Security at the hospital was tight. One entire floor of the inpatient wing was reserved exclusively for patients of the Shen family’s stature. But no matter how luxurious the surroundings, they couldn’t quiet the unrest brewing in people’s hearts.
After just one night…
The Shen family had already begun to quietly unravel.
At nine o’clock the next morning, the first laboratory report arrived outside the Old Madam’s room.
The chief physician leading the consultation wore a grim expression as he handed the report to Shen Chongshan.
“The Old Madam’s body does contain abnormal chemical residues. The composition is quite complex. At first glance, it appears to be several health supplements interacting badly with one another. But after closer examination, it looks much more like the result of long-term, repeated ingestion in very small doses.”
“In other words,” Shen Nian said calmly from the side, finishing his sentence, “someone has been poisoning her little by little.”
The chief physician looked at her.
After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
Silence instantly fell outside the hospital room.
Lin Man’s face drained of color.
“How… how is that possible? Your grandmother’s meals and medications have always been monitored with the greatest care.”
“Which only proves…”
Shen Nian flipped to the last page of the report.
“…that the person responsible was someone very close to her.”
“With a dosage this small, it couldn’t have happened overnight.”
“It would have taken at least three months.”
Shen Yanzhou accepted the report, his brows drawn tightly together.
“Who has been responsible for Grandma’s medication during the past three months?”
His assistant answered immediately.
“Aunt Liu and the nutritionist supervised everything. All medications were purchased through the family’s usual suppliers and delivered exclusively by Cixin Pharmaceuticals.”
Cixin Pharmaceuticals.
One of the most reputable businesses under Lin Man’s name.
It specialized in charitable medical donations and elderly healthcare programs, making the news almost every year for its philanthropy.
Shen Nian looked up at Lin Man.
“You heard that?”
Lin Man forced herself to remain composed.
“There can’t possibly be a problem with Cixin Pharmaceuticals.”
“I never said there was.”
Shen Nian placed the report back in front of her.
“I’m saying someone used its name as cover.”
At that moment, Shen Wan’er emerged from the hospital room.
Her eyes were red again, and her voice was as soft as a feather.
“Sister… don’t you think you’re being a little too suspicious? Grandma needs rest more than anything right now—not for the whole family to become suspects.”
Shen Nian looked at her.
Then nodded.
“You’re right.”
Shen Wan’er froze.
She clearly hadn’t expected that response.
Then Shen Nian added calmly,
“So let’s start by investigating the people who deserve suspicion the most.”
“What do you mean?”
Shen Wan’er’s heart skipped a beat.
“Everyone who handled Grandma’s medicine, food, water, incense burner, or the Buddha shrine last night and this morning.”
“I want every name.”
The moment the words Buddha shrine were spoken, Shen Wan’er’s eyelashes visibly trembled.
It was an almost imperceptible reaction.
Most people wouldn’t have noticed.
But Shen Nian did.
“Sister…”
Shen Wan’er forced a smile.
“Why are you dragging the Buddha shrine into this? Grandma prays there every day. Aside from the servants dusting it occasionally, who would even touch it?”
“You were there last night.”
One sentence.
The smile vanished completely from Shen Wan’er’s face.
She hurriedly explained,
“I only went to burn incense and pray that Grandma wouldn’t be angry with me…”
“Burn incense?”
Shen Nian looked at her without the slightest warmth.
“You walked in wearing high heels.”
“You stayed for less than two minutes.”
“There wasn’t a single trace of incense ash on your hands.”
“You certainly found a very convenient way to pray.”
“Wearing stilettos into a sickroom to burn incense?”
“The incense never got lit, but your heels left marks on the carpet.”
She pulled out her phone and opened a photograph.
“I took this last night.”
“The rhinestone from your shoe fell beside the Buddha shrine.”
The picture was crystal clear.
Near the edge of the dark carpet, a tiny silver rhinestone lay wedged beside one of the shrine’s wooden legs.
It was identical to the decoration on Shen Wan’er’s high heels from the previous evening.
Her fingers began trembling.
She clearly hadn’t imagined that amid last night’s chaos…
Shen Nian would notice such a tiny detail.
Lin Man immediately stepped in front of her protectively.
“So what if Wan’er went inside? What does that prove? She was only worried about her grandmother!”
“It proves…”
Shen Nian put away her phone.
“…that she’s hiding something.”
She pushed open the hospital room door and walked inside.
“What are you doing?”
Shen Yanzhou instinctively tried to stop her.
“Collecting evidence.”
She opened the side door leading to the small prayer room and walked directly toward the rosewood Buddha shrine beside the window.
The scent of sandalwood was overwhelming.
Someone had obviously replenished the incense recently.
The altar table had been wiped spotless.
