As soon as the two of them stepped inside, the chatter in the living room instantly died down.
Every pair of eyes snapped in unison to look their way—filled with probing, curiosity, and covert scrutiny.
Qin Nuan’s heart fluttered, and she subconsciously edged closer to Shen Shiyan.
Sensing her tension, Shen Shiyan released the arm she had been holding and instead wrapped his arm around her waist, guiding her forward.
Before long, an eager relative rushed over with a welcoming smile.
“Shiyan is back?” The relative glanced at Qin Nuan beside him and asked tentatively, “And this is?”
“Third Great-Aunt,” Shen Shiyan nodded calmly, introducing, “This is my wife, Qin Nuan.”
A single sentence plunged the living room into absolute silence.
Could this rumor actually be true?
Shen Shiyan had been single for years without a single scandal to his name, yet suddenly a wife popped out of nowhere. Most people had half-doubted the news when they first heard it, gathering at the old estate today specifically to find out the truth.
Now that he had confirmed it personally, everyone felt a secret shock.
Yet despite their individual hidden agendas, they all put on warm, enthusiastic faces, surrounding Qin Nuan with effusive compliments.
Back in the car, Shen Shiyan had already forewarned her: the Shen family had many relatives and a complicated web of relationships, so she didn’t need to force herself to entertain anyone—she just had to stay close to him.
Keeping her wits about her, Qin Nuan obediently stayed by his side, playing the part of a gentle and poised wife. Whenever someone greeted her, she offered a light smile and addressed them properly following Shen Shiyan’s lead.
Her attitude was warm and graceful, yet she spoke sparingly, keeping the boundaries precisely in check.
However, after making the rounds of introductions, Qin Nuan noticed something: only the collateral branches of the Shen family were present in the living room.
Grandfather Shen, Shen Shiyan’s father, his second uncle, and his aunt—the core figures of the Shen family—were nowhere to be seen.
Shen Shiyan didn’t seem surprised. After leading her to a seat, he asked casually, “Where is Grandfather?”
“The old master is resting upstairs. He probably hasn’t woken up from his nap yet and doesn’t know you two are back.”
Not long after, a servant came by with a message: the old master had woken up and summoned Shen Shiyan to his study.
Shen Shiyan stood up, lowering his gaze toward her with a gentle tone:
“Sit here for a bit. I’ll go have a quick word with grandfather and be right back.”
“Okay,” Qin Nuan murmured softly, though a flicker of panic fluttered inside her.
She had a nagging feeling that the moment he left, these Shen family members would tear her apart alive.
Sensing her unease, Shen Shiyan let out a low chuckle.
Leaning down, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His warm breath brushed against her auricle as he offered a quiet, reassuring murmur in her ear:
“Don’t be afraid. You don’t need to pay attention to the people here—if you don’t want to talk to them, don’t. If anyone wrongs you, wait until I get back, and I’ll back you up.”
A blush bloomed across Qin Nuan’s cheeks as she nodded, her heart settling down considerably.
This exchange, caught in the eyes of the Shen relatives, drew a variety of reactions. He actually seemed quite attentive to this sudden wife of his.
The moment Shen Shiyan left, the atmosphere in the living room cooled instantly.
Everyone in a wealthy household was a master of psychological warfare. With him gone, the looks they cast her lost all previous politeness, replaced by bare, probing scrutiny.
Someone stepped forward with a smile, exchanging pleasantries while weaving thinly veiled probes about her family background into every word.
Remembering Shen Shiyan’s instructions, Qin Nuan kept her demeanor warm yet unyielding, offering simple, polite responses without letting slip a single extra word.
Realizing they couldn’t pry anything out of her, those people had no choice but to disperse in quiet frustration.
Qin Nuan let out a silent breath of relief. This was best—she just had to hold out until he came back.
Right at that moment, a sharp yet artificially sweet voice rang out from the second-floor landing:
“Oh, look who finally decided to show up. You certainly kept us waiting long enough.”
Qin Nuan raised her eyes.
Standing on the second floor was a woman with exquisite makeup carrying a haughty, disdainful air. She wore an off-the-shoulder slip dress paired with a lightweight fur wrap, the hem slit high up her thigh, oozing a deliberate, cheap allure.
A few gazes bounced between the two women as someone deliberately stirred the pot:
“Oh, Ruowei is here.”
“Shiyan brought his wife back to see you today, how come you’re only coming down now?”
Qin Nuan paused, instantly recognizing who she was.
Jiang Ruowei.
Shen Shiyan’s nominal stepmother.
The story behind Shen Shiyan’s parents was no secret. His biological mother, Xu Yunzhi, came from a prestigious background and was known for her gentle, magnanimous nature. Her marriage to Shen Junru had been a business alliance, yet Shen Junru had treated her with chilling indifference.
Xu Yunzhi passed away when Shen Shiyan was six years old.
In less than half a year, Shen Junru married Jiang Ruowei and brought her into the household. The two of them even had a son who was only two years younger than Shen Shiyan.
It was an open-and-shut case of an intra-marriage affair.
The scandal had supposedly caused an uproar back then, infuriating Grandfather Shen to the point where he nearly disowned his son entirely.
Jiang Ruowei walked slowly down the stairs, her gaze brazenly scanning Qin Nuan from head to toe before letting out a sneer:
“I was wondering what kind of high-class socialite managed to capture our young master’s heart—turns out it’s you.”
“People from ordinary backgrounds really lack manners. Even after getting married, they don’t even know to proactively come back and pay respects to their elders.”
