The Dayong Dynasty, on the day of Mid-July Hungry Ghost Festival.
At the residence of the Minister of Revenue, red silk banners were draped high, and bright red lanterns adorned every corner, creating an atmosphere of joyous celebration, as though a grand wedding was taking place.
Yet, the piercing screams of a woman clashed harshly with the festive mood, chilling the spine.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
A woman dressed in a crimson wedding gown was forcibly pressed into a coffin. A thick wooden stake, as wide as two fingers, pierced through her palms, nailing her firmly within the coffin.
Her agonizing screams sent shivers down the spine as her body convulsed violently.
"Wh-why... why..." The woman's bloodshot eyes stared helplessly at the cold, indifferent faces of those around her, faces that were all too familiar.
A woman in a pinkish-red bridal gown approached the coffin, looking down at her with disdain.
In tradition, the principal wife wore crimson, while concubines wore pinkish-red.
Yun Yujiao sneered as she glanced at the coffin's occupant. Curling her lips mockingly, she said, "Why? Your mother was nothing more than an unfaithful woman. If it weren't for your exceptionally dark fate being useful to Father, do you think he would have bothered to raise a bastard like you and let you occupy the position of the legitimate eldest daughter?"
"Hah! Now that you're about to be married off, Father insists I serve as part of your dowry!" Yun Yujiao's face twisted with venomous resentment. "Why should I, a legitimate daughter, ruin my reputation for a bastard like you?"
Yun Qingwu writhed in agony, her face painted with disbelief. "No! Father wouldn't do this to me… I don't believe it… I don't believe it…"
Yun Yujiao sneered, her eyes fixed on Yun Qingwu's hauntingly beautiful, tear-streaked face. With a glint of malice, she taunted,
"Fool. These coffin nails were specially forged by a Taoist master at Father's request. Combined with your accursed fate, nailing you down will turn you into a living malice magnet, drawing countless vengeful spirits to you. Once you're sent to the Manor of the Dread King, hah…"
She chuckled coldly and continued, "Father plans to use you to help the Crown Prince eliminate the Dread King. Raising a bastard like you for over ten years? That's what you call making full use of a resource."
Yun Qingwu's face turned deathly pale as she let out a shrill scream. "No! You can't do this to me! Even if I die, Yun Yujiao, you won't have a good ending!"
"There's no need for you to worry about that, my dear Sister." Yun Yujiao's voice dripped with venom, as sharp as a serpent's fangs. Raising the wooden stake high in her hand, she plunged it mercilessly into Yun Qingwu's chest. The hatred in her eyes gave way to triumphant glee.
"His Highness the Crown Prince personally promised me—if I help him eliminate the Dread King, his greatest threat, he will grant me the position of consort!"
"When you're dead, my mother will be elevated to the position of the main wife, and I will become the rightful legitimate daughter. Hahaha!"
Yun Yujiao yanked the stake from Yun Qingwu's chest, causing drops of blood to splatter across her face. She watched with twisted delight as the woman in the coffin convulsed violently, blood gushing from the gaping wound in her chest, soaking the coffin in scarlet until Yun Qingwu's body lay still, her once-bright eyes now lifeless.
Scoffing, Yun Yujiao wiped the blood from her cheek, her gaze alight with exhilaration.
Beside her, a woman disguised as a servant and clad in the attire of a Taoist priestess spoke up. "Second Miss, keep this stake stained with her heart's blood well. Once you're married into the Dread King's Manor, at the appointed time, I will assist you in burning this stake. By then, not a single soul in the Dread King's Manor will survive!"
Yun Yujiao nodded repeatedly, then gestured to those around her.
"Seal the coffin!"
The coffin lid was slammed shut, and a bright red "Double Happiness" character was pasted onto its surface.
Outside, a matchmaker sang loudly to announce the arrival of the auspicious hour. The piercing sound of suona horns filled the air as the ebony coffin was carried out amidst the celebratory music.
Behind the coffin followed a wedding sedan chair. Yun Yujiao sat inside, her face brimming with smug satisfaction.
On this Mid-July Hungry Ghost Festival, the streets were already sparsely populated, but the sight of this bizarre wedding procession made the few passersby quickly avert their gazes, muttering under their breath, "How unlucky!"
What kind of wedding carried a coffin adorned with a "Double Happiness" character? Mixing the red of celebration with the white of mourning—it was a blatant taboo, a blend of joy and sorrow that defied all propriety!
On this festival of the dead, when the gates of the underworld opened and the boundary between life and death blurred, the air grew heavy with unease.
