Lin Shi trembled at the sudden turn of events.
Instinctively, she clutched Shen Qingzhu’s sleeve, her frightened gaze darting between her mother-in-law and her “son.”
She didn’t understand.
Just moments ago, her “son” had spoken with sharp clarity, turning the tide in a desperate situation. How had it suddenly become as if the Old Madam had seen a ghost?
Shen Qingzhu did not answer.
She simply looked quietly at the elderly woman before her.
Her hair was streaked with white, her face covered in tears, and now tinged with fear.
In the Old Madam’s eyes, Shen Qingzhu’s silence was confirmation.
A chill shot from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head, making her almost lose her balance.
Too many things didn’t add up, exploding one after another in her mind.
This “grandson” had been frighteningly calm since waking up.
When he seized the door bar—his ghostlike movement and strength that no frail scholar should possess.
When he analyzed the situation—his ruthless insight far beyond his age.
And now, facing her questioning, those eyes held not a trace of panic, only a bottomless calm.
As if he were looking at… a stranger.
This was not her Zhu’er.
Her Zhu’er was timid and shy, blushing even when meeting strangers. How could he possess such composure, unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him?
“Demon!”
The Old Madam staggered back a step, her finger pointing at Shen Qingzhu trembling violently.
“What kind of demon are you, possessing my grandson’s body?!”
Her voice was shrill.
“Speak! What have you done with my real grandson?!”
Lin Shi’s face turned deathly pale. A short scream escaped her lips before she clapped a hand over her mouth, unable to believe what she had just heard.
“Old Madam… what… what nonsense are you saying… this is Zhu’er…”
“Shut up!”
The Old Madam snapped sharply, her bloodshot eyes turning toward Lin Shi.
“It’s all your fault! It must be you, you jinx, who brought this evil spirit here! You killed my son, and now even my only grandson—”
“He’s dead.”
Shen Qingzhu finally spoke.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it struck like thunder, instantly cutting through the curses and sobbing of the two women.
The entire hall fell silent.
Lin Shi turned her head in disbelief, staring at the side of her “son’s” face, her lips trembling but unable to utter a word.
The Old Madam froze as well, her chest heaving violently.
Shen Qingzhu’s calm gaze settled on the Old Madam’s face, twisted with shock.
She spoke slowly, each word a cold statement of fact.
“Your grandson, the moment he heard the officials announce that the Shen family would be executed in its entirety… was scared to death.”
Boom—!
The shock of those words was a hundred times greater than hearing that Prince An had rebelled.
The Old Madam’s body swayed violently. If not for the grand chair behind her, she would have collapsed.
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. The last trace of light in her cloudy eyes disappeared.
Dead…
Scared to death…
The grandson who used to hide in her arms during thunderstorms, the one whose eyes reddened whenever she scolded him for being “delicate”… had died just like that?
Endless regret and grief flooded over her like a tide.
It was her fault.
She had raised him like a flower in a greenhouse, unable to withstand even the slightest storm.
After the regret came an absurd thought creeping into her mind.
Scared to death…
At least… his body remained intact.
Better than being beheaded at the execution ground…
The thought made her shudder, and deeper despair seized her heart.
The Shen family was truly finished.
Seeing the mixture of grief, regret, and twisted relief on the Old Madam’s face, Shen Qingzhu sighed inwardly.
She raised a hand, trying to pry Lin Shi’s fingers from her sleeve.
“You…” Lin Shi finally found her voice, tears pouring down. “You really… aren’t my Zhu’er?”
“Yes and no.”
Shen Qingzhu gave the answer closest to the truth.
Looking at the Old Madam, whose face was drained of color, she continued calmly.
“You can think of me as a wandering soul who borrowed a corpse to return to life. But this body was willingly given to me by the original Shen Qingzhu. In exchange, I will protect all of you for him.”
Those words made the two women on the brink of collapse freeze.
Sure enough, the Old Madam’s lifeless eyes finally showed the faintest ripple.
She lifted her head and stared fixedly at Shen Qingzhu.
After a long while, she seemed to gather all her strength and forced out two words.
“Fine… fine…”
“No matter who you are, as long as you can save the Shen family… you may keep using that body.”
It was a helpless compromise and a desperate gamble.
The stake was the lives of everyone in the Shen family.
But then her tone changed. In her cloudy eyes flickered the shrewdness and stubbornness of a matriarch.
“But I have one condition!”
“Since you occupy my grandson’s body, you must fulfill my grandson’s duty!”
The Old Madam pushed herself up from the chair, her voice carrying unquestionable authority.
A strange fanaticism flashed in her eyes.
“As long as you stay alive, even if the rest of us die, the Shen family line won’t end! Then in the underworld, I can face your grandfather!”
