In the small courtyard of Duke Jiangning's Mansion in the Dazhou Dynasty.

A girl in a blue robe was dragged across the snow.

Amidst the expanse of pristine white snow, a scarlet ribbon, like blood-red silk, was visible trailing behind. It was strikingly vibrant and crimson.

The child was left by the fire, propped up in the snow, barely alive. His knees and forehead were bleeding, and he had a finger-length iron nail embedded in his eye, the eyeball ruptured and leaking fluid.

A creeping, unspeakable horror.

He was completely covered in whip marks, his shirt torn open, exposing bloodied flesh. Deep welts stretched the skin to its breaking point.

What's even more horrifying is that a bulge appeared in her abdomen, as if she were seven or eight months pregnant.

One hand clutched at the snow, the other trembling. Its lone remaining eye strained against the biting wind, fixed on the man in white silk standing in the corridor. With a voice ragged with exhaustion, it rasped, "After eight years of marriage, is this how you treat me?"

What's on your mind?

Jiangning Hou Li Liangsheng stared coldly, "Chen Jinning, if you want to blame someone, blame your fate. You've already killed your father. If I don't kill you, Yan'er will also be harmed by you."

Yann'er was his concubine, the person dearest to his heart. She had been pregnant before but fell ill and never recovered. A Daoist priest had been consulted, who said that it was due to the misfortune brought by the current mistress of the house. It was said that she must be killed

The child in the womb will suffer more from the evil star.

"As a high-ranking official of the court, you actually believe those ghosts stories told by scholars?" Chen Jinning was furious, clenching his fist and striking the ground, raising a flurry of snowflakes.

"Liang Sheng, must not be deceived again. Quickly cut open your belly and take the child out to burn it to death."

A middle-aged noblewoman in black silk embroidered with a hundred sons and thousands of grandsons sat beside him, and said coldly.

She was the former wife of the Marquis of Jiangning, and now the mother of the current Marquis of Jiangning, Lady Lin.

I've disliked this daughter-in-law for ages. If it weren't for Chen Jining's mistake of saving the old Marquis back then, there wouldn't have been this marriage in the first place.

A martial arts practitioner like him, how could he possibly become a wife of a marquis's family?

"It was all Longsun Yanne's scheme, she bribed the officials!" Chen Jinping protected her stomach, feeling immense hatred in her heart. Longsun Yanne was pregnant, and so was she, why did her child have to die?"

"Are you going to blame Yan'er again?" Marquis Jiangning roared, striding down and slapping Chen Jinning across the face. Chen Jinning's eyes popped out, spraying him in the face.

"If not for you, I would have been defeated in the Battle of Su Dong?"

He won't admit defeat, he marched many times, the only time he didn't bring his troops, they were defeated like a mountain collapsing. It must be due to corporal punishment.

Chen Jinning smiled coldly, stretching her face into a smile that formed wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, an unspeakable terror. "You're so proud of yourself, you even have the face to say it?"

"Shut your mouth!" Jiang Ninghou's face was contorted with rage, as if he were about to devour someone. He kicked the man to the ground, his sharp blade slicing through his robe and revealing his pale, round belly.

Chen Jining looked at him with wide, terrified eyes. His face was contorted in fury, a terrifying sight that made her tremble with pain. Yet, she continued to cry out, "Please, let me give birth to this child. Whatever you want to do to us afterward, killing or dismembering, it's up to you."

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"Never!" he hissed, clutching his knife tightly in his teeth.

"Mother, Mother," Chen Jinning looked at Old Mrs. Lin in a panic and said with difficulty: "The child I'm carrying is your grandson, please, for my filial piety to you all these years, spare me, let me..."

"Please, when the child is born..."

He struggled to push himself forward, crawling like a dog, banging his forehead against the old woman's legs over and over. His forehead was swollen and bleeding constantly as he begged her relentlessly.

The old lady's eyes were cold, she remained unmoved by the scene before her. She merely said coldly: "Don't call my mother. You don't have that right yet. If it weren't for the old marquis insisting..."

Get in here, do you think you can be the daughter-in-law of our Li family? Dream on!

Chen Jinning knew that pleading was useless. Angrily clenching her fist with her remaining eye, she glared at Li Liangsheng, saying bitterly and resentfully: "Li Liangsheng, I have been married to you for five years. All the military achievements you have made..."

