Aside from the Marquis, who was on duty outside, nearly everyone in the estate gathered in Shang Shiyan’s courtyard. They had already heard about the missing gilded hair ornament, though they didn’t know the details.
When Shang Yunrou arrived, the earrings she wore were unmistakably part of Shang Shiyan’s ornament set—the gilded jade earrings.
“This set of gilded ornaments was a birthday gift from Grandmother. I am to wear it tomorrow at my coming-of-age ceremony.” Shang Shiyan stepped forward and held out her hand toward Shang Yunrou.
“But Chunhua said you gave it to me as an apology,” Shang Yunrou replied, feigning confusion, her eyes slightly red.
“An apology?” Shang Shiyan’s anger flared. “I was the one injured in the fall from the cliff. Why should I apologize to you?”
“Shang Yunrou, do you truly believe it’s natural for me to apologize to you? What fault have I committed?” She gave Shang Yunrou no face at all, humiliating her in front of the household servants.
Shang Yunrou’s expression grew awkward, her fingers clenched, her eyes darkening as she glanced at Chunhua kneeling nearby.
“But Chunhua did bring it to me yesterday. If you don’t believe me, ask her!”
Shang Yunrou quickly approached Chunhua. “When you delivered the ornament yesterday, what did you say?”
Chunhua’s eyes widened in panic. “Second Young Lady! I only acted according to the Eldest Young Lady’s orders. I swear I didn’t lie! You must believe me!”
Her eagerness to explain herself to Shang Yunrou rather than to her true mistress caught Shen Zuizhi’s attention. As the household’s matriarch, she had seen countless servants. Chunhua’s desperation to prove herself to Shang Yunrou instead of Shang Shiyan was suspicious.
“Mother, this ornament was Grandmother’s gift to me, meant for my coming-of-age ceremony. It represents her regard for me. Even if I were foolish, I would never give it away.”
“Yesterday I overheard Chunhua gossiping that you were unfair, favoring me and neglecting Second Sister. Out of consideration for her years of service, I didn’t punish her. But now she dares to act on her own, stealing my ornament and giving it to Second Sister!”
Chunhua’s love of gossip was well known in the estate. Because she had served Shang Shiyan for so long, Shen Zuizhi had turned a blind eye. But now she realized Chunhua’s audacity—interfering in her mistress’s affairs and even stealing.
“You insolent servant!” Shen Zuizhi’s beautiful eyes blazed with fury.
“Take Chunhua away. Punish her with thirty strikes according to household law, then sell her off through a broker!”
“Second Young Lady! Please save me!” Chunhua’s face turned deathly pale at the sentence. She knelt before Shang Yunrou, kowtowing desperately. “I only followed Eldest Young Lady’s orders! I never acted on my own. Please, Second Young Lady, save me!”
Shang Yunrou’s temper snapped, her usual gentle facade cracking. She kicked Chunhua aside. “Why beg me? I never told you to steal the ornament and bring it to me!”
“I didn’t steal it! Truly, I didn’t!” Chunhua wailed.
Chunhua still tried to argue, but when she looked up and saw Shang Yunrou desperately trying to distance herself, anger overwhelmed her, and her mouth moved faster than her brain. “I have always followed the Second Young Lady’s orders to watch the Eldest Young Lady. I obey only Second Young Lady. Please, save me!” Her words fell like a thunderclap.
Both Shang brothers and Shen Zuizhi turned their eyes toward Shang Yunrou.
Hatred flickered in Shang Yunrou’s gaze. She glared at Chunhua, then dropped to her knees with a thud. “Mother! She slanders me! How could I ever do such a thing to Elder Sister…”
Shen Zuizhi, already disliking Shang Yunrou, now looked at her with icy fury. “You set someone to spy on Ah Yan—what were you planning to do to her?”
Shang Yunrou shook her head, tears falling. “Mother, don’t believe this vile maid. She’s slandering me, truly slandering me!”
Though the brothers were shocked by Chunhua’s words, they instinctively believed Shang Yunrou. Seeing their mother’s anger, they stepped forward to plead for her. “Mother, surely this maid is lying to smear Yunrou. Even Ah Yan said she often acts on her own, spreading false words between them.”
“Yes, Mother. Perhaps Yunrou only wanted to understand Ah Yan better, to mend their relationship, so she asked her maid about her. Who knew the maid would twist things? Yunrou is pure-hearted—she would never harm Ah Yan.”
Shen Zuizhi looked coldly at her sons. No matter what Shang Yunrou did, they always found excuses for her—two complete fools.
“I see this maid has a tongue that only spreads gossip. Then silence it—give her dumb medicine so she can never speak again. That way, when she’s sold off, she won’t slander the Marquis’ estate outside!” Shang Jing said firmly.
Shang Shiyan cast him a faint glance, exactly as she wanted. For a gossiping servant, the harshest punishment was to take away her voice forever.
Shang Yunzong nodded. “Elder Brother is right. It’s all this maid’s lies. Once she’s silenced, she can’t spread rumors again. Since this began with her, Yunrou, return the ornament to Ah Yan. When you have your coming-of-age ceremony, Third Brother will give you an even finer ornament.”
Shang Yunrou’s heart burned with unwillingness. She wanted that set of red jade and gilded ornaments. It was an imperial gift. If she wore it to a palace banquet, the Empress would see that she was valued by the Shen family’s matriarch and would no longer block her relationship with the Crown Prince. Though it was only an object, it carried Shang Shiyan’s fortune. To return it now was unbearable.
Shang Shiyan noticed the reluctance in Shang Yunrou’s eyes when asked to return the ornament. Just as she suspected—whether it was her identity, her family, her friends, or even the objects she owned, such as clothes and ornaments—all of these represented her fortune. And Shang Yunrou’s way of stealing her fortune was to take those things and people away, one by one.
Once taken, the opportunities that originally belonged to Shang Shiyan would instead become Shang Yunrou’s.
Having clarified the most crucial point, Shang Shiyan now had a plan.
“The ornament is for me to use tomorrow. Return it.” She extended her hand toward Shang Yunrou, her usual arrogant and domineering manner giving no thought to Shang Yunrou’s dignity.
Shang Yunrou’s suspicion of her gradually faded. To her, Shang Shiyan still seemed the same spoiled, foolish girl.
Fine, she would return it.
After all, there would be plenty more she could steal in the future.