Duke Shen’s Estate, the front hall.
Shen Yuzhu was dressed in a gorgeous brocade gown, adorned with pearl hairpins and jade pendants. Even the satin of her embroidered shoes was Shu brocade. With her peach-blossom cheeks and pretty face, she was dazzlingly beautiful.
After entering the hall, she bowed gracefully without even lifting her head. Her voice was as sweet as an oriole emerging from the valley. “Zhu’er pays her respects to Brother-in-Law.”
A soft scoff sounded. “You certainly sound awfully familiar calling him that.”
Shen Yuzhu froze. When she looked up, she saw a woman seated conspicuously in the master’s place. She wore a plainly old dress, her long hair tied back casually with a ribbon, and not a single valuable ornament on her. Yet her beauty was so striking it was almost intimidating.
She sat there languidly, looking down at the room, and somehow gave the impression that she was the true mistress of the place.
In the other seat of honor sat a man in a crane-feather cloak and jade crown, possessing the bearing of a celestial being and a nobility beyond compare.
Set against each other, one plain and the other luxurious, one cool and the other refined, neither seemed able to outshine the other.
Shen Zhaozhao was visibly stunned. Could the woman sitting across from her really be “Shen Zhaozhao”?
In her memories, Shen Zhaozhao had been foolish and dull, and plain-looking besides. But the woman before her had the very same features, yet was beautiful enough to capture the heart at a glance.
Even more unsettling was the expression on “Shen Zhaozhao’s” face. Was what Mother had said true? This woman wasn’t foolish anymore?
She instinctively looked toward Yan Qi, wanting to see his reaction.
Yan Qi hadn’t looked at her once. His gaze rested unhurriedly on the woman beside him. Chu Zhao was leaning to one side, chin propped on her hand, sizing up the woman across from her as if she’d spotted something filthy.
Chu Zhao asked, puzzled, “I’m talking to you. Why are you looking at him? Is there something wrong with your eyes? Are you cross-eyed?”
Shen Yuzhu’s face stiffened.
“Elder Sister, were you talking about Zhu’er just now?” she asked in disbelief, though her gaze remained fixed on the Prince of You.
Chu Zhao frowned. “Not only are your eyes bad, your brain’s not working either. I’m talking to you. Why do you keep looking at him?”
“What, does he have gold on his face?”
Shen Yuzhu’s face flushed scarlet. Humiliation overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t stop herself from trembling.
What was this? Why had Shen Zhaozhao become so vicious with her words?
“Why are you trembling now?” Chu Zhao knitted her brows, her disgust plain to see. “Haven’t you bathed? Have you got lice?”
Yan Qi studied the woman beside him, a trace of curiosity and scrutiny in his eyes. Her talent for lacing her words with poison was growing more and more like that person’s…
Shen Yuzhu was so mortified she could have died. Her eyes were genuinely red.
And from beginning to end, the Prince of You had not even looked up at her once. His gaze remained fixed on Shen Zhaozhao.
What was there to look at in that crude lunatic?
Nanny Zhou, Madam Chu’s personal attendant, arrived just then, carrying tea.
At the sight of her, Shen Yuzhu immediately lowered herself, putting on a meek, deferential manner. “Elder Sister, please calm your anger. If Zhu’er has offended you in any way, I’d be glad to offer you tea and beg your forgiveness.”
As she spoke, she picked up a cup from the tray and was about to offer it to Chu Zhao.
Nanny Zhou instinctively wanted to stop her. That tea was meant for His Highness the Prince of You!
But with everyone watching, how could she say so? She could only watch as Shen Yuzhu offered the tea to Chu Zhao, her palms sweating with anxiety.
She had no idea that the person seated above had already noticed every subtle change in her expression.
The moment the tea had been brought in, Chu Zhao had caught a strange smell. By the time Shen Yuzhu carried the cup close to her, the smell had grown even stronger.
A glint of amusement lurked in Chu Zhao’s eyes.
