“Nonsense!” Cen Liangxuan swallowed hard, meeting Shen Yiren’s unwavering gaze.
How dare she look him directly in the eye?
Shen Qingrui was also growing frantic inside. Why hadn’t the heir eliminated the root of the problem?
“Yiren, you must not slander the heir,” she said, lifting her chin under the scrutiny of the crowd. “It was because you disappeared without a trace, and Grandmother and Mother couldn’t find you, that I was forced to marry in your place.”
“Because he kidnapped me,” Shen Yiren pointed at Cen Liangxuan again. Recalling the agony the original body had endured before its last breath, a surge of anger rose within her. “He even tried to kill me!”
“Ridiculous,” the Duchess said coldly. “If my son truly pushed you off a cliff, how could you be standing here unharmed?”
Shen Yiren: “?”
Wow!
She knew foxes were cunning, but it turned out humans were even more so.
No wonder everyone said the human heart was the most treacherous.
The Ginseng Spirit, experiencing humanity for the first time, was furious. These people were worse than her fellow spirits.
“Do you admit it?” Shen Yiren looked at Cen Liangxuan.
Cen Liangxuan regained his composure and flatly denied it. “Do not slander this heir…”
Slap!
Shen Yiren backhanded him across the face.
The blow sent him staggering, and as he opened his mouth, a bloody tooth fell out.
Cen Liangxuan: “!!”
Shen Yiren snorted lightly, inadvertently meeting the gaze of Prince Duan, who had been watching the spectacle.
Zhou Jinyan was studying her with a probing expression.
“My son!” The Duchess shot Shen Yiren a venomous glare before quickly calling for a physician.
Duke Anguo also glowered at Shen Yiren and said, “How dare you!”
“He pushed me off a cliff, and I only gave him a slap. That’s already merciful. How dare I what? I won’t speak with an unreasonable brute like you.” Shen Yiren turned to Shen Qingrui, who was frozen in shock.
She blinked and asked earnestly, “If you like Cen Liangxuan and want to marry him, why not do it openly? Why must you sneak around like a thief?”
“Is it a habit of yours? Stealing others’ family, stealing others’ status, and even stealing others’ men?” Shen Yiren exclaimed in amazement. “What a shameless person!”
Shen Qingrui’s face turned pale, then flushed, then pale again.
She stiffened her neck and declared, “The innocent need not defend themselves; justice lies in the hearts of the people! I was also switched at birth—how can you call it stealing? As for today’s events, if you hadn’t eloped and abandoned the marriage, why would I have had to take your place?”
“Ah? So you were forced? Then you don’t want to marry him?” Shen Yiren turned back to look at Cen Liangxuan. “She doesn’t want to marry you. All your efforts were in vain.”
“But since you’ve been used by someone else, I can’t take you back,” Shen Yiren said disdainfully.
Back on Buxian Mountain, she never shared her soil with other spirits.
Let alone a filthy man.
Though he looked human, he wasn’t particularly handsome.
Among the spirits, the truly beautiful ones were often indistinguishable in gender.
Like that sickly prince.
Huh? Where did he go?
“Shen Yiren!” Cen Liangxuan rose to his feet, enraged, his words slurred as he spoke.
Shen Yiren withdrew her gaze, looking at Cen Liangxuan with even more disdain. “Speak properly if you can. Spitting blood at the drop of a hat—people might think you’re about to die.”
How dare she curse him! Cen Liangxuan lunged forward to return the slap, but the Duchess stopped him.
With guests still present, if her son struck a woman, wouldn’t it give them ammunition for gossip?
“Shen Yiren, you ran away from the wedding?” The Duchess intended to seize this point, shifting all blame onto Shen Yiren and the General’s estate to preserve the dignity of the Duke’s estate.
“If I ran away, why would I come back?” Shen Yiren couldn’t understand. Weren’t humans said to be the most intelligent? Why did none of them remember anything? She repeated, “I already told you—your son kidnapped me to kill me.”
“You can’t make baseless accusations without evidence!”
“Exactly, you can’t make baseless accusations without evidence. So where’s the proof that I ran away?” Shen Yiren turned the tables on her. “No wonder Cen Liangxuan dares to act but won’t take responsibility—turns out the one who gave birth to him is no good either!”
Hiss! How bold! The guests collectively drew a sharp breath.
“You!” The Duchess flushed with shame and fury.
Seeing the situation turning sour, Duke Anguo began ushering the guests out. “The misunderstanding today has yet to be clarified. I ask that you all refrain from spreading rumors.”
“Yes, yes.” This was Duke Anguo, a veteran of two dynasties. Naturally, the guests dared not gossip openly, but could any wall in the world truly be airtight?
Upon learning that the daughter she had raised with utmost care had her red veil publicly lifted by the fool brought back from the countryside, Lady Shen immediately led her household guards over in a furious rush.
“Go, tie up the Second Miss and take her back to the estate!”
As soon as the guards approached, Shen Yiren raised her hand and flung them far away.
Thud, thud!
The sound of their falls was painful to hear.
Everyone was stunned.
“Don’t bully my sister!” Xiao Ba rushed out, shielding Shen Yiren from the front.
If not for his sister telling him to let her handle things and hide to watch, he would have come out to beat people up right after she slapped them.
In Buxian Mountain, if anyone dared to nip at his sister’s leaves, she would stir up a storm of sand and stones to knock them down, and he would follow up with a beating to settle the matter.
“And who is he?” Lady Shen eyed the unfamiliar child.
“If not for Xiao Ba, I’d be dead.” Shen Yiren patted Xiao Ba’s head.
Only then did Cen Liangxuan realize it was this little brat who had saved that troublemaker Shen Yiren.
Shen Qingrui could only swallow her frustration, grinding her teeth in silence. How did Shen Yiren have such incredible luck, to be rescued even after falling off a cliff?
“Lady Shen has truly raised a fine daughter,” the Duchess redirected her attack toward Lady Shen.
Lady Shen forced a smile. “The Duchess jests. She was corrupted by that country farm woman—her manners are crude, and she understands no decorum.”
Shen Yiren: “So you do remember that your own biological daughter was switched at birth and suffered in the countryside for over a decade. How shameless of you to even mention it.”
The smile froze on Lady Shen’s face. She turned away, saying, “I truly wish I had never given birth to you!”
“You want to give birth to her?” Shen Yiren strode over, grabbing Shen Qingrui’s arm with such force that even Shen Qingrui, who had learned some martial arts since childhood, couldn’t break free. “Here, stuff her back into your belly and give birth to her again.”
Lady Shen raised her hand to discipline her.
Shen Yiren reached out and caught her wrist. “When words fail, you resort to hitting. What kind of person does that?”
“Shen Yiren!” Shen Qingrui took advantage of her slightly loosened grip to pull her hand free, clutching her reddened wrist as she said, “How dare you disrespect Mother?”
Shen Yiren: “So now she’s ‘Mother’ again?”
Seeing that Shen Yiren was nothing like the timid and weak girl from the rumors, the Duchess realized no one would gain anything from confronting her and promptly cut it short. “Enough. My Duke’s estate is not a marketplace. What is this unruly commotion? Take your disputes back to your General’s estate.”
“However, Lady Shen, regarding today’s events, your General’s estate owes our Duke’s estate an explanation.”
“You still owe me a life!” Shen Yiren shot back.
Shen Qingrui spoke up, “I’m alive and well.”
Lady Shen went to pull her daughter, “Come back to the manor with me!”
At that moment, Duke Anguo, who had just seen Prince Duan off, returned with a stern expression, “What Lady Shen should also take away is Shen Qingrui.”