Shen Zhao stood by the window, watching Cui Xuenian hurry out of Bibo Courtyard. A cold smile curled across her lips.
In less than an hour…
Madam Yao rushed into Bibo Courtyard with an awful expression on her face and found Shen Zhao in the eastern wing room.
“Eldest Miss, hurry and come to Qionghua Pavilion to see Madam. Madam, she…”
Madam Yao hesitated inwardly. At this point, she no longer dared to conceal the truth.
After all, Eldest Miss was Madam’s biological daughter.
“Madam fainted inside Qionghua Pavilion. The Master and the Second and Third Young Masters asked this servant to invite Eldest Miss there to discuss matters.”
“Very well.”
Shen Zhao set down the brush in her hand and glanced at the painting she had just finished.
There was a single line of small writing hidden within it. After she left the eastern wing, Man Yin would deliver it to Xie Chenyu.
She wanted him to investigate her origins.
After putting on a light blue cloak, Shen Zhao followed Madam Yao to Qionghua Pavilion.
She had originally thought Cui Xuenian had merely fainted from shock.
Unexpectedly, Shen Qingrou had angered her so badly that blood streamed from her nose before she collapsed directly onto the couch.
By the time Shen Zhao stepped into Qionghua Pavilion, Cui Xuenian had already awakened.
Before Shen Zhao even entered the room, she heard Cui Xuenian say in horror:
“How can a Shen family daughter who can barely speak properly possibly become Crown Princess in the future? How could she ever manage the Crown Prince’s harem?”
“Master, quickly think of a way to send her away! That position of Crown Princess was supposed to belong to Zhaozhao!”
“The imperial marriage decree has already been issued. How dare you resist it? Do you want the entire Shen clan exterminated?” her father, Shen Huaiming, shouted angrily.
Just as Shen Zhao reached the doorway, she heard Shen Qingrou trying to speak:
“Y-y-y-y-you…”
“D-d-d-don’t…”
“Th-th-th-th-think…”
“S-send…”
Unable to continue, Shen Qingrou stamped her foot heavily and shrieked:
“Aw-aw-aw-away m-me! I-I-I-I-I…”
“Am-am-am-am-am…”
“Cr… Crown… Princess…”
The final three words came out one syllable at a time, squeezed painfully from between clenched teeth with all her strength.
After Shen Qingrou finally struggled through the sentence, Cui Xuenian felt another dizzy spell strike her. Blood surged in her throat, and she nearly coughed it up from rage.
The Shen Zhao she had personally raised had always been refined, educated, and graceful.
Never once had she behaved in such an unsightly manner as Shen Qingrou.
What madness had possessed her to let the Crown Prince choose a wild child raised on a rural estate?
Cui Xuenian’s trembling finger pointed at Shen Qingrou only for her eyes to suddenly land on Shen Zhao standing at the entrance.
The words on her lips immediately changed.
“Zhaozhao, quickly come to Mother. Let Mother properly see how much you’ve suffered these past few days.”
Coldness spread through Shen Zhao’s heart.
What disgusting hypocrisy.
Her mother truly displayed opportunism and snobbery to perfection.
Shen Zhao stepped over the threshold, passed by Shen Qingrou, and arrived beside Cui Xuenian. Feigning confusion, she asked:
“Mother, what happened? Younger Sister, she…”
Her second brother, Shen Cong, said:
“Shen Qingrou has a stutter. She’s completely unfit to be Crown Princess.”
Her third brother, Shen Kuai, added:
“Zhaozhao, Father and Mother hope that you ”
Before he could finish, Shen Zhao’s eldest brother, Shen Rong, entered from outside with a grim face.
When Xiao Xuanzhou had returned to the palace, Shen Rong had accompanied him there to discuss the bandit problem in Yanqing.
Shen Huaiming knew about this matter. Seeing his eldest son return, he asked:
“Dingyao, why does your expression look so terrible? Did something happen in the palace?”
Dingyao was Shen Rong’s courtesy name.
Shen Rong swept a glance over Shen Qingrou and said:
“Father, Mother, the Crown Prince, Duke Jin, and I were discussing affairs in Zhengxuan Hall. Everything had been going smoothly.”
“But when the Crown Prince and I left Zhengxuan Hall, His Highness suddenly fell down the stairs.”
It had been a bizarre fall on perfectly level ground, followed by tumbling down the steps.
He rolled down more than a hundred stairs.
And it was Xie Chenyu who had rescued the Crown Prince.
But what truly shocked Shen Rong came afterward.
“The Crown Prince’s left leg has been broken.”
“What?!”
Everyone in the Shen family except Shen Zhao cried out in unison.
For the Crown Prince to break his leg was no trivial matter.
Ever since childhood, the heir apparent had been protected and pampered by everyone in the palace.
Not to mention breaking a leg even minor scrapes or bruises had almost never happened to him.
Daoist Luoshan had once declared that the Crown Prince possessed the fate of a “child spirit.” Without the protection of a lucky star, he would never have survived into adulthood.
