Chapter 1: Prologue In the winter of the thirty-sixth year of Emperor Zhaoming's reign, a great storm struck the Qi Dynasty...
In the winter of the thirty-sixth year of the Zhaoming Emperor's reign, Da Qi experienced an exceptionally heavy first snowfall. The heavy white snow weighed down the withered branches, and the ten-year-old crabapple tree in the Marquis of Pingling's mansion, unable to bear the weight, snapped.
At three quarters past midnight, the blood had stopped seeping from Chai Heng's nightgown. She closed her eyes, her once lotus-like face pale. She pressed her chest, turned sideways, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood.
The entire mansion was in a state of turmoil. Outside, the wind and snow were strong, and only the women were left at home. Seeing his sister-in-law, usually as tough as cattail, suddenly in this state, Yang Qingping didn't care much. He put on a yellow jacket and a white fur coat and hurried out. When he returned, he had already brought back an imperial physician.
The imperial physician's name was Cui Jinwen. He was already very old and had a long-standing reputation in the capital. He had just retired from the Imperial Medical Bureau last year. At this moment, cold sweat was dripping down his face.
"Madam, you have so many small wounds on your body that I dare not touch them. I only dare to ask, did you fall into a trap?"
The hideous wound on her leg bone was obviously caused by a trap, and the numerous small cuts on her body were probably caused by bumps and scrapes. The flesh wounds could be healed after a few days of healing, but the problem was that the weapons that stabbed her were all poisonous.
Looking at the current situation, it’s not good.
The poison entered Chai Heng's lungs, and he became drowsy and could no longer speak.
Yang Qingping's relationship with her sister-in-law wasn't particularly good, especially in the past year. Because of the Xue family incident, aside from the maids in Fuyuan, almost no one around her liked Chai Heng.
She looks like a weak woman, but she stirs up trouble and even breaks into someone's house and kills eighteen people. Who can like her?
But seeing Chai Heng near death, Yang Qingping felt bad too. She especially suspected that her sister-in-law's injury was most likely caused by her brother.
After the Xue family incident, Chai Heng and her brother's already delicate relationship finally broke down. Putting aside the fact that Xue Ruyue was her brother's childhood sweetheart, the sheer number of lives lost in the Xue family was terrifying enough.
After all, it was a matter of killing a person, not a chicken. Even though Yang Yan was now in a high position, holding the young emperor in one hand and the cabinet in the other, he could not withstand the gossips of many people. In the matter of the Xue family, this sister-in-law who had always put the Marquis' Mansion and the Chai family first could be said to have caused a huge trouble for her brother.
Yang Qingping didn't know what means her brother had used to suppress the matter, but what she knew was that eighteen people had died in the Xue family, but this sister-in-law still felt it was not enough.
He also insisted on killing Xue Ruyue and the other person's younger brother.
Her idea was too horrible and too outrageous. She was first punished by Madam Chai, and was beaten half to death, lying in Fuyuan for three months. Then she continued to try to escape and carry out the assassination.
All in all, Yang Qingping knew about more than thirty assassinations.
Every time he went, he returned in disgrace.
Chai Heng was quite skilled in martial arts and had lived on Furong Mountain for more than ten years when she was young. It was Prince Jing and the bandits on Furong Mountain who raised her until she was fourteen years old. Even though she was forcibly taken back by the Chai family halfway through, in terms of swordsmanship, there might not be many people in the imperial military who could beat her.
The reason why she failed every time was simply because Madam Chai and Yang Yan both protected Xue Ruyue.
There was no other way. The residents of Xizhimen were all family friends. Long before Chai Heng left Furong Mountain, Xue Ruyue had been frequenting the Chai and Pingling Marquisate residences. She had a good nature, was knowledgeable in medicine, and was a lady everyone liked.
Chai Heng, on the other hand, was just a wild girl who grew up on Furong Mountain and relied on her adoptive father's power. She returned to the Chai Mansion simply because Madam Chai wanted to prove herself. She felt that just because you were the Prince of Jing and had made great contributions to the Great Qi, you couldn't steal someone else's daughter. As for loving her, I really didn't.
In the entire imperial capital, no one liked her except her maid.
When she assassinated Xue Ruyue in the past, Yang Yan still had some affection for her as husband and wife, and at most he would let her come back with bruises.
This time, patience must have run out.
Yang Qingping didn't dare ask any more questions. He simply ordered someone to bring the bloody trap on a red lacquered wooden plate to Cui Jinwen. "Doctor Cui, please take a look at this trap. Can you identify the poison?"
Cui Jinwen immediately pinched the blood on it, his expression changed, "It's Yin Sang."
