Winter Poisoning

Spirit of the tree

Jiang family was the oldest and one of the strongest families in Jiaxing. The Xian Manor of Jiangs was under the charge of Jiang Xian who's the only son of Lord Jiang Feng. The manor was built near a beautiful river around the time of great great-grandfather of Jiang Xian and was as ancient as secrets of Jiaxing itself. Jiang household was said to be the blessed one with sons -though Jiang Feng himself bore only one child-having manpower and rich in trade. The only unfortunate thing about Xian Manor was that Jiang Xian and his wife Su Ying were unable to conceive a child. It's said that the ancestors had cursed the Jiang household because Jiang Xian married a woman of low birth. Su Ying was a courtesan whom Jiang Xian had met during his business trip. Jiang Xian bought her freedom and took her as his wife back to Xian Manor where they both met with disapproval of his family. However, Jiang Xi'an was the only son of Jiang Meng who had no choice but to accept Su Ying as his son's wife. On an auspicious day, the wedding was held. The couple was blessed in front of their ancestors. They kowtowed to heaven and earth, and drank wine from the same cup, but Su Ying's happiness was short-lived. Su Ying couldn't conceive a child, and soon she became an object of mockery in the Jiang Household. The rumors spread around the mansion that she's the cursed one and wouldn't be able to bear a child for Jiang Xi'an.

On the western side of Xian Manor, there was an old Peach Blossom tree. The tree was about fifteen feet tall, shriveled and barren. There hadn't been a single flower on it since last two generations, and was considered as rather ominous. The western part of the Manor had always been kept locked due to the strange accidents that had occurred before. During Jiang Xian's father time, a maid hung herself to death from that tree. The incident wasn't paid any heed until much later when Jiang Xian, who's around three at that time, went missing one day. The entire Xian Manor was turned upside down by the servants of Jiang household, but the child couldn't be found a full day and a full night till next morning where he's found lying unconscious at the foot of the tree. Jiang Meng decided to cut down that tree, but the man who had been assigned with the task died that night in a fire at his house. Jiang Xian's mother also fell sick and taking it as an ominous sign, the matter was let to rest. 

It's decided to keep the western courtyard sealed and no one was allowed to dwell around it until one day, Su Ying entered the courtyard in grief after hearing two maids gossip about how Madam Feng wanted Jiang Xian to take a concubine as it grieved her greatly how her only son was childless. Su Ying ran from there after hearing the maids and accidentally entered the western courtyard of the manor where she cried her heart out to the heavens and begged them to have mercy on her. Later, when Jiang Xian returned and upon finding his wife missing in the manor, gave a run to the servants. He passed the western courtyard and found the unlocked door with Su Ying lying unconscious beneath the tree. Jiang Xian barked at his servants asking about who had unlocked the door but none could answer. 

Two weeks later, Su Ying was expecting with a child and the entire incident was soon forgotten. Su Ying started to spend most of her time in the western courtyard when Jiang Xian wasn't around. When being confronted by her husband, she argued that it might have been a good spirit of the tree that blessed her with the child. She would often go in the western courtyard and sit under the tree, eating a peach and talking to her growing belly and would spend the entire evening there. She's in the western courtyard when her water broke. She leaned against the tree with one hand while grabbing her belly. Her screams had led the maids to find her and was taken to the room. As her painful screams echoed through the manor, she gave a birth to a healthy boy who was named Lî Cheng by Madam Feng, while Su Ying herself called him Yi Sun.

The boy was born healthy and beautiful and madam Feng couldn't do help but be proud of daughter-in-law for giving an heir to the Jiangs. However, what troubled Madam Feng was a pint size cherry blossom birthmark on his back that both Jiang Xian and Su Ying regarded as nothing.