Shen Zhao’s destiny perfectly complemented the Crown Prince’s, and the two were supposedly destined for one another, supporting each other while helping him overcome the baleful energy surrounding his life.
Yet just two days ago, the new Imperial Astrologer had overturned the identity of the Crown Prince’s lucky star.
The marriage decree had only just been issued, the Phoenix Star had changed hands and immediately afterward, the Crown Prince broke his leg.
This forced even the Emperor and Empress to question the new Imperial Astrologer, Lianping Daoist.
But Xiao Xuanzhou anxiously insisted:
“Father Emperor, Mother Empress, this son had been preoccupied with the horse bandits troubling the merchants of Yanqing in the northwest. I lost focus for a moment and tripped over the threshold. It has nothing to do with Rou’er.”
“And half a year ago…”
“When Eldest Miss Shen was still considered the Phoenix Star, this son was attacked and stranded in Huai River Village, barely escaping death. It was Second Miss Shen who appeared and saved my life.”
“The injury I suffered back then happened to be my left leg. Today’s injury is merely an old wound acting up, causing me to fall accidentally.”
“But had it not been for Second Miss Shen saving my life then, this son would already be dead.”
“Clearly, Eldest Miss Shen is not my destined woman. Second Miss Shen is.”
“As for today’s injury, it must be because Eldest Miss Shen resents losing the position of Crown Princess and used her baleful Lone Star fate to curse me.”
Before she could finish speaking, he flicked his horsetail whisk and said to the Emperor and Empress:
“Your Majesty, Your Highness the Empress, this humble Daoist only agreed to follow the Crown Prince because he bears the appearance of a wise ruler.”
“If even Your Majesty and the Empress doubt me, then I can immediately remove this robe of the Imperial Preceptor, leave Yan, and never again interfere in the affairs of the kingdom.”
Neither Emperor Jingle nor Empress Cui had spoken yet when the Crown Prince hurriedly added:
“Father Emperor, Mother Empress, it was this son who repeatedly begged Immortal Master Lianping to enter the palace with me. Only then did Imperial Preceptor Lianping set aside his own affairs and accompany me to Yanjing.”
“As for Daoist Luoshan, he is a fraud who betrayed his own master and ancestors. Back when he designed Qionghua Pavilion, he must have used some kind of demonic art. Now that the true Phoenix Star has returned to her rightful place, the evil influence rebounded onto me.”
The Emperor and Empress remained silent for a long while.
At last, Empress Cui spoke first:
“Then according to Imperial Preceptor Lianping, why exactly did the Crown Prince injure his leg? His Majesty and I want a definite answer. We do not wish for the Crown Prince to suffer such incidents again.”
Imperial Preceptor Lianping looked toward the Crown Prince’s silhouette reflected on the screen.
At that moment, a eunuch entered.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness the Empress, Lord Shen and Madam Shen have arrived with both young ladies of the Shen family.”
Imperial Preceptor Lianping immediately replied:
“This humble Daoist must first examine the physiognomy of the two young ladies before giving Your Majesty and the Empress a definitive answer.”
Emperor Jingle spoke:
“Summon the two daughters of the Shen family into the hall.”
Soon, the eunuch left Yuehua Pavilion and summoned Shen Zhao and Shen Qingrou into the Crown Prince’s sleeping chamber.
As Shen Zhao rose, Cui Xuenian subconsciously grabbed her sleeve and whispered in a low voice:
“Zhaozhao, your sister must not speak. Just tell His Majesty and the Empress that she has caught a cold and temporarily lost her voice. Do you understand?”
Shen Zhao glanced indifferently at Cui Xuenian.
After learning that the Emperor and Empress wished to summon the Shen sisters, the Shen family decided to temporarily conceal Shen Qingrou’s defect.
They would claim that Shen Qingrou had temporarily lost her voice due to illness, thus avoiding having her speak before the imperial couple.
And Shen Zhao herself…
Had no intention of exposing them just yet.
What she wanted…
Was to watch them cling to hope again and again, only for it to shatter repeatedly living in constant fear and unease until, in the end, they were powerless to stop their family’s destruction.
If she exposed Shen Qingrou’s defect now, the Shen family would certainly shift the blame onto her in order to escape the crime of deceiving the throne.
They would say:
“Out of jealousy that her younger sister became the future Crown Princess, Shen Zhao poisoned her sister with mute medicine, crippling her voice.”
She would never again hand them the knife they would use to stab her.
Shen Zhao replied softly:
“Yes, Mother.”
Then she turned and walked ahead.
She did not see the flicker of anxiety in Shen Qingrou’s eyes.
Shen Qingrou followed blankly behind Shen Zhao, but in her mind she was frantically communicating with the system known as the Black Lotus:
“Black Lotus, get out here!”
“Didn’t you say that as long as Shen Zhao blackened from love and hatred, the system could absorb her darkening energy, and then I’d be able to speak fluently?”
“Why is it that after returning to the manor for three days, I still can’t even smoothly say five short words?”
The Black Lotus System replied:
“Host, I have not sensed any resentment from Shen Zhao born from love turning into hatred.”