Chapter 270 Dream Back
The oil lamp fell to the ground, and the brocade carpet spilled with tung oil instantly caught fire. The flames spread rapidly, burning the crescent-white curtains.
All the wooden furniture in the house is painted with tung oil to prevent insects and cracks and to increase the gloss, but it is flammable when exposed to fire.
But in the blink of an eye, the house was engulfed in flames.
Zhao Jue's pupils suddenly shrank. He didn't expect that the cowardly Shen Mingzhu would actually seek death and even want to drag him to hell with her.
He watched the fire in the house grow more and more intense, with thick smoke billowing and a strong, pungent smell emitting.
Zhao Jue had been to the battlefield and used poisonous smoke to kill the enemy.
He keenly noticed that the pungent smell in the billowing smoke was not only emitted by burning furniture, but was most likely mixed with poison.
With Shen Mingzhu's vicious heart, she would definitely not show mercy if she decided to kill him.
Zhao Jue gritted his teeth and said, "You are really crazy!"
He pushed Shen Mingzhu away, held his breath, and ran quickly to the window.
Shen Mingzhu covered the window with a bamboo curtain, and at this moment a big fire burned the bamboo curtain.
Only then did Zhao Jue discover that the window was nailed shut with wooden boards.
His face was frosty and his nerves were tense, as he planned to break out of the door.
But the toxic smoke in the room was overpowering. After just a few breaths, he felt a burning sensation in his throat. Then, his limbs went numb, and he felt anxious and short of breath, all clear symptoms of the poison.
The fear of impending death swept over Zhao Jue, and he burst out with a strong will to survive and slammed the door hard.
Shen Mingzhu held on to the table to steady herself, her stomach cramped and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
She was ill in the hospital for several days, and was in a daze. At one point, she thought she was going to die. Her mind was clearer than ever.
Many things that I couldn’t see clearly before, or didn’t want to see clearly, have all become extremely clear.
Her father did not have much fatherly affection for her. He had never been kind to her and always treated her as a strict father.
Every time she went back to pay her respects, her father would only urge her to study with the teacher and the governess, and to ensure that her knowledge and etiquette were worthy of her status.
Her mother treated her with some love, but this love was not pure. It was just to make her remember the kindness of her parents and willingly pave the way for Shen Shaohuai.
Her mother never sought justice for the grievances she suffered at the hands of the Second Madam, and always made her endure it.
Shen Shaohuai seemed to treat her very well, but this kindness was only reflected in his words, and he never took action to do anything for her.
Although Shen Shaobai treated her sincerely, compared with how good he was to Shen Qingtan, this sincerity was not worth mentioning.
She didn't understand before. She thought that wealthy families valued rules and were very reserved in their feelings towards their children. They would not be like ordinary parents who would come to their parents' homes to seek justice when their children were wronged.
In order to avoid living a hard life, she tried to please her parents and brother, obeyed their arrangements obediently, and did not dare to disobey.
It was not until she saw Shen Qingtan find her biological parents that the people in the Zhenbei Palace treated Shen Qingtan like a treasure and avenged her for all the grievances she had suffered.
He would never let Shen Qingtan suffer any grievances for the sake of the overall situation.
Only then did she realize that noble families could be so unscrupulous in protecting their children.
It’s not that the Marquis’ Mansion cannot do so, they just don’t want to sacrifice their interests for her.
The Marquis of Cheng'en and his wife took her in not for the purpose of family reunion, but to use her as a tool to gain benefits.
Otherwise, why would they kidnap Shen Qingtan back and replace her?
The husband who always said that he would treat her well and would never betray her for the rest of his life did not marry her, but married the power behind her.
She was no longer useful to him, so naturally she would be abandoned by him.
The more clearly she saw, the more desperate she became.
Shen Mingzhu looked back on her life and felt it was too sad.
She once thought that returning to the Marquis' Mansion would bring happiness after all the hardships, but it turned out to be the beginning of real suffering.
Now she is alone, helpless, and even her health is failing. She can no longer be a mother.
Thinking of this, Shen Mingzhu wanted to laugh.
