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

Wei Ziye had appeared at the doorway at some point.

Shen Mingshu silently straightened up and coldly retorted, "I was merely retaliating in kind, exposing to the public the reasons they caused my mother and me pain. What's wrong with that?"

"At least—" Shen Mingshu raised an eyebrow provocatively, "they're still alive, aren't they?"

Wei Ziye frowned, his face instantly turning cold: "Your tit-for-tat approach harmed the innocent and ruined A-Fu's life. How dare you ask what wrong you've done?"

Shen Fu, Shen Yangjue's younger sister.

She was the only person Shen Mingshu truly loved after Wei Ziye fell in love with someone else, and the only person whose name alone caused her soul to ache.

Compared to the feigned obedience of that wolf cub, Shen Fu was the truly weak and innocent white lotus.

After Shen Yangjue entered the Wei family, Shen Fu, who had lost to Shen Mingshu, followed behind Shen Yangjue and did nothing, yet completely snatched Wei Ziye's heart and soul away.

Unfortunately, she later took the potent drug that Shen Yangjue originally intended to give to Shen Mingshu.

To relieve the itch, she scratched her disfigured face herself, and her body was covered with bruises from the men's whippings.

When they found her, she was lying in a pool of blood with the men, still laughing maniacally.

Wei Ziye always believed that she deliberately caused Shen Fu's situation out of jealousy.

The ruthless and vicious Shen Mingshu completely disappointed him.

Now, hearing him speak up for Shen Fu again, a crack appeared on Shen Mingshu's calm mask. It wasn't big, but it was enough to destroy the wall in her heart that Shen Mingshu had spent decades building.

"Is she innocent?"

"If she is innocent, why is she allowed to parade around in public wearing my mother's belongings?"

"If she is innocent, how could she have the audacity to use the money left by my father to hire someone to kill me?"

"If she's innocent, how did Shen Yangjue's medicine end up on her?"

Shen Mingshu stepped forward, her eyes bloodshot as she pressed for answers.

"I said Shen Yangjue is a ruthless person, and you called me cunning. I said Shen Fu is treacherous and cunning, and you said I am good at manipulating people's hearts."

"Wei Ziye, you don't bother to investigate what the real Shen family is like, nor do you want to think about how I crawled out of that hellish Shen family!"

"You only saw my handkerchief in the room, and you don't believe anything I say? You dismissed everything I said without even investigating!"

Shen Mingshu roared hoarsely, then sneered with resentment and self-mockery: "In the end, you hurt the person you truly love. Everything I say becomes a lie in your eyes!"

"If that's the case, why did you hide a handkerchief and come to question me in the first place?"

"You should just hand me over to the Dali Temple and have me executed to avenge her!"

"Shen Mingshu!"

The sword was drawn, aimed straight at Shen Mingshu's neck.

Wei Ziye gritted his teeth, his eyes cold and sharp: "Do you really think I wouldn't dare!"

A sharp blade slashed through her neck, and blood seeped out. Shen Mingshu kept her eyes tightly closed, but she still couldn't stop the terrifying killing intent emanating from Wei Ziye.

"You have committed numerous evils yet show no remorse; you are truly disgusting!"

"Yes! I'm not only disgusted, I'll also complain tenfold for every bit of grievance! I'll cry a hundredfold for every bit of pain! I'll make those who hurt me suffer the punishment of having their bones scraped off!"

Shen Mingshu no longer hides herself from Wei Ziye.

She trembled all over as she reopened her eyes, her face filled with ruthless coldness: "Wei Ziye, if you don't kill me today, I'll find a chance in the future and kill everyone you care about!"

"Shen Mingshu!"

Wei Ziye roared and brandished his sword, his eyes bloodshot!

But just as Shen Mingshu closed her eyes in despair, he grabbed her by the neck and kissed her fiercely!

A chilling sword aura grazed Shen Mingshu's cheek, then plunged into the roof beam with a resounding hum, causing Shen Mingshu to shudder violently.

She stood frozen in place, and no matter how fiercely Wei Ziye kissed her or how hard he bit her, she did not struggle at all.

Just crying.

At first, she bit her lower lip, kept her mouth tightly shut, and silently shed tears.

Later, when Wei Ziye grabbed her chin and began to conquer the city and seize territory, she weakly let out a soft whimper.

Finally, the pent-up grievances, pain, and aches on her lips surged up, making her chest ache, and her suppressed emotions finally burst forth.

Ignoring the kiss, she broke down in tears.

Her cries were hoarse and broken, mixed with unstoppable tears; all her composure, dignity, and forbearance shattered.

Shen Mingshu cried so hard that her whole body trembled, and even her breathing became intermittent.

Wei Ziye could no longer bring himself to kiss her.

He stepped back and covered Shen Mingshu's mouth and nose with disgust.

The warm palm instantly blocked her only outlet for venting her emotions, even her soft sobs were forcefully blocked back into her chest.

She opened her eyes, and a torrent of tears instantly streamed down her face, blurring her vision.

Large tears fell onto the other person's hand, but their scalding heat did nothing to warm the coldness on Wei Ziye's face.

"Are you done crying?"

"..."

Wei Ziye is truly a cold-hearted and heartless bastard. He was like that three years ago, and he hasn't changed at all three years later.

Shen Mingshu was so angry that she couldn't speak, but he took it as her consent and leaned down to kiss her again.

This time, it was as light as a feather, seemingly both comforting and tender.

This is in stark contrast to what happened just now...

"What are you doing?"

Wei Yuan's cold voice rang out from the doorway.

Lu Youyou exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, Ah Ye, you're so handsome?"

"!!!"

Upon hearing Wei Yuan's voice, Shen Mingshu seemed to wake from a dream and immediately struggled to push away Wei Ziye, who had suddenly gone mad and started biting wildly.

"No, that's not how it is—"

Shen Mingshu wanted to explain, but she couldn't hide the redness and swelling of her lips.

Wei Ziye was pushed back a few steps by her force, leaning against the wall, feeling the pleasure of revenge in his heart, and raising his eyebrows with a hint of smugness.

"Didn't your brother tell you?" Wei Ziye's gaze fell on Shen Mingshu, a wicked smile playing on his lips. "I've had this taste for three years now."

Shen Mingshu's heart tightened. Sure enough, Wei Yuan's face was so dark it could drip water.

Lu Youyou covered her mouth in shock, stammering, "No, no wonder he doesn't play with you anymore—no, that's not it!"

Realizing she had voiced her inner thoughts, Lu Youyou quickly tried to smooth things over: "Brother Aye, Youyou understands you and supports you, it's just..."

Lu Youyou paused, then glanced at Shen Mingshu's mouth with disdain: "But you shouldn't choose her either, it makes Brother A-Yuan feel uncomfortable."

Although she said that, