A light rumble of thunder passed through the dark gray twilight, shaking ten thousand strands of rain that scattered down along the gray walls and green tiles. Inside the room, where the sandalwood incense had yet to burn out, the humid and stifling air forced sweat to break out continuously on one’s body.
Having just wiped it away, sweat seeped from her forehead again in the blink of an eye. Shen Lizhuang clutched the towel in her hand, wiping the perspiration from her temples over and over.
What should she do?
Earlier, her forged identity to take the female academy’s entrance exam had been exposed by Nanny Sun. Fearing that Nanny Sun would investigate her family, Shen Lizhuang had no choice but to temporarily seek refuge with her older legitimate sister, intending to stay briefly at the residence of her newlywed sister and Prince Jing.
To her surprise, her older sister had not only warmly welcomed her arrival this time, but had also ordered her servants to attentively arrange her meals and daily life. All of this had left Shen Lizhuang flattered and overwhelmed.
Her relationship with her older sister was not particularly harmonious; at best, it could be called a surface-level peace. Her older sister was born of the primary wife, whereas Shen Lizhuang’s mother was a concubine who had formerly been of low status before redeeming her freedom, and who had passed away early. In the family, Shen Lizhuang occupied a position that was merely one more pair of chopsticks at the table. Her father disregarded her, her stepmother viewed her as a thorn in her side, and her older sister treated her with cold indifference. Had it not been for the desperate situation of her botched exam attempt and having nowhere else to go, Shen Lizhuang would not have sought refuge with her older sister in her anxiety.
Reasonably speaking, as her older sister was newly wedded to Prince Jing, her presence as the Princess Consort’s sister-in-law was quite inconvenient. Yet unexpectedly, aside from surprise, her older sister seemed to harbor a subtle delight at her arrival that Shen Lizhuang could not quite articulate.
Shen Lizhuang stayed as a guest in the Prince’s estate as if sitting on pins and needles, intending to stay for three full days before leaving according to the situation to return home. As long as these few days passed, Nanny Sun from the female academy should no longer cling to her mistake. After all, although she had forged her background, the five taels of silver she slipped to Nanny Sun were real and substantial.
That was the money she had saved up for a very long time for her studies!
She had been turned away before even stepping foot through the gates of the examination hall, causing no harm or evil consequences. If Nanny Sun still held on to this without letting go, she would be far too heartless.
Only, just when Shen Lizhuang finally relaxed her vigilance and guard a little, her older sister—who had shared intimate sisterly affection and slept in the same bed with her last night—suddenly vanished!
This morning, Shen Lizhuang woke up lazily from within the bed curtains. At the head of the bed, two servile figures had already silently stopped at an unknown moment, holding washing items and waiting with bowed heads.
Shen Lizhuang’s eyes were hazy as she shifted her sight outside the bed curtains, hearing two neat and respectful calls of “Princess Consort” in her ears.
“This servant is here to attend to the Princess Consort’s washing and dressing,” Zhuji said, holding a towel.
Shen Lizhuang’s body felt unusually soft and weak. Hearing this, she subconsciously reached toward the quilt beside her, calling softly, “Older sister?”
Outside the curtains, the attending maid Zhuji spoke deferentially once more, “We request the Princess Consort to rise from bed.”
Shen Lizhuang’s palm felt only emptiness in the quilt beside her; the cold bedsheet seeped a chill into her palm. For some reason, an uneasy feeling faintly rose in Shen Lizhuang’s heart. Straining to maintain the upward curve of her lips, she forced herself to explain, “Older sister is not here. Perhaps she went to change her clothes?”
Fearing they would not believe her, Shen Lizhuang purposefully turned her body and lifted the bed curtain for Zhuji and Yingluo to see. Inside the curtains, apart from her, it was completely empty, with no sign of her older sister.
They must have arrived late and mistakenly thought her older sister was still sleeping.
Yet Yingluo and Zhuji invited her in unison, “Princess Consort, it is time for you to rise.”
