Chapter 5 — Sacrificed by the Heir: Reborn as Yue Zhaoyue to Avenge Sixteen Years of Injustice

The Grand Princess remained silent. Shen Yuntang immediately knelt down beside him.

"Your Highness, this is all my fault. Had Shen Yuntang and brother Xie Linchu not long been in love, my younger sister would not harbor such hatred for me."

I watched the two of them kneeling side by side. Suddenly, the scene felt utterly ridiculous. I, too, was on my knees, yet the nature of our kneeling was worlds apart. They knelt in the fervor of a love they refused to repent for, while I knelt solely to plead for a scrap of justice. Finally, the Grand Princess spoke.

"Second Miss Shen, what is it that you want?"

I answered, "An investigation into the aphrodisiac."

Xie Linchu interjected, "That is forbidden."

The Grand Princess cast a sharp look at him. "And why is that?"

Xie Linchu straightened his back. "I cannot allow Shen Yuntang to be tarnished by rumors."

I asked, "And what of me? Am I deserving of being crucified by these rumors?"

He retorted instantly, "You are different."

"In what way am I different?"

Xie Linchu looked at me, hesitating for a long moment before saying, "You are stronger than she is."

I bowed my head and let out a cold laugh. The Grand Princess’s expression darkened immediately. "Xie Linchu, get out."

Xie Linchu did not move. The Grand Princess raised her voice. "Get out!"

He helped Shen Yuntang to her feet. "Shen Yuntang will come with me."

The Grand Princess stared at him with chilling intensity. "She stays."

Shen Yuntang’s hand gripped his sleeve tightly. "Brother Linchu..."

Xie Linchu looked back at the Grand Princess. "If Mother intends to interrogate her, then you must interrogate me as well."

The Grand Princess raised her hand and swept a teacup off the table, shattering it against the floor. "You insolent child!"

Porcelain shards skittered across the tiles, yet Xie Linchu would not budge. He looked at me, his voice dropping to a low, cold rasp. "Shen Zhaoyue, are you satisfied now?"

I did not answer. My attention was fixed on the elderly attendant standing beside the Grand Princess. The woman held a small paper packet in her hand, her fingers rubbing a pinch of the incense ash. Her face changed in an instant. She leaned close to the Grand Princess and whispered something. The Grand Princess’s gaze drifted slowly to Shen Yuntang, who began to sob even harder. In that moment, I knew the first crack had appeared. Yet, the fissure was still far too small—too small to topple the fortress built of bias and favor.

Once the banquet concluded, the Grand Princess kept me behind for a private audience. Xie Linchu stood guard outside, as did Shen Yuntang. Separated only by a beaded curtain, the sound of her intermittent sobbing drifted into the room. The Grand Princess reached up to rub her temples.

"You are a clever child; surely you understand that pressing this investigation may not yield a favorable result."

I replied, "I only know that if I do not investigate, the guilt will be pinned on me for the rest of my days."

She studied me for a long time. "Do you not wish to marry Xie Linchu?"

I answered, "I do not."

The Grand Princess froze. The sobbing outside the door stopped abruptly. I heard Xie Linchu take a step forward, the jade pendant at his waist clinking faintly—a sound sharp in the silence. The Grand Princess asked, "Is that true?"

"It is," I confirmed.

"Then why did you come here today?"

"To wash away my shame."

"If the truth is revealed, I can compensate you with something else."

I bowed deeply. "I do not want compensation. I only want my innocence restored."

The Grand Princess’s expression became conflicted. "The truth... is the hardest thing to return once it has been tarnished."

"Hard as it may be," I said, "it must be returned."

From outside the door, Xie Linchu’s voice rang out. "Shen Zhaoyue."

The Grand Princess sighed. "Let him in."

As Xie Linchu stepped inside, Shen Yuntang attempted to follow, but the attendant blocked her path. He stood beside me, exactly as he had done countless times before, playing the role of the one who stood to shield me from the wind and rain. It was a pity that now, every storm I faced was one he had summoned himself.

He asked, "Did you truly say you do not wish to marry me?"

I lifted my eyes to meet his. "The Young Master heard me clearly enough."

"Why?"

I countered with my own question, "Did you not desire to break the engagement from the very start?"

He was momentarily rendered speechless. After a long silence, he muttered, "That is my affair. You should not treat a marriage proposal as a child's game."

I laughed. "How is my refusing to marry you a game?"

Xie Linchu’s face turned an ugly shade of gray. "You came to the estate today and caused such a scene—is this not merely a ploy to force me into submission?"

"You think too highly of yourself, Young Master."

He suppressed a flash of rage. "Then who exactly do you plan to marry?"

The Grand Princess frowned. "Xie Linchu!"

But Xie Linchu would not stop. "In all of this capital, who else would dare marry a woman who has already shared such intimacy with me? Shen Zhaoyue, you may be stubborn now, but the day will come when you weep for this."

I looked at him, suddenly recalling a vision from my dreams. Before they strung me up on the city gates, he had said the exact same words to me.

"The day will come when you weep."

And in that life, I had truly wept. Arrows pierced my shoulders, my legs, and my abdomen. The pain was so absolute that I could not even beg for mercy. All I could see, as my vision dimmed, was him standing safely behind the city walls.