The Front Hall of the Governor’s Mansion was ablaze with light, as bright as day.
A massive crystal chandelier refracted dazzling rays across the hall, illuminating the luxurious garments worn by every guest.
The male guests were dressed in tailored Western suits or traditional long gowns with mandarin jackets, while the ladies wore vibrant qipaos adorned with pearls and precious jade ornaments.
Elegant strings and woodwinds filled the air with melodious music, mingling with the expensive aroma of cigars, the rich fragrance of fine liquor, and the heavy perfume worn by the women.
The enormous round banquet tables were covered with exquisite delicacies, while silver cutlery gleamed coldly beneath the brilliant lights.
Today was Fourth Concubine Qin Yan’s birthday. Governor Xu Feng had personally hosted the banquet, and every influential figure in Linjiang City had gathered to celebrate his newest favorite. Between the endless toasts, every smile was filled with flattery and calculated praise.
Meanwhile, in the Side Courtyard…
A bitter wind slipped through the cracks of the broken windows, causing the small soybean oil lamp on the table to flicker as ghostly shadows danced across the peeling walls.
Floating Cloud lay face down on the hard wooden bed, her back wrapped in thick bandages, her breathing faint and shallow.
Qin Shu sat beside the bed, holding a damp, worn rag as she carefully wiped the cold sweat from Floating Cloud’s forehead.
Her dark brown eyes were as still as an ancient well.
Only the icy flame hidden at the very bottom burned silently.
Even separated by countless walls, the revelry from the Front Courtyard still reached her ears like scorching branding irons, burning relentlessly against her nerves.
Creak—
The rusty lock on the courtyard gate was unlocked with brute force, followed by the rigid sound of approaching footsteps.
Uncle Li’s stooped figure appeared at the entrance, accompanied by two expressionless guards.
“Madam,” Uncle Li said flatly, his cloudy eyes lowered, “the Governor has ordered you to attend the banquet.”
Qin Shu’s hand paused.
Her fingertips turned icy.
Attend the banquet?
At Qin Yan’s birthday celebration?
What trick was Xu Feng planning this time?
Humiliation?
Or… a test?
A trace of icy sharpness flashed through her dark brown eyes before she forcibly suppressed it, replacing it with the lifeless numbness of stagnant water.
She slowly rose to her feet.
She was still wearing the same faded gray-blue padded jacket, its sleeves stained with stubborn grease and dark, dried blood. Under the dim yellow light, it looked even more shabby and pitiful.
Without saying a word, she lowered her head and quietly followed behind Uncle Li.
Her footsteps echoed against the cold stone path as she passed through one corridor after another, crossing the boundary between prosperity and desolation as she walked toward the nauseating noise ahead.
The instant she stepped into the Front Hall, the deafening voices, blinding lights, and overpowering fragrance crashed into her like an invisible tidal wave.
Her stomach churned violently.
She instinctively shrank back.
Her head lowered even further.
Her shoulders hunched slightly, like a rabbit that had accidentally wandered into a beast’s den, too terrified to lift its eyes from the dusty tips of its worn shoes.
“Oh? Who’s this? Why is she dressed like that?”
“My goodness… isn’t that… her? Why did they let her out?”
“What bad luck! Why would the Governor allow her to…”
“Look at the state she’s in… tsk.”
The whispered conversations buzzed around Qin Shu like a swarm of flies.
Contempt.
Ridicule.
Curiosity.
Sympathy.
Countless gazes intertwined into an invisible net that nailed her to the doorway, stripping away every shred of dignity.
Hidden beneath her wide sleeves, she clenched her fists tightly.
Her fingernails dug deep into the half-healed wounds in her palms.
The sharp pain barely allowed her to maintain the final layer of numbness she wore as a disguise.
At the seat of honor sat Xu Feng.
He wore a perfectly tailored blue-gray military uniform, his polished epaulets gleaming beneath the lights. His expression remained cold and severe.
Beside him sat Qin Yan, dressed in a crimson brocade qipao embroidered with golden peonies. Her hair was adorned with glittering jewels, and her face glowed with happiness.
Holding a peeled lychee, she giggled sweetly as she fed it to Xu Feng.
The corner of her eye caught sight of the dreary gray figure standing at the entrance.
A smug, triumphant smile curled across her lips without the slightest attempt to conceal it.
The moment Qin Shu stepped into the hall, Xu Feng’s gaze swept toward her.
His eyes were cold and razor-sharp, filled with unconcealed disgust.