Shen Lizhuang’s smile froze on her lips.
These two clearly saw that her legitimate older sister was not within the bed curtains, yet they still firmly uttered “Princess Consort”—the person referred to here could only be her. That faint, underlying sense of wrongness from earlier seemed suddenly confirmed. Sweat instantly poured from Shen Lizhuang’s back in a cold drench, a chilling frost seeping through her bones.
Yet she still dared not believe it, looking at the two in shock.
Zhuji and Yingluo were both maids beside her older sister who had been in the estate for over ten years, serving as her older sister’s most trusted left and right hands. At this moment, only the three of them were in the bedchamber, yet her own brought-along maid, Liusu, was nowhere to be seen.
Subconsciously, she went to call for “Liusu,” but after calling several times, there was no reply. When she wanted to get out of bed, her body felt unnaturally soft and limp.
The familiar faces of Yingluo and Zhuji before her—their round, silver-plate-like faces—suddenly seemed like the ghost masks in storybooks, emanating a sinister and devouring aura, full of terrifying dread.
Shen Lizhuang clutched her temple, suddenly realizing that last night, her older sister had warmly brought her a cup of Mind-Clearing Tea!
Ever since her exam attempt had fallen through, her heart had been restless, sometimes terrified that Nanny Sun would come to settle accounts with her—a nuance that had been noticed by Shen Meizhuang.
Although Shen Meizhuang did not know why her concubine-born younger sister was burdened with worries, she took the opportunity to bring a cup of Mind-Clearing Tea that was said to calm the mind and nourish the appearance. To gain her trust, both of them had drunk from that tea last night.
After drinking the tea, she had fallen into a deep sleep upon the bed, and this morning, Shen Meizhuang was nowhere to be found.
“Where is older sister? Tell me, where is Shen Meizhuang?” Shen Lizhuang’s head felt dizzy and lightheaded. Attempting to get out of bed, she ultimately tumbled back onto the mattress in a dizzy spell.
Fine sweat continuously seeped from her forehead. She took the dry towel from Zhuji’s hands, covering her face to wipe it, her heart fluttering uncontrollably for a few moments.
At this time, Yingluo no longer spoke in riddles with her. She motioned for Zhuji to keep watch at the door while she knelt on the ground to answer Shen Lizhuang’s question.
Her tone was calm as still water, yet the words she uttered were absurd: “The Princess Consort need not be surprised. Your younger concubine-born sister, the Second Miss, already left the Prince’s estate this morning taking your maid Liusu with her.”
Shen Lizhuang understood; this was a scheme of substitution. For some unknown reason, her older sister had suddenly fled, and she had become the replacement, taking Shen Meizhuang’s place.
Subconsciously, she wanted to press Yingluo for answers, but her body was entirely devoid of strength. Connecting Yingluo’s words together, layers of coldness washed over her body, chilling her to the very marrow!
The good fortune of marrying a prince would not have fallen upon Vice Minister Shen under normal circumstances. It was only because this Prince Jing, who had long been cut off from the throne, suffered an ailment in his eyes and could not see. He had been recuperating in the Prince Jing Estate for two years without improvement. Unable to secure a grand marriage, the middling Shen Shushi managed to pick up this chance.
The Sixth Prince, once a formidable warrior general on horseback, now ended up confined to his own estate, a turn of fate that had drawn many sighs of regret.
Ever since he established his own residence, Prince Jing’s birth mother, Dowager Consort Yun, had also been recuperating here.
Since losing his sight, Prince Jing had lived in seclusion, and his temperament had gradually become eccentric.
Meanwhile, Dowager Consort Yun’s health had always been frail and sickly. Upon learning that there was no hope for her son’s condition, her health took a sudden turn for the worse, becoming terminally ill and teetering on the edge of life and death several times.
Dowager Consort Yun had always been indifferent to worldly struggles and did not crave grand honors. She had only one wish in her heart: that as she was about to leave this world, her son was not yet married. On her deathbed back then, she had held Prince Jing’s hand and urged him to marry in a voice as weak as gossamer.
