In the courtyard of the Jiangning Marquis Mansion of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
A woman dressed in green clothing was dragged through the snow.
Amidst the pure white snow, only the bloodstain behind her could be seen, as vivid and bright as a red ribbon.
The woman was thrown by the snow and placed next to a pile of firewood. She was barely alive, with blood oozing from her knees and forehead. A finger-length iron nail was embedded in her eye, causing the eyeball to burst and blood to seep out, a sight too horrifying to describe.
Her entire body was covered with whip marks, her clothes torn open, revealing the bloody scars beneath, each one causing her flesh to split and crack.
What was even more shocking was the bulge in her abdomen, as if she was seven to eight months pregnant.
Digging her hands into the snow, her remaining eye fought to stay open, fixed on the man in a white silken robe standing before her. With her voice on the verge of breakdown, she asked, "After eight years of marriage, how could you be so ruthless?"
Jiangning Marquis Li Liangsheng stared coldly at her, "Chen Jinning, if there's anyone to blame, it's your fate that carries misfortune. You've already caused the death of my father. If I don't kill you, my beloved daughter Yan'er will also be harmed by you."
Yan'er was his legitimate wife, the person he cherished most, she had become pregnant earlier this year, but fell ill and her condition never improved. After seeking a Taoist priest, it was said that Jinning's misfortune caused this. If she wasn't killed, the child in her womb would become an evil star.
"Do you, as an important court official, really believe those sorcerers' nonsense?" Chen Jinning clenched her fists on the ground in rage, raising a cloud of snow in the air.
"Liangsheng, don't be fooled by her any longer. Quickly open her belly, take the child out and burn it to death!"
Beside them, a middle-aged noblewoman dressed in black silk embroidered with a pattern of hundreds of children and thousands of grandchildren spoke coldly.
She was the widow of the former Jiangning Marquis and the current Marquis' mother, Lady Lin.
She had long disliked her daughter-in-law. If it hadn't been for Chen Jinning's coincidental rescue of the old Marquis back then, this marriage wouldn't have existed.
A crude woman skilled in martial arts, how could she be worthy of being the Lady of the Marquis Mansion?
"That's all Changsun Yan'er's conspiracy. She bribed the sorcerers!" Chen Jinning protected her belly, filled with hatred in her heart. Both she and Changsun Yan'er were pregnant, so why was it her child that had to die?
"You still want to frame Yan'er?" Lord Jiangning was furious, and with a swift stride, he slapped Chen Jinning's face. Blood sprayed from her eyes, splashing onto his face.
"Without you, would I have lost so miserably at the Battle of Su Dong?" He refused to admit his own defeat. He had gone on many expeditions but only the one time without her, had his army collapsed like a landslide. It must have been her ill fortune that caused it.
Chen Jinning laughed coldly, her face contorted. Blood creased at the corner of her eyes, her expression was terrifying. "You were so eager for success, and yet you still have the face to blame me?"
"Shut up!" Lord Jiangning's face was distorted with rage, as if he was about to devour her. He kicked her to the ground, and the sharp knife cut open her clothes, revealing her white and bulging belly.
Chen Jinning looked at his twisted, furious face, trembling in pain, but still cried out, "Please, let me give birth to this child first. After that, you can kill or torture me as you wish."
"No way!" He held the knife, grinding his teeth.
"Mother, mother," Chen Jinning looked at the old lady, Mrs. Lin, struggling to speak, "This is your grandson. I have always been filial to you. Please, let me give birth to the child." She tried to prop herself up, crawling forward like a dog, kowtowing towards the old lady with a bump on her forehead, blood kept seeping out, begging nonstop.
The old lady's gaze was icy cold, completely unmoved by the scene before her. She said coldly, "Don't call me mother. You're not qualified. If it weren't for the insistence of the old marquis, do you think you could be our Li family's daughter-in-law? Keep dreaming!"
Knowing that begging was useless, Chen Jinning clenched her fist in anger, staring at Li Liangsheng with her remaining eye, her voice filled with grief and despair, "Li Liangsheng, during the five years that I've been married to the Li family, which of your achievements was not supported by me? I was the vanguard when you were the marshal. I helped you secure countless meritorious services so you could inherit the title of Lord Jiangning. Now you want to favor concubines over your wife and kill your own child? You will not have a good ending!"
