The entrance of Yongyi Marquis Manor was bustling with carriages and draped in crimson silk. Jubilant music intertwined with roaring crowds surged like tidal waves into a blue-curtained carriage stranded at the street corner.
“See that? Shen Qingwu, the Firstborn Daughter of Yongyi Marquis Manor, is marrying the Fourth Prince today! Second Master Shen truly dotes on his niece—this extravagance puts all the nobles in the capital to shame!”
“What’s the use of such a grand display? Shen Qingwu has been frail since childhood and was sent to Medicine King Valley to recuperate for over a decade, only returning to the capital a few days ago. The Fourth Prince has to marry her without even having seen her face—all because the imperial family pities her father and two brothers who died defending the border!”
“Hush! Watch your words! The Yongyi Marquis Manor is filled with loyal martyrs. If they hadn’t held the northern frontier, we’d have long fallen to the barbarians! But then again, the Fourth Prince has already reached the Spirit Realm at such a young age, while Shen Qingwu is too weak to cultivate… It’s like pairing jade with dung.”
“Even ordinary children possess the Mortal Realm—how could a military family produce such a feeble waste…”
Inside the carriage, a noblewoman in luxurious attire furrowed her brows, her calm tone laced with probing accusation: “You’re right here, so who is that Shen Qingwu outside?”
Opposite her sat a gaunt and frail young woman, her face pale from prolonged illness, leaning weakly against the carriage wall. Upon hearing this, she choked on a sudden cough, and in her agitation, crimson blood seeped from the wound at her abdomen.
Yet this time, the noblewoman offered no concern.
Shen Qingwu clenched her fists secretly. The dream… had come true again…
Since that high fever half a month ago, she had been trapped in the same nightmare night after night: In the dream, she returned to the capital to fulfill her marriage arrangement, only to be ambushed by assassins just after leaving the valley. Icy blades carved ninety-one bloody gashes across her face, the pain unbearable.
Finally, her inner core was gouged out, and she was dragged like a dead dog into a manure barrel and carried into the Shen residence!
Then, her dear uncle Shen Wencong and aunt Shen Wushi gleefully shattered every bone in her body, stuffed her into a jar, and sealed her seven orifices with red-hot Soul-Locking Nails! All while murmuring—you’re the last one missing.
The dream felt so real that each time she woke in terror, her body drenched in cold sweat, her bones feeling as if filled with shards of ice.
She could guess that if her uncle and aunt wanted her dead, it was likely because her return would block their path to inheriting the peerage—but why torture her so brutally?
Her master, upon learning of this, advised her not to return to the capital, but she insisted! She was the only daughter of the Yongyi Marquis. Why should jackals and wolves seize the honors and wealth her father and brothers had earned with their lives?
Moreover, she wanted to return to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death.
In short, because of the dream, she deliberately set out several days early and indeed intercepted the assassin midway. With a single palm strike, she shattered the assassin’s heart.
As for the knife wound in her abdomen—she had inflicted it herself.
Because after dealing with the assassin, the dream changed: It foretold that the Grand Princess would suffer reversed qi and blood flow outside the city today, hovering on the brink of death.
The Grand Princess had respected her father and brothers. When they fell in battle, she had gone directly to Thunder Cloud Temple to pray for their souls for three years—a debt of gratitude Shen Qingwu intended to repay.
She orchestrated a chance encounter and used acupuncture to save the Grand Princess. And this wound… was to ensure the Grand Princess knew she had been attacked on her way to the capital.
While her status as an orphan might garner temporary pity, relying solely on that would breed resentment over time.
She wanted the Grand Princess to pity her for her plight.
The dream had also revealed: On the wedding night, when the Fourth Prince lifted the bridal veil and saw it was Shen Qingxi, daughter of Second Master Shen, he showed neither suspicion nor anger. Instead, he treated her with deep affection and tenderness, their bond as sweet as honey…
“Cough… cough…” Shen Qingwu caught her breath, her eyes reddening as she infused just the right amount of panic into her voice. “Madam, there must be some misunderstanding. I must go see.”
Pretending not to recognize the Grand Princess’s identity, she lifted the carriage curtain to disembark. But as she moved, a jade pendant clattered from her sleeve.
The Grand Princess glanced down, her fingers freezing the moment they touched the pendant—etched upon it was the Marquis Estate’s unique three-dimensional cloud and thunder pattern, with the character “Wu” prominently carved at its center.
Her hand clenched around the jade, voice trembling slightly. “Chang Momo, follow her!”