Wasn't I the one who supported you behind the scenes? You were the marshal, and I was the vanguard. I toiled day and night for your achievements, allowing you to inherit the title of Marquis of Jiangning. Now you favor concubines and discard your wife!

"You shall die a horrible death for killing your own flesh and blood!"

Li Liangsheng's eyes flashed with fury, and he kicked Chen Jinping in the stomach. Chen Jinping flew backwards, crashing to the ground and almost fainting on the spot.

In the midst of scattered consciousness, only the old lady's urgent voice could be heard: "Liang Sheng, quickly take out that demon child. Your sister and Yan'er both said that it must be removed and burned while it is still alive,"

Only then can the evil qi be eliminated.

With a frigid blade pressed against her abdomen, Chen Jining mustered the last of her strength to arch her back, desperately trying to shield the child within.

Her eyes were filled with filth, and she could only see Changsun Yan'er peeking out from behind a column in the corridor, her eyes gleaming with triumphant joy.

My dear cousin, after setting the marriage date with Li Liang Sheng, she suddenly claimed to be pregnant with his child. She came to the Duke's mansion with Li Liang Sheng, demanding that they allow their eldest daughter, Changsun Yan'er, to marry him instead.

Wife.

At that time, the stepmother was also there persuading her, and finally agreed to let the eldest granddaughter, Changsun Yan'er, enter.

How could I have been so foolish back then?

Filled with grief, anger, and rage, he glared at Li Liang Sheng.

Li Liangsheng looked into those eyes, and the moment he swung his sword, he actually trembled. He was just a general who seemed decisive on the battlefield only because Chen Jining was behind him supporting him.

The old lady's eyes flashed with a cold light as she stared at Li Liangsheng, her voice as venomous and chilling as that from hell. "Kill him, then you can go to the palace and report to the Emperor, accusing Chen Jinping of..."

Betraying our comrades and selling out the army is what led to the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Su Dong. Otherwise, you would be solely responsible for this war crime. You are a demon reborn, wreaking havoc on families, you will surely die in due time.

"Now, dying for you is a just end."

Ah, I see. I see.

Chen Jining spat out a mouthful of words, "What about Taoist priests is just a cover-up. He's going to take the blame for this. This coward, this waste!"

"Li Liang Sheng, you are not fit to be a general, you are a waste!" A voice spat the curse.

Li Liangsheng, upon hearing this, became enraged and struck down with a palm strike. "Damn wretch, I'll kill you!"

He raised the icy blade…

A sharp pain shot through her abdomen. Chen Jinning had endured countless wounds in her life - cuts, stabs, even an arrow that pierced her heart, nearly taking her life. But none of them had ever felt like this.

To feel this kind of pain, piercing and agonizing, so intense that even breathing becomes a struggle.

Seeing Li Liangsheng's ferocious face, I felt like my abdomen was being cut open with a knife, each cut a dull pain that went straight to my heart and lungs. I roared in fury, struggling with all my might, my hands clawing

Li Liang Sheng's face grew streaks of scars.

Mrs. Lin, the elderly matriarch, coldly watched this scene unfold. If she hadn't drugged her beforehand, she truly wouldn't have been able to control this shrew today.

The Li family cannot bear the blame for defeat. Everyone knows that Li Liang Sheng would always bring Chen Jin Ning with him when he went to war. Only by pushing all the blame onto someone else can they protect the reputation of the Jiangning Houfu.

Chen Jinning's breath gradually dissipated, as if seeing a beam of light split from the top of his head.

He strained to open his eyes, but the gleam was only the flames beside him. He watched as the child he had just pulled from his womb was thrown into the raging fire.

"No... no!" Chen Jingning's heart shattered, she didn't know where she found the strength, dragging herself with one leg towards the bonfire, "My child, my child!"

Her hair, singed by the flames, felt no pain. Clutching the burning infant in her arms, she cried out in despair.

Screams mingled with venomous curses, "Li Liang Sheng, I, Chen Jin Ning, even if I become a vengeful spirit, will make your entire Li family pay!"

Sparks crackled and the cursed voice, finally, slowly subsided.

After the fire had burned, there remained only one singed husk. In its arms, there lay a tiny piece of charcoal.

The old lady let out a long sigh of relief, finally dead. That ominous person, finally dead. According to the Taoist priest, as long as that bastard was burned, all the bad luck would disappear.

...and it actually brought good fortune to the Li family, truly, truly, the Li family wouldn't have to bear the blame for the defeat.

(Editor in charge:what is a novel)