The Shen family was extremely dissatisfied with how Shen Zhao had handled the situation, especially her mother, Cui Xuenian.
After returning to Zhaohua Courtyard, Shen Zhao knelt before Cui Xuenian and held out her hands.
Cui Xuenian picked up a bamboo rod and struck Shen Zhao hard across the palms, anger flashing in her eyes.
“How dare you contradict and defy the Crown Prince!”
To Shen Zhao’s surprise, she could barely feel any pain from the bamboo rod hitting her palms.
Faced with Cui Xuenian’s stern scolding, she no longer anxiously explained herself like she had in her previous life.
Instead, she replied expressionlessly, “Mother, given the situation at the time, how did you expect your daughter to answer His Highness?”
Cui Xuenian tightened her grip on the rod.
“You could have said your younger sister had been weak and sickly since childhood, which was why she was sent to the estate.”
“But if my sister were truly weak and sickly, the Crown Prince could have the imperial physicians verify it with a single examination. Besides, wouldn’t sending a frail child to a remote estate make her even more likely to die young? His Highness would only pity her more and resent Father and Mother for abandoning her back then.”
“You…” Cui Xuenian’s eyes widened. She had never expected her usually timid and obedient eldest daughter to suddenly possess such a sharp tongue.
Before Cui Xuenian could think further, Shen Zhao continued refuting her.
“By truthfully explaining the matter to His Highness, even if he later investigates after returning to the palace, our Shen family cannot be accused of deceiving the throne. Compared to preserving appearances, I chose to protect the Shen family first after weighing the consequences. But if I had followed Mother’s suggestion, and the Crown Prince later charged the Shen family with deceiving the emperor, that would have been a far greater disaster.”
Seated in the main chair, Shen Zhao’s father, Shen Huaiming, who had remained silent the entire time, seemed moved by her reasoning.
Just as Cui Xuenian, angered by Shen Zhao talking back, prepared to punish her again with the family discipline rod, Shen Huaiming finally spoke.
“Madam, Zhaozhao is not wrong.”
Cui Xuenian still held the rod high in the air as she turned to frown at him.
“Master, she is useless. Our Shen family devoted all our resources to raising and grooming her, yet she couldn’t even keep hold of the Crown Prince’s heart. Today’s coming-of-age ceremony turned into a farce, and now the entire capital is laughing at us.”
A cold smile curved Shen Zhao’s lips.
Between her daughter and the family’s reputation, reputation would always matter more to Cui Xuenian than Shen Zhao herself.
The slightest mistake would earn her severe punishment.
Just like now, the whip in Cui Xuenian’s hand kept striking her palms until she learned never to make another error.
And now, because the Crown Prince had fallen for her younger sister, failing to “hold onto his heart” had somehow become Shen Zhao’s fault as well.
What was she supposed to do tear out the Crown Prince’s heart and tie it to her waist?
At that moment, Nursemaid Madam Yao entered, leading Shen Qingrou, who had already changed into Shen Zhao’s clothes.
Madam Yao smiled and said, “Madam, please don’t be angry. Look at Second Miss.”
Shen Qingrou walked up before Shen Zhao.
Shen Zhao raised her eyes to look.
Madam Yao had styled Shen Qingrou’s hair exactly like Shen Zhao’s and dressed her in the ceremonial gown Shen Zhao had prepared for her own coming-of-age rite.
Standing there before Shen Zhao, she looked like a mirror image of her.
Even Cui Xuenian sighed in amazement.
“The two sisters are nearly impossible to tell apart.”
From her mother’s tone, Shen Zhao could hear a trace of approval toward Shen Qingrou.
After all, just as the Crown Prince had said, the sisters shared the exact same face. Why should Shen Zhao be the Phoenix Star while her younger sister could only bear the fate of a Lone Fiend Star?
With identical appearances, what difference would it make if the sisters simply switched places? What the Shen family wanted was a Crown Princess from the Shen clan not specifically Shen Zhao herself.
At that moment, Hongzhi, Cui Xuenian’s senior maidservant, entered from outside with an unpleasant expression, glancing at Shen Zhao.
Cui Xuenian asked, “What is it?”
Hongzhi reported, “The Crown Prince says Second Miss should complete her coming-of-age ceremony first, while Eldest Miss’s ceremony will be postponed.”
This time, Cui Xuenian did not argue at all.
“Then we shall do as he says.”
Shen Zhao also made no resistance whatsoever.
She had borne the title of Phoenix Star for so long. Now that she had clearly seen the true faces of her parents, brothers, and the Crown Prince, it was time to seek another path for herself.
However…
None of the Shen family had noticed that ever since Shen Qingrou entered the manor with the Crown Prince, she had not spoken a single word.
If her status-conscious parents were to discover that Shen Qingrou could barely speak properly, what expressions would they wear?
It would certainly be entertaining.
The coming-of-age ceremony for Shen Qingrou did not proceed smoothly either.
The elderly matriarch of the Duke Jin, invited by the Shen family to preside over Shen Zhao’s ceremony, believed it improper for the younger sister to hold her ceremony first.
She insisted that either Shen Zhao should undergo the rite first, or the two sisters should hold the ceremony together on the same stage in accordance with tradition.
