“Have you lost your mind?!”
Lin Man practically screamed.
But Shen Nian never even looked back.
Keeping two fingers pressed against the Old Madam’s chest, she held out her other hand.
“The needles.”
The family doctor hesitated.
No one dared entrust the Old Madam’s life to a girl who had only just returned home.
But the most anxious people in the room weren’t the doctors.
They were the Shen family.
The Old Madam had been in poor health for years, yet never once had she collapsed in front of everyone, coughing up blood like this.
She was the pillar of the Shen family—the last person in this house capable of keeping everyone under control.
If she fell…
The Shen family would descend into chaos.
“Give them to her.”
The first to speak was Shen Yanzhou.
His voice was low and grave.
At this point, he was willing to gamble on even the slimmest chance.
The doctor gritted his teeth and handed over the pouch of silver needles.
Shen Nian accepted it.
Her movements were so swift and practiced that it looked as though she had done this countless times before.
The first needle pierced the Old Madam’s wrist.
The second slid beneath her collarbone.
The third was inserted into an acupoint near her heart.
Her hands never trembled.
Even her breathing remained perfectly steady.
The room fell so silent that only everyone’s restrained breathing could be heard.
Ye Chen had just rushed into the room. The moment he saw what was happening, his face changed.
“You’re letting her perform acupuncture on the Old Madam? Have you all gone insane? What could she possibly know?”
“Outsiders should keep quiet.”
Without raising her head, Shen Nian’s icy voice cut through the room.
Ye Chen’s face darkened.
“You—”
“Young Master Ye.”
Shen Yanzhou turned and shot him a cold glance.
“This is the Shen family.”
There was unmistakable authority in that look.
No matter how unwilling he was, Ye Chen could only swallow his anger and remain silent.
Shen Wan’er stood beside the bed, her face pale, her fingernails digging so deeply into her palms that they left red marks.
She continued crying.
“Sister… I know you’re trying to save Grandma, but this is too dangerous… What if something goes wrong…”
“What if?”
Only then did Shen Nian glance at her.
“She’s already been harmed.”
“Can you not see it…”
“…or are you pretending not to?”
One sentence left Shen Wan’er frozen in place.
Lin Man snapped angrily,
“Shen Nian! Stop talking nonsense!”
“Then you’d better pray that I’m wrong.”
With that, Shen Nian inserted the final needle.
The Old Madam’s previously erratic breathing gradually steadied.
The bluish tint around her lips slowly faded.
Even the trembling in her fingers became noticeably lighter.
The family doctor hurried forward to examine her again, his voice shaking with disbelief.
“Her heart rate has stabilized… Her blood pressure is rising too.”
Everyone in the room stood stunned.
Shen Chongshan looked at Shen Nian, and for the first time, something in his eyes changed.
It wasn’t disgust.
Nor dissatisfaction.
It was shock.
The daughter they had only recently found…
Was nothing like the girl they thought she was.
Shen Nian withdrew the needles.
Only then did she realize her palms were drenched in sweat.
Those few needles had only bought the Old Madam some time.
The real killer was still inside her body.
A thin layer of sweat had also formed across Shen Nian’s back.
Since last night, she hadn’t had a single moment of real rest.
Her nerves had remained taut the entire time.
If the Old Madam’s pulse hadn’t become so chaotic that it could no longer conceal the truth, Shen Nian would have preferred to wait a little longer—long enough for the hand lurking in the shadows to expose itself further.
But lives didn’t wait for careful planning.
She couldn’t afford to delay.
Ignoring everyone’s stares, she turned to the doctor.
“I want a complete list of every medication, supplement, and nutritional product the Old Madam has been taking recently.”
The doctor blinked.
“It’s… it’s at the nurses’ station.”
“Bring everything.”
“And every bit of food, water, and medicine she touched last night and this morning.”
“Don’t leave out a single item.”
Shen Chongshan frowned.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
Shen Nian stood upright and slowly swept her gaze across everyone in the room.
“This wasn’t a normal medical episode.”
Her voice remained calm.
“It was chronic poisoning, compounded by medication.”
“If that IV had finished infusing…”
“…she wouldn’t have survived.”
Her words landed like a bomb.
Lin Man was the first to object.
“Impossible! Your grandmother’s meals and daily care have always been handled with the utmost attention!”
“Which only proves…”
Shen Nian replied evenly,
“…that the person responsible was someone she trusted.”
Shen Wan’er’s knees nearly buckled.
Tears streamed down her face.
“Sister… how can you say something like that? Who in this family would ever hurt Grandma?”
“How should I know?”
Shen Nian looked at her calmly.
