Shen Yu’s delicate, fair hands were tightly cupped around the gold-rimmed blue-and-white porcelain bowl. Inside was a high concentration of Croton powder; although the heavy, earthy scent of medicinal herbs masked it somewhat, a sharp, pungent odor still emanated from the bowl at close range.
Steward Li stood at the bottom of the steps. His wrinkled face was twisted with impatient malice, his cloudy eyes flashing with a wicked urgency.
“Princess, please. This soup has been brewing for two full hours; if it gets cold, the medicinal potency will dissipate.”
He emphasized the word “potency,” his tone dripping with a sinister, mocking cadence that made one’s scalp crawl. The entire courtyard of servants held their breath, necks tucked in, watching the scene with terrified eyes.
Shen Yu looked down at Steward Li from her position on the steps. Her fingers began to tremble with exaggerated tremors, as if the bowl were not just a piece of porcelain, but a massive mountain pressing down on her wrists. She pouted, her aggrieved face filling with two shimmering, wobbly tears in an instant.
“This soup… it’s so hot. I—I can’t hold it anymore…”
Shen Yu’s voice trembled—three parts fear and seven parts grievance—appearing exactly like a helpless young girl being bullied by a tyrant. Before she had even finished the sentence, the fingers gripping the bowl loosened with practiced ease.
The bowl lost its balance, and with a gasp from Shen Yu, it tilted and slipped from her grasp.
“Oh my!”
The bowl, packed with a lethal dose of Croton powder, traced a perfect parabolic arc through the air.
CRASH!
The crisp, sharp sound of shattering porcelain exploded abruptly in the silent morning courtyard. Shards flew in every direction, and the bowl’s contents—a thick, murky, dark-yellow sludge—didn’t waste a single drop.
As if the “poison soup” had eyes of its own, it splashed with unerring precision, drenching Steward Li’s brand-new black boots, which had been crafted from the finest Shu brocade. The boiling-hot liquid instantly soaked through the expensive fabric, reaching his feet. Brown medicinal dregs and strange, grainy powders smeared across his shoes, looking both ridiculous and disgusting. Residual soup trickled along the soles, dripping onto the bluestone tiles, immediately evaporating into a stench reminiscent of fermented sewage.
The air solidified in that second. Time seemed to have hit the pause button.
Steward Li stared down at the abysmal yellow puddle on his feet, frozen into a statue. He could feel the scorching liquid seeping between his toes. After three or four agonizing heartbeats, he let out a shriek so shrill and cracked that it sounded like a cat with its tail stepped on.
“AHHH—!”
He leaped back three or four paces, frantically shaking his feet regardless of his dignity, his aging face flushed the color of liver.
“You… you lunatic! How dare you splash me?!”
Steward Li was shaking with rage, his finger trembling as he pointed at Shen Yu. He was the Chief Steward of the Ninth Prince’s mansion, a man whose word was law! To be drenched in swill by a fool sent from the Marquis’s estate—a disposable pawn who was about to fall out of favor—was a humiliation beyond words. The malice and explosive rage he had been suppressing were now exposed without restraint.
“Vulgar! Simply vulgar and unrefined!”
“Is this how the Marquis of Dingguo teaches his daughter? To roll around and throw a tantrum in front of me?”
He jabbed a finger toward Shen Yu’s nose, spit flying everywhere, abandoning all pretense of his previously oily, fawning demeanor.
Faced with such a tirade, Shen Yu stood on the steps as if nothing were the matter. She blinked innocently, her hands twisting her hem as if she were terrified.
“Steward Li, please don’t be angry. I really didn’t mean to. The bowl was just so hot…”
The softer and more “meek” she appeared, the more the fires of Li’s rage burned.
“Still trying to argue! I have served this mansion with diligence and care for twenty years; even the late Emperor praised me for my steady hand!”
“You little brat, daring to lay hands on me—you are truly arrogant and overbearing to the extreme!”
Steward Li whirled around like an enraged boar, bellowing at the servants who were paralyzed with fear.
“Why are you all just standing there?! Go and bring the mansion’s discipline rod!”
“Even if I have to throw my life away today, I will teach this ignorant wild girl a lesson on behalf of the Prince!”
“Beat her! Beat her until she learns the rules!”
The discipline rod?!
Hearing those words, the servants collectively gasped, their faces turning ghost-white. The mansion’s discipline rod was a thick, thorn-covered vine! A few old maids exchanged glances, but intimidated by Li’s power, they braced themselves and took two steps forward.
Shen Yu, however, stood her ground without retreating an inch. She lowered her head slightly, shielding the glint of excitement in her eyes—she was clearly enjoying the show. Just as the maids prepared to move in and the atmosphere reached a breaking point, the faint sound of wooden wheels rolling echoed from the end of the corridor.
Clatter… clatter…
The sound was heavy, slow, and carried an undeniable, absolute sense of oppression.
Steward Li, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs, felt a cold sweat break out across his back the moment he heard it. He turned his head so stiffly that his neck gave an audible crack.
There, emerging from the corner of the corridor, sat Chu Xiao in his black-and-gold robe. He was being pushed slowly into view by his personal shadow guard, Jifeng.
Chu Xiao’s complexion was pale, but his deep, dark eyes radiated a bone-chilling killing intent. The temperature in the courtyard seemed to drop to the freezing point.
THUD!
Steward Li, who had been so aggressive a moment ago, felt his knees go weak, and he collapsed heavily onto the bluestone. He scrambled forward on his knees, his arrogance vanishing in an instant, replaced by the look of a deeply wronged and indignant victim.
“Your Highness! Your Highness, you must seek justice for me!”
Steward Li wept bitterly, pointing at his ruined shoes. His speed at changing his expression was so impressive that it was a waste of talent not to be an actor.
“I brought this soup to serve the Princess’s breakfast with the kindest of intentions.”
“Who would have thought that this fool from the Marquis’s estate would refuse to be disciplined!”
As he kowtowed, he embellished his story to smear Shen Yu. “She didn’t just curse at me; she intentionally knocked the bowl over!”
“Your Highness, look at this. This was a medicinal tonic for your health—she clearly harbors deep resentment toward you, and she is acting out of a guilty conscience!”
“She defies the rules of the house and doesn’t hold you in any regard; she is slapping you in the face, Your Highness! I beg you to punish her severely!”
Every word was designed to push Shen Yu into a dead end. The servants were all prostrate on the ground, not daring to breathe. It’s over, they thought. The Princess is truly dead this time. The Prince despised women who wouldn’t submit, especially a substitute bride sent to annoy him. Everyone expected Chu Xiao to order her to be torn limb from limb within seconds.
Chu Xiao sat in his wheelchair, silent. His deep, dark eyes swept coldly over Steward Li before fixing on Shen Yu.
In truth, he had seen everything clearly from the darkness of the corridor. When the woman had let go of the bowl, there had been a flash of cunning amusement in her eyes. Where was the “inability to hold the bowl”? It was clearly intentional.
The low-pressure aura surrounding him made it almost impossible to breathe. The entire backyard fell into a deathly silence. He wanted to see how this foolish woman—who spoke nonsense and possessed a bizarre “system”—intended to finish this performance.
Everyone expected Shen Yu to be terrified by this terrifying display of authority and to beg for mercy on her knees.
Instead, Shen Yu didn’t beg for mercy, nor was there a trace of fear on her face. She even cast a look of utter disgust at the swill on Steward Li’s feet before slowly turning around.
In the eyes of the dumbstruck crowd, Shen Yu strolled back into the room. A few seconds later, she walked out slowly, carrying something…