“Please stop Yi-Yi’s execution immediately!”
In the southwest direction of the imperial harem, there was an execution ground.
It was a place established to punish the crimes of concubines and court ladies whose offenses could not be publicly judged. This execution ground had been most utilized during the chaotic reign of the late emperor. That emperor, on a whim, would execute his concubines, as if they were substitutes for something else.
In the end, the late emperor himself was executed at a different palace’s execution ground. But Fei Ling , a mere food physician, had been brought here, to this very place.
(That’s why I never wanted to come near this place…)
The officials’ expressions grew openly severe when Fei Ling , panting for breath, dashed in.
“Her Majesty has decided. For a mere food physician to raise objections—”
“It is precisely because I am a food physician that I must speak!”
Fei Ling turned pale upon hearing the news that Yi-Yi was to be executed by burning for the crime of attempted poisoning of the empress. Execution was typically by beheading; burning was a rare punishment. The emperor’s personal grudge was glaringly evident, intending to inflict the same suffering the empress had endured.
However, Fei Ling was not asking for a lighter sentence for Yi-Yi.
“If the fire poison consumes her from within, then so be it. But if fire is applied to someone already afflicted with fire poison, they might explode, releasing poisonous smoke into the air.”
“What did you say?”
“Still, it’s too late to stop the execution now…”
Even the officials looked shaken at this point.
“There is no need to cancel the execution. I only ask to examine her once before it begins.”
It was then that the bell signaling the start of the execution tolled.
The stench of burning straw and firewood began to fill the air.
Realizing that reasoning with the officials would get her nowhere, Fei Ling rushed into the execution ground. There, concubines and eunuchs had gathered to witness the burning.
(No matter the era, those starved for entertainment turn even executions into amusement… How deplorable.)
Forcing her way through the crowd, Fei Ling raised her voice, pleading for the burning to be stopped. But when she finally made it past the wall of onlookers, she realized she was too late.
Yi-Yi was already burning.
Strapped to the stake, engulfed by the raging flames, Yi-Yi began to laugh—a sharp, cracking laugh. The onlookers frowned, assuming she had lost her mind in terror.
“Fufufu… Ahahaha… I won’t forgive you.”
After her laughter came a voice, chilling with its freezing hatred.
The crowd, previously clamorous, fell silent in fear. The flames of Yi-Yi’s resentment burned far more fiercely than the fire consuming her.
“What’s so wrong with the burned burning others in return!”
She howled, her voice erupting like a roar.
“Lord Feng only loved the two tribes! Yet the emperor took away their hope and burned everything Lord Feng cherished! I’ll curse him—the emperor, the empress, and this entire nation!”
Her bloodshot eyes wide open, Yi-Yi spat curses with a venomous intensity.
Frozen in shock, Fei Ling could not move.
“I won’t forgive any of you! Lord Feng was the only one! I loved only him… Oh, everything that took him from me is accursed!”
It was because of this overwhelming scene that she failed to notice the strange smoke beginning to rise.
“Lord Feng… If you, too, will bear this grudge, then Yi-Yi will follow you, even to hell…”
Yi-Yi’s head burst open.
Not only her head—her entire body exploded in scarlet flames, with smoke surging violently to cover the grotesque remains like a shroud. The smoke twisted and writhed, forming a dark cloud that spiraled in the sky above.
No one could comprehend what was happening, leaving them all stunned.
A single drop fell.
A leaf caught the drop, sizzling and burning immediately.
“Get under shelter!”
Fei Ling ‘s urgent cry barely preceded the onset of rain—an eerie, lacquer-like downpour.
Screams erupted everywhere. Concubines, eunuchs, and officials who had come to oversee the execution panicked as if flames had been ignited under their feet.
“No! What is this!?”
“Aaah! This can’t be real!”
Wherever the rain touched, skin burned and blistered.
This was truly Rain of Fire Poison.
The concubines fled in terror, while others collapsed in excruciating pain, unable to move. Raising her tattered outer robe to shield herself, Fei Ling ran under a roof for cover. The poison-laden rain even scorched through silk. Her own arms and cheeks bore burns. As a food physician, she could consume poison, but only so much.
Gripping the charred, hole-ridden robe, Fei Ling stood paralyzed at the scene of hell before her.
The scorched bodies of concubines writhed on the ground.
(Is the poison of resentment truly so horrific?)
Could she even hope to devour this? Yi-Yi’s words—of losing everything—gnawed at Fei Ling ‘s fragile heart. Biting her lips until they bled, she steeled herself.
“I will save you now.”
Resolutely, she threw herself into the poisonous rain.
“Grab on to me!”
Even if only a few could be saved, medicine—no matter its form—existed to save lives. Taking hold of a concubine on the verge of fainting, Fei Ling lent her shoulder and carried her to shelter. The searing pain of her burning skin cleared her head.
(I am medicine—not poison. Poison cannot consume me.)
Even if only a few could be rescued, medicine existed to save lives. Fei Ling continued running through the storm of poison until the clouds scattered and the rain ceased.