“Maybe someone who’s afraid the Old Madam might reveal something she shouldn’t.”
Shen Wan’er’s face turned even whiter.
She instinctively took half a step backward.
Without sparing her another glance, Shen Nian picked up the IV bottle she had removed earlier and gently swirled the clear liquid inside.
At first glance, nothing looked unusual.
But moments ago…
She had caught the faint scent of bitter almonds.
That wasn’t the smell normal cardiac medication should have.
“Send it for laboratory testing.”
She handed the bottle to the doctor.
The doctor instinctively looked toward Shen Chongshan.
“Do as she says.”
His voice was firm.
The moment those words were spoken, both Lin Man’s and Shen Wan’er’s expressions worsened.
Neither had expected Shen Chongshan to actually trust Shen Nian.
Just then, the Old Madam stirred.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
Her cloudy gaze wandered through a haze as she struggled to recognize the people before her.
“Grandma’s awake!”
Shen Wan’er cried out first, her voice trembling with apparent joy.
“Grandma! Look at me! It’s Wan’er!”
But the Old Madam’s gaze swept right past her without lingering for even a moment.
“Mom!”
Lin Man hurried to the bedside, her own voice shaking.
“How are you feeling?”
The Old Madam ignored her too.
Instead, her eyes slowly settled on Shen Nian.
Her lips moved weakly.
“Child…”
Shen Nian leaned closer.
The Old Madam’s frail hand suddenly clutched her sleeve with astonishing strength—far stronger than anyone would expect from someone who had just escaped death’s door.
“Don’t let…”
Her breathing was faint.
Each word came with effort.
“Don’t let… them…”
“…touch the Buddha shrine…”
The moment she finished speaking, she slipped back into unconsciousness.
“Grandma!”
Shen Wan’er lunged forward to grab her hand.
Shen Nian blocked her first.
“Move.”
As she tucked the blanket around the Old Madam, something caught her eye.
Between the elderly woman’s fingers…
Was a metal cufflink.
Dark navy enamel.
Silver trim.
An exquisitely engraved eagle motif along one edge.
It clearly belonged to a man.
And it couldn’t possibly have appeared in the Old Madam’s hand by accident.
Without changing her expression, Shen Nian shielded it with the back of her hand and quietly slipped it into her own palm.
But Shen Yanzhou was standing nearby.
He noticed.
“What did you just take?”
“Evidence.”
Shen Nian opened her hand.
The cufflink rested in her palm, glinting coldly under the light.
Shen Chongshan’s face subtly changed.
Even Ye Chen froze.
He seemed to recognize it.
“Isn’t that—”
He abruptly swallowed the rest of the sentence.
Shen Nian immediately looked at him.
“You recognize it?”
“No.”
His denial came far too quickly.
Which only made him more suspicious.
Shen Nian didn’t press him.
She simply put the cufflink away.
“From this moment on, no one touches anything in the Old Madam’s room.”
She turned toward the two servants responsible for caring for her.
“And make a complete list of everyone who entered or left this room from last night until this morning.”
One of the maids was already so frightened her legs were shaking.
“Y-Yes…”
Shen Nian turned and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Shen Yanzhou asked instinctively.
“To the nurses’ station.”
She didn’t slow down.
“I’m getting the medication records.”
“And I’ll also pull the security footage from this floor.”
“The cameras?”
Lin Man’s tone immediately tightened.
“The cameras on the second floor of the old residence have been broken for quite a while.”
Shen Nian paused.
Then looked back at her.
“How convenient.”
Lin Man’s expression stiffened.
“Are you accusing me?”
“At this point…”
Shen Nian replied calmly,
“…I suspect everyone in this house.”
“Including you.”
Then she walked away.
The nurses’ station at the end of the corridor was in complete disarray.
Several medication records had been tossed onto the desk.
Shen Nian flipped through them one after another, her movements swift and methodical.
The Old Madam’s medication history over the past three months appeared perfectly normal.
If anything…
It was more meticulous than that of most people her age.
But that very perfection exposed the flaw.
The nurse on duty initially tried to stop her.
Only after Shen Yanzhou coldly ordered,
“Let her investigate.”
did she hurriedly unlock the medical records system.
Shen Nian compared the paper files against the electronic records.
The same nutritional supplement carried different batch numbers.
For one week, the nightly calming herbal tonic had been changed to “provided by family.”
Most outrageous of all—
There had been three instances last month where additional medication was administered.
The signatures approving them…
Were all imitations of the same person’s handwriting.
Someone had been mixing tiny amounts of a slow-acting toxic substance into the Old Madam’s regular medication.
The dosage was minuscule.
The poisoning stretched over a long period.