The surrounding air instantly went dead quiet.
The hostility was thick enough to cut with a knife; Jiang Ruowei was clearly trying to give her a humiliating reality check while Shen Shiyan wasn’t around, while simultaneously undermining Shen Shiyan’s dignity.
Quite a few people picked up their teacups, waiting eagerly for a good show.
Here it comes.
Qin Nuan’s fingertips tightened slightly, her heart hammering a few beats faster, yet her mind remained surprisingly calm.
She had anticipated this scenario before coming here.
Yet she couldn’t back down. She represented Shen Shiyan; backing down meant shaming him.
Taking a deep breath to press down her nervousness, she refused to look cowardly. Instead, she offered a faint smile, met Jiang Ruowei’s gaze head-on, and spoke in an unhurried, even tone:
“Auntie, you’ve got that quite wrong.”
“The very next day after Shiyan and I got married, we went to the cemetery to visit my mother-in-law, and I personally brought flowers.”
“Shiyan only has one mother.”
Pausing for a beat, she maintained her gentle tone, yet every word landed with crystal clarity: “As for you… I’m terribly sorry, but who exactly are you?”
The subtext was razor-sharp:
Shen Shiyan had never acknowledged Jiang Ruowei’s status, so naturally, she wouldn’t either—let alone talk about rules or etiquette with her.
Some relative couldn’t help holding back a snort of laughter.
Jiang Ruowei froze in place, her expression turning ghastly as she glared viciously at Qin Nuan.
She hadn’t expected this ordinary little girl from a humble background to have such a sharp tongue. Her words precisely pierced her deepest sore spot.
Her climb to the top back then had been far from clean, and coming from the entertainment industry, the old master still despised her for lacking breeding and refused to acknowledge her. The entire Shen family looked down on her behind closed doors.
Yet now, Qin Nuan had ripped away her pretense right to her face, slapping her pride raw.
Jiang Ruowei let out an icy huff, her high heels clicking aggressively against the floor, though she didn’t dare to actively lash out.
She dared to bully Qin Nuan, but she wouldn’t ever dare provoke Shen Shiyan.
She knew all too well her stepson’s methods. When he turned cold, he wouldn’t even recognize his own biological father, let alone her.
This initial clash made it clear to everyone present: Qin Nuan was no soft persimmon to be kneaded at will.
Someone smilingly stepped forward to smooth things over, tossing Jiang Ruowei a graceful out.
Yet Jiang Ruowei had suffered a loss and was far from willing to let it go. Barely a few minutes later, she started picking a fight again.
Sweeping a look of utter contempt over Qin Nuan’s outfit, she raised her voice with maximum disdain:
“What on earth are you wearing?”
“You don’t even have a single decent designer label on you—could it be some cheap street-market knockoff you picked up for a few dozen bucks?”
“You’re Mrs. Shen now; stepping outside represents the face of the Shen family. Dressing like this, are you deliberately trying to make outsiders laugh at our Shen family’s expense?”
Qin Nuan’s body stiffened slightly. She instinctively wanted to glance down at her clothes, but forced herself to stop.
A flash of self-consciousness crossed her face.
Her outfit genuinely wasn’t a designer brand; she had bought it online.
The Empire Group’s salary for her wasn’t low—twenty thousand a month—but she still had a mortgage to pay off. Coupled with her naturally modest taste in fashion, prioritizing comfort and appropriateness over labels, she couldn’t afford those exorbitant luxury brands and didn’t see the point in them.
Yet she hadn’t expected Jiang Ruowei to latch onto this detail to humiliate her in public.
Sensing that flicker of self-consciousness, Jiang Ruowei grew instantly smug, her voice sharpening further:
“Qin Nuan, I’m not just saying this to be mean—since you married Shiyan, the least you could do is buy a few designer pieces to hold your ground and stop shaming the Shen family.”
The surrounding Shen relatives chimed in one after another.
Every line insinuated that she lacked manners and was unworthy of Shen Shiyan.
Standing at the edge of the crowd with a smug expression, Jiang Ruowei waited until the others finished chiming in before putting on a facade of magnanimity:
“Well, whatever. You come from an ordinary background and have never seen the world.”
“Make sure to come back to the old estate more often when you have free time, so an elder like me can properly drill some manners into you.”
Surrounded and pointed at by a crowd of critics, a prickle of isolated helplessness bubbled up in Qin Nuan’s chest.
Her fingers clutched tightly at the hem of her skirt as she bit her lip, frantically searching her mind for a comeback.
Right at that moment—
A shawl carrying a faint, clean woody fragrance gently draped over her shoulders, wrapping around her slightly trembling frame.
An instant wave of warmth enveloped her.
A man’s calm, steady voice resonated from right behind her.
“My wife,” his voice was deep, yet every single word carried immense weight, “doesn’t need to care about anyone else’s gaze, nor does she need to know a single designer label.”
Qin Nuan started, looking back over her shoulder.
Shen Shiyan had appeared behind her at some point, looking down at her with a warmth deeply anchored in his gaze.
He gently turned her around.
With long, slender fingers, he neatly tied the ribbon on her shawl, focusing with absolute patience and dedication.
Once tied, he pulled her securely into his embrace.
Yet the moment he turned back to face the room, all the gentleness vanished from his eyes, leaving behind a profound, icy abyss.
His gaze swept over every single person present, finally coming to rest on Jiang Ruowei’s pale, bloodless face.
Expressionless, his tone turned glacial:
“As long as she stays right by my side—”
“I will naturally offer her the finest things this world has to offer.”