Shen Yanxi turned to glance at Shen Hongxing, who had spoken up simultaneously with her.
A perfectly measured smile curved her lips as she approached the three brothers of the Champion Marquis Family, the Su Family.
She performed a graceful curtsy and said, “Young masters, since it was a case of mistaken identity, I shall consider myself a member of your Su Family. Would you be willing to rectify this error and exchange me back?”
Upon hearing Shen Yanxi’s words, Su Qingyu’s eyes widened in disbelief, staring at her as if she had grown a second head. “What did you say? You’re willing to switch back?”
Shen Yanxi nodded. “Yes.”
In the current situation, whether to switch or not was not really up to her.
But by taking the initiative to request the exchange, she retained control of the situation.
Su Qinghe’s brow furrowed slightly. “Do you realize that our Marquis Family has been convicted, and our entire household is about to be exiled to the harsh northwestern borderlands?”
Shen Yanxi nodded. “I know.”
The three Su brothers exchanged glances, and Su Qinghe spoke again, “Are you truly willing? Actually…”
He wanted to remind her that she could refuse to acknowledge the connection—if both she and the Shen Family denied any relation to their Marquis Family, the officials couldn’t force her.
But before Su Qinghe could finish, Su Qingyan interjected urgently, “She is originally from your Champion Marquis Family—what right does she have to refuse? Should she remain with our Shen Family and implicate my parents with the crime of sheltering the daughter of a convicted official?”
Shen Hongxing, who had initially spoken up to stop the Su Family out of fear of being implicated by the Marquis Family, was jolted into even greater clarity by Su Qingyan’s words.
Shen Hongxing immediately stepped forward, offering a flattering smile to the official. “Honorable sir. Please investigate fairly. My humble wife and this… convicted woman from the Marquis Family happened to give birth in the same temple by coincidence. In the midwife’s haste, it’s indeed possible that the babies were switched. Look—this child resembles my wife perfectly, while that one shares eight-tenths similarity with the Su brothers. I beg you, honorable sir, to rectify this error today and permit our two families to exchange the children back.”
Su Qinghe’s frown deepened, and he cast a look of pity and heartache toward Shen Yanxi.
In the face of disaster, Su Qingyan had abandoned their Marquis Family without hesitation.
The Shen Family was equally quick to discard Shen Yanxi.
As soon as Shen Hongxing finished speaking, even Su Qingyu, born of military lineage, understood.
His eyes blazed with anger as he glared at Shen Hongxing. “You deliberately switched my younger sister back then!”
Shen Hongxing shot him a contemptuous glance.
Had this been discovered when the Marquis Family was still powerful, they might have felt some fear.
But now that the Marquis Family had fallen to the status of prisoners, what was there to fear?
Shen Hongxing directly slipped a pouch into Liu Bantou’s hand, his expression ingratiating. “Bantou, what do you think about this matter…”
Liu Bantou accepted the pouch, weighing it in his hand. “If the babies were switched, it should be rectified. There’s nothing more to say!”
“Take the young lady of the Champion Marquis Family into custody. Let’s go!”
“Wait!”
Just as Shen Hongxing and Su Qingyan were about to breathe sighs of relief, Shen Yanxi suddenly spoke up.
She bowed properly to Liu Bantou. “Liu Bantou, I have some personal matters to settle. Would you kindly wait a moment?”
Liu Bantou frowned, his expression turning fierce as he prepared to speak, but Su Qinghuai, the third son of the Su Family, swiftly removed the jade pendant from his waist and pressed it into Liu Bantou’s hand.
“Liu Bantou, I beg your indulgence. Please take this jade pendant—exchange it for some silver and buy your men some drinks.”
Shen Yanxi glanced at Su Qinghuai, her gaze carrying a hint of deeper meaning.
These three young masters of the Champion Marquis Family each possessed their own unique qualities indeed.
The eldest son, as the heir, was a man of few words who kept his emotions well-hidden, steady and capable.
The second son was strong and robust, with a fiery temper, clearly someone trained in martial arts.
The third son wore a perpetual smile and was socially adept.
She looked at this third brother, who upon their first meeting had given up his personal jade pendant to help smooth her path, and nodded slightly in gratitude.
Then, she turned her head, her icy gaze falling upon Su Qingyan.
Su Qingyan instinctively took a step back. “Why are you looking at me? Do you think staring at me will spare you from exile?”
Shen Yanxi curled the corners of her lips into a faint smile.
A surge of rage instantly boiled within Su Qingyan.
In her past life, she had followed the Su Family into exile, contracted an epidemic along the way, and died in agony.
Only after her death, when her soul inexplicably drifted to the Shen Family, did she learn that she was actually the biological daughter of the Shen Family. Her parents had swapped her into the Champion Marquis Family to ensure she lived a life of luxury.
Yet, she had ended up with such a miserable fate.
Not only had Shen Yanxi stolen her life and enjoyed a lifetime of wealth and status thanks to her father and brothers, but a severely wounded refugee whom Shen Yanxi and the Shen Family had casually picked up during their flight from famine later ascended the throne as emperor and even made Shen Yanxi his empress.
When Shen Yanxi was crowned empress, Su Qingyan had tried to seize the phoenix crown that rightfully belonged to her.
But as she approached, a golden light shot from the crown and struck her.
She had thought her soul would scatter into nothingness, but when she opened her eyes again, she found herself back at the moment just before the Champion Marquis Family was about to be exiled.
She knew this was heaven giving her a chance to reclaim the life that was rightfully hers.
Remembering that she was destined to become the empress, the mother of the nation, she mustered her courage and met Shen Yanxi’s sharp gaze.
She sneered coldly and said, “Miss Su! You’d better stop wasting time here.
The arrangements for where and when to rest during the exile are already set. If you delay any longer and hold up the schedule, you’ll likely force the officers to spend the night in the wilderness with you tonight.”
She deliberately emphasized the word “Su” to remind Shen Yanxi of her identity as a member of the Su Family.
Shen Yanxi curled her lips slightly. “Where we rest is none of your concern, Miss Shen.
However, since you just said that the kindness shown to you by the Marquis Family was meant for their biological sister, then please return everything that belongs to me!
Take off the gold filigree hairpiece adorned with rubies on your head, the gold and kingfisher feather earrings in your ears, the gold necklace around your neck, the pair of emerald bracelets on your wrists, and the cloud-patterned gauze ruqun you’re wearing!”
Su Qingyan instinctively clutched the gold necklace around her neck. “Why should I?”
She knew that although the emperor had ordered the Marquis Family to be exiled and their property confiscated, the first thing she did after her rebirth was to gather her favorite pieces of jewelry and wear them all.
When the officers arrived, she immediately explained that she was not a member of the Marquis Family and bribed them generously to keep these items.
The gold necklace around her neck had been commissioned by the Marquise from a goldsmith for her first birthday. Over the years, as she grew, it had been resized repeatedly.
She had worn it for sixteen years without ever taking it off.
How could she bear to part with it now?
Shen Yanxi chuckled lightly. “Because these things were bought for me by my parents and brothers.
Of course, Miss Shen, if you can’t bear to part with them, you may keep them. In that case, we need not swap back our identities.”