Inside the prayer hall of the Zhaoping Marquis Mansion.
Jiang Yuwei, the Marchioness, knelt before the Buddhist statue, fingering her prayer beads one by one.
“Madam, it is time for lunch,” Nanny Wu entered softly and reminded her in a low voice.
Jiang Yuwei did not open her eyes, only shaking her head slightly. “One more recitation.”
Nanny Wu sighed and stepped aside.
She knew that on this day every year, the Madam would always spend extra time in this prayer hall.
Twenty years ago today, the Marquis had fallen on the battlefield.
At twenty years old, the Madam had raised four young children and single-handedly upheld the reputation of the Zhaoping Marquis Mansion, despite the predatory relatives within the clan.
However, because she had been overly strict with her children since they were young, they had gradually grown distant from her as they grew up.
“Nanny, is there any news from Huaizhou?” Jiang Yuwei suddenly spoke.
Nanny Wu looked troubled. “The Second Young Master is the same as always. The war at the border is intense; he likely won’t be able to return.”
“Forget it,” Jiang Yuwei interrupted her. “What about Junyu? Where did he go to fool around today?”
“The Third Young Master left early this morning, saying he was going to a poetry gathering,” Nanny Wu hedged, not daring to say that the poetry gathering was actually a beauty pageant for the top courtesans of a brothel.
Jiang Yuwei gave a cold laugh. “A poetry gathering? He can’t even recite the Three Character Classic in full, yet he’s learned how to put on airs of sophistication.”
She stood up, her knees aching faintly from the long kneeling. “Is Caihe doing well in the palace?”
“The Fourth Young Miss sent a message through someone the day before yesterday, saying the Princess treats her very well, except…” Nanny Wu hesitated.
“Except what?”
“The Fourth Young Miss said she wants to come home for a visit, but the Princess always refuses on the grounds of her studies.”
Jiang Yuwei’s brow furrowed. “Nonsense! Being a study companion to the Princess is a heavenly blessing. How can she be allowed to follow her whims?” She paused. “And Nansheng? It’s been six years since she married. The last time she returned was at the start of the year.”
Nanny Wu’s expression changed, and she hesitated for a while before saying, “Word came from the Fu family that the son-in-law, Fu Jiuque, is going to take a secondary wife. She’s the illegitimate daughter of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. It seems the Eldest Young Miss’s life in the Fu household is not easy.”
“What?” The string of beads in Jiang Yuwei’s hand suddenly snapped, and the sandalwood beads scattered across the floor. “How dare they treat a daughter of my Shu family so cheaply?”
“Madam, please calm your anger,” Nanny Wu hurriedly urged. “The Fu family is powerful, and this matter hasn’t been brought into the open yet. You know the Eldest Young Miss’s temperament; she wouldn’t come back to speak of any grievances she suffers at her in-laws’ house.”
“Silence!” Jiang Yuwei barked sharply. “Prepare the sedan. I will go to the Fu family myself to demand an explanation!”
Just then, a young maid rushed into the prayer hall in a panic and fell to her knees with a thud. “Madam! It’s bad! The Fu family has reported that the Eldest Young Miss… she hanged herself in her room!”
Jiang Yuwei turned pale with shock, her body swaying. “What did you say?”
“The Fu family’s manager is in the front hall. He said the Eldest Young Miss was found by a maid this morning, already breathless,” the little maid sobbed uncontrollably.
Jiang Yuwei felt the world spinning. She spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed straight backward.
“Madam!”
Nanny Wu cried out and rushed forward to support her, only to see Jiang Yuwei’s face deathly pale as she fell unconscious.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yuwei’s consciousness gradually returned.
Her head felt incredibly heavy, her neck burned with pain, and her breathing was somewhat labored.
She turned her stiff neck and scanned her surroundings.
Her heart sank instantly.
She was actually lying in a coffin!
The coffin lid had not been closed yet. She could see the white mourning veils hanging above the funeral hall and hear hushed voices.
Whose funeral hall was this? Why was she here?
“Hurry up with the decorations! Who can take the blame if we miss the auspicious hour and the Master gets angry?”
“Tsk tsk, this Eldest Young Miss of the Shu family really couldn’t see past things. Why give up being a fine young mistress and choose to end her life?”
