Shen Shuangshuang finally understood. “So she’s deliberately causing trouble for you.”
“Exactly,” Xiang Meimei said. “At the flower-viewing banquet last time, she even purposely spilled tea on me, saying my clothes were shabby and embarrassed the Marquisate.”
Just then, the imperial guard’s angry voice boomed: “Stop crying! It’s deafening! Cry again and I’ll throw you out to feed the fish!”
Madam Lu lifted her head, tears still on her face, but her pride remained. “We are from a General’s household! You can’t treat us like this! When my husband returns, he will make sure you pay!”
“Your husband?” the lead official laughed heartily. “Your husband, General Lu, has long been imprisoned! Embezzling military funds, colluding with the enemy, the evidence is conclusive—he’ll be executed!”
Madam Lu’s face turned pale. She collapsed to the ground. “Impossible! My husband is not that kind of man!”
The official waved his hand impatiently. “Stop talking! Cry again and you’ll get whipped!”
But Lu Xue Ning continued to cry, her voice piercing and shrill.
The official, irritated, rushed over and lashed mother and daughter twice. “You want to cry? I’ll show you how to cry!”
The whips struck with a sharp snap.
Their clothes split in two places, and blood seeped through, staining the fabric red.
The mother and daughter screamed in pain and finally fell silent.
Xiang Meimei frowned. “Xu Zhenzhen really doesn’t see the situation. Already prisoners, yet she still thinks she’s the mighty general’s wife. These officials only bully the weak—defying them only hurts yourself.”
Shen Shuangshuang pulled out a plate of pastries and a water pouch from her clothing and handed them to Xiang Meimei. “Mother, you must be hungry. Here, eat something. The water is clean, drink a little.”
The pastries were the ones she had collected from the Marquisate kitchen and kept warm in the space.
The water was spirit spring water, replenishing strength.
Xiang Meimei took a small bite, and Shen Yaozong grabbed a piece as well, quickly swallowing it.
They hadn’t eaten since morning.
Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out.
Shen Shuangshuang looked up—it was Shen Jiaojiao, glaring at the pastries with drooling anticipation.
Shen Shuangshuang raised an eyebrow. “We’re eating our own food. What’s it to you?”
“Your food?” Shen Jiaojiao sneered. “The Marquisate has been confiscated! Where did you get food? You must have hidden it before! And if you have food, you should offer it to Grandfather and Grandmother first!”
Her voice carried through the crowded temple, drawing everyone’s attention.
The Marquis of Quling lifted his head, eyes complicated, staring at the pastries in Shen Shuangshuang’s hands.
Lady Zhou had also regained consciousness, staring at the plate, throat moving. She hadn’t had a drop to drink all morning—she was starving.
“Offer it to them?” Shen Shuangshuang laughed. “When I was punished to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days, starving, did they ever give me a bite? Shen Jiaojiao, when you stole my jewelry and got me punished, did you think to offer me anything?”
“You’re lying!” Shen Jiaojiao’s face flushed. “I only pushed you into the water, and Grandmother punished you!”
“Lie? You know the truth,” Shen Shuangshuang said, standing up and approaching her. “That day by the lotus pond, you slipped yourself and fell, but deliberately shouted I pushed you. I saw everything. If it weren’t for Grandmother and your mother favoring you, I wouldn’t have been locked in the ancestral hall.”
The Marquis’ face darkened as he looked at Shen Jiaojiao. “Jiaojiao, is this true?”
Shen Jiaojiao shrank back, hiding behind Lady Zhou. “Grandfather, I didn’t! She’s framing me!”
Lady Zhou glared at Shen Shuangshuang. “You little wretch! Don’t slander! Jiaojiao is the legitimate daughter—how could she do such a thing?”
“Legitimate daughter or not, does that give you the right to twist facts and harm others?” Shen Shuangshuang sneered. “If it weren’t for my luck, I’d have starved to death in the hall. Now the Marquisate is being confiscated thanks to your son, Shen Yaowen, and you still have the nerve to act like an elder?”
“You!” Lady Zhou trembled with rage. “You concubine-born little brat, how dare you speak to me like that!”
“Concubine-born?” Shen Shuangshuang raised her voice. “Does being concubine-born mean we deserve to be bullied? My parents worked hard in the Marquisate for over a decade, eating scraps, wearing old clothes, and the monthly allowance wasn’t enough for two pounds of meat. And your First Branch? They lived on delicacies, wore gold and silver, all from my uncle’s embezzlement! Now he’s exposed, the whole family exiled, and you dare try to steal from us—have some shame!”
Her words cut like a knife, piercing everyone’s heart.
The other prisoners whispered among themselves. “So the Marquisate fell because of embezzlement?”
“No wonder… now it makes sense.”
“This Third Branch looks pitiful, caught because of the First Branch.”
The Marquis lowered his head further, face full of shame.
Shen Yaozu from the Fourth Branch stood up, pointing at Shen Yaowen. “Big brother, you embezzled so much, we didn’t spend a single coin, yet we’re exiled? You’ve ruined our whole family!”
“Exactly!” Shen Yaowu of the Second Branch agreed. “I serve in the Ministry of Works diligently, never took a penny, and now I’m exiled three thousand li—my career destroyed!”
Shen Yaowen hung his head, muttering, “I didn’t do it on purpose… I was tricked by merchants…”
“Tricked?” Shen Shuangshuang laughed coldly. “You embezzled fifty thousand taels of gold, two hundred thousand taels of silver bills, plus hundreds of thousands of taels of silver—and that’s being tricked? The gold was hidden in your study’s secret room—I saw it with my own eyes!”
Everyone gasped.
The lead official’s eyes widened. He pointed at Shen Yaowen. “You have a secret room? Fifty thousand taels of gold? Speak! Where is the gold?”
Shen Yaowen’s face turned pale, shaking his head repeatedly. “No! I don’t! She’s lying!”
“Lying? You know the truth,” Shen Shuangshuang said. “Under your study bed is a hidden compartment. Open it, and there’s a secret room, filled with gold and famous paintings. But now… that gold is probably already seized by the Emperor’s men.”
She said this deliberately, making the officials believe the gold had been taken, so they wouldn’t investigate further.
The officials frowned, cursing, “Damn! Someone beat us to it again!”
Lady Zhou looked at Shen Yaowen, full of disappointment. “Yaowen, did you really embezzle that much money?”