Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The door of the paupers’ morgue creaked in the wind, and white funeral banners slapped against the frame like reaching hands.

I knelt before the mortuary slab, my hands trembling, while the hushed sobs of palace attendants filled my ears.

“Princess Consort, please restrain your grief. The Prince shielded His Majesty from an arrow during the palace coup. His body has been recovered.”

They spoke with such conviction, as if Zhou Xuzhang were truly dead.

But I didn’t believe it.

A man like him-cruel-hearted and stubborn to the bone-would never die so easily before everyone else.

The moment I reached out to pull back the white cloth, the scent of blood mixed with medicinal herbs rushed at me. Half of the corpse’s face had been destroyed by fire, and an arrow was lodged in its chest. At first glance, it did look exactly like him. But as my gaze drifted down to the person’s left wrist, I felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head.

It was a slender, pale wrist. Tied around the bone was a Red Thread, and at the end of the thread hung a small Silver Bell.

That was the charm my mother had given me on my wedding day to ward off fear.

Looking further down, the hidden pattern on the corpse’s inner robe was the Twin Lotus I knew best; even the stitching on the cuffs had come from my own room.

This wasn’t Zhou Xuzhang they had brought back.

They had brought back a corpse made to look like “Gu Lanyin.”

My throat tightened, and I wanted to flee immediately. But in that instant, a burning sensation like an old ailment flared up in my chest. The Bone Lamp my mother had pressed into my hand before she died seemed to come alive in my palm. Driven by some strange impulse, I pulled out a fire starter and lit the wick.

A ghostly blue flame flickered to life, illuminating the victim’s mangled pupils.

This was the secret art my mother had taught me: the Bone-Lighting Lamp. It allowed one to use a corpse’s bones to see the deceased’s final moments.

I saw it.

I saw a deep well. Palace bricks lined the area, and a cracked begonia flower lay on the well’s edge. A woman dressed in wedding robes was being strangled from behind. She struggled desperately, the Silver Bell on her wrist swaying violently under the moonlight. She turned her face, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, revealing a face that was mine.

And the hand that pushed her into the well was slender and elegant, with a faint scar on the webbing between the thumb and forefinger.

It was Zhou Xuzhang’s hand.

The Bone Lamp sputtered out. I felt cold all over, and my legs gave way as I collapsed to the ground.

I finally understood. They hadn’t brought me here tonight to collect my husband’s body.

Tonight, they wanted me to see with my own eyes that I was already “dead.”

Footsteps approached from outside. Just as I tried to stand, a voice I knew all too well rang in my ears.

“Lanyin, did you see clearly?”

I looked up.

Zhou Xuzhang stood behind a wind lantern, dressed in his black princely robes. His expression was as gentle as it had been when he first asked for my hand in marriage, as if this entire setup was merely a joke he was playing on me.

“If you are willing to be quiet, I can still leave you with an intact corpse,” he said.

I stared at him fixedly, the taste of blood filling my throat. “Why?”

“Because I need the Gu Family Secret Record. I need poisons your father cannot detect, and I need a Princess Consort Jing who is cleanly dead.” He stepped closer, brushing a stray hair from my temple with a tender smile. “Xiao Mingyi is to become Empress. You are in the way.”

So that was it.

I tried with all my might to grab the Bone Lamp, but he kicked it away. A moment later, a sharp pain shot through my neck as he throttled me until my vision went black.

Before I died, I heard someone outside draw a blade and shout with a voice as cold as snow.

“Zhou Xuzhang, let her go!”

It was Wen Xiuzhu.

Unfortunately, he was too late.

Watching the swaying shadows of the lanterns through the bloody froth in my mouth, I made a single vow in my heart.

If there is a next life, I will not love Zhou Xuzhang.

I will have him dead.