Xie Huan was rudely awakened by a loud commotion, her head throbbing as if it was about to explode. She attempted to open her eyes but they felt as heavy as thousand-pound weights.
"Enough of your antics, Magistrate Li is waiting. If you ruin my plans by missing the auspicious hour, I won't let you get off easily!" The sharp voice belonged to the old matriarch of the Xie household. The old lady stood in the room, her face saggy and riddled with displeasure, staring fiercely at the kneeling Zhao Xinglan.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xinglan shook her head frantically, her gaunt face covered in tear-streaks. Kneeling on the ground, she refused to leave the side of her bed-ridden daughter whose fate was yet unknown.
"Mother, please, I beg you, Huan is still alive, she's still breathing. I beg you to find a doctor to treat Huan, she's still young…"
Bawling and pleading, Zhao Xinglan bowed her head to the ground repeatedly, causing her forehead to bleed from all the knocks, mixing blood with her tear-streaked face.
Matriarch Xie looked on with annoyance. Looking up, she noted the late hour and decided she did not have the patience to further indulge Zhao Xinglan.
"Her body's gone cold and you say she hasn't died yet? What are you fussing about?" Matriarch Xie spat out impatiently, "Even if she's dead, we'd get ten taels of silver, enough to look after the family. What's wrong with that? Being wedded to the Li family into an afterlife marriage with Magistrate Li's son and being worshipped by the Lis in the future, that would be the luckiest thing to happen to her in her life. Instead of crying, get her ready, change her into the ceremonial gown."
Upon hearing this, strange memories started pouring into Xie Huan's mind.
‘So, I've travelled back in time!’
Xie Huan was originally a 21st-century woman. Her family had a lineage of geomancy masters that were unfortunately subject to harmful feng-shui. Wishing to avoid the same fate, Xie Huan decided to change course and opened a supermarket, enjoying a slow, comfortable life. However, she could not escape her ill-fated lineage and passed away prematurely, only to wake up in ancient times as a village girl.
This village girl, also named Xie Huan, grew up in Fengyang Village.
Fengyang village was a remote place nestled by a large mountain, and was a well-known poor area in the vicinity. People who had fled from disasters formed a multi-surnamed community here. Despite the large expanses of mountains and fields, there were more old, weak women and children with fewer labour forces, resulting in low income even with farming.
Xie Huan's father, the second son of the Xie family, had been excluded from the family early on. When her father passed away a few years ago, their household stranded in poverty with no pot to cook in, leaving a family of five to depend on Zhao Xinglan's adopted son, Xiao Changyu, leading a life of hardship.
The young girl had been struck with a severe illness a few days ago and they could not afford any treatment.
In desperation, Zhao Xinglan turned to her mother-in-law for help, after hearing the circumstances, Grandmother Xie hatched a plan with Xie Huan in mind.
It turns out that the well-known gentry family in the town, the Li family, had lost their son prematurely and wanted to find a suitable match for a ghost marriage. If a suitable candidate could be found, the Li family was willing to offer ten taels of silver as a bridal gift.
Ten taels of silver!
To the Xie family, even with hard work, they could only earn one or two taels of silver a year, so this was a huge sum of money!
The Xie family still had several half-grown children to support. The kids ate and drank more, and the Xie family was always in straightened circumstances. If they could get those ten taels of silver, it would completely improve the Xie family's current situation!
In order to get the ten taels of silver, the Xie family's matriarch dragged on without seeking medical treatment for Xie Huan, which eventually led to the death of the poor girl.
Sure enough, when they heard the young girl was gone this morning, the old matriarch, along with her eldest daughter-in-law and the third daughter-in-law, rushed to their household, wanting to take Xie Huan to make a ghost marriage with the Li family.
Zhao Xinglan firmly disagreed, clinging to her daughter and refusing to let go.
The old matriarch of the Xie family shot her a stern glance, dismayed by her obstinacy. A dead girl, which could be exchanged for ten taels of silver, why on earth would she reject it?
She turned towards her eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Cuihua, and her third daughter-in-law, Liu Ruyu.
"You two go, help the girl change into festive clothing, and hurry to send her to the Li family. Don't delay the auspicious time."