#28: Poisoned Wine

After taking Di Jiang’s medicinal soup, Dong Biling quickly turned from critical to stable. The room full of concerned people gradually dispersed, leaving only Di Jiang and Wen Yao, and the four maids serving outside the boudoir.

Seeing no one else, Wen Yao couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “Did you see the look in Yezhen’s eyes when she looked at Dong Liancheng?”

“Hmm?”

“That look was clearly as if she wanted to devour him!” Wen Yao said. “I think her relationship with Dong Liancheng isn’t that simple.”

“Perhaps...” Di Jiang took Dong Biling’s pulse one last time, then led Wen Yao out, saying as they walked, “Let’s go take a look at Yezhen’s place.”

“Okay!”

After Di Jiang and her servant left, Dong Biling, lying on the bed, slowly opened her eyes. She had actually been awake for a while, since the moment Wen Yao first spoke. Dong Biling threw off her covers, got out of bed, and cautiously followed behind the two...

On a early summer night, by the lotus pond in Linglong Courtyard, swaying lotus flowers bloomed. The wind blew, carrying the gentle scent of green grass. The surroundings were extremely quiet, save for the tinkling of a silver bell tied to Yezhen’s waist as she walked. “Ding-a-ling-a-ling—” The sounds, nearing from afar, announced Dong Yezhen’s appearance under the long corridor. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she was stopped by someone.

This person was none other than Dong Liancheng, who had just had the flesh from his ring finger removed for Dong Biling. He waited here anxiously for Dong Yezhen, fearing she would tell Dong Qishan about their secret.

“Yezhen! I beg you, please don’t tell father about us, and even more so, don’t tell Biling! She’s weak now and can’t handle any more shocks!”

“Our secret?” Dong Yezhen recovered from her surprise, then said indifferently, “What secret is there between us?”

“You clearly know what I’m referring to. It’s just the two of us here, why are you pretending to be foolish?”

“I’m not pretending to be foolish, I just... truly don’t believe we ever had anything,” Dong Yezhen let out a soft “Hmph” and chuckled. “Because just thinking about our past makes me feel utterly disgusted.”

She spoke slowly, enunciating each word. Though her face held a smile, it looked incredibly twisted and terrifying, as if she was about to devour the person in front of her alive at any moment.

“Yezhen, you... why do you hate me so much? Just because of me and Sister Biling...”

“Shouldn’t I hate you?” Dong Yezhen looked up, interrupting him, and said word by word, “I don’t understand why, when I was wronged by Ma Wenshan, you didn’t speak up for me. Instead, you helped him send me to the gallows? You watched me being disemboweled with your own eyes, how could you bear it? That was your child too! Just because you wanted to marry Biling, were my life and our child’s life so worthless?”

“You really did know.” Dong Liancheng squatted on the ground, shedding all traces of his pleading demeanor, and said blandly, “You really remember what happened that night.”

“Etched into my heart and bones, how could I not remember it vividly?” Dong Yezhen sneered. “Although I couldn’t clearly see who disemboweled me, I smelled the incense on you! It was the incense I personally blended for you!”

“You...” Dong Liancheng’s eyes suddenly widened. “You should have died long ago! Why are you still alive and standing here?” As Dong Liancheng spoke, he suddenly pulled out a sharp dagger from his waist. With one swift stab, it pierced deep, and blood flowed down the blade, staining Yezhen’s clothes and Liancheng’s hands.

“You!”

“Brother!”

Two cries of disbelief rang out, one from Dong Yezhen, and the other from Dong Biling, who was secretly listening from the corner of the wall. Compared to Dong Yezhen, Dong Biling’s reaction seemed even more shocked.

“Brother! How could you kill her!” Dong Biling walked out from the bushes, covering her mouth with her hands, her face filled with disbelief.

“Biling... you, why are you here?” Dong Liancheng was greatly shocked. “Are you feeling better?”

“I’m fine, but you... why did you kill her? And what you just said, is it true? Yezhen was pregnant with your child, and you colluded with Ma Wenshan to kill her?!”

“Listen to me, that’s not how it happened...”

“Then how did it happen?” Dong Biling’s gaze was burning, fixed on Dong Liancheng, but Dong Liancheng opened his mouth several times, unable to utter a rebuttal.

Dong Biling believed it now. She believed the conversation between the two of them, and at this moment, she felt an unbearable heartache, the blow as devastating as a catastrophic flood.

“She’s a vengeful ghost come back for revenge! How can you believe her words!” Dong Liancheng blocked Biling’s front, glaring at Yezhen and saying, “Whatever dirty tricks you have, direct them at me. Biling knows nothing! Don’t involve her!”

“Do you think a mere dagger can harm my life? Ha... I’ve been dead for a long time! The moment you killed me, I was already dead!” Dong Yezhen clutched her abdomen, her expression not of pain, but of rage. An incredible curve played on the corner of her lips. She stood up straight with a sinister grin, then pulled the dagger from her abdomen, letting it fall to the ground with a clang.

Dong Yezhen sneered, “You two are so deeply in love now, but I want to see if you’ll scatter when disaster strikes!” She finished speaking, then suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Dong Liancheng with one hand and Dong Biling with the other. The two were restrained by her, held lightly, yet they couldn’t even put up a fight.

As midnight approached, the sky was pitch black. She moved across the rooftops with the two of them, soaring through the dark night, leaving no shadow behind.

Di Jiang and Wen Yao, who had been secretly listening from behind the tree, had no choice but to immediately cast an invisibility spell, then followed the direction the three had vanished.

