Your Highness, your wife has had her virginity mark applied and married someone else.

Eventually, one person couldn't hold it in and vomited on the spot.

The sour stench spread, and people at the next table started vomiting as well.

Instantly, chaos erupted!

Among these dignitaries, some remembered the incident, but that didn't stop them from being nauseated by it again.

The eldest princess was the first to lose her temper, coldly rebuking, "Insolence! Who allowed that Shen family girl to come! She's a terrible jinx! Go back to the manor!"

The emperor already disliked the Wei family, and the princess's harsh rebuke was naturally influenced by personal feelings.

The Seventh Princess covered her mouth, her face full of disgust, but she still saved face for the Prince.

"The steward of the Wei family must have sent out the wrong invitation. How could he invite such a wicked woman? She knows she doesn't deserve to be there, yet she shamelessly follows behind like a tail. It's truly disgusting!"

"Get them out of here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of imperial guards immediately surrounded Shen Yangjue's carriage.

"All bystanders, leave immediately! Otherwise, you will be executed according to the law!"

The words "irrelevant people" abruptly took Shen Yangjue's breath away, and the slight upturn at the corner of her lips froze completely.

Just moments ago she looked down on everyone, but now she's become a lowly, subservient being.

Shen Yangjue's fingertips dug fiercely into her flesh, her whole body radiating a fierce aura.

However, he did not act impulsively.

She dared not confront the imperial relatives head-on, nor could she bear the wrath of the Wei family.

She couldn't say anything.

At this moment, she could only obediently leave as an outsider who had secretly sneaked into the group!

But this isn't over yet! Once she finds out who's behind this, she'll skin them alive!

"Let's go back to the manor!"

……

With a single vomiting sound, gold is won!

Those who were willing to risk their lives to gossip immediately took advantage of the chaos to flee the scene, walked through the alley, and knelt down directly in front of the person around the corner.

"Young master! It's working very well! Please, young master, grant me a way to live!"

"Very good!" Several bags of gold were tossed in front of them. "Enough for you to live on for a lifetime. Take your families and leave the capital immediately!"

"Yes! Thank you, young master!"

They dared not look up, but they could clearly recognize that the person in front of them was dressed as a member of the Wei family.

This is the Wei family's way of showing Shen Yangjue a warning.

Although the reason is unknown, it is known that those who become entangled in the feuds of these nobles will die!

After receiving their share of the gold, they were so eager to fly out of the capital and get as far away as possible!

As soon as they left, the alley was empty.

Shen Mingshu patted the clothes she had made overnight with satisfaction. They were the uniform of a servant of the Wei family, and the Wei family's logo was on them from head to toe.

Shen Mingshu hasn't lost her skills; she can use them to fight like dogs!

But she also knew that this place was not a place to stay for long. Since Shen Yangjue knew that she had entered the capital, he would immediately realize that today's events were her counterattack.

Shen Mingshu reached out and ripped her Wei family robes in two.

Inside, he wore another set of moon-white scholar's robes.

She took out a tinderbox, lit the rag on fire, threw it by the alley, and then quickly left the alley.

However, halfway there, she worried that the fabric hadn't burned completely, so she picked up some scraps of grass by the roadside and turned back.

As we turned the corner, the sound of fire being extinguished suddenly came from the alley.

Shen Mingshu's heart skipped a beat. She quickly hid behind the wall, took out a silver cup from her bosom, and peeked out from the top of the wall—

In the reflection, a masked figure is clumsily stepping on the flame.

Shen Mingshu frowned, feeling that the person's figure was very familiar, but she couldn't remember who it was for a moment.

Before long, the flames were extinguished. The man picked up the slag, wrapped it in cloth, glanced around, and immediately ran out of the alley from the other side.

Shen Mingshu put away the silver cup and immediately followed.

But as soon as they stepped out of the alley, the person vanished.

"Oops!"

……

The Guard's Residence.