To ward off bad luck with a joyous event and to fulfill his mother’s “deathbed” wish, Prince Jing had hastily chosen the Shen family to complete the marriage.
On the night of the grand wedding, Dowager Consort Yun’s illness suddenly relapsed again, bringing her to the brink of death. Shen Lizhuang’s brother-in-law, Prince Jing, did not even consummate the marriage with her older sister, turning around without a second look to attend to his mother’s bedside.
After taking several doses of potent medicine in an emergency, Dowager Consort Yun’s life was saved, but Prince Jing and her older sister’s formal ceremony was delayed for several days.
During these few days, the few people in the estate devoted all their attention to Dowager Consort Yun’s illness. Hardly anyone cared about the bridal chamber, where the Princess Consort’s concubine-born sister stayed as a guest, coming and going like the wind.
Therefore, no one knew that the Princess Consort who had married into the estate had already been secretly swapped out.
Waves of dizziness passed before Shen Lizhuang’s eyes. Suppressing the nausea rising in her throat, she asked, “Are… are you not afraid that I will expose this?”
Yingluo replied, “This was an imperial decree for marriage. If Second Miss exposes this now, it is a crime of deceiving the Emperor.”
In other words, while Shen Meizhuang would not have it easy, Shen Lizhuang would also be unable to clear her name.
After all, she had come to the door on her own initiative. If she claimed to have had no part in the collusion, no one would likely believe her.
Shen Meizhuang had counted on the fact that she would not dare to act recklessly, which was why she had left so decisively without any hesitation.
She just didn’t understand. In the eyes of outsiders, this was an exceptionally good marriage. Although Prince Jing was disabled, he was still of imperial blood, enjoying immense wealth and status. Was he so hideously ugly that her sister could not accept him?
That certainly wouldn’t do. Why should she step into a pit that even Shen Meizhuang refused to step in?
“Just tell me, where is she?”
Yingluo naturally would not tell the truth: “Now that Second Miss is here, just focus on being a good Princess Consort. To you, this is supreme good fortune—a yellow magpie landing on a branch. You might as well hold out both hands to receive it. If you miss this opportunity, you likely won’t have such a noble fate again.”
Shen Lizhuang was almost laughed out of anger. “My ‘supreme good fortune’ is just the scraps falling from Shen Meizhuang’s fingers, and I still have to stretch out both hands to receive and hold them with fear, trepidation, and gratitude? Who cares about being some Princess Consort or having some noble fate! If you say another word that displeases me, I will shout right now and call Prince Jing here. I don’t believe he won’t be anxious if the Princess Consort is missing from the estate.”
Shen Lizhuang knew that unless driven to total desperation, she would not resort to such a mutually destructive path.
However, this minion who looked down on others was truly infuriating.
Waking up from sleep, she had become the Princess Consort of the Prince Jing Estate—this was too absurd!
Had no one in the entire estate seen the bride who married in?
At this moment, Shen Lizhuang, who was nearly blind with rage, suddenly recalled Shen Meizhuang’s state over the past two days.
Shen Meizhuang had been covering her face with a red veil for these past few days. When she first arrived, Shen Lizhuang did not understand and had asked her older sister why she was dressed like that. Shen Meizhuang had deceitfully claimed that since she and Prince Jing had not completed their grand ceremony, her red veil had to be unveiled by her husband; otherwise, it was improper to show her face before others. Shen Lizhuang had offered polite compliments while secretly thinking to herself that the Prince’s estate had so many rules and grand pomp. Her older sister had always been proud, yet marrying into a high family required her to be so submissive and compliant, which made her feel a bit sympathetic.
Who could have thought that this was a plot calculated long in advance!
Yingluo pulled back her demeanor and held her breath as if frightened, taking a step back.
Shen Lizhuang composed her breathing, forcing her mind to calm down and ponder a solution.