Too spotless.
Shen Nian bent down and lightly brushed her fingertip across one of the table legs.
A faint layer of silver powder clung to her finger.
It wasn’t incense ash.
It looked more like fine metallic residue left behind after someone hurriedly wiped away packaging.
She pressed against the underside of the altar.
Click.
A hidden compartment sprang open.
Inside were no Buddhist scriptures.
Only a kraft paper envelope that had been burned halfway through.
A small amount of melted wax still clung to its opening.
Shen Nian leaned closer and sniffed it.
It wasn’t ordinary candle wax.
It was smokeless ceremonial wax.
The Shen family’s old residence never used that kind.
Nor would a hospital room ever keep it in stock.
She carefully removed the contents and unfolded them.
On top lay a document with charred edges.
Although much of it had been burned away, the title remained legible.
Temporary Foster Registration
Most of the contents had been destroyed.
But at the signature line, one surname could still be made out.
Qin.
Everyone standing at the doorway stared in shock.
Lin Man instinctively stumbled backward.
The color drained completely from her face.
“Impossible…”
she murmured.
“How could this be here…”
“So you recognize it.”
Shen Nian turned toward her.
Lin Man’s lips moved, but no complete sentence came out.
Shen Yanzhou stepped forward and accepted the damaged document.
The deeper he read, the more tightly his brows furrowed.
“Mom…”
“What exactly is this?”
Just as Lin Man was about to answer, Shen Wan’er suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s all my fault…”
She sobbed so hard she could barely breathe.
“Yesterday, I saw Sister refusing to let go of the matter of the jade pendant. I was afraid Grandma would be angry with me, so I secretly went to the Buddha shrine to pray for her blessing.”
“I truly didn’t know anything was hidden inside.”
“I never touched any documents…”
What a clever move.
Confess to a small mistake…
To conceal a much larger one.
In the past, Lin Man would already have rushed over to comfort her.
Shen Chongshan would probably have frowned and said, “Let’s just forget it.”
But today…
No one moved.
Because the charred document alone was enough to chill everyone to the bone.
“Whether you touched the shrine or not…”
Shen Nian said calmly,
“…the surveillance footage will tell us.”
Shen Wan’er’s sobbing faltered.
Last night, she had deliberately avoided the obvious security camera in the hallway because she’d been told it was broken.
What she didn’t know was that after returning to her room, Shen Nian had casually checked the Shen family’s surveillance system.
The camera hadn’t actually been broken.
Its video cache simply hadn’t been cleared.
Retrieve the cached footage…
And the recording was still there.
“Check it.”
Shen Yanzhou ordered his assistant coldly.
As the assistant turned to leave, Shen Nian added,
“And while you’re at it, find out who delivered Grandma’s final bowl of calming soup last night.”
“Also, I want a complete list of everyone who has had access to Grandma’s food over the past three months.”
She looked at the butler.
“The kitchen.”
“The nutritionists.”
“The pharmacy.”
“Logistics.”
“Leave no one out.”
Ten minutes later, the assistant returned.
The surveillance footage showed that at 1:12 a.m., Shen Wan’er had indeed entered the Old Madam’s room.
Then, at 1:27 a.m., Aunt Liu—a housekeeper who had worked for the Shen family for six years—entered carrying a tray.
On the tray…
Was a bowl of calming soup.
Aunt Liu was immediately summoned.
Before she even stepped through the doorway, her legs had already given way beneath her.
Her face was as gray as paper.
Shen Nian laid the laboratory report, surveillance stills, and the eagle-emblazoned cufflink in front of her.
“Who told you to poison her?”
Aunt Liu clenched her teeth.
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then let me explain it for you.”
Shen Nian spoke unhurriedly.
“Last night, someone instructed you to bring in a bowl of tampered calming soup.”
“After the Old Madam collapsed, you intended to use the chaos to dispose of what was hidden inside the Buddha shrine.”
“But you panicked.”
“You didn’t burn everything.”
“And you dropped the cufflink.”
Aunt Liu’s pupils contracted violently.
That single flash of panic…
Was answer enough.
Shen Nian continued,
“You earn fifty thousand yuan a month.”
“Your son studies overseas.”
“His tuition alone exceeds one million yuan a year.”
“On your salary from the Shen family…”
“Could you really afford that?”
Aunt Liu’s face turned completely white.
Even her lips trembled.
“I… I…”
“Who paid you?”
This time…
She broke.
Her knees hit the floor.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I was only taking money to do a job…”
“I never wanted the Old Madam to actually die…”
“WHO PAID YOU?”
Shen Yanzhou’s sudden roar made her entire body shake.
She sobbed uncontrollably.
After a long pause, she finally forced out three words.
“Madam Qin…”
Everyone in the room froze.