What a fine cup of tea brewed with talisman water. Madam Chu really wouldn’t give up: one failed attempt, and she was already trying again.
But judging by the old woman’s anxious expression, the tea probably wasn’t meant for her.
“Elder Sister, are you still unwilling to forgive Zhu’er?” Shen Yuzhu asked when Chu Zhao remained still for a long while, her voice growing increasingly plaintive.
She glanced toward Yan Qi from the corner of her eye. Seeing his cold expression, Shen Yuzhu felt relieved. It seemed the Prince of You disliked Shen Zhaozhao’s rudeness too! That was excellent. The more Shen Zhaozhao made a scene, the more the Prince of You would be disgusted with her.
“You have no manners.” Chu Zhao lazily leaned back in her chair. “The Prince of You is sitting right there. Of course the first cup of tea should be offered to him.”
With that, she raised a hand and lightly nudged Shen Yuzhu’s wrist with two fingertips. The movement was casual, but it sent the teacup straight toward Yan Qi.
“Prince of You,” Chu Zhao said, the words “I can’t wait to see what happens” written plainly in her amused eyes, “your sister-in-law is offering you tea.”
Shen Yuzhu’s eyes lit up. She coyly turned toward Yan Qi.
Behind them, Nanny Zhou was laughing to herself. Shen Zhaozhao was such a fool—this time, her bad intentions had actually done something good!
Yan Qi looked at the tea, then at Chu Zhao’s eyes, which were plainly holding back a mischievous smile. For a moment, he thought again of that woman.
Whenever she was up to mischief, she too would smile with her eyes curved into crescents.
He raised his hand.
Under Chu Zhao’s expectant gaze, Shen Yuzhu’s bashful one, and Nanny Zhou’s excited stare, his long fingers came to rest on the rim of the teacup.
The next moment—
“Ah!”
For some inexplicable reason, Shen Yuzhu’s hand went numb. The teacup fell to the floor, tea splashing everywhere.
Chu Zhao had anticipated it and rose in time to avoid the spill. She clicked her tongue, looking meaningfully at the man who had also risen.
Yan Qi furrowed his brow as he looked at the hem of his robe, now wet from the splashes. “With Duchess Shen unwell, has the estate been left without a master who can take charge and understands the rules?”
His words felt like a slap across Shen Yuzhu’s face.
She had been born to a concubine, but raised under Madam Chu’s care from childhood and enjoyed the honors reserved for a legitimate daughter.
Still, some people had whispered about her origins behind her back. Madam Chu had dealt with all of them.
Now, wasn’t Yan Qi’s remark tantamount to telling everyone that Shen Yuzhu was just a concubine-born daughter, an insignificant servant who had no place among the gentry?
And he’d said it in front of Shen Zhaozhao, of all people!
How could she ever face her again?
“Please calm your anger, Your Highness.”
Nanny Zhou hurriedly knelt to apologize, not forgetting to tug at Shen Yuzhu, who stood there in a daze.
“Find a quiet courtyard. This prince needs to change.”
Yan Qi left them with that and strode out, not sparing Shen Yuzhu another glance.
The estate’s steward wouldn’t dare delay. He hurriedly ordered people to prepare a courtyard. Seeing that the plan had failed, Nanny Zhou could only help Shen Yuzhu to her feet first, glaring furiously at Chu Zhao.
“Why did you deliberately make things difficult for me, Elder Sister?” Shen Yuzhu bit her lip and gazed at Chu Zhao with a pitiful, endearing look, though she couldn’t hide the hatred in her eyes.
“Are you still holding it against Mother for favoring me?”
“Elder Sister, you were out of your senses before, and Mother had no one to serve her. I was only showing her filial respect on your behalf.”
“You should understand Mother, too. Because of you, she’s endured so much criticism over the years…”
Chu Zhao’s expression remained calm, but emotions that did not belong to her churned inside her—the remnants left behind by the original owner, that little bitter melon.
Grievance. Anger. Confusion and resentment.
