Ning Mingshao easily grabbed her wrist. Half of his face was still stained with blood. He smiled sinisterly, like a venomous sore that made people feel cold. He placed a small porcelain bottle on the couch. "This is poison. Mingshao will give my wife ten breaths to consider whether to choose the first story or the second story."

Bi Xie felt a chill run down his spine as he stared at the insidious viper before him. Enraged, he laughed coldly and asked, "Ning Mingshao, do you love me?"

He was indeed stunned, staring at her handsome and spirited face, and said without thinking, "Love, Ming Shao has only ever loved his wife." Of course he loved her, and everything he did was for her, but she had always humiliated him, made him lose everything, and left him utterly disappointed.

"If I asked you to die with me, would you be willing?" Bi Xie stared at him without any expression.

Lin Jinwei hasn't come up yet, and she can only think of one possibility—the Crown Princess and Ning Mingshao are in cahoots. The Crown Princess has used some method to prevent Lin Jinwei from coming to support her, and he is very likely poisoned or drugged.

"You don't want to, do you?" Bi Xie looked at his hesitant face with mockery, and reached out to pick up the small porcelain bottle. "You say you love me, but you don't even have the courage to die with me. You despicable person, how can you expect me to believe that you love me?"

She opened her mouth to drink the poison, but a hand reached out and gripped her wrist tightly, looking at her with hesitation and pain. "Anyone can call me despicable, but you can't, my wife. We could have grown old together..."

Bi Xie looked at the turbulent emotions in his eyes, then suddenly lowered his head and chuckled softly with an ambiguous meaning. "I know nothing. I married you on the Empress's orders, but I know that you are just a pawn that Her Majesty the Empress planted by my side. You all want my life. How can you expect me to believe that a pawn would love me? If you love me, why are you helping the Empress to deal with me?"

When she looked up again, her face was brimming with tears.

This was the first time Ning Mingshao had seen her cry, and his heart felt like it had been scratched by a cat's tail, a feeling of indescribable tingling and astonishment.

"Don't think I know nothing. If you and the Empress hadn't pressed me so hard, and hadn't given me Five-Stone Powder on our wedding night, how could I have run away from the wedding to save myself..."

Her hot tears fell onto his hand, and Ning Mingshao's grip on her wrist stiffened. He had thought she was unaware of these things, so he had never explained. He never expected that she knew all his and the Empress's motives.

He anxiously knelt down in front of her to explain, his sinister expression instantly turning crazed, his half-bloodied face particularly horrifying. "It's not like that, General, you've misunderstood, it's not like that! Although I work for the Empress, I would never harm you, General! I love you, General! No one loves you as much as I do! I..."

Bi Xie sadly dodged the hand that was about to wipe away her tears. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly cried out in surprise, "Ah!"

After the pain from the pierced palm subsided, the prince instinctively rubbed against her again due to the aphrodisiac. Bi Xie had already seen him trying to lick Si Jin's face, so he hurriedly put his left hand up to block him. Even so, he was disgusted by the hot and sticky tongue and felt like he was going to vomit.

Hearing her cry and seeing the Crown Prince's aroused actions, Ning Mingshao's eyes turned as cold as a still pond in September. He stood up, pulled the Crown Prince over, and plunged a dagger into his chest. He stabbed him repeatedly until the Crown Prince coughed up blood, his eyes widened, and he struggled silently. Only then did Ning Mingshao pull out the blood-soaked dagger and look at Bi Xie with concern, "General, are you alright?"

Seeing the concern in his eyes, Bi Xie felt a chill run through her body. But Si Jin's time was running out, and the act had to continue. With red eyes, she shook her head and said, "Since you want me to die, why did you stop me from taking the poison? No matter what you say now, I won't believe it. If you truly love me, then prove it with your life. Die with me. We are not destined to be together in this life, but we will meet again in the next."

“General,” Ning Mingshao said sadly, reaching out to wipe her tears. After a long while, he gave a bitter laugh. “Fine, I will die with you, General.” He walked over and poured the poison into two cups of tea. He handed one to Bi Xie with deep affection. Just as the two were about to drink, Bi Xie suddenly said, “Wait.”

Ning Mingshao frowned and looked at her warily, only to see that her eyes were still wet as she leaned into his arms with a sorrowful expression. "Mingshao, I only want to go to the Yellow Springs with you. Do you want Si Jin to go with us too?"

Ning Mingshao remained silent, staring intently at her with a dark look in his eyes.

"Ming Shao, do you think I lied to you about saving him? If so, you don't need to die with me. Let Si Jin and I die together, cross the Bridge of Helplessness together, be reincarnated together, and continue our past life together. You don't need to explain to me anymore..."

"General!" Ning Mingshao frowned and pulled her into his arms. "Alright, I'll save him."

As expected, there is an antidote for this poison. You liar bitch!

Bi Xie breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Si Jin take the antidote. Although this pervert was cunning, he seemed to truly love the original owner. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so easily swayed by her words. However, being liked by such a pervert was not a good thing. No wonder the original owner's deepest impression of him was only that he made her poison Han Yun at the end.

“General, he will not die today, and he will not disturb us.” Ning Mingshao arranged his teacup in the gesture of exchanging cups with Bi Xie. “On the day of my wedding with the General, the General did not drink the nuptial wine with me. Today, I will make up for it.”

"Okay," Bi Xie smiled.

The two exchanged a glance. Bi Xie lowered his eyelashes and hurriedly chanted before drinking the nuptial wine, "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, three and five unite, divine energy rises, ten thousand ghosts roam in stealth—"

A gust of cold wind swept by, and Ning Mingshao immediately sensed something was wrong and stood up. He hadn't drunk the poisoned tea at all; he had been staring at Bi Xie. The gust of wind made him stand up menacingly and smash the teacup. "General, what are you reciting? You were lying to me after all!"

"Don't turn around," Bi Xie said, a slow smile playing on her lips as she saw the five ghosts behind him. Who said she was stalling for time to wait for Lin Jinwei? She didn't act rashly because she sensed something was amiss with Si Jin's unconsciousness. Luckily, she managed to trick him into giving her the antidote; otherwise, even if the five ghosts had come, she wouldn't have been able to save Si Jin.

Ning Mingshao turned back after all.

Seeing the five little ghosts floating in the air, his eyes widened suddenly, and he cried out, "What kind of evil magic is this?" A cold sensation suddenly ran down his neck as a hand rested on the back of his neck. It was icy cold, and a chill ran through his body. He trembled, and then he heard Xu Xie behind him say, "Kill him."

Several boneless hands limply pressed against his skin. He watched helplessly as his own hands, instead of obeying his will, grasped a dagger and pointed it at his lower abdomen. He cried out in terror, "No, no—"