Shen Ji stepped into the solemn main hall of the Pingyang Marquis Residence, his icy gaze sweeping like a blade across Lady Liu’s ashen face at the head seat and Shen Mingxuan, frozen before the threshold, all color drained from his face.
The gazes of all the guests in the hall fixed on him, a tangle of shock, curiosity, and disbelief. The drums and music had long ceased, leaving only heavy breathing echoing through the hall.
Lady Liu strained to maintain the last shred of her authority as mistress of the household. She slammed the table and shot to her feet, her nails nearly digging into her palms, her voice shrill and trembling as she pointed at Shen Ji and shrieked: “What sorcerer is this?! How dare you impersonate our Marquis Residence’s late Eldest Young Master! You are disrupting the succession ceremony and defiling the ancestral spirit tablets! Fellow clansmen! My Lords! Seize this madman at once and execute him on the spot!” She tried to incite the clan elders and officials she had secretly won over.
However, the response remained dead silence. Shen Ji’s thunderous, phantomlike takedown of the guards outside the door, and the icy killing intent radiating from him like a physical force, made those who wanted to speak choke the words back down.
Shen Ji ignored Lady Liu’s shrieking and slowly turned to face the spirit tablets of the ancestors, and also the full hall of guests. His voice echoed through the empty hall with a cold, judgmental tone:
“Shen Ji returns today not for personal vengeance, but to clear my name before the Shen ancestors and before all of you as witnesses, and to expose this mother and son’s heinous crimes of murdering their own kin, seizing family property, and defiling the honor of the Marquis Residence!”
He reached into his robes and produced a thick stack of account ledgers and several letters, holding them high to meet the guests’ suspicious gazes: “This is the first crime! Embezzling the mistress of the household’s dowry and seizing Marquis Residence property!”
He slammed the account ledgers onto the incense altar with a dull thud.
“Lady Liu! As a second wife, you showed no gratitude and instead usurped the nest like a cuckoo! My birth mother Lin Wan’s dowry… Lin’s Silk Shop, the Yongfu Lane grain shop, the estate on the outskirts of the city… When did these properties change their surname to Liu? When did they become the signboards of your Lady Liu trading house? When did they become your Liu family brothers’ cosmetics shops?!”
Shen Ji’s voice was like shattering ice, thundering with rage: “The account ledgers are here, in black and white, recording how you transferred and seized them step by step! Every entry is stained with my birth mother’s blood and tears! Ancestors above, Lady Liu, do you confess your crimes?!”
The ledger pages flipped, the clear records stinging everyone’s eyes. A wave of sharp intakes of breath rose from the guests, and contemptuous gazes pierced Lady Liu like needles. Lady Liu’s lips trembled, her face turning from white to green.
Shen Ji did not pause. He again produced several letters from his robes. At the same time, a tightly bound, bedraggled figure was shoved to the front of the hall by Old Li… none other than Wang Wu, the manager of Caiyuan Gambling House.
“This is the second crime! Framing the legitimate son and defiling his reputation!”
“Lady Liu! You ordered this Wang Wu, colluding with the capital’s gambling houses and loan-sharking thugs, to forge promissory notes of my ‘extravagant squandering,’ spread vicious rumors, and slander me as gambling away the family fortune, causing my late father to misunderstand me and strip me of my position as Heir!”
Shen Ji’s gaze was like a poison-tipped ice arrow, shooting at Wang Wu: “Wang Wu! In front of the Shen ancestors and all the guests here, tell us one by one what you did!”
Wang Wu, already scared out of his wits, collapsed to his knees with a thud and kowtowed frantically to the incense altar and the crowd: “I’ll talk! I’ll tell everything! It was the Madam of the marquis! It was Lady Liu who gave me a large sum of money to imitate Heir Shen’s handwriting and private seal and forge those promissory notes!
The mortgage documents for the estate land deeds were fake too! All fake! The people who came to the door demanding payment and making trouble… she hired them with money! I… I was blinded by greed. Spare my life, Heir! My Lords, please see clearly!” His wailing was like a bloody accusation.
“You… you filthy slave! You’re spitting venom!” Lady Liu trembled violently, pointing at Wang Wu and shrieking.
