Underworld Embroidery

I was the most unremarkable mute girl in the village, yet my birth chart was entirely yin. The clan chief said that for a bolt of cloth and three dou of rice, he would marry me off to the late heir of the Prince of Dingbei. On our wedding night, I was nailed into a coffin beside a corpse dressed in wedding robes. But before my veil could be lifted, the “corpse” suddenly opened his eyes and clamped his fingers around my throat like iron pincers. His voice scraped like a blade across ice. “An entirely yin fate? Perfect. I can borrow your breath.” I struggled to pry his fingers off, but saw the reflection of the fiery red birthmark on the back of my neck in his pupils: the “Fire Sparrow Mark” worn only by enemy spies. He smiled. “Want to live? Bring the person you're supposed to meet out into the open within seven days, or I'll drain you dry whenever I please.” I went cold all over, but could only nod. The coffin lid was already nailed shut. Outside were the soldiers guarding the tomb, and inside was a living corpse who could kill me at any moment. I had only one goal left: make the enemy commander show himself within seven days, in exchange for my escape from the coffin.