Stop pretending, the fake heiress is actually a master of metaphysics.

Song Daiqing was both shocked and frightened. All her anger seemed to have been doused with ice water, turning into bitter disbelief.

Was she, her own mother, really that bad? To be compared by Shen Nian to that beastly couple.

"I……"

Shen Nian said calmly, "The harm you all cause is still harm, even if the severity varies. There is no question of which is better or worse."

Just because they caused physical harm to Shen Nian, while Song Daiqing's favoritism, protection, accusations, and insults only caused minor mental damage, doesn't mean they are any more noble than Shen Nian.

Of course, Shen Nian wasn't an unreasonable person.

She had done everything in her power to take revenge on Shen Leyao's family on behalf of the original owner.

Aside from verbally retaliating against Song Daiqing and Shen Yingwei, Shen Nian did not actually harm them in any way.

This wasn't because she was weak-willed, or because she genuinely held some hope for this family.

Rather, since the cause and effect have not yet been established, there is no question of retribution or revenge.

But if they go too far in the future and stop at just verbal framing...

Shen Nian, of course, would retaliate in kind.

She ignored the devastated Madam Shen and turned to Gu Qiwen, asking, "Didn't the Gu family and the Shen family cut off all contact? Why are you suddenly here at the Shen family?"

Could it be that the Shen and Gu families are actually planning a marriage alliance?

Gu Qiwen smiled and said, "Why don't you do the calculation?"

Shen Nian: ...

Shen Yingjia, standing to the side, was also somewhat at a loss as she watched the scene unfold before her.

He really did lose his mind when he saw Shen Yingwei fall.

This is the second time this has happened, including yesterday's room-grabbing incident.

Although Shen Yingjia liked her older sister Shen Yingwei very much and was willing to protect her.

But the premise is—she was actually hurt.

She orchestrated this whole thing, using him as a pawn to get him to speak up for her, and in the end, when the truth came out, it was Shen Yingjia who felt embarrassed.

He's just not that smart, but after all, he's a member of the Shen family, so he's not really stupid.

If Shen Yingwei uses the same trick again in the future, he might not stand up for her anymore.

"sorry."

Shen Yingjia said, and although her voice wasn't loud, Shen Nian still heard it.

"How strange."

Shen Nian raised an eyebrow: "Does the word 'sorry' still exist in Young Master Shen's dictionary?"

Shen Yingjia: "...I've already apologized to you, don't push your luck!"

He glanced at Shen Yingwei, frowned, but when he thought of the time he fell into the water, it was Shen Yingwei who disregarded her own safety and jumped in to save him, his heart softened: "Sister Yingwei, are you badly hurt? I'll take you to see a doctor."

Shen Yingwei forced a smile: "I'm fine, thank you, Xiao Jia."

She glanced at Song Daiqing again: "Mom, don't worry about me, let's entertain the guests first."

The way she said that made it sound like she was the one who had been wronged, and that she wasn't the one who caused the whole misunderstanding.

Finally, Gu Qiwen, Shen Nian, Song Daiqing, Shen Yingwei, Shen Yingjia, and Shen Zhaozhang sat together in the tea room of the mansion.

The maid lowered her eyes and, after preparing the precious Da Hong Pao tea, withdrew without lingering.

Shen Nian glanced at Shen Yingjia: "What are you doing here?"

Shen Yingjia: "...Mind your own business."

Shen Zhaozhang glanced at Song Daiqing, who was in a daze, and then at Shen Yingwei, whose face was pale. In the end, he decided to deal with the matter at hand first.

"May I ask what brings Mr. Gu to visit today?"

Shen Zhaozhang thought more deeply than Song Daiqing and did not choose any intimate way of addressing her.

Because the old master of the Gu family passed away suddenly, almost none of the Gu family members of his generation, namely Gu Qiwen's parents and uncles, were able to support the Gu family. In the end, it was Gu Qiwen who stepped forward, turned the tide, stabilized the Gu family, and brought it to its current status.

Based on seniority in the business world, Gu Qiwen and the old man of the Shen family are equals—the old man still holds the reins of power in the Shen family.

Therefore, Shen Zhaozhang chose the business term and addressed him directly as "President Gu".

"It's not a big deal."

Gu Qiwen said calmly, "However, after discussing it with the old lady, we felt that we should come in person to settle things."

He gently placed a dark velvet box on the sandalwood tea table.

"This is……"

Shen Zhaozhang frowned slightly and opened the box.

Inside is a simple and elegant antique hairpin—a genuine antique, the kind that could be displayed in a museum. It passed through several hands during the Republic of China era and was worth at least hundreds of millions, if not a fortune.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Shen family donated most of their cultural relics and antiques to the state free of charge, keeping only a few as family heirlooms, which have been passed down through generations.

Since it was a family heirloom of the Shen family, Shen Zhaozhang naturally recognized it immediately.

Gu Qiwen said, "Back then, the grandmothers of the Shen and Gu families were on good terms and arranged a marriage between their grandchildren. I used to think it was just the two old people joking around, but I only learned from my grandmother a while ago that the two of them had exchanged engagement tokens back then."

"This is the token that the Shen family gave to the Gu family."

"Now that one of the two elders has passed away, and the Shen and Gu families have not shown any intention of marriage in recent years, it is no longer appropriate for this token to remain in the Gu family."

"So I've come here today for two reasons: first, to return the tokens, and second, to formally dissolve this engagement, so as to avoid further trouble for both families."

"this……"

Shen Zhaozhang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually... this marriage contract doesn't necessarily have to be dissolved."

"We didn't mention it before because you were all quite young back then."

"But now that you've both reached the age where you can talk about marriage, it's not impossible to continue."

"I heard that Shen Nian also saved the second young master of the Gu family. You two must have spent some time together. What is Mr. Gu's impression of Shen Nian?"

Marriages between wealthy families emphasize a powerful alliance.

It doesn't require that the two people like each other a lot.

As long as they don't already have feelings for each other, dislike each other, or become an unhappy couple, they can discuss marriage.

Even many passionate couples experience a gradual fading or even breakdown of their relationship after marriage.

Gu Qiwen frowned, his expression turning somewhat cold.

He didn't like others putting Shen Nian in a position where she was being sold off.

However, in Shen Yingwei's eyes, this scene was a sign that Gu Qiwen disliked Shen Nian.

She smiled slightly and spoke up at the opportune moment: "Dad, since President Gu doesn't like my sister and is unwilling to arrange a marriage, please don't force him."

"If word gets out, people might think that our Shen family is taking advantage of a favor and forcing a marriage."

"Besides, my sister said this morning that she doesn't want to enter into a marriage for the sake of the Shen family's interests."

Shen Zhaozhang looked at Shen Yingwei and said, "President Gu, if Shen Nian is unwilling to have a marriage alliance, Yingwei is our adopted daughter, and we have raised her as our own daughter since she was a child... If I remember correctly, you met when you were young, so it shouldn't be that you have no feelings for each other."