"It's hopeless." Doctor Qiao said, looking down at the woman kneeling at his feet, and sighed, "Mrs. Jiang, you should mourn. Sacrificing one to save two, you should be content with this."
After saying this, he picked up his medicine box and turned to leave.
Outside the courtyard, a carriage was parked. A man who looked like a housekeeper was standing next to the carriage, and an elderly woman was tremblingly kneeling beside it.
Doctor Qiao bowed his hand and said, "Housekeeper Zhao, she's not going to make it."
"Not dead yet?" Housekeeper Zhao glanced at Mrs. Jiang Chen, he had come here with a death notification, but the person hadn't died yet, which could be problematic to explain if investigated.
Doctor Qiao said respectfully, "She's not completely dead yet, probably half an hour to go."
Housekeeper Zhao's face fell as he looked at Mrs. Jiang Chen.
Mrs. Jiang Chen hurriedly kneeled two steps forward, anxiously said, "Milord, don't be anxious. I will go in and send her on her last journey, and will not delay the master's auspicious time."
After saying this, she swayed her thin, bamboo-like legs towards the room.
The woman who had been kneeling in the room, Mrs. Qu, stretched out her arms to stop Mrs. Jiang Chen, sobbing, "Mother-in-law, how can you be so cruel? How can you justify this to Fusheng? My daughter is still breathing."
"Well, she needs to hurry up and stop breathing, get out of the way, think about your own children." Mrs. Jiang Chen pushed Mrs. Qu away and reached out to strangle the young girl.
Mrs. Qu let out a scream and rushed over to grab Mrs. Jiang Chen's hair bun, pulling it back with all her might, "I won't let you kill my daughter! I'll fight you!"
Mrs. Jiang Chen stumbled and fell to the ground, turning back like a hungry wolf towards Mrs. Qu, raised her hand and slapped Mrs. Qu’s face twice. Instantly, blood flowed from the corner of Mrs. Qu's mouth, and her face also swelled.
Mrs. Qu's eyes were red as she held tightly onto Mrs. Jiang Chen, not caring about her continued slaps, and not allowing her near the bed. This angered Mrs. Jiang Chen, and she lifted her foot and kicked Mrs. Qu in the stomach, causing her to turn pale and stunning her a few steps back onto the ground.
Mrs. Jiang Chen was not ready to stop. She rushed over and kicked Mrs. Qu's stomach several times, "How dare you hit me? Today I'm not stopping until I take your skin off!"
Mrs. Qu, pale-faced, lifted her head to glance at Mrs. Jiang Chen and suddenly felt a warm flow burst out of her, staining the ground with blood. "Mother-in-law, I'm three months pregnant, you...you…"
Before Mrs. Qu could finish speaking, Mrs. Jiang Chen kicked her head, and Mrs. Qu fell to the ground unconscious, unable to bear any longer.
After dealing with Mrs. Qu, Mrs. Jiang Chen spat in disgust before cruelly clamping her hand onto the throat of the bloodied woman lying on the bed. The woman only managed to kick her legs several times before she ceased to move.
Releasing her hand, Mrs. Jiang Chen carefully checked the woman's breathing before deciding the woman had really stopped breathing. Then she left to respond to the people outside.
"Hurry up and clean this up, then take her away," ordered Butler Zhao to the several maids following the carriage.
As soon as the maids entered, they began to adorn the lifeless body in a red wedding dress while it was still soft, cleaning her face meticulously. Wounds dripping blood on her head were bandaged, and a veil placed over the face.
With the cleanup completed, the maids left the hut. Unnoticed by everyone was the subtle curling of the hand from the body on the bed, shortly followed by the slow opening of her eyes.
Stricken with a splitting headache, Jiang Xi's vision was dominated by a weak red hue. The heavy scent of blood was prevalent, indicating severe injuries. Surprisingly, she was still alive after falling off the winding mountain road. Heavens did not want her dead!
"Zhou Fei, postpone the board meeting!" Anger surged within Jiang Xi, who was now struggling to stand up only to helplessly collapse back onto the bed.
With this tumble, memories flashed through Jiang Xi's mind like blinking lights. She gasped in shock, and before she could react, she heard footsteps approaching.
"Speed up. If you delay master's auspicious timing, it won't end well. Lift her onto the cart," someone ordered in a hushed voice.
Jiang Xi shivered as the images kept flashing in her mind.
One was an extraordinary heiress of the Jiang Corporation, holding the lifeblood of the capital's business circle. The other, a simple village girl from Nan Zhao state.
