Indebted marriage

Fourty four

So A bit big chapter.

First read and then in the end if you can't connect let me know.

This is after Weiying  had just recovered and one night the food was served to him and after having his food and medicine he slept. You guys can read chapter 36 for reference and this reveals who poisoned him and why he lost Nara.

Further a war is coming before a happy ending.

Lets begin

Now it's time to hunt the villains of our life—Meng Ziyi.

You dared to hurt my family—my lifeline—for your petty desires. You thought that if I lost Weiying, then I would fall into your arms, that grief would make me blind enough to love you. You fool. You don't know me at all. Now, you will see the hunt of the ruthless King. And you... you are the prey."

Yibo's reflection in the polished bronze mirror hardly looked like the man who had kissed his children to sleep an hour ago. His jaw was tight, his crimson eyes glowing faintly in the dim torchlight. His robe was still loose, half-slid down his shoulder where Weiying's trembling hands had clutched him in the night, but there was no softness in him now.

Tonight, there was no gentle husband. No patient father. Only the Vampire King, sharpened by rage.

⸻

Flashback – The Poison

It began two nights ago, when Weiying stirred awake with a scream that tore through the palace walls.

"Y...ibooo... Yiboo... I can't breathe... sa..ve me please!"

He had thrashed in the sheets, his body slick with sweat, choking as though invisible fingers squeezed around his throat. Yibo had caught him instantly, pulling him upright against his chest.

"Calm down, my love... calm down. You are safe. They are safe." His lips brushed Weiying's damp temple, whispering against the panic. "See? The children are beside us. Nothing happened. It was only a nightmare."

But Weiying had clutched at him with a strength born of terror. "Leave, Yibo. Take the children and leave this palace. It's not safe. Something is coming. Someone... something sinister. They won't stop until they've finished what they want."

And then, voice breaking: "Yibo, it's Meng Ziyi. She came to me in the spirit realm. She swore she'd kill me... kill our children. And she—" his breath shook— "she said she would leave you alive only because she loves you. She wants you, Yibo. She thinks if I die, you'll turn to her."

Yibo had listened in silence, his hold tightening around him until Weiying calmed beneath the weight of his heartbeat. But inside, a storm raged.

He had long suspected someone was moving in shadows of the palace—tampering with food, whispering lies, turning servants against their Queen. But to hear Meng Ziyi's name fall from Weiying's lips... it snapped the last restraint inside him.

⸻

Flashback – The Clues

Yibo replayed every strange occurrence over the last few months.

The subtle bitterness in the soup Weiying had eaten the day he collapsed.
The strange bruises on Zhan's arms that no servant could explain.
The maid Lian who had vanished without a trace, only to be traced back to Meng Ziyi's household staff.
The rumors spread through the palace—whispers that the Queen was weak, unfit, abandoned by the King.

Each thread alone was nothing. Together, they wove a web.

And at the center, smiling with false humility, had been Meng Ziyi.