing Xuan couldn’t guarantee that!”
Ripples stirred in Pei Jingheng’s deep, pool-like eyes. He calmly instructed, “Go after them and protect the mother and daughter.”
The villagers entered the Zhang residence and spread out to search the rooms.
A young man pushed open the door to the western room and immediately retched. “Ugh… inside… ugh… it reeks!”
Shen Mingshu immediately said, “The corpse is in there!”
Several brave men entered the room and carried out the wooden plank bed.
When they saw what lay on the bed, many began to gag.
Even Leng Feng couldn’t help but frown, this thing was ten times more revolting than the corpses on the battlefield.
Yun Niang retched twice. Fortunately, she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. Fighting back nausea, she said, “Now you all see it, right? Zhang Cuilan really has been keeping a corpse in her house!”
Someone shrieked angrily, “Zhang Cuilan! You’ve been living with a corpse and still dared to visit our homes? How vile!”
“Burn the corpse now! It’s disgusting!”
Zhang Cuilan, her eyes red with madness, threw herself in front of the bed. “Don’t touch my son! He’s not dead! He’ll wake up soon!”
“Madwoman! Crazy old hag!” the crowd cursed.
Zhang Cuilan turned to Shen Mingshu. “Mingshu, dear, if you just agree to the ghost marriage with my Dashan, I promise he’ll treat you well! Believe me, auntie!”
“Shut up! How dare you say such heartless things!” Yun Niang’s voice was hoarse from shouting as she flung the two chickens she was carrying at her, grinding her teeth in fury. “You can know a person’s face but not their heart, I was truly blind to have misjudged you before!”