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After the start of autumn, the days grew gradually cooler. The once lush and verdant leaves had, without notice, taken on a mottled golden hue, shivering in the chilly wind.
In the main hall of Ning’an Courtyard, home of the Marquis of Xuanwu, a young girl lay in her boudoir.
Mu Shengsheng lay weakly on her bed, utterly frail and powerless.
Though her illness had ravaged her body and left her emaciated, it could not hide her exquisite beauty—her delicate eyebrows, small refined nose, cherry-red lips… every feature perfectly proportioned, breathtakingly lovely.
Alas, fate was cruel. She had been ill since childhood, and even the finest doctors across the land had been powerless to help. All had said she would not live past sixteen.
Zi Su, worried for her young mistress, sighed in silent grief.
Suddenly, Mu Shengsheng furrowed her brows, covering her mouth as a violent cough wracked her. Moments later, she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The vivid red spread across her fair palm, like a plum blossom blooming in the snow—striking and shocking.
Zi Su hurriedly brought a handkerchief and stepped forward to wipe her, “Miss, are you alright? Please bear with it a little longer. Lu Luo has already gone to fetch the doctor.”
Mu Shengsheng’s gaze was vacant as she stared at the blood on her fingertips, her expression strangely calm, as if she had long accepted her fate.
She knew—her life had only three days left.
Her voice faint as a whisper, she instructed, “You and Lu Luo have cared for me as best you could. Under this bed are your contracts of servitude and all my silver. When I pass, you two can take what you need and leave.”
Zi Su, tears brimming, choked on her words, “No, Miss, you will not die…”
Her eyes darted toward the door anxiously, “Lu Luo, that foolish girl, why has she been gone so long? If she’s playing around again, I’ll know how to deal with her when she returns!”
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.
Zi Su assumed it was Lu Luo returning with the doctor and hurried to open it.
But when the door opened, it was not Lu Luo who stood there, but a woman in ornate clothing—Mu Shengsheng’s stepmother, Lin, the current Madame of the Xuanwu Marquisate.
She was adorned in pearls and jade, her expression sharp, followed by a group of maids holding ceremonial wedding items—phoenix crowns, rouge, bright red veils… all prepared.
The fiery red wedding dress clashed starkly with the sickroom’s pallor and lingering medicinal odors, an ominous sign.
Zi Su froze, her smile fading into shock and fear. “W-What… what do you want to do?”
An old woman roughly shoved Zi Su aside as Lin and her entourage stormed in.
Standing over the bed, Lin wore a cunning smile.
One of the older maids glared at Mu Shengsheng and said, “Young lady, you’ve been ill since childhood, reliant on medicines. The Marquisate has spent years and fortune raising you. Now that your time is short, it’s time to repay us. The second son of the Duke of Zhenguo has just passed away, and they are willing to pay a high price to marry you. Obey, and this will be your final contribution to the Marquisate.
“Do not resent Madame. She’s thinking of your afterlife… A daughter who dies young cannot enter the ancestral hall. Only by marrying into the Duke of Zhenguo’s family and being buried alongside the late second son will your deceased mother rest in peace, knowing you have a proper resting place.”
It was then that Mu Shengsheng realized—they intended to give her, still barely alive, in a ghost marriage to the already deceased Second Master Fu!
A few days prior, she had heard from Zi Su that Second Master Fu had been dissolute, frequenting brothels, and contracted a fatal disease. He had become a laughingstock in the capital.
And now, Lin planned to marry her off to a dead man—a notorious, filthy, and disgraceful spirit—disregarding even the reputation of the Marquisate.
If her late mother knew of this, she would surely rise from her coffin to seek revenge!
Lin, who usually presented herself as virtuous and gentle while the Marquis was away, now revealed her true malicious nature.
Zi Su rushed forward, crossing her arms to block the bed. “My young mistress is not dead! How dare you commit such heinous acts—you will face retribution!”
Lin glanced at her with disdain. An old maid dragged Zi Su away. “Lowly servant, how dare you speak to Madam in such a tone? Take her and another maid to the wood storage!”
Zi Su struggled and screamed, but outnumbered, she was dragged away until her voice disappeared completely.
“Zi Su…” Mu Shengsheng tried to stop them, but when she tried to stand, she stumbled, falling beside the bed in a dizzy heap.
Lin crouched down, maintaining her mask of gentleness. “Shengsheng, Mother has found you a suitable match. On the road to the afterlife, you will have company, and you won’t be lonely…”
To this frail girl, who had only a few days left, a dowry of two thousand taels of silver was at least something to claim before death.
Lin had already begun planning how to spend that silver and commanded the maids, “Hurry and dress the young lady, do not delay the auspicious hour.”
With a wave of her sleeve, the maids forced Mu Shengsheng to the dressing table, dressing her in the bridal gown, placing a phoenix crown on her head, and painting her face in a festive bride’s makeup.
No matter how Mu Shengsheng struggled, her frail body could not withstand several strong maids. She was forced into place, like a puppet on strings.
Her eyes burned with humiliation and defiance, but her words were weak: “If Father knew, he would never forgive you!”
Lin sipped her tea, confident, “I am the mistress of this Marquisate. With the Marquis away, everything is under my command.”
The Marquis himself could hardly protect himself, let alone others, so no one would intervene.
By dusk, Mu Shengsheng had been placed into a bridal sedan chair and carried out through the back gate.
Inside the sedan chair, tears welled in her eyes as her small hands clutched the skirt tightly.
They had said she would be buried alongside the deceased Second Master Fu… Were they planning to entomb her alive with a corpse?
Panic rose within her. She could not accept her fate; being sent to the Duke’s residence meant certain death, with no peace even in death.
But her body was too weak—how could she escape so many watchful eyes?
The sedan swayed through a crowded street until it stopped at a busy intersection.
A faint voice echoed in her mind: Run…
Mu Shengsheng no longer hesitated. Seizing the moment, she summoned all her strength, lifted the sedan curtain, and rolled out.
Ignoring the pain, she stumbled and ran along the street, each step feeling as if her legs were filled with lead. Her phoenix crown and veil had already fallen by the roadside.
It was dusk, the busiest part of the capital. Amidst the crowd, she ran in a panic.
A strange force seemed to guide her; the more she ran in a certain direction, the easier it became to breathe, and a bit of strength returned.
Until—she collided head-on with a man’s chest.
The frail girl jolted and nearly fell, but the man reacted quickly. Strong arms encircled her waist, pulling her back into his embrace. They collided fully.
Dizzy and shocked, she felt that strange power surge through her body once more. Astonishingly, the three days she had left to live had increased—she now had four days.
!!!