Rongguo Mansion, reception hall.
Empress Yin swept her hand:
"Lay out the gifts."
At her command, the eunuchs placed the rosewood boxes on the table in a row.
They opened them together.
Inside were wedding dresses, silk, jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, rings, and hairpins, as well as Dragon and Phoenix Wedding Cakes and other gifts, with three sets of everything.
Jia Mu, Concubine Zhao, and Wang Xifeng exchanged bewildered looks.
Empress Yin parted her crimson lips:
"Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, and Jia Tanchun of Rongguo Mansion are still unmarried, are they not? These are tokens of my regard, to enrich their dowries when they wed!"
Jia Mu's expression changed drastically.
The greatest source of conflict in the affair of the Second Prince, Jiang Qi, had been an edict bestowing marriage, demanding three concubines for the Prince's Mansion-none other than Yu'er, Baochai, and Tanchun.
What did the Empress intend by this gesture now?
Empress Yin looked deeply at Concubine Zhao, her smile blooming like a flower:
"All things in this world turn through the cycle of cause and consequence."
With that, she abruptly ordered her departure, and the smile vanished from her dignified face.
Qi'er, your mother will avenge you soon!!!
The palace maids and eunuchs filed out, leaving only one of the Empress's personal palace maids behind.
Looking at the bewildered Old Madam, she pointed at the rosewood boxes and gave a soft laugh:
"To be burned when the time comes!"
Then she glided away.
The Empress was too exalted to utter certain words, so the maid spoke them for her.
Boom!
Jia Mu felt as though a thunderbolt had struck from a clear sky, and she nearly collapsed.
A heavy gloom shrouded Wang Xifeng's phoenix eyes.
Burned?
This was a Ghost Marriage!
Marrying the living to the dead!!