Furthermore, the Crown Prince should honor his engagement with Shen Zhao, as that would be proper according to custom and state decorum.
Xiao Xuanzhou frowned openly, clearly displeased by the old madam’s words.
“What’s wrong with asking Shen Zhao to give way to her younger sister?” Xiao Xuanzhou was unwilling to see Shen Qingrou suffer even the slightest grievance.
He also believed Shen Zhao had secretly manipulated the old madam into opposing Shen Qingrou and embarrassing her.
So when Shen Zhao emerged from the inner courtyard and arrived before the ceremonial platform, he immediately directed his anger at her.
“Shen Zhao, how can you be so vicious?”
Shen Zhao paused mid-step, her brows knitting slightly, unable to understand what madness had seized the Crown Prince this time.
She asked indifferently, “Your Highness, I have already changed out of my ceremonial robes and given them to my younger sister. May I ask how I have offended you now?”
“I ordered Rou’er to hold her ceremony first. Why else would the old madam refuse to comb Rou’er’s ceremonial hair unless you used your deceitful words to manipulate her?”
Shen Zhao immediately turned her head toward the direction of Old Madam Xie.
At this moment, the old madam’s black hair was still untouched by gray, her voice strong and full of vigor, her complexion rosy, her entire bearing upright and spirited.
She looked nothing like the weary, aged woman broken by the grief of losing her son in Shen Zhao’s previous life.
Shen Zhao clearly remembered that one month before her wedding to the Crown Prince, Old Madam Xie had once invited her to the Xie residence under the pretense of seeking medical treatment for an illness.
Back then, the old madam had warned her not to marry the Crown Prince, saying her life would be in danger if she did.
But in her previous life, Shen Zhao had been too proud and self-assured.
She had believed Old Madam Xie had gone senile from the pain of losing her son and was merely speaking nonsense.
After all, she had parents who valued her, three brothers who protected her, and…
A fiancé who had disguised himself perfectly as a loving Crown Prince.
How could her wedding day possibly bring danger to her life?
And even if danger existed…
She had believed her family would protect her.
Only before her death did she realize that the very people who brought her mortal danger were her family and fiancé themselves.
Just as Shen Zhao was about to retort to the Crown Prince, Old Madam Xie stepped forward first and spoke.
“Your Highness, Eldest Miss Shen has never done such a thing.”
Hearing the old madam defend her, Shen Zhao felt a wave of bitterness rise in her chest.
Old Madam Xie could have stayed out of this mess entirely, yet she still risked offending the Crown Prince to speak on Shen Zhao’s behalf.
Someone unrelated by blood had protected her more than her own family ever did.
This only made Xiao Xuanzhou even more displeased.
Not only did Old Madam Xie show no fear of the Crown Prince’s authority, she spoke even more sternly:
“It is this old woman’s belief that Your Highness ought to allow Eldest Miss Shen to hold her coming-of-age ceremony first or have the two sisters hold the ceremony together on the same stage. Only then would it accord with proper etiquette.”
At this point, Old Madam Xie turned to look at Shen Zhao’s parents.
“Minister Shen, Madam Shen, are you truly going to allow today’s ceremony to descend into complete disorder?”
Shen Zhao saw panic and agitation flash across her parents’ faces.
Before they could respond, her three brothers stood up one after another.
Her eldest brother, Shen Rong, spoke first:
“Old Madam Xie, His Highness is the Crown Prince. Whatever His Highness decides is naturally reasonable and proper.”
Her second brother, Shen Cong, added:
“Old Madam Xie is highly respected. It truly does not suit you to create such an unpleasant scene during the coming-of-age ceremony of the Shen family’s noble daughters.”
Her third brother, Shen Kuai, also said:
“If Old Madam Xie is unwilling to comb my second sister’s ceremonial hair, then we can simply invite someone else.”
Every word dripped with flattery toward the Crown Prince, without the slightest regard for Shen Zhao’s dignity.
How had she failed in her previous life to see that her parents and brothers were nothing more than a nest of selfish opportunists?
Then the voice of Xie Chenyu brushed past Shen Zhao’s ears once more.
“Heh. Your Shen family truly is laughable.”
Shen Zhao snapped back to herself and looked toward the man reclining in the grand chair behind Old Madam Xie.
The corners of his thin lips curled upward slightly, his tone full of mockery.
“It was your Shen family who personally came to invite my mother to preside over the coming-of-age ceremony of your legitimate eldest daughter. It was not the Xie family begging to come watch the disgraceful spectacle of your household.”
“Xie Chenyu!” Xiao Xuanzhou snapped angrily.
And he immediately redirected that anger toward Shen Zhao.
First, he cast her a cold look, then turned his gaze toward Xie Chenyu seated among the honored guests.
Suddenly, amid his fury, a calculating smile spread across his face.
“Very well. Then the two sisters shall hold the coming-of-age ceremony together on the same stage. Eldest Miss Shen’s ceremony will proceed as planned. As for Second Miss Shen’s ceremony…”
Xiao Xuanzhou lowered his head and gazed affectionately at Shen Qingrou.
“I shall personally comb Rou’er’s ceremonial hair.”
At this point, his teasing gaze landed on Shen Zhao’s face.
“I will certainly give Eldest Miss Shen an unforgettable coming-of-age ceremony.”