“What do you know? I heard that to marry the daughter of the Vice Minister of War, the Young Master tormented her daily, not even letting her eat her fill.”
“Shh! Lower your voice. A dead person’s ears are the sharpest.”
Jiang Yuwei reached toward her neck with trembling hands and felt a teardrop-shaped jade pendant.
That was the jade pendant she had personally placed on Nansheng during her coming-of-age ceremony, with the character ‘Sheng’ engraved on it!
Jiang Yuwei felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
So… she was now in… her eldest daughter Nansheng’s body?
Her Nansheng was truly gone? She had chosen to end her life by hanging?
“If you ask me, this Madam Shu really couldn’t take it. For a man, isn’t it normal to have three wives and four concubines? It’s just taking a secondary wife, yet she made such a fuss that she died. Truly spineless.”
“Isn’t it? Usually, she puts on the airs of a noble young lady, with such a stubborn temperament. Now look, she’s given up the position of primary wife for nothing, making it easy for someone else. I heard that young lady from the Vice Minister’s house is top-tier in both looks and temperament.”
“No matter how good her temperament is, meeting such bad luck the moment she enters the door is enough to be distressing.”
“Shh! Keep it down! Respect the dead, say less. It’s just her own lack of fortune; she couldn’t handle the wealth and status of the General’s Mansion.”
The discussion of the two old crones was like a flame that instantly ignited Jiang Yuwei’s fury.
Poor Nansheng—is this the kind of life she led in the Fu family? Even the servants dared to treat her with such contempt!
She let out a loud cry and sat bolt upright amidst the terrified gazes of everyone present!
“Presumptuous!”
“Since when are the matters of the masters something you dog-servants can discuss?”
The funeral hall fell into a deathly silence, followed by an explosion of screams.
“Ghost… a ghost!”
“A reanimated corpse! The Eldest Young Miss has come back to life!”
The two old crones threw down the spirit money in their hands and fled with their heads covered.
Jiang Yuwei—now Shu Nansheng—watched their fleeing figures with a cold gaze.
Nansheng, my poor child.
Mother is here.
From today on, Mother will take back every single grievance you suffered, one by one!
When Fu Jiuque and Yao Huiyi rushed to the funeral hall, they happened to see “Shu Nansheng” climbing out of the coffin.
Yao Huiyi shrieked in fear and hid entirely behind Fu Jiuque.
“You… are you human or a ghost?” Fu Jiuque’s face was pale, and his voice was trembling.
Jiang Yuwei stood by the coffin and swept a cold glance over the two of them.
She saw Fu Jiuque dressed in bright red wedding robes, and Yao Huiyi was also adorned in a phoenix crown and official robes, which caused fury to instantly flare up in her heart.
“What? Is the Fu family already holding a celebration?” Jiang Yuwei’s voice was ice-cold. “You couldn’t even wait for me to be enshrouded and buried?”
Fu Jiuque was left speechless by her question. It took him a long while to find his voice. “Nansheng, since you aren’t dead, why are you playing ghost?”
“Playing ghost?” Jiang Yuwei sneered. “I’d like to ask the Fu family instead—is it that you cannot tolerate the legitimate eldest daughter of our Zhaoping Marquis Mansion? How long have I been ‘dead’ before you were in such a hurry to marry a secondary wife?”
Yao Huiyi poked her head out from behind Fu Jiuque and said hypocritically, “Sister, please don’t misunderstand. It’s all this younger sister’s fault. I originally thought to wait until Sister was laid to rest before entering the household.”
“Who is your sister?” Jiang Yuwei interrupted her directly. “Is the legitimate eldest daughter of the Zhaoping Marquis Mansion someone an illegitimate daughter like you can just claim kinship with?”
Yao Huiyi’s face turned blue and white from being choked off. She tugged at Fu Jiuque’s sleeve with a look of grievance.
Fu Jiuque flew into a rage instantly. “Shu Nansheng, how can you speak like that? Huiyi was acting out of kindness!”
“Kindness?” Jiang Yuwei took a step forward, her gaze like a blade. “Wearing a bright red wedding dress before my funeral altar—what kind of kindness is that?”