In an instant, the surroundings rustled as everyone knelt, shouting in unison, “Greetings to the Grand Princess! May the Grand Princess enjoy boundless health and blessings!”
Shen Wencong and Shen Wushi were instantly terrified, their faces drained of color. Their legs went weak, and they nearly collapsed to their knees.
“Imperial Aunt, weren’t you offering prayers at Thunder Cloud Temple? When did you return to the capital?” The Fourth Prince bowed respectfully, his tone reverent, with none of the arrogance he had displayed moments ago.
His peripheral glance fell upon Shen Yangguang, who remained standing. His expression darkened abruptly, and he barked sharply, “Audacious commoner! The Grand Princess’s esteemed presence is here—how dare you not kneel!”
Shen Qingwu seemed to snap out of her shock, her body trembling slightly as she hurriedly bent her knees to kneel. “This common girl did not know it was the Grand Princess. I have offended greatly and beg the Grand Princess for forgiveness…”
Before she could finish speaking, a warm hand had already supported her arm, preventing her from kneeling. At the same time, the Grand Princess gestured for the others to rise.
The Grand Princess looked at Shen Qingwu’s swollen, blood-streaked cheek and took out a silk handkerchief she carried with her. With the utmost gentleness, she wiped the blood from the corner of Shen Qingwu’s lips, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “Good child, tell me, does it hurt?”
That single question seemed to pierce through all the pent-up grievances. Shen Qingwu’s eyes reddened instantly, and two clear trails of tears silently slid down her cheeks. Yet, she stubbornly bit her already pale lower lip and shook her head gently.
Her fragile yet resilient appearance tugged at the Grand Princess’s heart.
From her vantage point earlier, the Grand Princess had observed every shift in expression between Shen Qingwu and Shen Wushi and had already formed her judgment.
Seeing his usually stern and imposing imperial aunt show such affection toward a “fraud,” the Fourth Prince grew uneasy and uncertain, not daring to speak rashly.
Meanwhile, a powerful sense of crisis surged in the hearts of Shen Wencong and Shen Wushi.
Shen Wushi grew frantic. She abruptly knelt and kowtowed, preemptively wailing, “Grand Princess, please see the truth! This girl not only disrupted the royal wedding ceremony but also had the audacity to impersonate my poor niece, Qingwu!”
“I beg the Grand Princess to hand this lying commoner over to me for punishment. Do not let her dirty your hands.”
The Grand Princess gently patted the back of Shen Qingwu’s hand to reassure her, then carefully handed her over to Chang Momo, who stood beside her, for support.
She slowly turned around, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly as she cast a cold gaze toward the veiled bride. Her voice was calm yet carried an intangible authority. “Are you certain she is Shen Qingwu?”
“Absolutely certain!” Shen Wencong hurriedly chimed in. “Grand Princess, she is my own firstborn niece!”
“Oh?” The Grand Princess’s tone lifted slightly. “If that is the case, do you have any proof or tokens? The Firstborn Daughter of Yongyi Marquis Manor should not be recognized based on empty words alone, should she?”
“This…” Shen Wencong faltered, his eyes shifting nervously. “Your Highness, this child… this child’s features closely resemble those of my late elder brother. The bond of blood is unmistakable at a glance—why would tokens be necessary?”
“Unmistakable at a glance?” The Grand Princess let out a cold laugh and suddenly raised her hand. Her sleeves billowed without any wind, and a surge of pure, immense Neili shot through the air!
“Bang! Bang!”
Shen Wencong and Shen Wushi dared not channel their energy to resist. As if struck by a heavy hammer, they screamed and were violently flung to the ground, utterly disheveled.
Clutching his throbbing chest, Shen Wencong was terrified out of his wits: Why is the Grand Princess acting this way? Could it be… could it be that she knows something?!
Before they could catch their breath, the Grand Princess had already opened her palm, revealing the three-dimensional Cloud-Thunder Pattern Jade Pendant shimmering with a gentle luster under the sunlight: “Do you recognize this object?”
!! Shen Wencong and his wife’s pupils contracted sharply, their eyes fixed intently on the jade pendant, their faces turning deathly pale.
“That’s my jade pendant!” Shen Qingwu let out a timely gasp, as if suddenly enlightened. “So it accidentally fell in the Grand Princess’s carriage.”
She turned to the Fourth Prince and said, “Your Highness, this is the token I mentioned earlier that can prove my identity.”
“How can this be?” The Fourth Prince also recognized the jade pendant, but Shen Qingwu should have been dead. “Imperial Aunt, this must have been stolen or picked up by this lowly commoner!”
“She is absolutely not Shen Qingwu!”