After the peach banquet.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Zhang Yu roared, and the guards in the courtyard all knelt on the ground: "We can't find the person who gave the orders, we can't even find the gossips! Are you all just sitting around doing nothing?!"

The lead guard bowed his head to the ground, begging for mercy in a trembling voice: "Madam, please forgive us! We chased the thief outside the city and found that he had been double-crossed by someone impersonating a member of the guard's household."

"They committed suicide to save their families' lives. My subordinates have sent people to continue the investigation. These people harbor resentment and will surely expose the mastermind behind it!"

"Then hurry up and go!" Zhang Yu's eyes were filled with the pent-up frustration of the day: "He's made the Wei family lose so much face. If I catch him, I'll make him wish he were dead!"

"Mother, please calm down. It's Ah Ye who has dragged you down."

When Wei Ziye's voice rang out, most of the resentment on Zhang Yu's face instantly dissipated.

"This was premeditated by the other party. The one who double-crossed the other and the one who instigated the trouble may not be the same person."

Zhang Yu asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Wei Ziye's eyes were dark and unreadable. He only said one sentence: "The latter is indecisive and doesn't nip things in the bud. He is not as ruthless and decisive as the former."

Zhang Yu nodded in agreement: "Does Ah Ye have anyone he suspects?"

Wei Ziye stroked the jade pendant at her waist, his gaze falling on the Buddhist book beside her.

"have."

……

Magnolia Courtyard, night.

Shen Mingshu was restless all day because of the masked man, and that night she had a nightmare that she had long forgotten.

In her dream, she saw her mother, pale-faced, holding her tightly and gently comforting her.

"My Shuer deserves the best. That widower who beat his wife to death is no good. Shuer, don't be afraid. After I go to your grandmother's house to work for another day, I will take you away from the Shen family and start our own household."

"With money, Shu'er can find a good husband to be her mistress, and she will never be humiliated again."

Shen Mingshu looked at herself, who was only ten years old, and like a little wild wolf, she held her mother's face in her hands, her little face tender but serious.

"Mother, I don't want anything else, I just want you to be healthy. You don't look well, you're not allowed to go to Grandmother's."

At that time, I didn't know what my mother was doing or how she was treated every day.

All I know is that every time my mother came out of Old Madam Shen's house, her face would turn paler and her steps would become more unsteady.

After only three times, she became so thin she was barely recognizable as a human.

Shen Mingshu knelt painfully beside her mother, gently stroking her extremely haggard face, just like her younger self.

"Mother—"

"Alright, Mother promises you." Madam Yin smiled lovingly, tears welling in her eyes. "Since Mother listens to Shu'er so well, may Shu'er sing a song as a reward for Mother?"

Shen Mingshu's lips trembled as she nodded, "Okay—"

But before it could even speak, day and night began to alternate.

While he was fast asleep after staying up all night, Yin Shi gently put him down from her arms and then left the room.

"Mother!"

Shen Mingshu tried to pull her back in terror, but she passed right through her phantom image.

But Lady Yin still sensed it.

She turned around, her back to the sunlight, and looked at Shen Mingshu, tears streaming down her face in despair: "Shu'er, if your mother doesn't go, these beasts will use you to exchange for a dowry to maintain the Shen family's prosperity!"

"My precious daughter is so lovely, how could I bear to part with her like this?"

"Promise me, you must escape."

"No, no... Mother, please, don't leave me." Shen Mingshu knelt on the ground, crying and pleading.

With a loving smile, Madam Yin reached out and touched the tears on Shen Mingshu's face with lingering affection.

Shen Mingshu reached out her hand, trembling—and along with the silver, her mother's stiff, convulsing corpse fell on her.

"No! No!"

Shen Mingshu sat up abruptly from her dream, only to bump her head on something hard.

Accompanied by the man's cries of pain and gritted teeth.

"Shen, Ming, Shu!"