northernbook Chapter 270 Dream Return
Chapter 270 Dream Return
The oil lamp fell to the ground, and the brocade carpet, which had been soaked in tung oil, burst into flames in an instant. The flames spread rapidly, engulfing the crescent-white curtains.
All the wooden furniture in the house was coated with tung oil to prevent insects and cracks and to increase its gloss, but it is flammable.
In the blink of an eye, the house was engulfed in flames.
Zhao Jue's pupils suddenly contracted. He never expected that Shen Mingzhu, who was afraid of death, would actually seek to die and even want to drag him down to hell with her.
He watched as the fire inside the house grew increasingly fierce, billowing thick smoke and emitting a strong, pungent odor.
Zhao Jue had been on the battlefield and used poison smoke to kill the enemy.
He keenly sensed that the pungent smell in the billowing smoke was not just from burning furniture, but most likely also contained poison.
Given Shen Mingzhu's vicious nature, she would never hesitate to kill him if she decided to.
Zhao Jue gritted his teeth and said, "You've really gone mad!"
He shoved Shen Mingzhu aside, held his breath, and ran quickly to the window.
Shen Mingzhu covered the window with a bamboo curtain, but a fire broke out and burned the bamboo curtain.
Zhao Jue then discovered that the window had been nailed shut with wooden planks.
His face was frosty, his nerves taut, and he was about to break down the door.
The toxic fumes in the room were very potent; after just a few inhalations, he felt a burning sensation in his throat. Immediately afterwards, his limbs went numb, and he experienced palpitations and shortness of breath—clearly symptoms of poisoning.
Overwhelmed by the fear of impending death, Zhao Jue unleashed a powerful will to survive and rammed the door with all his might.
Shen Mingzhu steadied herself by holding onto the table, then her stomach clenched and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
She was sick in the villa for several days. In her delirium, she thought she was going to die, and her mind was clearer than ever before.
Many things that were previously unclear or that I was unwilling to see clearly have all become crystal clear.
Her father didn't show her much affection and never treated her with kindness; he always had the demeanor of a strict father.
Every time she went to pay her respects, her father would only urge her to study with the tutor and governess, so that her knowledge and manners would be worthy of her status.
Her mother did treat her with some affection, but this affection wasn't pure; it was only to make her remember her parents' kindness and willingly pave the way for Shen Shaohuai.
The grievances she suffered at the hands of the second wife were never sought justice by her mother; she was always told to endure them silently.
Shen Shaohuai seemed to treat her very well, but this kindness was only expressed in words; he never actually did anything for her.
Although Shen Shaobai genuinely treated her well, his sincerity paled in comparison to his kindness towards Shen Qingtan.
She didn't understand before, thinking that wealthy families valued rules and regulations and were very reserved in their feelings towards their children, unlike parents in ordinary families who would come to their door to demand justice when their children were wronged.
In order to avoid a life of hardship, she tried to please her parents and brother, obediently following their arrangements and daring not to disobey.
Until she saw Shen Qingtan find her biological parents, and everyone in the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion treated Shen Qingtan like a precious jewel, and made up for all the grievances she had suffered.
He would never make Shen Qingtan suffer or give in order to consider the bigger picture.
She then realized that noble families could protect their children with such impunity.
It's not that the Marquis's family couldn't do it; they just weren't willing to sacrifice their interests for her.
The Marquis of Chengen and his wife brought her back not for the sake of family reunion, but to use her as a tool to gain benefits.
Otherwise, why would they abduct Shen Qingtan and bring her back to take her place?
The husband who claimed he would treat her well and never betray her was not marrying her, but rather the power behind her.
She was no longer of any use to him, so naturally he was going to abandon her.
The clearer she saw it, the more desperate she became.
Looking back on her life, Shen Mingzhu felt it was all too tragic.
She once thought that returning to the Marquis's mansion would bring the end of her suffering, but it turned out to be the beginning of real hardship.