Dong Yezhen flew with the two through the air, speeding through the mountains. Before long, they arrived at a wooden hut on the mountaintop. Outside the hut was Yezhen’s excavated grave. Inside the grave, the coffin, nailed with sixteen soul-镇魂钉 (soul- trấn hồn đinh - soul-镇魂钉: soul-镇魂钉 are special nails used in Chinese folklore and Taoist practices, specifically to suppress or bind spirits or souls, often used in rituals related to exorcism or to prevent the deceased from becoming a vengeful ghost.), was split into several pieces, clearly showing the anger and resentment of the person.

“You’ve finally arrived.” The small door of the wooden hut creaked open, and Yueying, dressed in white, looked anxiously at Yezhen. Yezhen nodded, then threw Liancheng and Biling into the wooden hut. On the hut’s table were two cups of wine, prepared beforehand.

Dong Yezhen pointed at the wine cups, addressing the two sprawled on the ground. “Here are two cups of wine. One is poisoned, one is not. I’m being merciful and letting one of you walk out today. Choose for yourselves: will it be your death, or hers?”

“Yezhen! How cruel can you be! How can you do this to me!” Dong Liancheng cried out, holding Biling excitedly.

Dong Yezhen sneered, “Ha, why didn’t you ask yourself that question when you disemboweled me?” As she spoke, she suddenly waved her hand, and the two cups of wine flew in front of them. Then, she ignited a fierce fire around the wooden hut, and the smell of burning wood filled the entire room.

“You betrayed me. By sparing one of your lives, I’m repaying father’s years of nurturing,” Dong Yezhen’s eyes widened, urging them, “I’m giving you half an incense stick of time. Once the time is up, you’ll both be burned to death here. Before that, among the two cups, the jade cup is poison-free, and the golden cup is poisoned. Choose for yourselves: will you be a pair of ill-fated lovers, or will one of you live to walk out of this hut!”

Dong Biling trembled, clinging to Liancheng’s chest. She clutched Liancheng’s clothes, saying, “Brother Liancheng, did you really disembowel Sister Yezhen? Was her so-called demonic pregnancy actually your child?”

Dong Liancheng looked at Biling, then, after a moment, nodded. He then added, “But I did it for you! You are the one I love!”

“But... you clearly told me it was her own fault! How could you lie to me!”

“You actually believe her?” Dong Liancheng said, “Regardless of whether she’s human or ghost now, even if it was truly me who conspired with Ma Wenshan to kill her, so what? If she lived, she would hinder us from being together, so she had to die!”

Dong Liancheng spoke each word, piercing straight to the heart, but not Dong Yezhen’s heart, but Yueying’s beside her.

Yueying trembled with rage. Just as she was about to step forward to teach him a lesson, she was stopped by Dong Yezhen. Without turning back, she continued to say to Liancheng, “I don’t care how much you love each other. Now, you have only two paths before you: one dies by drinking the poisoned wine, or you both burn to death together.”

“Will you truly spare one of us?” Dong Liancheng looked suspicious.

Dong Yezhen nodded. “Father’s kindness, I will never forget.”

“Don’t believe her! She’s a demon now!” Dong Biling clung to Liancheng’s chest, but there was no fear in her eyes. She said, “Brother Liancheng, I believe you! I believe everything you do is for me, and that you had no choice! I’m willing to die with you. As long as I’m with you, I’m not afraid of anything!”

Dong Liancheng did not answer her. Instead, he looked at Yezhen and said, “Do you keep your word?”

“Do you have a choice? Take a gamble; maybe you’ll live. Otherwise, just burn to death together here,” Dong Yezhen said with a faint, mocking expression.

Dong Liancheng said nothing more.

His hands, holding Biling, suddenly tightened.

“I cannot die.” After a long silence, Dong Liancheng softly said, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, even Biling beside him couldn’t hear clearly.

“What did you say?”

“I cannot die,” Dong Liancheng repeated.

“You... what do you mean?” Dong Biling’s eyes widened, and she suddenly straightened up, looking disbelieving.

“I cannot die! Biling, I cannot die!” Dong Liancheng snatched the jade cup and drank it in one gulp, saying, “I cannot die!”

“How can you do this to me!” Dong Biling looked aghast, seemingly unable to believe his choice.

“I don’t want to die!” Dong Liancheng cried, “I don’t want to die, Biling... I don’t want to die! If I die, Dong Family Fortress will decline. I am the only one who can manage father’s family business!”

“At a time like this, you’re still thinking about money?” Dong Biling exclaimed in shock. “Is money more important than my life?!”

“But even if I die, you won’t live, will you?” Dong Liancheng said anxiously, “Biling, just sacrifice for me this one time. Next year, on your death anniversary, I will burn incense and paper money for you, so you’ll live more comfortably down there than before! And I will never marry another woman!”

“You!” Dong Biling took a deep breath, but inhaled a large amount of smoke and dust, causing her to cough violently. There was a hint of pity in Dong Liancheng’s eyes, but only mockery in Dong Yezhen’s.

“Aren’t you going to drink the poisoned wine? Otherwise, once this wooden hut burns down, neither of you will escape!” Dong Yezhen urged.

Upon hearing this, Dong Liancheng quickly picked up the wine cup and brought it to Dong Biling’s lips, saying, “Sister Biling, please just obey! Help me this last time!”

“You! You... cough, cough, cough, cough...” Dong Biling coughed until her face turned red. Tears streamed from her eyes, but not out of fear. After a moment of calm, she tremblingly snatched the wine cup. She glanced at Yezhen, who remained indifferent, unmoved.

Dong Biling turned her head, looked at Liancheng, her face ashen, and said, “Remember, this is what I owe Yezhen, not what I owe you!” With that, she resignedly closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and swallowed the poisoned wine in one gulp.