Li Liangsheng's eyes filled with rage, and he kicked Chen Jinning's jaw. She was sent flying and fell heavily to the ground, almost passing out on the spot.
In her fading consciousness, she heard the old lady urging, "Liangsheng, quickly remove that evildoer from her womb. Your sister and Yan'er both say that the evildoer must be taken out and burned alive in order to eliminate the curse."
The icy cold knife pressed against her abdomen, and with her last breath, Chen Jinning arched her body, desperately trying to protect the child inside her.
Blood stains filled her eyes, and she could only see Zhangsun Yan'er hiding behind the round column of the corridor, revealing a pair of triumphant and delighted eyes.
Her good cousin, after agreeing to the marriage with Li Liangcheng, announced that she was pregnant with Li Liangcheng's child and came to the Duke's mansion with Li Liangcheng, hoping she would allow Zhangsun Yan'er to become a concubine.
At that time, her stepmother was also persuading her, and eventually she agreed to let Zhangsun Yan'er in.
How could she have been so foolish back then?
Her eyes were filled with grief, resentment, and rage as she stared at Li Liangcheng.
Li Liangcheng looked at her blood-filled eyes, and at the moment he cut her, he began to tremble. The decisive general on the battlefield was nothing without Chen Jinning supporting him from behind.
The old lady's eyes emitted a faint glimmer, looking at Li Liangcheng. Her voice was cold and venomous, like it was coming from hell, "Unless you kill her, you can't go to the palace and submit yourself to the emperor, accusing Chen Jinning of colluding with the enemy and selling military secrets, leading to the great defeat in the battle of East Su. Otherwise, you will have to bear the sin of this war alone. She is a demon in reincarnation, destined to bring disaster to her husband's family. She will die sooner or later. If she can take the blame for you now, it's a fitting end."
So that was it, that was it.
Chen Jinning spewed out a mouthful of blood. It turned out that the Taoist talk was just an excuse. He wanted her to take the blame for him. This coward, this useless man!
"Li Liangcheng, you are unworthy of being a general. You are a useless man!" She cursed angrily.
Upon hearing this, Li Liangcheng became furious with shame, and slapped her hard, "You wretch, I'll kill you!"
He raised the cold blade...
Sharp pain came from her abdomen. Chen Jinning had suffered numerous knife and sword injuries in her life. Once, an enemy arrow pierced through her chest, almost taking her life, but she never felt as much pain as she did now. The pain seemed to penetrate her heart, making it hard for her to even take a breath.
She saw Li Liangcheng's hideous face and felt her abdomen being sliced open one cut at a time. The dull pain reached her heart and lungs, making her scream and struggle, scratching Li Liangcheng's face and leaving bloody marks on it.
The old lady, Lin Shi, watched this scene coldly, thinking that if it weren't for drugging her first, it would be difficult to capture this unruly woman.
The Li family cannot bear the blame for the defeat in battle. Everyone knows that Li Liangsheng will definitely bring Chen Jinning with him when he goes to war. Only by pushing all the blame onto her can the prestige and reputation of Jiangning Marquis Mansion be preserved.
Chen Jinning's breath gradually disappeared, as if she saw a ray of light split open from above her head.
She tried hard to open her eyes, but found that the light was just the flame beside her. She watched her child, who had just been dug out of her belly, being thrown into the raging fire.
"No...no!" Chen Jinning's heart was torn apart, and she didn't know where she got the strength to crawl towards the fire, dragging a trail of blood behind her. "My child, my child!"
The fire burned her hair and clothes, but she was completely unaware of the pain. She held the burning baby in her arms, crying bitterly.
Her cries were accompanied by a harsh curse, "Li Liangsheng, even if I become a fierce ghost, I, Chen Jinning, will wash your Li family with blood!"
The fire crackled, and the voice of the curse eventually subsided.
The fire burned out, leaving only a scorched corpse, and in the arms of the corpse, there was a small piece of charcoal.
The old lady breathed a long sigh of relief, finally she was dead. This ill-fated person was finally dead. As the Taoist priest had said, burning the evil offspring would make all the bad luck disappear.
And with her death, it indeed brought good fortune to the Li family, at least, they wouldn't have to bear the blame for the defeat in battle.