“You must bear children for the Shen family—leave a legitimate heir! Continue the Shen family bloodline!”
Shen Qingzhu laughed.
The smile was icy, tinged with pity as though she were looking at a fool.
“Old Madam, have you not understood the situation?” She tilted her head, speaking leisurely. “We’re lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Our heads could roll at any moment, and you’re discussing the inheritance of the sheep pen?”
She stepped forward, her presence pressing down.
“Expanding the family line? Continuing the bloodline? That mindset belongs in the relics of history—like an ancestor’s foot-binding cloth: long and foul. Honestly, it should be reported to the court as a cultural artifact.”
“You… you insolent brat!” the Old Madam shouted, her lips turning purple with anger.
“Insolent?” Shen Qingzhu’s smile widened. “There’s something even more insolent. Not just now—even if we escape, I still can’t fulfill that wish of yours.”
She paused, enjoying the Old Madam’s face turning the color of liver.
Then, word by word, she dropped the final thunderbolt.
“Because having children requires both a man and a woman. And I, Shen Qingzhu—am a woman.”
“….”
Time seemed to freeze.
The anger, authority, and expectation on the Old Madam’s face shattered into blank disbelief.
“Ah—!”
A shrill scream burst from her throat, almost lifting the roof.
But it wasn’t directed at Shen Qingzhu.
She suddenly turned toward Lin Shi and slapped her hard across the face.
Smack!
The sharp sound echoed through the silent hall.
“You vicious woman! You wretch!”
The Old Madam grabbed Lin Shi by the collar, looking like a madwoman.
“So it was you, Lin Huiniang! You dared to deceive us! Not only did you cause my son’s death, you were going to make the entire Shen family end its lineage because of you!”
Lin Shi’s lip bled from the slap, but she didn’t move. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at Shen Qingzhu, her eyes full of pleading and desperate reliance.
“I… I had no choice… I already gave birth to two daughters… If I didn’t bear a son… you… you would have forced the Master to take a concubine…”
“So you passed off a daughter as a son?! You— I’ll beat you to death!”
“Enough!”
Shen Qingzhu grabbed the Old Madam’s raised wrist, her voice icy.
“Preferring sons over daughters—such backward thinking. The Shen family’s downfall today? As the matriarch, you’re responsible for at least half of it.”
“You!” The Old Madam trembled with rage.
“So what if I’m a daughter?”
Shen Qingzhu released her hand and looked at the frightened Lin Shi and the furious Old Madam.
“Who says a daughter can’t uphold a family? My sisters can take a husband into the family. Their children will still carry the surname Shen. The family line won’t end.”
“A man who marries into the wife’s family is spineless trash!” the Old Madam retorted instantly.
Shen Qingzhu had no interest in arguing further.
The gap between eras couldn’t be bridged with a few words.
“We’ll talk about that after we survive,” she said, pulling the conversation back. “Right now, the most urgent thing is to bring Father’s body home.”
At the mention of Shen Jiru, the Old Madam and Lin Shi began crying again.
“Bring it home… how? The moment we leave the house, we’ll be arrested…” Lin Shi sobbed.
“I have a way,” Shen Qingzhu said firmly. “But first, I need to go out and gather information.”
The Old Madam looked at this unfamiliar “granddaughter.” After countless thoughts crossed her mind, they finally turned into a long sigh.
At this point, there was no choice but to trust her.
“Shen Zhong… go find Shen Zhong…” she said weakly. “He’s an old servant of the household. He can be trusted.”
Shen Qingzhu nodded and left the hall without delay.
“Young Master!” Seeing Shen Qingzhu, Shen Zhong rushed forward like he had seen a savior.
“Prepare a carriage. Come with me.”
“Young Master… where are we going? There are soldiers everywhere outside!”
“To the Dali Temple prison.”
“Yes! I’ll arrange it immediately!”
Soon, a carriage quietly left the back gate of the Shen residence.
Shen Qingzhu did not sit inside the carriage. Instead, she sat beside Shen Zhong on the driver’s seat.
Along the way, imperial guards and brocade-clad officers stood at posts every few steps. The atmosphere was tense and murderous.
Shen Qingzhu stared straight ahead while secretly operating a phone hidden in her sleeve. The camera silently recorded the street layout and troop deployments.
“Uncle Zhong, Father was always cautious. How did he get involved in Prince An’s rebellion?”
At the mention of the master, Shen Zhong’s eyes instantly reddened.
Lowering his voice, he said bitterly, “The day before Prince An rebelled, he suddenly had a heart attack. The imperial physicians in the palace couldn’t treat him, so His Majesty ordered the Master to attend!”
Shen Zhong’s voice trembled with anger.
“The Master only went to treat Prince An. Who would have thought that the very next day… Prince An rebelled!”