His lips curled downward ever so slightly as the hand resting around Qin Yan’s waist tightened.
“Sister!”
Qin Yan rose gracefully at the perfect moment.
Her voice was syrupy sweet, overflowing with condescending pity.
Setting down the lychee, she picked up an embroidered silk handkerchief decorated with mandarin ducks playing in water before walking elegantly toward Qin Shu.
“Why are you only arriving now? I thought you weren’t feeling well and wouldn’t be able to come.”
The heavy scent of her expensive perfume aggressively invaded Qin Shu’s senses.
She extended her hand.
Her crimson lacquered nails nearly brushed against Qin Shu’s faded sleeve.
With fake warmth spread across her face, she sighed.
“Just look at what you’re wearing… Ah, this is all my fault. I should’ve sent you a new outfit.”
Every guest’s attention instantly focused on them.
It was as though they were watching a carefully staged performance.
Xu Feng leaned back in his chair, a cigar held loosely between his fingers.
Blue smoke curled lazily upward, blurring his cold features.
He took a slow drag before exhaling a ring of white smoke that drifted beneath the brilliant lights.
He did not watch Qin Yan’s performance.
Instead, his gaze remained fixed upon Qin Shu’s lowered face, a face filled with numbness and submission.
Deep within his eyes, a trace of irritation mixed with a twisted curiosity flashed briefly.
“Enough.”
Xu Feng’s deep, cold voice rang out.
It wasn’t loud.
Yet it struck the hall like falling ice, instantly silencing both the murmuring guests and Qin Yan’s sugary voice.
He set down his cigar.
For the first time, his hawk-like eyes regarded Qin Shu with almost cruel scrutiny and mockery.
“Today is Yan’er’s birthday. The entire household celebrates together.”
His voice remained utterly emotionless, as though he were merely stating an insignificant fact.
Yet every word carried immense weight, reaching every person in the hall.
“And since everyone is gathered here, it’s time to settle an old matter before all our friends and relatives.”
Qin Shu’s body tensed almost imperceptibly.
Beneath the stagnant waters in her dark brown eyes, the icy flame flickered silently.
At last.
It had come.
Xu Feng swept his gaze across the astonished faces filling the hall before looking back at Qin Shu.
A cruel, icy smile appeared on his lips.
“Qin Shu, you’ve carried the title of ‘Governor’s Madam’ for five years.”
“You’ve lived in this mansion like a shadow.”
“Like… a joke.”
Every single word lashed across Qin Shu’s dignity like a poisoned whip.
The guests held their breath as their eyes darted back and forth between Xu Feng and Qin Shu.
“Do you know why?”
Xu Feng’s voice suddenly rose, overflowing with malicious satisfaction.
“Because from the very beginning…”
“…you were nothing but an impostor!”
“A despicable counterfeit who was exposed from the start!”
“What?”
A wave of shocked exclamations erupted throughout the hall.
Every guest stared with wide eyes.
Qin Yan immediately covered her mouth with her handkerchief.
Her eyes sparkled with boundless triumph.
She had finally waited for this moment.
Xu Feng rose to his feet.
His tall figure radiated overwhelming pressure.
Walking directly in front of Qin Shu, he looked down upon her from above.
His gaze was like poisonous blades of ice.
“Five years ago…”
“The woman I, Xu Feng, intended to marry…”
“…was Qin Family’s Second Young Miss, Qin Yan!”
“It was Qin Yan!”
He suddenly pointed toward the radiant Qin Yan beside him.
His voice was firm beyond question.
“As for you…”
His icy gaze scraped mercilessly across Qin Shu’s pale, numb face like a steel blade peeling flesh from bone.
“You were nothing more than a counterfeit pushed out by the Qin Family.”
“They wanted to cling to the prestige of my name.”
“They wanted to protect their pampered, cowardly Second Young Miss.”
“So they threw you out to take her place.”
“You were merely a fake.”
“A cheap substitute used to buy them time.”
The truth, ripped open before everyone, branded Qin Shu’s heart like red-hot iron.
Every tearful word Nanny Zhang had once spoken…
Every cold and heartless sentence from her father…
All of it transformed into countless icy spikes that pierced her soul over and over again.
The complicated stares of every guest became countless needles, pinning her forever upon the pillar of shame.
Qin Shu’s body trembled violently like a withered leaf caught in the winter wind.
Her head remained lowered.
Beneath her sleeves, her fingernails had already sunk deeply into the flesh of her palms.