Unless someone deliberately investigated…
It would have been easily mistaken for natural physical decline.
After reading the final page, Shen Nian’s eyes grew colder.
How ruthless.
Whoever had done this intended for the Old Madam to die quietly…
Without anyone ever suspecting foul play.
Just then, her phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent her a message.
I’ve identified the eagle-pattern cufflink. It belongs to the man frequently seen with Qin Shuya. Gu Chengshan of the Gu family.
Shen Nian stared at the screen, her expression darkening.
Qin Shuya.
Lin Man’s older sister.
She hadn’t attended last night’s family reunion banquet herself.
Instead, she had merely sent an extravagant gift.
The accompanying note had been beautifully written.
“Welcome home, Nian.”
She had even included a jade bracelet, making it appear as though she cared deeply for her niece.
But an elder who truly cared…
Wouldn’t fail to show up on the first day her niece returned home.
Nor would she extend her hand into the Old Madam’s bedroom.
As Shen Nian considered this, crying suddenly echoed from the hospital room.
It was Shen Wan’er.
“Grandma… please wake up… It’s all my fault… If I hadn’t upset Sister last night, our family wouldn’t have ended up like this…”
Her tears looked utterly sincere.
As though she were the one who cared most about the Old Madam.
Shen Nian turned toward the room.
She saw Shen Wan’er kneeling beside the bed, shoulders trembling delicately, looking as if she could barely bear the blow.
Several servants stood outside watching.
Their expressions were full of sympathy.
“Second Miss is so devoted.”
“She grew up by the Old Madam’s side…”
Shen Nian heard every word.
The irony was almost laughable.
Devoted?
If she truly were…
She wouldn’t be putting on a performance for an audience at a time like this.
Gripping the medication records in her hand, Shen Nian suddenly remembered the Old Madam’s final words before losing consciousness.
Don’t let them touch the Buddha shrine.
Them.
Not her.
Which meant…
There was more than one person involved.
Something important had to be hidden inside that shrine.
Something so important that the Old Madam had spent her very last conscious breath warning Shen Nian about it.
Far more important…
Than the poisoning itself.
Shen Nian slowly exhaled before returning to the room.
The moment she entered, the crying noticeably subsided.
Shen Wan’er looked at her through tear-filled eyes, as though she were terrified of her.
“Sister… how’s Grandma?”
“She won’t die for now.”
Shen Nian looked directly at her.
“But if anyone touches anything in her room again…”
“…I can’t promise she’ll survive.”
Shen Wan’er’s face turned pale.
“What… what do you mean?”
“I mean…”
Shen Nian’s gaze dropped to Shen Wan’er’s wrist.
“Leave those prayer beads.”
“You went to the Buddha shrine last night.”
“They may be more honest than your mouth.”
Instinctively, Shen Wan’er tried to hide her wrist inside her sleeve.
The flash of panic in her eyes escaped her control.
“They’re only prayer beads…”
she said weakly, still trying to cry.
“Why are you so fixated on them, Sister…?”
“Because everything you’re carrying right now…”
Shen Nian interrupted coldly,
“…could be evidence.”
“If you’ve done nothing wrong…”
“…take them off.”
Shen Wan’er stood frozen.
Lin Man was about to defend her when Shen Yanzhou spoke first.
“Take them off.”
His voice was deep and commanding.
Shen Wan’er’s tears stopped for a brief moment.
She didn’t dare openly defy him now.
Her trembling fingers slowly removed the strand of prayer beads.
Shen Nian accepted them and immediately sealed them inside a clean evidence bag.
The sandalwood scent was stronger than she had expected.
Not only did it carry the fragrance from the Buddha shrine…
There was also the faint smell of medicinal powder.
Looking up at the people gathered outside the room—each wearing a different expression—Shen Nian suddenly understood something.
From the very first day she had been brought back to the Shen family…
This had never been a place welcoming her home.
It was a house where trap after trap had already been laid.
The only difference now…
Was that someone had finally begun to panic.
“Exactly what I said.”
Her gaze settled once more on Shen Wan’er’s wrist.
The heavy sandalwood fragrance lingering there…
Was identical to the scent surrounding the Buddha shrine in the Old Madam’s room.
Shen Nian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Some people…
Had finally started showing their tails.
She handed the sealed evidence bag to the nurse without the slightest hesitation.
“Send it to the lab immediately.”
She looked at the attending physician.
“Until the results come back…”
“No one is to touch these prayer beads.”
The doctor nodded instinctively.
His attitude toward Shen Nian had become noticeably more respectful than before.
Because everyone could see…
The balance of power in that room had already begun to shift.