Just then, Shen Duancheng hurried back from outside with several servants in tow and shouted angrily, “Everyone, stop at once!”
“Cheng’er, you’ve come back at the right time. This wretched girl, Shen Xia, killed one of Ying’er’s servants. Deal with her immediately,” Old Madam Shen complained at once.
Shen Duancheng glanced at the mess scattered across the floor, his brows knitting tightly. Yet the moment his gaze landed on Shen Xia, his expression visibly eased.
“Mother, however you handle matters in the inner courtyard is your business. But Shen Xia is still my daughter, so stop targeting her all the time.”
“Let’s leave today’s matter at that. It’s only a dead servant. Tomorrow, I’ll have the steward send a few more slaves to Ying’er.”
“Enough. Stop gathering here and go back to your rooms.”
By the end, impatience was evident in his voice.
“Father, how can you just let Shen Xia off like this?” Shen Ying cried out anxiously.
What Shen Xia had done was a direct slap to her face.
If she wasn’t punished, where would Shen Ying’s dignity go?
“Cheng’er, you haven’t been drinking tonight, have you?!” Old Madam Shen even suspected her son was drunk. Otherwise, why would he treat such a matter so lightly?
A maid’s life might be worthless, but Shen Xia committing murder was a challenge to their authority.
The others were equally stunned.
Their master was not a benevolent man. In his eyes, the life of an illegitimate daughter was less precious than one of the fish he kept. Why would he spare Shen Xia?
Shen Duancheng finally lost all patience.
“Has my order become useless? Why are you all still standing here? Get out!”
Realizing he was genuinely angry, the concubines all turned pale.
“Master, this concubine will take her leave.”
Soon, more than half the people in the hall had departed.
“Father…” Shen Ying was still unwilling to accept it.
“Enough, Ying’er. You should spend more time learning from your Second Sister. Your temperament needs correcting. If you continue making a scene over everything, how will you shoulder the responsibilities of a principal wife after marrying into the Song Family?”
“Father, I…”
“Shen Xia, come to my study.”
After shooting Shen Xia a glance, Shen Duancheng flicked his sleeve and headed toward the study first.
Shen Xia obediently nodded.
“Yes, Father.”
And so, under the watchful eyes of Shen Ying, Old Madam Shen, and the others, Shen Xia walked away completely unharmed.
When she reached the doorway, she even turned back and said to them with a smile, “Father insisted on protecting my life and made all of you unhappy. I truly apologize for that.”
“Bitch! Bitch! Ahhh, bitch!”
Shen Ying grabbed at her hair and stomped furiously in place, so angry that her chest ached.
“Grandmother, why would Father help that little bitch?” Clutching Old Madam Shen’s sleeve, Shen Ying looked both jealous and on the verge of collapse.
Old Madam Shen’s head was pounding as well.
“Enough, stop shouting. Your father must have his reasons for doing things. I’ll question him carefully tomorrow.”
“That’s right, Third Miss. That little bitch must have used some sort of trick. Once Master comes to his senses tomorrow, he’ll definitely avenge us,” Concubine Wang said ingratiatingly as she struggled to her feet.
Unfortunately for her, Shen Ying immediately kicked her.
“You old thing who relies on your looks to survive, what right do you have to speak to me? If you hadn’t insisted on helping earlier, I would have beaten Shen Xia to death already!”
“Third Miss, spare me! Third Miss, spare me!”
In the dark night, even the sound of the rain could not drown out Concubine Wang’s agonized pleas for mercy.
…
Inside the study, all the servants had been dismissed. Only Shen Duancheng and Shen Xia remained.
Seated in a huanghuali wood chair, much of Shen Duancheng’s drunkenness had faded. His suspicious gaze locked firmly onto Shen Xia.
“Where did you get this?”
He produced half of a jade pendant. On its surface was an incomplete character, “Yuan,” along with an official seal engraved at the bottom.
Shen Xia raised her eyes and met his gaze fearlessly.
“Father already knows the answer, doesn’t he? This is the item Prefect Murong has been searching for.”
In the present-day Jin Kingdom, the Murong Family was unquestionably the foremost aristocratic clan. Their influence within the imperial court was at its peak.
Murong Ke came from a collateral branch of the Murong Family, but his status was still far from ordinary. The reason he had come to such a remote place was primarily to carry out a mission.
Keeping watch over Li Xiao was only a minor task. His true objective was to lure out the surviving remnants of the Jiang Family.
In addition, Murong Ke had also been tasked with locating the surviving members of the Yuan Family.
The current Emperor had ascended the throne only after slaughtering his own brothers. Countless people died during that struggle for succession.
At the time, Grand Tutor Yuan, the foremost scholar of the realm and a man greatly respected among the common people, had firmly supported the late Emperor. After fiercely condemning the current Emperor, he smashed his head against a pillar in the imperial hall and died on the spot. As a result, the entire Yuan Family was exiled.
Many years later, the Emperor suddenly issued another decree, praising Grand Tutor Yuan as a loyal minister and declaring that the Yuan Family’s name would be restored.
Unfortunately, most members of the Yuan Family had already perished during exile, while the survivors had vanished without a trace on Nanli Island.
The Emperor therefore ordered Murong Ke to find any remaining descendants of the Yuan Family and bring them back to the capital.
Had Shen Xia not known the truth from the original novel, she might have believed the Emperor had finally grown a conscience and wished to make amends to the Yuan Family.
But the truth was far from that.
The Emperor’s real reason for finding the Yuan Family was to eliminate all future threats.
He had discovered that the late Emperor had left behind a secret imperial edict, one that the Yuan Family might have hidden away.
No one else knew about this. Everyone believed the Yuan Family’s suffering had finally come to an end.
If descendants of the Yuan Family were found, they would likely be granted official positions and noble titles, or at the very least rewarded generously.
“This jade pendant belongs to the Yuan Family. I’ve seen the drawing that Lord Murong carries, and it even bears the official seal. This is undoubtedly an item bestowed by the late Emperor himself.”
“Shen Xia, where exactly did you find it?”
Shen Duancheng demanded urgently.
When Murong Ke first arrived on the island, he had summoned Shen Duancheng and ordered him to investigate the refugees and anyone bearing the surname Yuan.
Yet after searching for so long, he had found nothing.
Murong Ke had therefore concluded that Shen Duancheng was incompetent and subsequently assigned him only trivial errands.
Once the ruler of an entire region, Shen Duancheng had found the humiliation unbearable.
“I asked you a question. Where did it come from?”
After receiving no answer for a long moment, Shen Duancheng slammed his palm against the table, all patience gone.
“Father, have you forgotten? My mother originally bore the surname Yuan before she changed her name to Ruan Niang.”