She kept fighting, fighting, and calculating, but in the end, nothing really belonged to her, only the child belonged to her.
Unfortunately, she failed to protect her children and they left her one after another.
It even completely deprived her of the opportunity to be a mother.
She could have given birth to a second child, but Zhao Jue killed her child, ruined her life, and left her incomplete.
Under such heavy blows, Shen Mingzhu became disheartened and lost all hope.
She was afraid of suffering and had suffered enough.
Rather than living a life of pain and misery, being ridiculed and criticized by others, it is better to end this ridiculous life here.
"You said that if you betray me, you will die a miserable death." Shen Mingzhu was choked by the thick smoke and her eyes were choked by the smoke. She opened her eyes with great effort and looked at Zhao Jue who was trying to break the door and leave. She smiled and said, "Third Master, I will grant you your wish today."
Shen Qingtan can make those who have let her down pay the price one by one.
She can, too.
Shen Mingzhu was determined to die and would not let Zhao Jue escape. She had already arranged for an old servant guarding the other courtyard to lock the door for her.
Not only did she poison the food, she also sprinkled croton, aconite root, Chinese aconite and arsenic in every corner of the house.
As the fire started, poisonous smoke came out.
Zhao Jue couldn't escape, no one could save him.
Zhao Jue was becoming increasingly overwhelmed, and finally he slammed into the opponent.
With a "bang", the door panel fell to the ground.
Zhao Jue then fell to the ground, his whole body numb, unable to breathe, and it seemed like something was flowing out of his mouth and nose.
He tried to crawl out, but his limbs were cramping and he had no strength to move.
Seeing the blood flowing from his nose and mouth, Shen Mingzhu smiled even more smugly: "Since we are husband and wife, I will tell you a secret so that you can die with a clear mind."
Her voice became strange: "You thought you had abandoned Shen Qingtan and chosen me. But when Shen Qingtan got off the wedding sedan, she recognized that the person who greeted her was not you. She knew from the beginning that the person she was going to marry was Zhao Yi."
After hearing what Shen Mingzhu said, Zhao Jue spat out a mouthful of blood, felt abdominal cramps, and coughed violently.
He didn't want to believe that if he hadn't arranged the marriage, Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi would have no intersection and they would just be strangers.
Shen Qingtan was his childhood sweetheart and treated him tenderly and considerately, so how could she marry Zhao Yi?
Zhao Jue always believed that Shen Qingtan treated him cruelly because she hated him for abandoning her.
He crawled out step by step, wanting to get out and find Shen Qingtan to ask for clarification.
Shen Mingzhu had difficulty breathing and fell to the ground. The fire engulfed her and her limbs twisted uncontrollably.
Her eyes were stinging from the smoke, tears streaming down her face. But she still managed to keep them open, watching Zhao Jue climb halfway out of the doorway.
His clothes were on fire, but he seemed unable to feel the pain of the burning flames and was desperately trying to crawl out.
In a trance, the scene of her first meeting with Zhao Jue appeared before her eyes.
In the sweltering late summer, he rode on his tall horse and stretched out his hand to her: "I'll take you away."
She shyly placed her hand in his palm.
From then on, the fate of the two people was tied together, inseparable in life and death.
If Zhao Jue knew what would happen today, he would probably regret bringing her to Beijing, right?
With a "crack", the rafter broke, and the tiles fell down with a "clatter" and hit Zhao Jue on the head with a "bang".
Zhao Jue could no longer hold on, his head hit the ground heavily, and he stared at the empty space ten feet away from him.
It's clearly just a few steps away.
There was a huge chasm between him and me.
The distance between life and death.
Despair flooded over him, almost drowning him.
Zhao Jue felt short of breath and blurry shadows appeared before his eyes.
In a trance, he seemed to go back to the day of his wedding, when Shen Qingtan and Shen Mingzhu were married into the Duke's Mansion with a grand wedding.
He took Shen Mingzhu's hand and carried the bridal sedan chair, preparing to go to the wedding hall for the ceremony.
At this moment, Shen Qingtan came out of the wedding sedan, stopped them, and pointed out that he had taken the wrong bride.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