Now she is all alone, helpless and frail, and her health is failing, so she can no longer be a mother.
Thinking of this, Shen Mingzhu wanted to laugh.
She kept fighting, kept grabbing, kept scheming, but in the end, nothing truly belonged to her except her children.
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 had a second child, but Zhao Jue killed her child, ruined her life, and left her incomplete.
After suffering numerous setbacks, Shen Mingzhu became disheartened and utterly despondent.
She was tired of suffering, and she had suffered enough.
Rather than living a miserable and laughable life, it's better to end this ridiculous existence now.
"You said that if you betray me, you will die a horrible death." Shen Mingzhu coughed from the thick smoke, her eyes stinging and unable to open. She struggled to open her eyes, looked at Zhao Jue who was trying to break down the door to leave, and smiled with a forced smile: "Third Master, I've granted your wish today."
Shen Qingtan can make those who have wronged her pay the price.
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 villa to lock the door for her from the outside.
She not only poisoned the food, but also sprinkled croton seeds, aconite, Sichuan aconite, and arsenic in every corner of the house.
Once the fire started, toxic smoke billowed out.
Zhao Jue cannot escape; no one can save him.
Zhao Jue was becoming increasingly powerless, and finally he rammed into something.
With a "bang," the door panel fell to the ground.
Zhao Jue collapsed to the ground, his whole body numb, unable to breathe, as if something was flowing out of his mouth and nose.
He tried to crawl out, but his limbs were cramping and he couldn't muster any strength.
Seeing the blood flowing from his nose and the corner of his mouth, Shen Mingzhu laughed even more triumphantly: "Considering we were husband and wife, I'll tell you a secret so you can die knowing why."
Her voice turned eerie: "You thought you abandoned Shen Qingtan and chose me. But when Shen Qingtan stepped out of the bridal sedan chair, she recognized that the person welcoming her was not you. She knew from the beginning that the person she was going to marry was Zhao Yi."
Upon hearing Shen Mingzhu's words, Zhao Jue coughed up blood, suffered severe abdominal pain, and coughed violently.
He refused to believe that if he hadn't arranged the marriage, Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi would never have crossed paths; they would have been strangers.
Shen Qingtan and he were childhood sweethearts. She treated him with gentleness and consideration, so why would she marry Zhao Yi?
Zhao Jue always believed that Shen Qingtan treated him coldly because she hated him for abandoning her.
He crawled out step by step, wanting to get out and find Shen Qingtan to get some answers.
Shen Mingzhu had difficulty breathing and collapsed to the ground. The flames engulfed her, and her limbs twisted uncontrollably.
Her eyes stung from the smoke, causing tears to stream down her face. Yet she still struggled to keep her eyes open, watching Zhao Jue climb halfway over the threshold.
His clothes were on fire, but he seemed oblivious to the burning pain as he desperately tried to crawl out.
In a daze, the scene of her first meeting with Zhao Juechu appeared before her eyes.
In the sweltering late summer, he rode a 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, their fates became intertwined, inseparable even in life and death.
If Zhao Jue had known this would happen, he would probably regret bringing her to the capital.
With a "crack," the rafter broke, and the tiles fell down with a "clatter," hitting Zhao Jue on the head with a "thud."
Zhao Jue could no longer hold on, and his head hit the ground hard, staring helplessly at the open space a few feet away from him.
It's clearly just a few steps away.
Between him and me, however, was an insurmountable chasm.
Separated by the distance between life and death.
Despair overwhelmed him, almost drowning him.
Zhao Jue felt suffocated, and blurry shadows appeared before his eyes.
In a daze, he seemed to return to his wedding day, when Shen Qingtan and Shen Mingzhu, with their ten-mile-long red bridal procession, married into the Duke's mansion.
He led Shen Mingzhu's bridal sedan chair, preparing to go to the wedding hall to pay respects.
Just then, Shen Qingtan stepped out of the bridal sedan chair, stopped them, and pointed out that he had led the wrong bride.