Shen Ji’s gaze was icy, sweeping to the back of the crowd. Shuo Feng, supported by Old Li, propped up his frail body and slowly walked out. His face was pale, his thin frame wrapped in tattered clothes, but his eyes burned with a flame of grief and indignation. The scars on his face were especially conspicuous.
“This is the third crime! Setting a trap to slander and destroy a person’s reputation!”
“Lady Liu! You have the heart of a snake! At the Marquis Residence flower banquet, you ordered someone to drug me unconscious, then had the innocent South Wind House virgin attendant Shuo Feng sent into my room! Then you led the guests in to ‘catch us in bed,’ slandering me with a ‘taste for men’! You ruined my reputation!” Shen Ji’s voice was like a hammer. “Shuo Feng, tell everyone, what was the truth that day?”
Shuo Feng took a deep breath, his voice clear, carrying a broken sob and bitter indignation: “That day… I was forcibly taken by Marquis Residence people and drugged unconscious. When I woke… I was already in Heir Shen’s room… and then… the Madam of the marquis led people bursting in… pinning the crime on the Heir! The Heir and I are both innocent! We were both harmed by this poison woman! My Lords, please investigate! Clear the Heir’s name and mine!” His grief-stricken gaze pierced straight at Lady Liu.
“Wretch! Stop your nonsense!” Shen Mingxuan couldn’t help cursing.
“Shut up!” Shen Ji’s sharp shout, carrying oppressive authority, silenced Shen Mingxuan instantly.
Shen Ji’s voice suddenly dropped lower, carrying icy killing intent: “Lady Liu! Your most unforgivable crime is… poisoning the mistress of the household to death and murdering the legitimate son!”
“Boom… !”
At these words, the entire main hall erupted! All the guests were horrified!
“You… you’re spitting venom!” Lady Liu was completely panicked.
“Spitting venom?” Shen Ji sneered, taking a step forward. “My birth mother Lin Wan, lingering on her sickbed, was not weak by nature… she was slowly poisoned to death by you with Heart-Eroding Powder, bit by bit! And I! Shen Ji, the legitimate son of the Shen family! During the mourning period after my late father’s death, while his body lay in state, Li Quan, Shen Mingxuan’s page boy, under your and Shen Mingxuan’s watchful eyes, poured a bowl of Heart-Eroding Powder poison down my throat! Intending to send my father and me to the Yellow Springs together, so that your biological son Shen Mingxuan could smoothly inherit the title and completely seize the Marquis Residence!”
He suddenly turned to Shen Mingxuan, his gaze like lightning: “Shen Mingxuan! You were right there watching! Watching your page boy pour that bowl of poison into my mouth! Watching me writhe in agony! Watching me ‘stop breathing’! Weren’t you?!”
The immense terror completely broke Shen Mingxuan. “No! It wasn’t me!” he screamed, tears and snot streaming, his fingers pointing wildly at Lady Liu, desperate to distance himself: “It was her! That poison woman did everything! She killed Lin Wan! She ordered the poison poured down your throat! It had nothing to do with me! Brother Ji! You have to believe me! She forced me!” He was incoherent.
Lady Liu was struck as if by lightning, unable to believe that the son she had desperately protected was shifting all the blame onto her! The madness and anger on her face froze instantly, replaced by a heartbroken, ashen despair.
She looked at Shen Mingxuan’s face, so desperate to shed his guilt, then at Shen Ji’s icy gaze and the contempt of the hall. A wave of immense despair and sorrow drowned her. She let her hand fall limply, her voice hoarse and hollow, as if all strength had been drained from her in an instant: “Yes… I did it… poisoning Lin Wan… the schemes and traps… and… poisoning the Eldest Young Master… I did it all alone… Xuan’er… had nothing to do with it…” For her son, she chose to bear everything alone.
“Deceived? Mastermind?” Shen Ji coldly cut off the clan elder who tried to exonerate Shen Mingxuan, his sharp gaze sweeping outside the hall. “Someone! Go to Shen Mingxuan’s courtyard at once and search thoroughly! Focus on the hidden compartments in the desk and the bed compartment!”
Moments later, several guards hurried in carrying a thick stack of account ledgers and letters, presenting them. Shen Ji picked up the top one and unfolded it publicly… there, clearly, was Shen Mingxuan’s own signature and instructions!