Sharp pain shot through her hands.
Warm blood seeped through the gaps between her fingers, soaking the lining of her sleeves.
She bit the inside of her lip so hard that the taste of iron filled her mouth.
Only then did she barely suppress the scream threatening to tear from her throat.
“You carried the title of ‘Governor’s Madam,’ but from beginning to end…”
“…you were nothing but a fraud!”
Xu Feng’s voice sounded like a final judgment.
Cold.
Merciless.
“Your five years of imprisonment were the price your Qin Family paid for deceiving me.”
“You brought every bit of this upon yourself.”
“Watching you survive like a rat crawling through the gutters…”
“…has been your greatest punishment.”
He abruptly turned around and pulled the smiling Qin Yan into his embrace.
The movement was rough, possessive, and openly proclaimed his ownership.
His hawk-like eyes swept across every guest as his voice rang through the hall like clashing steel.
“Listen carefully!”
“Qin Yan was the woman I intended to marry from the very beginning!”
“She was the first…”
“…and the only woman I ever wanted!”
“Only she is worthy of becoming the mistress of the Governor’s Mansion!”
“As for this impostor…”
His cold eyes swept once more over Qin Shu’s trembling, gray figure as though he were looking at a pile of garbage.
“She exists for only one purpose.”
“To remind everyone what happens to those who deceive me, Xu Feng.”
Silence engulfed the hall.
Only Xu Feng’s ruthless declaration continued echoing beneath the magnificent ceiling.
Every look of contempt and ridicule gathered like spotlights upon Qin Shu’s frail, trembling figure.
Nestled within Xu Feng’s embrace, Qin Yan lifted her exquisitely made-up chin proudly.
Like a victorious peacock, she looked at Qin Shu with unconcealed triumph and charity disguised as pity.
Qin Shu still kept her head lowered.
Her body shook uncontrollably.
The humiliation that had seeped into her very bones…
The hatred that froze her to the core…
They became two venomous serpents, devouring every inch of her body.
Hidden beneath her sleeve, her tightly clenched fist had driven her fingernails deep into the tender flesh of her palm.
Blood trickled through her fingers.
Drop by drop, it splashed onto the polished terrazzo floor, blooming into vivid crimson flowers.
The very instant another drop of blood struck the floor—
Qin Shu’s trembling suddenly stopped.
Without warning.
She slowly raised her head.
Her face remained heartbreakingly pale.
Loose strands of hair clung to her forehead, dampened by cold sweat.
Even the corner of her lips still bore the mark of where she had bitten herself until she bled.
But those dark brown eyes…
Every trace of fear.
Submission.
And numbness.
All receded like the ebbing tide.
Only an unsettling stillness remained.
Beneath that stillness…
The frozen flame had vanished.
In its place was ice that had been tempered to its absolute limit.
Bottomless.
Bone-chilling.
Within those eyes, there was no reflection of the brilliant lights filling the hall.
No reflection of Xu Feng’s merciless face.
No reflection of Qin Yan’s triumphant smile.
There was only…
The dazzling crimson blood dripping from her own palm.
Those eyes were terrifyingly calm.
She did not look at Xu Feng.
Nor at Qin Yan.
Nor at anyone else.
Her vacant gaze drifted beyond the crowd and settled upon the enormous screen standing behind the seat of honor.
The screen was embroidered with blooming peonies of wealth and prosperity.
The golden tail feathers of the phoenix reflected beneath the dazzling lights, casting a cold, distant, almost illusory glow.
Xu Feng watched Qin Shu raise her head.
He saw the stagnant calm upon her face.
He saw those empty eyes that stirred an inexplicable unease within him.
His brows furrowed ever so slightly.
Something was wrong.
This was not the reaction he had expected.
She had not collapsed.
She had not cried.
She had not sunk into complete despair.
This silence…
It resembled the deathly stillness before a violent storm.
It carried an indescribable eeriness.
Qin Yan also sensed something unusual.
Her triumphant smile stiffened for a brief moment.
For no apparent reason, a chill crept into her heart.
Qin Shu slowly withdrew her gaze.
Her eyes drifted down to the few bright drops of blood staining the floor beneath her feet.
She bent down slightly and extended her uninjured left hand.
With pale fingers, she picked up a tiny pinch of dust that had fallen from her sleeve and mixed with the blood.
She straightened once more.
Then she closed her fingers tightly around that small handful of bloodstained dust.