Xie Yu was practically on the verge of going mad with rage.
The veins at his temples throbbed violently, blue veins bulged along his neck, and his right hand had already settled on the hilt of his sword. Even the half-healed wound on his arm split open again, darkening the black fabric of his robe even further.
They had been so close—just a little bit more, and he would have heard the solution!
Yet at the crucial moment, these two uninvited pests barged in, slandering Shen Zhiyi with such vicious malice, throwing baseless accusations at her one after another.
If not for the last shred of restraint left in him, Xie Yu might already have drawn his sword and cut the pair down.
Damn them!
Shen Jingxuan was equally stunned by the sudden situation. Had he not heard his father and Yue’er’s voices with his own ears, he would never have believed those words had come from the two of them.
He had never liked overthinking complicated matters, but the malice Father and Yue’er held toward Little Sister was so blatant that even he could hear it clearly.
Little Sister was obviously such a harmless and lovable person. Why did they have to treat her this way?
No wonder her inner thoughts had once mentioned that, according to the original story, Ji Changge had suffered endless grievances in the Marquis Manor. So it really had been because of them!
He used to think Father merely behaved irrationally from time to time and lacked dignity, but now he realized the man had become utterly blind and unreasonable beyond belief.
And Shen Ruoyue—deceiving him was one thing, but how could she be so vicious toward Little Sister? She had occupied Little Sister’s rightful identity and status for fifteen years, while Little Sister had never done anything to harm her. How could someone be so selfish and so skilled at disguising herself?
A blazing fury rose inside Shen Jingxuan as well—not only because Shen Zhiyi’s inner monologue had been interrupted, but because of his disappointment and anger toward his father and Shen Ruoyue.
He immediately wanted to rush out and defend Shen Zhiyi, but one look at Xie Yu’s expression made him forcibly restrain himself.
At that moment, Shen Zhiyi was utterly speechless.
【Why are these two so annoying… And every time it’s the same nonsense—reputation, reputation, reputation. My ears are about to grow calluses! Aren’t the three of you the biggest stain on the Marquis Manor’s reputation anyway?】
Shen Jingxuan’s attention was momentarily diverted.
Three people? Which three?
Hearing Shen Zhiyi’s thoughts shift away from the plan, Xie Yu’s expression darkened further.
“Meeting privately with an unrelated man, shameless and immoral—what grave accusations from the Marquis and Miss Shen!”
Shen Honglang snorted coldly. He was merely a young heir, not the Emperor or Crown Prince. What did he have to fear?
“Heir Shizi, you are currently standing inside Shen Zhiyi’s courtyard, less than a dozen meters from her private chambers. Are you not an unrelated man? Are you not meeting privately in my Marquis Manor? What more is there to say?”
【Well, you have mouths, so of course you can say whatever you want. What am I supposed to do, seal them shut with cement? You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you?】
Shen Zhiyi curled her lips. If only she had some kind of face-slapping system, she would have long since stepped forward and smacked the fake heiress and scumbag father dozens of times, until their faces swelled like pig heads and they could never spew filth again.
Unfortunately, all she possessed was a gossip system meant for entertainment and drama.
So she simply told herself to endure a little longer. Once she squeezed some more money out of her scumbag father, she would leave the moment the timing was right and go live a far more comfortable life.
Shen Zhiyi truly did not care at all about their insults and slander. Pulling her thoughts back together, she resumed pondering inwardly.
【Actually, the key lies in those fifteen minutes of sheltering from the rain.】
Originally worried that Shen Zhiyi might feel hurt or angry after Shen Honglang and Shen Ruoyue’s vicious words, Xie Yu and Shen Jingxuan were stunned to discover that she was completely unaffected and had actually continued discussing the plan!
Both men immediately suppressed the surging emotions in their hearts. Temporarily ignoring the barking man and woman nearby, they sharpened their focus once more.
【Wasn’t “Wrong Sedan, Right Groom” all because the two brides accidentally boarded the wrong bridal sedans while taking shelter from the rain at a ruined temple?】
【Then couldn’t Ling Siyao and Ji Changge simply use that perfect opportunity during the rain to swap veils and board each other’s bridal sedan chairs?】
【As long as they get into the wrong sedan chairs, with the veils covering their faces, who would notice?】
【By the time the wedding ceremony is completed, everything will already be set in stone. The old Emperor can hardly demand that Second Brother and Xie Yu swap wives afterward. Once all the rites are done, who has ever heard of separating couples after the wedding just to remarry them again?】
【In the end, it can only be treated as a ridiculous accident. None of the four families would want to make a huge scene out of it, and maybe the Emperor would even glorify it as “Heaven’s arrangement.”】
Shen Jingxuan and Xie Yu’s eyes lit up instantly.
Little Sister truly was a divine being!
Not only could she foresee the future like an all-knowing oracle, she could even come up with such a daring and ingenious idea.
And truthfully, absurd as it sounded, this impossible fantasy was currently the best possible solution to their predicament.
Without Shen Zhiyi’s information, even if they eventually learned that both weddings would occur on the same day, all they could have done was sink deeper into sorrow and resentment at Heaven’s injustice—or resort to reckless actions that harmed both themselves and others beyond recovery.
But now, they needed to do nothing at all. No sacrifices, no risks, no dangerous gambles.
All they had to do was coordinate quietly and wait for that rainstorm—and those Heaven-sent fifteen minutes.
Just imagining finally being able to spend their lives with the ones they loved made Shen Jingxuan so excited he nearly cheered aloud.