Right now, the most urgent matter was to find the runaway Shen Meizhuang and swap their identities back.
Just as she was pondering where Shen Meizhuang might have fled and where she should look for her, the maid Zhuji, who had been keeping watch, turned her gaze with an unusual expression, signaling for silence.
Within a moment, a knock sounded at the door: “Has the Princess Consort finished washing and dressing? The Dowager Consort requests the Princess Consort to come pay her respects and serve tea.”
Today, the Dowager Consort’s health must have fully recovered, which was why she wanted to make up for the tea ceremony that had been missed days ago.
The visitor was Nanny Zhou, a servant beside Dowager Consort Yun. They dared not continue conspiring in the room, and Zhuji did not dare to leave the door unopened.
The bed curtains were open, and Shen Lizhuang’s heart trembled with dread, terrified that Nanny Zhou would recognize her.
However, Nanny Zhou merely paused before Shen Lizhuang for a few moments in surprise, seemingly failing to recognize that she was the Princess Consort’s concubine-born sister who had only come to stay at the estate two days ago.
Nanny Zhou furrowed her brows sternly: “It is already the hour of Si. For a newlywed’s morning respects, that the Princess Consort has failed to rise from bed at this hour is against propriety.”
The Prince’s estate indeed had many rules and grand pomp. Shen Lizhuang did not wish to argue, her eyebrows sinking slightly as she glanced at Yingluo.
Weren’t you so eloquent just now? Facing the estate’s nanny, you suddenly become taciturn and lost for words, only picking on the soft ones.
Yet Nanny Zhou failing to recognize her did not allow Shen Lizhuang to let down her guard. With over twenty pairs of eyes watching across the estate, who could guarantee that such a clumsy substitution scheme would not be exposed?
Shen Meizhuang was truly going to be the death of her. Her parents treated her exceptionally well, cherishing her like a palm pearl. If Shen Lizhuang had all that, why would she have needed to rack her brains to take the entrance exam?
Going to serve tea this time, those twenty-odd pairs of eyes above and below would likely all be watching. If even a slight flaw were revealed and the crime of deceiving the Emperor fell upon her, a grand family execution might not be far away.
Seeing that Shen Lizhuang made no movement, the crease between Nanny Zhou’s brows deepened by half an inch. Tucking both hands inside her sleeves, she asked with a frown, “Princess Consort?”
Shen Lizhuang thought to herself that over these past few days, Shen Meizhuang covering her face with a red veil could hide her features from people’s eyes, but she couldn’t pretend to be mute and avoid speaking with others, could she? Before everyone in the estate lost their memory of Shen Meizhuang’s presence, she probably shouldn’t speak too much.
She stroked her chest and coughed for a few moments, pretending it was inconvenient to reply.
Yingluo took the initiative to change directions, stepping forward to meet Nanny Zhou, bowing as she said, “In reply to Nanny, the Princess Consort could not bear the thin quilt and caught a cold last night. This morning she feels dizzy and weak, and her voice has turned hoarse, which is why she slept late. She definitely did not delay on purpose.”
Nanny Zhou looked thoughtful, staring at the suspicious Shen Lizhuang with half-believing eyes.
Shen Lizhuang coughed a few times, her chest feeling genuinely tight and stifled. Half-lowering her dark eyes, she seemed to accept this absurd fate—who asked her to open her wings and fly straight into Shen Meizhuang’s spider web, getting stuck on her silk threads so that she was now unable to move?
Covering her chest, a trace of subtle mockery rolled in her faint gaze. Rasping her voice into a hoarse tone, she said, “It is well that Mother-in-law is unharmed. This daughter-in-law shall go to serve tea right away.”
Only then did Nanny Zhou nod. “His Highness is not in the estate today. The Dowager Consort instructs that after completing the tea ceremony today, the bridal chamber will be redecorated in the evening, and His Highness and the Princess Consort will be requested to complete the unfinished grand ceremony here.”