Inside the coffin, the woman lay dead, her eyes wide open in anger, her lifeless gaze seething with indignation. Her blood seeped through the coffin's interior, leaving dark trails as the aura of her wrongful death grew heavier, becoming bait to unseen spirits. Drawn by this potent grievance, ghostly entities began to stir, silently converging toward the procession.
No one noticed that dozens of shadowy figures trailed behind the wedding procession.
Suddenly, a chill wind swept through, and the sky grew ominously dark. A shiver crept up everyone's spine as someone stammered nervously,
"W-why did it suddenly get so cold?"
The moment the words were spoken, the group's gaze instinctively turned toward the wedding coffin. A deeper chill seeped into their bones, clawing its way to the top of their heads.
The head steward quickly barked, "Hurry! Everyone move faster—get the bride delivered immediately!"
The group abandoned their instruments and celebratory airs, hastening their pace. The coffin bearers, however, found the coffin growing heavier with every step, their foreheads now slick with sweat.
A single drop of blood seeped through a crack in the coffin, dangling precariously before falling.
In that instant—
The entire procession froze as if caught in a time loop. Some had their feet mid-air, unable to land.
A crimson figure appeared abruptly in front of them.
She wore a blazing red dress that seemed charred by an unseen fire. Barefoot, she strode forward, carrying a solitary lantern. The wind at her back howled, carrying tiny flakes of snow despite the season.
Within mere steps, she was close, but not a single member of the wedding procession seemed to see her. It was as if she existed in a realm parallel to theirs, unseen yet palpably present.
"Judge of the Underworld arrive, make way! Wandering souls and vengeful ghosts, retreat!"
The ghostly entities trailing behind the wedding procession let out wails of terror the moment they saw the woman in red. Panicked, they scattered like frightened shadows.
The woman's ink-black eyes fixated on the coffin, as if piercing through its wooden barrier to see the poor, wrongfully murdered soul steeped in overwhelming resentment within.
"A body of extreme yin, a fate of wrongful death, and a living malice magnet," she murmured.
With a light tap of her finger on the coffin's surface, she chuckled softly. "Poor thing, were you the one calling for me?"
A wisp of a spirit drifted out from the coffin, its form mangled and terrifying—none other than Yun Qingwu.
Her eyes wept blood, and her expression seethed with boundless hatred.
"I hate them… I hate them so much…"
"I want them dead. I want all of them to die!"
The woman in red tilted her head, her lips curling into a faint, enigmatic smile. "Sure, I can do that. But… what can you offer me in return?"
Yun Qingwu let out a piercing roar, her voice brimming with despair and rage. "Even if my soul is scattered and my bones are ground to dust, I want them to pay the price!"
The woman in red tilted her head thoughtfully. "Let's not waste your body, though. As it happens, I need to return to the mortal world for some unfinished business. Your flesh will be mine to use, and in return, I'll collect your debts for you. How about that?"
Yun Qingwu stared at the woman with blood-red eyes. "Do you swear it?"
The solitary lantern in the red-clad woman's hand transformed into a vermillion brush. Its tip glimmered with crimson, as if dipped in fresh blood.
At the sight of the brush, Yun Qingwu didn't understand what it was, but a primal fear gripped her.
"With your hatred as the ink, no words written by the Judge's Brush are ever false. Yun Qingwu, this is my promise to you."
"I accept! I agree!" Yun Qingwu's ghostly form wailed as her spirit and the weight of her grievances surged into the crimson brush.
With a single stroke, the red-clad woman's figure dissolved into a mist, merging into the coffin.
Half an hour later, at the gates of the Dread King's Manor.
A man draped in a fur-lined cloak lounged in a carved chair, his imposing presence undiminished by his frailty. The ebony-black royal robe he wore could not conceal the innate nobility and arrogance in his every gesture. His deep-set eyes and chiseled features were strikingly handsome, like a masterpiece painted with bold, deliberate strokes.
Yet, his pallor betrayed his poor health, and his body shuddered with frequent, violent coughs, each one rattling like air wheezing through a broken bellows.
The steward of the Ministry of Revenue's mansion trembled as he stepped forward, knees buckling under the hawk-like stares of the Dread King's elite guards. Bowing deeply, he cupped his hands and stammered,
"Your Highness, my duty is to deliver our eldest and second young ladies to you. Please, Your Highness, kick the sedan door."
Xiao Chenyuan raised his eyes, a cough overtook him before he speaks anything.
The steward stole a glance and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
A month ago, when the Dread King was summoned back from the northern border, it was rumored that he had been severely wounded in battle and had not left his chambers since.