In the little bitter melon’s memories of living meekly and quietly, curled up and trying to take up as little space as possible, the woman before her had appeared countless times. With words that seemed innocent but cut to the heart, she had flaunted Madam Chu’s favoritism and affection in front of the little bitter melon.
If flaunting it had been all, that would have been one thing. But there had been the spoiled food, the coal withheld in winter, the embroidery needles hidden inside coarse-flour buns…
Every time, Shen Yuzhu would appear in triumph, swaggering in to admire the pitiful state the little bitter melon had been reduced to.
Like a cat tormenting a mouse—not killing it, just watching it struggle to survive.
And those weren’t the only things Shen Yuzhu had taken from her.
Ever since Chu Zhao had possessed this body, one thing had puzzled her. Given the fortune of the little bitter melon’s body, she should have been destined for great wealth and honor, with a quick and clever mind.
How had she been born foolish?
But when Chu Zhao saw Shen Yuzhu, she understood.
A great deal of the little bitter melon’s fortune had ended up on Shen Yuzhu. This fortune-stealing technique must have been planted while the little bitter melon was still in the womb.
If the little bitter melon’s fate hadn’t been so auspicious to begin with, she might not even have had the chance to be born.
In that case, some of the suspicions surrounding Madam Chu were explained, too.
Chu Zhao let out a derisive laugh.
Shen Yuzhu frowned, suddenly feeling uneasy all over. “Elder Sister, what are you laughing at?”
“Why, I’m laughing at how some people are too stupid to know it.”
Chu Zhao gave Shen Yuzhu a cold, sidelong look. “And I have to say, no wonder you’re a thieving daughter.”
“You!” Shen Yuzhu’s face flushed, and her voice rose to a shrill pitch. “Mother entered me in her family register. I’m no different from you! I’m a legitimate daughter, too!”
Chu Zhao raised an eyebrow. “Why so worked up? You sound like a rat whose tail has been stepped on.”
She hadn’t called her a concubine-born daughter.
“People really can’t stand hearing about the very thing they lack.”
Chu Zhao spoke with the condescending air of an old woman. In her eyes, Shen Yuzhu was just a younger girl with a head full of petty schemes, not someone worth taking the trouble to punish.
But Chu Zhao was protective of her own.
What her descendants had owned was, give or take, the foundation she herself had painstakingly built.
Anyone who dared take even a fraction of it would have to repay her tenfold, a hundredfold!
Chu Zhao didn’t give Shen Yuzhu a chance to speak. She reached out and clamped a hand around her throat, as casually as if she were grabbing a chicken.
“Show me the way. We’re going to your courtyard.”
“What are you doing? Let go of Second Miss!” Nanny Zhou had long since been unable to contain herself. Seeing Chu Zhao lay hands on Shen Yuzhu, she lunged at once.
Chu Zhao slapped her with her free hand.
“You toadying lackey. If I didn’t smack you, would you think I’d forgotten you?”
With a loud crack, Nanny Zhou practically flew backward. She hit the ground, stars swimming before her eyes, and spat out several old teeth.
Shen Yuzhu was so frightened she was about to scream. Chu Zhao tightened her grip around her throat. Shen Yuzhu’s whole face turned a dark blue; she could barely breathe, let alone scream.
“Looks like your mother didn’t learn enough from yesterday,” Chu Zhao murmured, a trace of regret in her voice. “I really should have stabbed her in the heart with those two hairpins.”
Shen Yuzhu felt as if she’d fallen into an icy pit.
What did she mean? Hadn’t her mother been wounded by an assassin from the Prince of You’s Residence? Had it been this lunatic, Shen Zhaozhao?
She was so terrified her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
The next moment, Chu Zhao’s languid gaze settled on her face.
She wasn’t looking at a person, but at an insect she could crush underfoot at any moment.
“Little thing,” she said with a smile. It was gentle, but her eyes were as cold as ice shards in the depths of winter. “If you don’t want to end up like your mother, be quiet.”
“Understand?”