At dinner, Shen Miao had even demanded the bride price from her.
Who did it? It was obvious at a glance.
Dropping the towel from her hand, Shen Wan headed toward Shen Miao’s room.
Just as she reached the door, she heard faint noises from inside.
She flung the door open and saw Shen Miao sitting on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the wooden box Yan Xiao had given her today.
Shen Wan didn’t step inside. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Has Uncle not been able to support you, that he has to send you into my room to steal like a thief?”
Startled by the sudden intrusion, Shen Miao’s hand shook, and a gold ingot slipped from her grasp, clinking sharply on the floor.
She bent down to pick it up, and when she looked up, she met Shen Wan’s teasing gaze. For a moment, she froze, then a guilty flush spread across her face.
Shen Miao pouted, stood up, and tossed the ingot carelessly aside. “What use is all this money to you anyway? What matters is the money our family spent to support your brother studying abroad you should return that to us.”
Shen Miao was calculating and extravagant all at once.
Her frantic snatching of the bride price suggested she must have gotten herself into some trouble outside that would require money to resolve trouble she didn’t dare let Shen Mingyuan know about.
The gold ingot was her bargaining chip, and she needed it back.
She was now an adult, and if she were to leave here in the future, she needed to save enough for her journey.
“The Governor gave it to me what does that have to do with you?”
Shen Miao bristled at this, “The Governor only wants you to marry him, so what’s there to be proud of?
He’s not marrying you as the main wife. If it weren’t for our family, you, an orphan with no backing, wouldn’t even meet the threshold to be a concubine in the Governor’s household!
You’ve been freeloading for three years giving a bit of the bride price to honor my father is only fair!”
Shen Wan could hear the hidden meaning in her words.
A faint smile touched her lips. “Did Uncle ask the Governor to marry you off instead, and was refused?”
Shen Miao had always wanted to marry Yan Xiao, but Yan Xiao’s heart belonged entirely to Shen Wan…
“You !”
Though her words hit Shen Miao’s heart, they were the truth.
Without Shen Wan, the Shen family’s daughters and the Governor’s household were mismatched in status.
For the Shen family to be this shameless how was it different from outright robbery?
But unfortunately, Shen Miao had targeted the wrong person!
Shen Wan threatened, “Hand it over! Or I’ll call Uncle.”
Shen Miao needed the money but dared not let Shen Mingyuan know what she intended to do with so much of it.
She had to save face and refused to show weakness.
Cornered, Shen Miao snapped, claws bared, lunging at Shen Wan. “Then I’ll have Father throw you out of this house!”
Shen Wan sidestepped, and Shen Miao stumbled, nearly falling.
This completely enraged Shen Miao. “You shameless girl, you dare dodge me?”
A medical student knows how to use leverage. Though both were women, Shen Wan easily handled Shen Miao, who had never lifted a finger in her life.
As Shen Miao lunged again, Shen Wan grabbed her flailing hand and twisted it hard. Shen Miao screamed in pain.
“The Governor won’t like a shrew like you!” Shen Miao shouted, kicking at her.
Shen Wan dodged and pushed her to the ground.
“Doesn’t like me? Then he should like you?”
Shen Miao lost her balance, her head hitting the corner of a cabinet with a “thud,” swelling immediately.
“You dare hit me? I’ll go tell Father!”
Clutching her head, Shen Miao ran out crying and wailing.
Shen Wan didn’t follow immediately. She stood in place, picked up the gold ingot, and put it away safely.
Shen Mingyuan wasn’t there; she guessed he wouldn’t dare come looking for trouble now.
Even as the prospective young mistress of the Governor’s household, she couldn’t rely too much on Yan Xiao…
Dawn filtered through the window, and after finishing her morning routine, Shen Wan left her room as usual.
A servant informed her that everyone else had already eaten and that no food was left.
Shen Wan felt a surge of absurdity and amusement. Over the past three years, she had been treating patients at the Shen family clinic, many of them high officials traveling great distances, bringing substantial income to Shen Mingyuan.
Yet no amount of money could compare to Shen Miao, his biological daughter. Yesterday, Shen Miao had come looking for trouble, and Shen Mingyuan hadn’t dared confront her, allowing this bullying to happen.
She tucked the gold ingot into her clothes, preparing to leave, when her maid Xiao Cui called out, stopping her.
“Miss, there’s trouble at the clinic. Master wants you to go over.”