Both were named Jiang Xi? Then who is she?
Four burly men approached the bed, terrified at the sight of the corpse dressed in red wedding attire. However, knowing they could not defy their master's commands, they proceeded to carry Jiang Xi out.
"Save me," Jiang Xi cried out when she heard a movement beside her.
The person supporting Jiang Xi's head sighed, "No one will come to save you. Your family has given you to the eldest son as his wife in the underworld, which is a blessing... Ah, who speaks? Who spoke?"
The strong man, frightened, abruptly jumped off the bed, his face blanched as he stared at Jiang Xi slowly sitting up on the bed. He shrieked, "She's pretending to be dead!"
He ran with all his might. The other three who came in with him were also so scared that they scrambled off.
Jiang Xi pulled off the lid that was blocking her view and looked down at her wedding dress, red as rouge. A blood-stained hand leaned by the bed clung to the bed's edge. Mrs. Qu, peering in, steeled herself, "Is my son...still alive?"
Mrs. Qu, my... mother? Jiang Xi gently inhaled and nodded her head, "...Yes, alive."
After hearing this word, Mrs. Qu fainted again.
Jiang Xi quickly took stock of the situation and concluded that she was still herself, Jiang Xi, but also no longer herself.
She was a farmer's daughter, her grandmother, taking advantage of her father's absence for work, threatened Mrs. Qu to sell her for a posthumous marriage to the son of the county magistrate. Mrs. Qu had not been able to protect her own daughter and was brutally beaten.
The original host was also a weak creature that had crashed her head against a well platform.
Outside the door, several men were kneeling on the ground, trembling with fear. Steward Zhao heard that the woman didn't die, and kicked Mrs. Jiang Chen in the stomach with a fierce warning, "If you delay the good fortune of the eldest son, you can expect your death!"
Jiang Chen could not believe it. She had strangled the girl with her own hands, how could she still be alive?
Just then, the voice of Jiang Xi came from the thatched cottage, "Jiang Chen, come here."
Jiang Chen was so scared that she sat down on the ground, her mouth open but unable to make a sound, was the girl really playing dead?
"Jiang Chen! Is this your definition of 'dead'? Or do you think twenty taels is not enough, and you want to raise the price?" Steward Zhao's face also turned pale.
However, he who has lived for more than half of his life did not believe in it. How can there be any instances of resurrection in this world? Therefore, he glared furiously at Madam Jiang Chen.
Madam Jiang Chen knelt outside the carriage, knocking her head on the ground as if pounding garlic: "Noble one, they're really dead... No, there's also Madam Qu in there, she's causing trouble!"
"Then you go in to carry the person out," said Manager Zhao.
Madam Jiang Chen shakily got up, and dared not go into the room.
Two burly men next to her picked her up and directly threw her into the room. An old woman standing by the side of the carriage leaned in and whispered, "Manager, this won't work. We can't handle the chaos if it starts, let's go back first."
Manager Zhao also wanted to go back, but the eldest young master had already made all arrangements. If he didn't bring back someone for the ghost marriage, how could he bear it?
Hardened by their thoughts, they said: "If they're not completely dead, then try another procedure."
Madam Jiang Chen, who was thrown into the room, got up and saw a pair of shiny black eyes staring at her. There were bloody traces cascading down the corners of the terrifyingly pale face. Who else could it be if not Jiang Xi?
Jiang Xi recognized Madam Jiang Chen, the original host's grandmother. No further details are needed as to how wicked she was. Forcing her granddaughter to death for money, what good could she be?
Jiang Xi curled her lips, chuckling lowly: "Grandma, come, come over to me."
"No, no," having lived half her life, Madam Jiang Chen had never seen such a sight and retreated, shaking her head.
Jiang Xi got off the bed and walked towards Madam Jiang Chen. She even wiped the blood from the corner of her forehead, extended her bloody hand as if she was about to grab Madam Jiang Chen, and murmured: "Grandma, it's so lonely on the road to the underworld." Suddenly she raised her voice, "Let's keep each other company."
"Ah!" Madam Jiang Chen screamed, clutching her head and ran out. The twenty taels of silver wrapped in her arms fell to the ground and she was completely oblivious of it, all the while crying out hysterically: "I'm not going, I'm not going to keep you company. Damn bitch, you're pretending to be a zombie isn't it."
Jiang Xi quickly stepped to the door, with one hand propping on the door frame and leaning half her body out, sticking out her hand and trying to make her voice sound as melancholic as possible: "Come on, come on, Grandma, don't run away."