"What is Gin-sang?"
Cui Jinwen wiped the sweat from his forehead. "The silver mulberry is a tree unique to the Western Regions. Its fruit is delicious but also highly poisonous. In recent years, the Jingzhao Yin handled one or two cases involving silver mulberry fruit. But in recent years, the court has been at odds with the Western Regions. Logically, silver mulberry fruit cannot be imported, and only the Imperial Hospital has a stockpile. Is there anyone who has a grudge against the madam connected to our Imperial Hospital?"
There is no one among those who make enemies.
But there are some among those close to me.
Madam Chai had also worked at the Imperial Hospital and enjoyed tinkering with medicine. She was well-versed in both poisons and medicine. And just before Chai Heng left today, she had, for the first time ever, given her a bowl of peanut butter.
The floor heating in the room was burning hot and sparks were crackling.
A wave of pathetic chill rose in Yang Qingping's heart. She glanced at the weak figure on the couch and asked, "Can he be saved?"
Cui Jinwen shook his head and began to pack up the medical kit he had brought. "When will you be back, sir?"
Yang Qingping said, "The epidemic in Yongzhou is serious. My brother is going to treat it, so I'm afraid it will take some time."
"Send someone to deliver the letter. If it's too late, young lady, you are so young and you may not know how to handle the funeral. You should ask the elders in the mansion for help." The snow was still falling outside. Cui Jinwen sighed, picked up the wooden box containing silver needles, and walked out the door.
At four o'clock in the morning, the night watchman outside started beating the bamboo clappers again.
There were already a group of people kneeling under Chai Heng's bed.
Yang Qingping calmed himself down and then called Zhou Jiu.
He was the manor's chief steward, having served Yang Yan for over a decade. Having been summoned so unexpectedly, he understood Yang Qingping's intentions. "I have already dispatched the fastest horse and the most experienced groom to the official road, but the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, making the journey difficult. Even if we reach Yongzhou at top speed to inform you, I wonder if your wife can wait until then."
No one can tell how long a person who can't even speak and whose head is full of dizziness can last.
Yang Qingping sighed.
But she quickly said, "I can wait. Over the years, no matter what mistakes my brother made, my sister-in-law always forgave him. This time, she will definitely wait until he comes back."
"But……"
Zhou Jiu looked at the weak person on the couch, wanting to say something but stopping himself. Before he could finish his words, he heard a violent cough and the sound of coughing up blood.
The room, which had just been quiet for a short while, became busy again. Half an incense stick of time later, a burst of panicked crying was heard in the mansion.
…
The author has something to say:
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I’m starting a new article. I wish everyone happiness every day.
I'm pre-collecting "You Ling" and I'm looking for your collection.
When Xu Youling was sixteen years old, he was brought to Lingjiu Mountain by the elders of Lingjiu Mountain and became the disciple of the then-powerful leader of the Wentian Sect.
She is of the bloodline of the Demon King, bloodthirsty and hard to tame. In her first year in the sect, she bit several of her fellow disciples. The sect leader was furious and sent her to the inner sect's most difficult junior brother for education.
The elders on the mountain were not easy to deal with, so they left all the mess to the junior sister. She was not the first disciple to be sent for education. The others were more fierce, more evil, and more capable of biting than her.
Xu Youling had no choice but to hold on to her junior brother's thighs. Although her junior brother looked like a decent person, he had a very bad temper. When he frowned, he would often scold her until she burst into tears.
But he would teach her how to draw talismans, teach her to be kind, and teach her to have her own place in the world dominated by monks.
Xu Youling likes him.
They spent the most carefree ten years on Vulture Peak, until the Immortal Alliance launched an army against Vulture Peak in the name of eliminating demons, forcing them to hand over Xu Youling, the daughter of the Demon King.
The usually cowardly leader refused to obey, and blood splattered on the judgment seat. Her fellow apprentices who usually did not get along with her fought desperately to protect her, but they also died one by one under the swords of the Immortal Alliance, including her beloved younger apprentice brother.
Xu Youling's last memory of Mount Lingjiu was the sky-high flames and the gurgling blood.
Later, Xu Youling spent more than ten years and became a demon king more powerful than her mother.
Finally, one afternoon, she carried a tablet engraved with the names of everyone on Lingjiu Mountain and, covered in blood, she fought her way to the Immortal Alliance step by step.
But the one who came out to fight was her junior brother.
He forgot everything about Vulture Peak and became the fiancé of the leader's daughter. He looked at her coldly, destroyed her cultivation, and cut off her spiritual roots.
For the first time in her life, Xu Youling hated him so much.
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