There is a coffin in the center of the wedding hall.
When I was pushed into the gate of the General's Mansion, the first thing I saw was the dark coffin. The lid of the coffin was ajar, and a military boot could be vaguely seen inside - black leather boots stained with dried soil and blood.
The onlookers all stood on both sides, no one spoke, no one congratulated him. Dozens of pairs of eyes stared at me, as if looking at an animal about to be sent to the altar.
"The bride has arrived!"
Someone pushed me behind me, and I staggered and almost fell to the ground. The hijab on my head slipped off, and I subconsciously reached out to grab it, but I heard a sneer coming from the side.
"She is indeed a concubine. She can't even hold her hijab steady."
The speaker was an old lady wearing a crimson robe, twisting a string of green beads in her hand. She was sitting on the chair next to the coffin, with a smile on her lips, but her eyes were piercing me like knives.
I remember her. Three days ago, Mrs. Shen was sitting like this in the main hall of the Shen family, looking at me kneeling on the ground with the same eyes.
"Shen Tang, your father has agreed." She threw a marriage certificate in front of me, "The Xiao family came to propose marriage and named the Shen family's legitimate daughter. But Jingjing is still young, so you go in her place."
I stared at the word "Xiao Yan" on the marriage certificate and clenched the corners of my clothes tightly with my fingers.
Xiao Yan.
General Zhenbei led his army on an expedition three years ago and died at Yanhui Pass along with 50,000 soldiers. When the body was brought back, rumors spread throughout the capital that his soul was trapped by an enemy monster. The coffin was not tightly closed, and knocking sounds could be heard from the coffin every night.
A living person marries a dead person.
"Old lady, I don't..."
