Sir, Did You Dig Up the Wrong Grave?

The night I came back to life in my coffin, he dug up my grave. Xiao Zhi, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was known to everyone as cold and merciless. Three years ago, he had personally driven me, a “witch,” to my doom. Now, his eyes red, he held me in his arms and said with a trembling voice, “Zhaoyue, I'm taking you home.” He spun a perfect lie for me, saying we were a loving betrothed couple and had pledged ourselves to each other beneath a pear tree. But my medium's intuition kept warning me: What is this man hiding from me? Then my shattered memories returned. I remembered the agony of being beaten with clubs, my younger sister's delighted smile as she took my place and married into the General's household, and his icy expression in court as he impeached me for “spreading heretical rumors.” As my hatred surged, he tore open his sleeve, revealing a spell inscribed there to trade his life for my rebirth. “Our engagement was a lie, but it is true that I traded my life to bring you back.” From then on, I used my medium's art to solve strange cases and clear old injustices, while he wielded his power to reshape the world and cut down the wicked. From bitter feuds within the household to court conspiracies, from the injustices suffered by our people to the grand chessboard of the world. When we stood on the brink of death, I made a pact with my soul and joined our bloodlines as one: “Xiao Zhi, we either live together or die together.” The hand that reached out from the coffin ultimately found a hold on the warmest years life had left to offer.