Morning came as roosters crowed loudly. Suddenly, the gate of the shed was kicked with such force that it broke and hit her face.
She could feel warm liquid trickling from her forehead down her cheek as she winced in pain. Without any warning, she was dragged by a guard. She yelped from the pain, her skin scraping against the sand. Despite the sting of the sand digging into her flesh, she didn't make a sound. She bit her tongue until it bled to stop herself from crying out.
After a short distance, the guard threw her to the ground, forcing her to her knees. Mei took a deep breath and looked up.
There they were—her husband, her mother-in-law, and a woman she'd never seen before, dressed in crimson red. They sat on chairs, sipping tea from porcelain cups, looking down at her. Despite everything, Mei had an unsettling premonition about the woman.
"Sun Mei, despite being the Duchess and my wife, you went and put a green hat on me!" the Duke thundered. He paused as if waiting for a response.
But Mei stayed quiet. She would never give them the satisfaction of seeing her beg. Since they'd already decided to be judge and executioner, she would let them proceed. At least she would keep what little dignity she had left.
After a moment of silence, the Duke spoke again, informing Mei that he had already spoken to her father—who had told him to handle his "family matters" however he saw fit.
Even though she had never expected much from her father, the words still tore her heart apart. A small part of her had hoped he might plead for her life. But alas.
"Due to the incident yesterday, you will be drowned. A lesson for any woman thinking of cheating on her husband. Guards, bind her and tie some big stones on her," the Duke ordered.
With those words, Mei's fate was sealed.
She looked up, the white linen she wore drenched in blood. A smile curled at her lips, blood dripping from her mouth as she stared deeply at each one of them.
"This is not the end," she said coldly.
"I promise to haunt you and all your bloodlines—"
"Guards, gag her!" her mother-in-law's voice cut through the air like a whip.
She was bound in white linen, her hair unpinned. Sun Mei was dragged—not walked—into the courtyard well at dusk. The stone tied to her chest was heavy and bruising. This was the punishment for noblewomen who shamed their husbands. They said it preserved the family's honour.
The ropes dug into her wrists. For the last time, she looked at him—her husband—as he sat there, regal and silent, exchanging a smile with the woman next to him.
That final, deliberate rejection cut deeper than any blade.
If only she could turn back time.
Blindfolded and gagged, she was picked up by two guards. As they stepped to the edge of the well, Mei felt her breath catch in her throat.
She was terrified.
Without warning, she felt weightless—as she was thrown into the well.
The water was cold. She hit the bottom with a hard thud. She felt every bone in her body break. She tried to rise for a breath, but the stone dragged her down.
She swallowed water. Her lungs burned. She choked. She suffocated.
At only nineteen years old, Sun Mei slipped out of consciousness and into the darkness—her last thought was a prayer for a second chance.
She died at the bottom of a well, shame hanging around her neck.
Disoriented, she rose.
She checked her surroundings. She was still in the well—but now it was dark and quiet, and she was no longer bound.
She looked down—and froze.
Her lifeless body was still at the bottom, tied to the stone that had weighed her down.
She looked at herself. Her body shimmered. She was still human-like, but blurry. She was floating above the water, no longer heavy, no longer in pain.
Despite everything that had happened to her body, she felt nothing.
She gave her corpse one final glance and floated upward, exiting the well.
She was still at the Duke's estate.
The servants moved around as if nothing had happened. As if the Duchess of the house hadn't been drowned the day before.
As if she had never existed at all.
She followed the Duke, his mother, and the woman she now knew to be Princess Hua of Diguo based on how the Duke addressed her.
She saw the glances between them, the soft smiles. The two looked harmonious. Well-matched.
Surprisingly, she didn't feel jealous.
Not anymore.
Instead, she felt disgusted.
She had always been jealous of the Duke's concubine, but now, looking at them, she felt only rage.
The Duke stood at the gate, watching the carriage roll away, his expression soft.
It was an expression Mei had never seen in three years of marriage.
And in that moment, it dawned on her how little she had ever meant to him.
She followed him back to his study.
"Duchess, do you really want to keep following the man who just killed you?"
A mischievous voice rang out behind her. She turned quickly, startled.
A teenage girl dressed in all white floated beside her, blurry and glowing—just like her. She stood with one hand on her waist and a grin on her lips.
Mei wasn't alone.
"Finally! Took you long enough, Duchess. Some of us have been waiting," the girl said, pointing at herself.
"I'm Ling'er," she added before Mei could respond.
"Virgin ghost. Famous among the ghosts in this kingdom."
Sun Mei didn't answer. Her mind was spinning.
She was a ghost?
It all made sense now—how she floated out of the well, how no one saw her, how she wasn't in pain anymore.
She was dead.