Before the Marquis Estate’s gates, the bride dressed in vibrant red wedding robes, her head covered by a veil embroidered with twin lotus flowers, was being assisted toward the bridal sedan. The Fourth Prince stood beaming as he exchanged greetings with surrounding guests.
Suddenly, a figure stumbled before the wedding procession, grabbing the bride’s sleeve and asking in a quivering voice, “Who are you?”
“Ah!” The bride shrieked and shrank behind the Fourth Prince, who instinctively shielded her. He looked up, about to rebuke the intruder, but paused upon seeing Shen Qingwu’s face—
The woman was pale as paper, her lips colorless, her frame so frail it seemed a breeze could topple her. Yet her clear eyes held a mix of grievance and stubbornness that inexplicably softened his heart.
Amid the crowd, Chang Momo whispered, “Grand Princess, shall this servant—”
The Grand Princess raised a hand, her gaze fixed on that slender figure. “Not yet.”
Hearing the silence, the bride seemed to realize something and tugged impatiently at the Fourth Prince’s sleeve.
The Fourth Prince snapped back to attention, adopting a stern tone. “Cough… On this joyous day, I shall pardon your offense. Now step aside!”
Shen Qingwu stood her ground, pointing at the bride and deliberately raising her voice so every onlooker could hear. “Fourth Prince, this person is not Shen Qingwu.”
Her words sent a wave of murmurs through the crowd, the buzz of whispers quickly drowning out the fading notes of celebratory music.
The bride secretly tightened her grip on the Fourth Prince’s arm, her mind racing: What does this person know?!
The Fourth Prince’s face darkened with rage. “How dare you!” Whatever pity he’d felt vanished, replaced by fury. “Where did this madwoman come from, disrupting a royal wedding? Guards, seize her and cut out her tongue!”
Of course he knew who was beneath the veil—he had no desire to marry that sickly girl rumored to have brought misfortune upon her entire family, an ill omen!
Though Shen Qingxi’s father only held a fifth-rank post, far beneath his station, once Shen Qingwu died, Second Master Shen, as the sole younger brother of the Brave Marquis, would eventually inherit the title.
He wouldn’t mind first petitioning his imperial father to grant Shen Qingxi the title of princess as well.
Two guards stepped forward, firmly twisting Shen Qingwu’s arms.
After a brief struggle, Shen Qingwu assessed the guards’ skill and inwardly scoffed—the Fourth Prince’s guards were less capable than her own Dahuang.
Never mind. Until she established her footing in the capital, it was best not to reveal her true strength.
Shen Qingwu reddened her eyes, feigning desperation as she weakly struggled. Just before a slap could land, she cried out urgently, “Wait! Simply lift the veil, and the Fourth Prince will see the truth!”
Slap! A palm infused with internal force struck her cheek hard.
Her fair skin immediately swelled red. Shen Qingwu turned her head, deliberately allowing a trickle of blood to escape the corner of her lips.
The bride seemed unsatisfied, taking a step forward and viciously kicking her in the chest!
Shen Qingwu was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.
The bride looked down on her from above, her voice shrill: “Where did this consumptive wretch come from? How dare you slander me before the gates of my Yongyi Marquis Manor, under the watchful eyes of my father and brother’s heroic spirits! Speak—who sent you? What are your true intentions?”
Hearing her audaciously use her own father and brother as shields, Shen Qingwu secretly clawed her skirt to shreds, barely restraining herself from striking back.
Shen Qingxi, your family has enjoyed prosperity all these years by riding on my father and brother’s glory. The time for repayment has come.
She lay limp on the ground, blood rapidly spreading across her abdomen. Her peripheral glance caught the Grand Princess’s tense expression in the crowd, and a nearly imperceptible smile flickered in her eyes.
Let the Grand Princess see clearly the true nature of Second Uncle’s family.
After kicking her, Shen Qingxi seemed to suddenly remember her status, collapsing weakly into the Fourth Prince’s arms with delicate sobs: “Everyone witnessed it… This vile woman deliberately came to humiliate me during my wedding, refusing to let my father and brother who died for our nation rest in peace!”
Her words stirred public outrage, with everyone pointing at Shen Qingwu and cursing her. The Fourth Prince held his beauty, furious: “Guards! Strip this madwoman who tramples imperial dignity and dishonors loyal martyrs of the Marquis Estate! Hang her naked on the city gates as public example!”
Shen Qingwu struggled to prop herself up, lifting her face. Though turbulent waves churned deep within her clear eyes, her voice emerged soft and sorrowful.
“Fourth Prince, are you certain you wish to treat the true Firstborn Daughter of the Marquis Estate this way?”