The flames pierced through her arm, leaving flesh mangled and bloody. The burned skin sent pain stabbing deep into her bones. Shen Shuangyue bit her lip and let out a pained cry, cold sweat rolling down her forehead as her face instantly drained of color.
Her body convulsed from the pain, yet when she lifted her head, she was calm. “My life may be worthless, but if you kill me here, Mother, you will still have to give the people outside an explanation.”
“The Count has gone to return the Sunjia betrothal gifts, but the Imperial City Department may not let the matter rest. And there is also Shenjia. My parents and brothers may despise me, but I am still a Shen. Why I entered the Citang tonight, why I set fire to the ancestral tablets, why I died suddenly in this residence—can you explain all that clearly?”
“Count Qing’an’s Residence has hundreds of servants. Unless Old Madame kills them all, the moment even a whisper leaks out, my father and the Shen family will surely investigate to the very end.”
Not for her innocence, nor to seek justice on her behalf—only for the Shen family’s reputation and for the unmarried daughters of the clan.
Shenjia would never bear such an infamy.
Old Madame Xie understood Shen Shuangyue’s words and raised her hand, slapping her across the face. “You think I’m afraid?”
“You may not be afraid, but what about everyone else?”
Blood seeped from the corner of Shen Shuangyue’s mouth, and the burn on her arm throbbed with excruciating pain.
“After the Sunjia were arrested, everything they had given out became a scalding hot potato. I don’t know what method you used to place those things in the estate from my dowry, but since you and the Count used my dowry to cover the shortfall, it means those things had already been spent.”
“No wall in this world is completely airtight. While I live, I can naturally take the blame for where those things went. But if I die, Mother, are you certain the people you want to protect can withstand the Shen family’s thorough investigation?”
Old Madame Xie stared fixedly at Shen Shuangyue, her heart trembling as her fingers involuntarily clenched.
She had never imagined that the Shen family’s second daughter, who had always been so meek and submissive, could be so sharp-tongued. Every word struck home, thoroughly crushing the idea she’d just had of simply killing the girl here in the Citang and staging it as a suicide out of guilt.
Back then, the Shen family had felt guilty over the matter concerning Shen Shuangyue, and these past years they had looked after Count Qing’an’s Residence in every way.
Shen Jingxian, as Yushi Zhongcheng, held an exceptionally special position at court, and the Shen clan wielded considerable real power. Only with his patronage could Xie Huaizhi have risen through several ranks in just a few years, holding a military post of the fourth rank, principal class.
If Shen Shuangyue lived, given the Shen family’s loathing of her, learning that she had stolen the Sunjia betrothal gifts and burned down the Citang would only make them despise her more. If they then offered to let the matter rest to preserve the Shen family’s reputation, they would not pursue it further and would feel indebted to the Xie Jia.
But if Shen Shuangyue died, they would certainly have to give the world an explanation, and today’s infamy would spread throughout the capital.
No matter how much Shenjia disliked this daughter, for the sake of the prospects of the younger generation of the household, they would certainly investigate the matter thoroughly. And Xie Yuyin had acted carelessly from the start—rushing to hide the things on Shen Shuangyue’s dowry estate.
If the Shen family uncovered anything, they would inevitably turn against Count Qing’an’s Residence.
“You think saying all this will make Mother forgive you?”
Xie Yuyin, seeing that her own mother had actually been frightened by Shen Shuangyue, snarled, “Mother, even if you can’t kill her, you should at least teach her a proper lesson.”
“She used your father’s memorial tablet to threaten you tonight, and before that she bewitched Eldest Brother into speaking on her behalf. Who knows what else she’ll do in the future? She only gets away with it because of that fox-spirit face.”
“I say we scratch that pretty face of hers to ribbons, then feed her a bowl of poison to silence her. Let’s see what she can say then!”
Old Madame Xie’s eyes flickered.
Xie Yuyin picked up a broken piece of wood from the ground and pressed it against Shen Shuangyue’s face. “Tell me—once you’ve lost this face and been sent to the family temple for all the wicked things you’ve done, will the Shenjia still care whether you live or die?”
Though she was forced to tilt her head back, disheveled and wretched, the face so close to her own still filled Xie Yuyin with envy.
Bright eyes, white teeth, a fine nose—as if Heaven had lavished all its favor on her. Even with her clothes in disarray, she looked pitifully lovely; even that pale face with a few strands of hair clinging to it remained astonishingly beautiful.
When her eyes widened and her lashes trembled, the corners of her eyes flushed red, and even the beads of sweat rolling down her brow carried a languid allure.
Choking her with a hand full of jealousy and hatred, Xie Yuyin aimed the sharp edge of the broken wood at her:
“Shen Shuangyue, once I’ve ruined that face and poisoned you mute, I’ll send that lowly maid down below to keep you company!”
That venomous voice clung like a festering sore to the bone. The sharp wood rose high and swept down toward her face.
Shen Shuangyue squeezed her eyes shut, trying to dodge, but she was pinned down, unable to move. She could only feel the wind rushing toward her, as if something were about to pierce her skin—but before the searing pain of torn flesh could arrive, a tremendous “boom” suddenly rang out.
The people holding her loosened their grip as if startled. Shen Shuangyue quickly turned her head aside, leaving a thin line of blood on her cheek.
Old Madame Xie jumped in fright and, ignoring everything else, took two steps toward the door. “What’s going on out there?”
“It’s the front courtyard—it seems to be by the residence gate.”
Mama Cen peered outside. That noise had come from the front courtyard. Just as she was about to order someone to go investigate, she saw the previously pitch-black front courtyard suddenly lit up by torchlight, with faint tremors, shouts, and piercing screams drifting over.
“Who are you people, daring to barge into Count Qing’an’s Residence? You—ahh!!”
“Someone’s been killed!!”
The shrill cries outside cut off abruptly, followed by agonized screams. It seemed someone had stormed into the residence carrying torches.
The clash of armor and iron boots made the very ground tremble, like drums beating in chaotic yet orderly rhythm, drawing rapidly closer. The light from the front courtyard came surging this way as well.
“Go see what’s happening!” Old Madame Xie cried urgently.
Fanghua hurried out, but before she had gone far she collided with a steward rushing in from outside.
“Old Madame, Old Madame, it’s terrible—men from the Imperial City Department have broken in!”
“What did you say?”
Old Madame Xie stared in disbelief. In the middle of the night, why would the Imperial City Department come to their residence?
But before she could even ask, the steward said frantically, “They say the Count colluded with Vice Minister Sun—that under the pretense of betrothal gifts, he was hiding ledgers of salt transport embezzlement. They also say the Count privately exchanged the Sunjia’s stolen goods and bribed the Imperial City Department with gold and silver in an attempt to cover for the Sunjia. They’ve come to arrest the chief culprits.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“It’s true! The Imperial City Department came in force, and the Jinwuwei have surrounded the entire residence. The gatekeeper tried to block them outside so he could come announce them first, but they wouldn’t allow it. They said the people inside would destroy the evidence, so they smashed down the main gate and forced their way in.”
The steward trembled all over with fear:
“Those Jinwuwe wouldn’t listen to a word anyone said. The moment they entered the estate, they only said they were under orders to arrest anyone hiding Sunjia’s belongings. We barely scolded them once before they started attacking. The guards in the outer courtyard couldn’t hold them back—they’re already heading this way, toward the Citang…”
This was no mere arrest raid—they had clearly come to take lives!