Xie Yu still had one lingering concern. He trusted Shen Zhiyi’s words completely. What worried him was the possibility of others discovering that the two weddings would occur on the same day and deliberately sabotaging them. What if they somehow missed those crucial fifteen minutes?
He turned to glance at Shen Jingxuan, giving him a meaningful look.
They would both personally escort the bridal processions. To avoid any accidents, they needed to prepare carefully in advance, maintain strict order during the wedding processions, and ensure the two brides rested together at that abandoned schoolhouse.
The two men became completely absorbed in planning the matter, neither noticing the noisy pair still rambling nearby.
“So the Heir knows he’s in the wrong and dares not speak anymore?”
Seeing only silence from the other side, Shen Honglang assumed they were feeling guilty.
He sneered, becoming even more arrogant.
“If the Heir already understands this matter violates propriety, then since Shen Zhiyi is still my daughter of the Marquis Manor, perhaps there is room for negotiation.”
Shen Ruoyue hurriedly tugged at Shen Honglang’s sleeve.
“Father, please don’t anger yourself. Perhaps Sister truly didn’t mean it. Maybe she’s simply too frightened to come out right now. Calm down first—perhaps Sister merely wished to make friends with Heir Shizi Min.”
“Fortunately this happened within the Marquis Manor. As long as the servants keep quiet, it can still be contained. But if Sister behaves this way outside in the future, secretly meeting other men… what then?”
【Yes, yes, of course I can’t compare to you. Protected by the protagonist halo, nobody even notices however many unrelated men you flirt and secretly rendezvous with.】
Thinking about it made Shen Zhiyi feel unlucky.
As the heroine of an NP novel, the fake heiress truly lived up to the genre. Aside from a few cold-hearted individuals, practically every somewhat important character adored her. She constantly behaved in outrageous ways completely inappropriate for this feudal society—all merely to boost everyone else’s romantic obsession with her—yet somehow nobody ever discovered any of it.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhiyi had merely acted as emotional consultant for two handsome men for a short while, and the fake heiress immediately sniffed her way over.
Xie Yu and Shen Jingxuan were both shocked.
Shen Ruoyue secretly… behaved like that?
It was genuinely unbelievable.
The moment Shen Honglang imagined such a scene, he felt as though the official hat atop his head was about to fall off.
He roared angrily,
“Shen Zhiyi, you unfilial wretch! Do you think staying silent in there means nothing happened? Get out here and admit your wrongdoing at once!”
“Has this Marquis Manor already become too small to contain you? Even with your father here, you still refuse to come out?”
Shen Zhiyi rolled her eyes, about to speak, when a familiar and comforting voice sounded nearby.
“It’s broad daylight, Husband. How is it that your vision is already failing?”
“As people grow older, their bodies naturally decline. With your temper, you should really drink more chrysanthemum tea to cool your excessive fire.”
“Otherwise, if you anger yourself into illness, what would our family do then?”
Chen Wanran slowly walked in through the entrance.
She had known it. The moment she relaxed her vigilance even slightly, that scumbag father and vile daughter would seize the chance to bully Zhiyi again.
Fortunately, she had already arranged trusted attendants to remain by Zhiyi’s side, so she naturally knew exactly what was happening here.
Though she had only vaguely caught fragments of the inner thoughts after listening for a while, combined with what Zhiyi had occasionally mentioned before, she could roughly guess the situation.
Hearing Chen Wanran’s soft yet subtly barbed words, Shen Honglang felt another burst of rage shoot straight to his skull.
“Chen Wanran, this is your precious daughter!”
“You still intend to blindly protect such a shameless daughter?”
Ever since Wang Zimo came causing trouble that day and Chen Wanran insisted on protecting that little wretch, she had begun constantly speaking to him in this soft yet cutting manner.
Shen Honglang knew Chen Wanran could not possibly have discovered his secrets. Given her temperament, if she truly knew, she would never still behave this way.
Therefore, her sudden defiance of traditional virtues had to be because Shen Zhiyi, jealous of Ruoyue and resentful toward him, had whispered something into her ear!
“Mother, I know you dote on Elder Sister, but you can’t be so unreasonable…”
Shen Ruoyue had never expected Chen Wanran to react like this.
She had specifically sent servants to summon her. Even if the servants forgot to explain the situation, they had practically caught them in the act already. How could Chen Wanran still pretend ignorance? Did she really love Shen Zhiyi that much?
Ever since kneeling in punishment for three days at the ancestral hall, Shen Ruoyue—who once looked down somewhat on her birth mother’s lowly status—had secretly resolved to help her mother seize the position of mistress of the Marquis Manor.
After all, blood was thicker than water. If Chen Wanran continued favoring Shen Zhiyi like this while both mother and daughter remained in the manor, where would there still be room for her?
“The evidence is right in front of us. Surely you can’t pretend not to see it? Even if Sister made a mistake, we are still family. We only wish to consider Sister’s future and think of a solution that won’t humiliate her.”
Chen Wanran merely swept them a calm glance and ignored them entirely before turning toward the others hidden nearby.
“Shen Jingxuan, why are you still hiding there? Have you gone deaf?”
Having repeatedly wanted to step forward only to restrain himself each time, Shen Jingxuan scratched his head awkwardly and walked out from behind the rockery.
Seeing this scene, Shen Honglang and Shen Ruoyue suddenly looked as though they had been force-fed poison into mute silence.
Not a single word came out anymore.