“Look carefully! These ironclad evidences were seized from Shen Mingxuan’s room! They clearly record how he colluded with Lady Liu to transfer the Marquis Residence’s core properties, and how he secretly contacted the gambling house manager Wang Wu to discuss the details of the frame-up! He wasn’t just aware… he was the mastermind! Lady Liu, you want to bear it alone? Too late! Before the Shen ancestors, your crimes cannot be hidden!”
The evidence was ironclad! Every charge was interconnected! Shen Ji’s accusations, like peeling an onion, stripped away the mother and son’s ugliest truths layer by layer! The bought-off clan elders and officials turned ashen with shame, and no one dared speak again.
The hall fell into dead silence, broken only by Lady Liu’s despairing sobs and Shen Mingxuan’s collapse into weeping.
Shen Ji looked around, his gaze finally settling on the ancestral spirit tablets, his voice heavy and cold: “Lady Liu, poisoning the mistress of the household, framing the legitimate son, seizing family property, scheming for the title… heinous crimes! Shen Mingxuan, conspiring with his mother, framing his elder brother, intending fratricide… unforgivable! You two, with your viper hearts and wolf natures, what face do you have to stand in the Shen ancestral temple? What right do you have to inherit the Pingyang marquis title?!”
He turned to the Ministry of Rites officials and clan elder representatives: “My Lords! Today, before the ancestors, the evidence is conclusive! Please punish according to the law! The succession ceremony is hereby abolished!”
The Ministry of Rites official took a deep breath and bowed deeply: “As the Heir commands! Men! Take the criminal woman Lady Liu and the criminal Shen Mingxuan! Confine them in the side courtyard of the ancestral hall under strict watch! This official will immediately enter the palace to petition His Majesty for a decision!”
Guards stepped forward and roughly dragged away Lady Liu, limp as mud, and Shen Mingxuan, wailing in collapse. The magnificent crimson-gold serpent robes became filthy, and the jade crown symbolizing ambition rolled to the ground, covered in dust. The cries and curses faded into the distance.
The guests watched the solitary, proud figure before the incense altar, then the mess on the floor, their hearts filled only with awe. A grand ceremony had ended in the disgrace of the Marquis Residence’s stepmother and her son. The candle flames flickered, illuminating the ancient inscriptions on the tablets and Shen Ji’s cold, resolute profile.
Meanwhile, in Prince Duan’s quiet study, sandalwood incense curled through the air.
Prince Duan Zhao Sheng was leisurely savoring his tea, tapping his fingers on the desk, calculating the control over Annan that was almost in his grasp. His trusted confidant reported in a low voice the “supposed” splendor unfolding at the Marquis Residence.
However, a shadow guard covered in cold sweat came scrambling in: “Your… Your Highness! Terrible news! The Pingyang Marquis Residence… the succession ceremony has been destroyed! Shen Ji isn’t dead! He publicly exposed all of Lady Liu and her son’s crimes! Poisoning the mistress of the household, framing the legitimate son… the evidence is ironclad! Lady Liu and Shen Mingxuan have been taken into custody! The imperial judgment is imminent! Our entire Annan scheme… is ruined!”
“Boom… !”
The priceless Ru kiln sky-blue glaze teacup in Prince Duan’s hand slipped and smashed hard onto the ground, shards scattering everywhere!
“What?!” Prince Duan shot to his feet, his handsome face twisted with shock and fury, his phoenix eyes flashing terrifying cold light, murderous aura radiating from him. Years of painstaking scheming! The military power of Annan that was nearly in his grasp! Destroyed by a mere Shen Ji who should have turned to dust?!
“Fine! Fine, Shen Ji!” Prince Duan laughed in fury, the laughter icy and bone-chilling, filled with overwhelming hatred. He slammed his palm onto the desk!
“Crack!” The iron-hard rosewood paperweight was shattered to pieces by a single palm strike, wood splinters flying!
“Summon all my advisers! Now!” Prince Duan’s voice was squeezed through clenched teeth, every word wrapped in fury. He stared fixedly at the direction of the Marquis Residence, his eyes no longer carrying any trace of feigned gentleness… only the murderous ferocity of one determined to utterly destroy his enemy.
“I want him dead! I want Shen Ji ground to dust!”