Tiger Owl

Chapter 191 The Calamity of the Witchcraft
In Dantu County, at the Xu family residence, Xu Fen, the wife of Wu Hou, was complaining to her grandmother, Madam Sun, with a face full of grievance.

“He never touches me. He only pampers that woman surnamed Bu. I don’t see him for ten days or half a month. I am nominally the legal wife, but in reality, everyone in Wu Hou’s palace says that the woman surnamed Bu is the legal wife. Grandmother, what’s the difference between this and being a widow?”

"He never touched you?"

"Only three times, and each time it was rushed, so there was no way I could get pregnant."

Sun's expression turned grim. She closed her eyes and thought for a long time before saying, "Only by eliminating Bu Lianshi will you have a chance to conceive and give birth, and only then can your child become the heir to the Marquis of Wu."

"It would be good to get rid of it, but how?"

A malicious sneer appeared on Sun's lips. "Use the oldest, and therefore the most effective, method!"

A few days later, Wu Hou's principal wife, Xu Fen, and several maids collapsed almost simultaneously, foaming at the mouth, convulsing, and occasionally shouting and babbling incoherently. For a time, Wu Hou's palace was filled with discussion, and an ominous gloom hung over the palace.

Sun Quan, of course, also learned of this matter. He ordered the palace physicians to treat his wife and several maids to find the cause of their illness. However, no matter how the physicians examined them, they could not find the cause. In the end, they could only use the excuse of eating unclean food to get by.

Sun Quan had a trusted eunuch named He Ding. He was a lowly servant in Sun Quan's service, but he was able to speak to Sun Quan. Because he was a eunuch, he was extremely greedy. He had a price tag for everything he did, and the least valuable thing in his price list was his conscience.

In the main hall, Sun Quan angrily rebuked several doctors, "The food was unclean! How could you even think of that? You're a bunch of useless idiots!"

The doctors were so frightened that they dared not explain further. Sun Quan flicked his sleeves and said, "What use are you if you can't even diagnose such a minor illness? Get out of here now!"

Several doctors were so frightened that they ran away in a panic. Sun Quan was depressed and paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.

He Ding saw an opportunity and whispered, "These doctors are fooling Lord Wu!"

Sun Quan turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

“Reporting to Lord Wu, these maids do not live together, nor do they eat together. How could they have eaten the same unclean food? And even if they had eaten unclean food, everyone should have had some. How could only the three of them have fallen ill?”

Sun Quan, being too close to the situation to see clearly, suddenly realized that it was definitely not because he had eaten unclean food.

"So what do you think is the reason?"

"Lord Wu, my aunt is a famous sorceress. I remember her saying that when several people go mad at the same time without warning, that's witchcraft!"

“Witch!” Sun Quan narrowed his eyes, as if he had thought of something; perhaps this was an opportunity.

During the Han Dynasty, witchcraft was extremely prevalent. Even Emperor Wu of Han was implicated in witchcraft and killed his wife and son. Of course, Emperor Wu's case was related to the power struggle between father and son, but witchcraft definitely had a large market in the Han Dynasty, especially in the south, where the belief in witchcraft was deeply rooted. Zhuge Liang borrowing the east wind was also a kind of witchcraft. Sun Quan was no exception and was extremely superstitious about witchcraft.

Is your aunt still alive?

"Yes, it's in Dantu County."

"Ask her to come and take a look at me, and I'll reward you handsomely!"

"I will invite her over tomorrow!"

"No! We'll invite her today."

In the afternoon, a middle-aged female sorceress arrived as promised. Her surname was Zhuang, and she was hired by the Sun family from Wu County at a high price. She had no relation to He Ding, but to make it more deceptive, she used the alias He Xiaoshi and was He Ding's aunt.

An altar was set up inside the Wu Hou Palace. He Xiaoshi held a ritual implement on the altar, chanting incantations and constantly creating various flames, which was full of mystery and eeriness.

