She raised her eyes and looked out the window, her gaze passing beyond the layers of courtyard walls toward the vast expanse of the capital.
“Mother, if we stay in the Marquis’s Manor, we will forever be illegitimate children to be trampled upon, without even the right to hold our heads high.”
She spoke slowly, her voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable strength.
“If we can split off and live on our own, then even if our lives are poor, we will be our own masters. We won’t have to watch other people’s expressions or endure their disdain.”
“We have our hands and feet. Father has an official post, Brother can study, and I can find ways to earn a living. As long as our family stays together, we can survive. And… we’ll live better than we do in this manor.”
Liu Shi was stunned by her daughter’s words.
She had never imagined that leaving the Marquis’s Manor could mean “living better.”
In her mind, the manor was the sky itself. Once they left it, they would be left to drift helplessly in the wind and rain.
But as she looked into her daughter’s unusually calm eyes, the panic in her heart inexplicably eased.
Shen Mingxuan also looked at his sister, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.
He had always known that his younger sister was different from other noble girls, but he had never expected that, at such a young age, she would possess such courage and insight.
Shen Weiwan said no more.
Some things did not need to be spelled out.
Her heart was already as clear as a mirror.
Once the old marquis died, her legitimate grandmother, Madam Xu, would certainly seize the opportunity to purge the household.
Their branch of the family had neither power nor favor and was of no use whatsoever to the legitimate eldest branch. Keeping them in the manor would only waste food and resources. Given Madam Xu’s personality, she would never allow them to remain there eating and living for free.
The family division was inevitable.
And for Shen Weiwan, it was precisely the path to freedom she had longed for.
She had waited for this day for ten years.
Ever since she had transmigrated into this world in the womb, she had concealed her true self, endured humiliation, secretly accumulated money, and carefully observed the world around her—all for the chance to openly leave the Marquis’s Manor and establish her own household.
She did not covet the wealth and glory of the manor.
Nor did she care about its hierarchy of nobility and inferiority.
What she wanted had never been the security that came from depending on others, but the open and honest life she could earn with her own hands.
Seeking love?
She had never even considered it.
In this cruel world that devoured people whole, love was the most useless thing of all, and the easiest way to ruin one’s life.
In this lifetime, she sought only survival. She wished only to protect her parents and elder brother, to keep them safe and prosperous, and to win for herself a future free from humiliation and oppression.
Outside the window, the wind rustled through the leaves.
The skies above the Marquis’s Manor were about to change.
And Shen Weiwan’s journey had only just begun.
She lowered her head and looked at her own thin yet resilient hands. A faint smile, unnoticed by anyone, curved her lips.
Just wait.
One day, she would make those who had despised and trampled upon them understand that even the daughter of a concubine could carve out a splendid future.
Not by relying on family status.
Not by relying on marriage.
But solely by relying on herself.
Twenty-Seventh Year of Yong’an, March Seventeenth.
After holding on for three full days, the old Marquis of Yongning finally breathed his last.
The moment the news spread, cries of grief erupted both inside and outside the manor.
The main courtyard was filled with kneeling figures. Maids and old servants lay prostrate on the ground, weeping bitterly. The men and women of the legitimate eldest branch, dressed in mourning clothes, cried loudly, and the entire Marquis’s Manor was shrouded in deep sorrow and panic.
Yet none of this grief reached Shen Weiwan’s secluded little courtyard.
Shen Jingzhi hurried back from the main courtyard. Dressed in a plain robe, his face was heavy with sorrow. The moment he entered, he shook his head at his wife and daughter and let out a long sigh.
“He has passed away. In the end… he is gone.”
Liu Shi’s hand trembled in fright, and the needlework she was holding fell to the ground.
“Master, then… then who is in charge of the manor now?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“Naturally, the Old Madam.” Shen Jingzhi’s brows were filled with worry. “Everything in the manor is now under her authority.”
Shen Weiwan sat quietly to one side, her eyes lowered as she listened.
She understood perfectly.
With the old marquis’s death, the skies over Yongning Marquis’s Manor now completely belonged to the Xu family.
Her legitimate grandmother, Madam Xu, came from an illustrious noble family and possessed a strong personality and ruthless methods.
Over the years, because the old marquis was still alive, she had merely turned a blind eye toward their illegitimate branch and could not be bothered with them.
Now that the old marquis was gone and no one remained to restrain her, the first thing she would do would certainly be to purge the household and firmly place the manor’s authority in the hands of the legitimate eldest branch.
And their powerless, unfavored, and unsupported branch would be the first target of that purge.
As expected, before half a day had passed, the Old Madam’s senior maid personally came to deliver a message.
The maid had always looked down upon Shen Jingzhi’s family and had never treated them with respect. Now that the old marquis was dead and the legitimate branch held power, she could not even be bothered to maintain a veneer of courtesy.
Standing at the courtyard gate, she spoke coldly, her tone carrying a hint of superiority.
“Master Shen, the Old Madam requests your presence in the main courtyard to discuss the future arrangements of the Marquis’s Manor with all the masters.”
Shen Jingzhi quickly agreed, straightened his clothes, and followed the maid away with a nervous expression.
Liu Shi stood at the doorway, watching her husband’s retreating figure. Her hands were tightly clenched together, her face full of worry.
“What are we going to do? The Old Madam has never liked us. Who knows how she’ll make things difficult for him this time?”
Her son, Shen Mingxuan, clenched his fists, his youthful face filled with indignation.
“Mother, we haven’t done anything wrong. We were simply born of a different status. Do we really deserve to be looked down upon?”
Shen Weiwan stood up and walked to her mother’s side, gently placing a hand on her trembling arm.
“Mother, Brother, don’t worry.”
Her voice was soft, yet it carried a calming strength.
“Father isn’t going there to be punished. He’s only going to hear their arrangements. We should have expected that this day would come eventually.”
“But… but if the Old Madam truly intends to separate us from the family…” Tears welled in Liu Shi’s eyes. “We have no land or property in the capital. Your father is only a seventh-rank official with a meager salary. How will we survive in the future?”
“Being separated may not be a bad thing.”
Shen Weiwan lifted her eyes, her gaze clear and resolute.
“If we stay in the Marquis’s Manor, we’ll never be able to hold our heads high. If we leave, we’ll become masters of our own household. We won’t have to watch other people’s moods or endure their contempt. As long as our family stays together, we’ll survive.”
She was no longer the child who would cry in grievance over a cold meal or a worn-out piece of clothing.
Ten years had passed since her transmigration. Ten years of patience had allowed her to see everything clearly.
In this rigidly hierarchical marquis’s household, an illegitimate child was still an illegitimate child. The inferiority in their blood was branded into their very bones.
No matter how obedient, sensible, or careful one was, it would never earn genuine affection.
Rather than lingering in this cage and barely surviving, it was better to leave early and seek another path.
Night had fallen by the time Shen Jingzhi finally returned from the main courtyard, dragging his exhausted body behind him.
As soon as he entered, he collapsed into a chair, his face pale and ashen, saying nothing.
Liu Shi hurried forward and handed him a cup of warm water.
“Master, how did it go? What… what did the Old Madam say?” she asked in a trembling voice.
Shen Jingzhi looked up, his eyes filled with bitterness and helplessness. After a long silence, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice.
“The Old Madam… wants to divide us from the family.”
The words fell heavily into the room.