Madam Qin.
Qin Shuya.
Lin Man’s own older sister.
Lin Man’s head snapped up.
Her voice cracked.
“You’re lying!”
“It’s true…”
Aunt Liu frantically shook her head.
“She said… as long as the Old Madam collapsed…”
“…there’d be no one left to stand in Miss Wan’er’s way.”
“She also promised…”
“…that after everything was over, she’d send my son to an even better school…”
Shen Wan’er suddenly lifted her head, crying even harder.
“Why are you framing me?!”
“I didn’t know anything!”
“I never said you did…”
Aunt Liu cried incoherently.
“Madam Qin only said… your future would be much brighter…”
“Enough!”
Lin Man’s face had gone deathly pale.
She shouted too quickly.
If anything…
It only made her look guiltier.
Shen Nian looked at her and enunciated each word.
“Do you still intend to cover this up?”
Lin Man’s lips were bloodless.
Her chest rose and fell violently.
Only now did she seem to realize…
This wasn’t merely a matter of family favoritism anymore.
Her own sister…
Had truly reached into the Shen family.
Just then, Shen Nian’s phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
She answered and immediately switched it to speakerphone.
A man’s voice came through.
It had clearly been electronically disguised.
“Miss Shen.”
“Speak.”
“Your mother didn’t abandon you back then.”
He paused.
“She was protecting you.”
Everyone in the hospital room froze.
Shen Nian’s eyes darkened instantly.
“Who are you?”
“If you want the truth…”
the man said quietly,
“…investigate Zhou Guifen from twenty-three years ago.”
“She’s still alive.”
“Where is she?”
“Fu’an Nursing Home.”
“Western outskirts of Lincheng.”
The line disconnected immediately.
The black screen reflected Shen Nian’s own face.
The caller had deliberately altered his voice.
Even the phone number had been masked.
He clearly intended to leave no trace.
But that only convinced Shen Nian even more…
This wasn’t a prank.
Silence filled the room for several long seconds.
Zhou Guifen.
The very same name that had been circled in the anonymous email the previous night.
Shen Nian slipped her phone back into her pocket and slowly swept her gaze over everyone present.
“So…”
“It really wasn’t an accident when the babies were switched.”
With that, she turned to leave.
Shen Yanzhou instinctively called after her.
“Where are you going?”
“To find someone who’s still alive.”
Without looking back, Shen Nian answered,
“The dead can’t speak.”
“The living can.”
The elevator doors slowly closed in front of her.
The mirrored walls reflected her slightly pale face.
They also reflected the suspicious, panicked, evasive expressions of everyone standing in the hallway.
She had originally thought that returning to the Shen family meant fighting for her rightful place.
Now she realized she had been wrong.
What she truly needed to fight for…
Was the truth.
As the elevator descended, her phone vibrated again.
A message from Shen Yanzhou.
I’ll arrange a car.
Three simple words.
Nothing more.
Shen Nian stared at the message for two seconds.
She didn’t reply.
She knew this wasn’t because Shen Yanzhou suddenly trusted her.
Things had simply reached the point where he could no longer pretend not to see what was happening.
And for Shen Nian…
That was enough.
She slipped her phone back into her pocket and looked up toward the top floor of the hospital, where the Old Madam’s room overlooked the grounds.
Some people were still trying to bury the truth.
But she had already made up her mind.
This time…
She would peel away every layer of deception.
Piece by piece.
No matter whose face…
Whose blood…
Or whose life lay hidden beneath it.
A gust of wind swept up the hospital steps, sending a chill through the hem of her coat.
Yet for the first time since returning to the Shen family…
Shen Nian felt as though her feet were finally planted firmly on the ground.
Because from this moment on…
She was no longer merely the long-lost biological daughter who had finally come home.
She had come to collect debts.
She had come to settle old accounts.
And it wouldn’t be long before the first name was dragged into the light.
Orderlies hurried past the hospital entrance, pushing a gurney whose wheels rattled softly across the polished floor.
Shen Nian remained where she stood.
She suddenly remembered something from her childhood.
Her adoptive mother had once suffered a terrible fever.
Shen Nian had carried her all the way to the small clinic in town.
By the time they arrived, the soles of her shoes had worn through, and her heels were covered in blood.
That night, she had stood outside the clinic just as she stood here now, the wind cutting through her clothes.
But her mind had never been clearer.
Begging others was useless.
Crying was useless.
The thing that truly saved lives…
Was never someone else’s momentary pity.
It was whether you could hold on to what truly mattered.
Back then…
She had held on to her adoptive mother.
Now…
She would hold on to Zhou Guifen.
To Qin Shuya.
And to every single person who had reached into that delivery room twenty-three years ago.