She suddenly cried out and collapsed. He Ding rushed forward to help her up, shouting, "Aunt! Aunt!" He Xiaoshi slowly opened her eyes and looked at Sun Quan with a strange gaze, saying, "There is indeed a strong aura of witchcraft in the palace!"

She suddenly pointed southeast, her gaze becoming unusually sharp, "The witch's energy is in that direction!"

Sun Quan stood up, slowly clenched his fist, and turned to General Chen Wu, saying, "Search thoroughly for me, no matter who is involved, even my study, search it completely!"

Chen Wu clasped his hands in a fist salute, "Your subordinate obeys!"

As evening fell, the search of Wu Hou Palace came to an end. On Sun Quan's desk were two pairs of figurines that had been found. One pair was of Sun Quan, with a needle stuck in his chest and his name written on it. One was found in Sun Quan's study, and the other was found in Bu Lianshi's bedroom.

The other pair of figurines is of Wu Hou's wife, Xu Fen, who also has a needle stuck in her chest with her name written on it. One was found in Xu Fen's bedroom, and the other was found in Bu Lianshi's bedroom.

Sun Quan's face turned ashen. He never dreamed that Bu Lianshi would resort to such vicious and despicable means to become his principal wife, and even use witchcraft to plot against him. He had truly misjudged her and the Bu family.

The more a man loves a woman, the more he can hate her. Sun Quan immediately ordered that Bu Lianshi be imprisoned in Changdong Courtyard, which was the Cold Palace. She was under house arrest, living in a dilapidated courtyard with no maids around, only an old woman who brought her meals every day.

Sun Quan pondered for a long time with his hands behind his back. Although Bu Zhi was the second most important figure in the Huai-Si Group, taking action against him would have a great impact, but the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be released.

Sun Quan finally made up his mind and issued an order to demote Bu Zhi to the position of county magistrate of Lingyang County.

Bu Lianshi cried for a whole day. She never imagined that she would suffer such an undeserved disaster. She was kind by nature and couldn't even bear to hurt small animals. How could she have been cursed?
What chilled her to the bone was that her husband didn't believe her at all and sent her to the Winter Palace without giving her any chance to explain herself. After so many years of marriage, there wasn't a shred of trust between them.

Bu Lianshi cried until midnight. The food had long gone cold, and she had no appetite. She only drank a bowl of water. Unexpectedly, not long after drinking the water, she was wracked with abdominal pain. After tormenting her for an hour, before dawn, Bu Lianshi finally breathed her last.

In the morning, Sun Quan received news that Bu Lianshi had committed suicide out of fear of punishment, drinking the deadly poison, arsenic, which she had hidden in her breast pendant.

Sun Quan felt a pang of sadness, but when he thought of her wickedness in cursing him with a villain, and when he thought of Bu Zhi being Sun Ben's henchman, his heart hardened again. He said coldly, "Even if she commits suicide out of fear of punishment, she cannot be let off lightly. Issue my order to abolish all her titles and return her body to the Bu family. She has nothing to do with me anymore."

Inside the Bu residence, Bu Zhi gazed at his niece's cold body, a wave of immense grief washing over him. He ordered, "Prepare her for burial!"

Two morticians wrapped Bu Lianshi's already stiff body in layers of white silk and slowly placed it into the coffin in the courtyard. Bu Zhi personally lifted the lid and closed the coffin.

Bu Zhi returned to the main hall and sat there, heartbroken. His niece was dead; how could he face his deceased brother?

The eldest son, Bu Xie, stepped forward and whispered, "Father, there's something fishy about my sister's death!"

"What's strange about it?"

"How could my sister hide arsenic in her breast pendant? If it were discovered, she would be considered an assassin. How could she not understand this?"

Besides, when she was sent to the Winter Palace, all her jewelry was confiscated except for a few old dresses. Where did this pendant come from?

"Perhaps she's hiding right next to me?"

"How are you going to hide? We're going to search you."

"And what's your opinion?"

Bu Xie gritted his teeth and said, "It was Lord Wu who ordered her to be killed and then falsely accused her of committing suicide out of fear of punishment."

(End of this chapter)