“Fool!” The Grand Princess finally lost her patience. With a swift backhand, she struck the Fourth Prince across the face with a cleverly applied force. Though she hadn’t used Neili, it was still a profound humiliation. “Shut your mouth for me!”
The Fourth Prince covered his face, his eyes wide with disbelief, but he dared not utter another word.
Seeing this, Shen Qingwu revealed a bitter, sorrowful smile. “I never imagined the Fourth Prince would despise me so deeply… Very well. A jade pendant can be stolen, but the power of bloodline cannot be falsified, can it?”
Facing the crowd, she declared clearly, “This jade was bestowed by His Majesty and carved by my father into five pieces, unique to the Marquis Estate.”
“Before it was carved, it was nourished for a full six months with the heart’s blood of my parents. Only the bloodline of the two of them, when dripped onto it, can awaken the blood energy within, causing it to emit a red glow.”
Her gaze abruptly shifted to the rigidly standing bride beside her, her voice suddenly sharp and severe: “Since you insist you are Shen Qingwu, then I ask you to publicly verify your identity by dripping your blood onto it! If the red glow appears, I will immediately take my own life here to atone for my offense! Do you dare?!”
“I… I…” The bride’s body trembled violently beneath the wedding veil, her hands tightly clenched together as she instinctively shrank back.
Naturally, she couldn’t drip her blood—doing so would expose her immediately.
Shen Wencong urgently intervened: “No! Today is an auspicious wedding day—how can we spill blood? It’s terribly inauspicious! Terribly inauspicious!”
“Auspicious day? Spilling blood is inauspicious?” Shen Qingwu laughed as if she had heard the most absurd joke. She suddenly spread her arms, allowing the blood soaking through her robes at her abdomen to be exposed to the crowd, her voice filled with grief and biting sarcasm.
“Uncle, look at this blood all over me—is it still auspicious?! I narrowly escaped death from assassins’ blades to rush back to the capital. Did I do so just to watch someone else steal my identity and allow all of you to join in humiliating me?!”
Shen Wencong was left red-faced and speechless, able only to glare fiercely at Shen Qingwu in an attempt to silence her.
But Shen Qingwu completely ignored his murderous gaze, her expression resolute.
She raised her hand, pressed it directly against the wound on her abdomen, coating her palm with warm blood, and then firmly pressed her bloodied palm onto the jade pendant!
“Hum—!”
A dazzling yet gentle red light instantly burst forth from the jade pendant, swirling like a living entity, illuminating Shen Qingwu’s pale face with an almost divine radiance!
The crowd erupted into an uproar, gasps and discussions surging like waves.
So this sickly woman really was Shen Qingwu!
Shen Wencong’s face turned ashen, his mind filled with only one thought: It’s over! Everything is over!
But being shrewd, he reacted swiftly. Instantly, he beat his chest and stamped his feet, crying out in remorse: “Heavens! I have been blind! I failed to recognize my own niece! I have wronged the spirit of my elder brother in heaven!”
He suddenly pointed at the bride, his voice and expression equally severe: “It’s you! It must be you, this sorceress, who deceived us!”
Hearing this, the kneeling bride collapsed to the ground—was Father going to abandon her?!
“Guards, drag her to the backyard and await my punishment!” Shen Wencong signaled Steward Li with his eyes.
First take her away, then find someone to replace her by putting on the wedding dress.
Steward Li understood immediately and carefully lifted the bride, dragging her toward the estate.
Shen Wushi’s heart leaped into her throat, her gaze fixed intently on her daughter.
“Wait!”
How could Shen Qingwu allow them to pull off a substitution? She turned to face the Grand Princess, her tone grave: “Your Highness, please see clearly! With so many impostors pretending to be me, only she managed to deceive my second uncle and aunt—this is likely not so simple.”
“Someone must be trying to use my identity to seize the Marquis Estate. If it’s someone from our own country, that’s one thing, but what if it’s a barbarian spy…”
The Grand Princess’s expression sharpened abruptly: “Chang Momo, bring that person to me at once!”
“As you command!” Chang Momo’s figure flashed out like a ghost, instantly seizing the bride who was about to be dragged into the estate. With a slight exertion of force, she firmly restrained her.
“Ah!” Shen Wushi was terrified out of her wits, instinctively rushing forward to intervene.
“Get back here!” Shen Wencong growled, yanking her back. His face was ashen, his eyes filled with resentment as he glared at Shen Qingwu.
Shen Qingwu couldn’t even be bothered to spare him a glance.
Step by step, she approached the bride held by Chang Momo, reached out, and violently grabbed the bright red bridal veil, tearing it off with force!
“Rip—”
The exquisite veil fluttered to the ground, revealing a face exquisitely made up but twisted with extreme terror.