Three days ago, the Eastern Palace had specially arranged this marriage, with the two young ladies from the Ministry of Revenue's mansion being wed to the Dread King, a union that was clearly favored by the king.
However, whether this was meant to bring fortune or misfortune, or perhaps to insert a "nail" into the Dread King's household, was obvious to any discerning eye.
After all, the Dread King, Xiao Chenyuan, still carried the status of the late Crown Prince's orphan. Once the heir apparent, his position had been secured by his military exploits on the battlefield, where he gained fame and now wielded control over the northern army.
Xiao Chenyuan's violent coughs did not ease, and his personal guards exchanged concerned glances. The elderly attendant beside him, visibly enraged, snapped,
"The Eastern Palace has arranged this marriage, yet your family dares to bring a coffin to the Dread King's manor! Do you mean to curse His Highness to death?!"
The steward quickly explained,
"The Ministry of Revenue would never dare such a thing. Upon hearing of the marriage arrangement, my eldest daughter was so overwhelmed with joy that she fainted and passed away."
"My master, who holds the Dread King in great esteem, thought that, even though the two young ladies hadn't entered the manor yet, they should be considered part of the Dread King's household. Their life and death should be under His Highness's control, which is why we brought this coffin as part of the marriage procession."
"That's absurd!" the elderly attendant fumed. "I've never heard of anyone marrying off their daughter in a coffin!"
Xiao Chenyuan, seemingly enraged, he suddenly coughed violently, blood splattering out of his mouth, so much so that the handkerchief couldn't conceal it. The blood was tainted with fragments of his internal organs.
His face turned an ashen blue, his eyes tightly shut. His personal guards immediately rushed forward, lifting him up in panic and hurrying him back to the manor.
In the chaos, a man dressed in a green robe, who appeared to hold a high position by Xiao Chenyuan's side, hurriedly instructed, "Bring the bride inside, after all, this is a marriage arranged by the Eastern Palace."
Without further ado, the sedan and the coffin were swiftly carried into the manor.
The green-robed man moved through the corridor, passing the moon gate, and as he proceeded, the atmosphere within the manor grew increasingly tense. It wasn't until they entered the study room that a wave of oppressive heat met them.
In the middle of July, a brazier was burning fiercely inside the study room.
To everyone's surprise, the man who had just been coughing up blood and fainting was now rinsing his mouth. His pale complexion was unmistakable, yet his eyes were sharp and deep, full of intensity.
His regal bearing remained unchanged, embodying the grace of a dragon and phoenix.
"Your Highness's acting skills could make even the most renowned actors in the capital call you their master," the man in the green robe said with a thumbs-up.
Xiao Chenyuan pressed a silk handkerchief to his lips and shot him a cold glare. "Enough with the nonsense."
Situ Jing, his strategist, physician, and close friend, smiled but his gaze turned cold.
"The information is accurate. Even without opening that coffin, I can already sense the malevolent energy emanating from it."
"That old dog, Yun Houxing, really went all in to flatter the Crown Prince, sacrificing his daughter's life for it. He has no shame!"
"Two brides, one dead and one alive. I suspect the one still alive will take action tonight. A living sacrifice draws its power from blood relatives. Once the victim dies in resentment, the blood of the one who dealt the blow will fuel the anger, summoning countless vengeful spirits."
The elderly attendant entered with a bowl of medicine, casually mocking him,
"Can you even do your job, Sidu? Can you deal with those filthy things? Don't tell me you're just like your medical skills—half a pot of water, making noise but not useful!"
"Who are you looking down on!" Situ Jing slammed his hand on the table, standing up in anger. "If it weren't for my Mystical Medicine, could your lord have dragged that cold illness around all these years, still getting on horseback and killing enemies?"
Knock, knock, knock.
The man lightly tapped his fingers on the table, and the two bickerers immediately fell silent.
Xiao Chenyuan's gaze darkened, his voice low, "Enough noise. We proceed as planned."
"Understood."
Situ Jing smiled and continued, "The Ting Xue Yuan Courtyard where Yun Yujiao is located has been surrounded, and there are people keeping watch over the coffin too. Once the time comes, we'll catch them red-handed!"
At the back of the manor, the coffin stood alone.
Unbeknownst to anyone, inside the pitch-black coffin, the wooden stakes that had pierced the woman's limbs were burning away like they were engulfed by fire, turning to black ash, disappearing without a trace.
The wounds on the woman's body gradually healed, and her eyes suddenly snapped open, dark and captivating. Her red lips curled into a faint smile as she let out a delighted laugh, "Hello, the mortal world, I'm back."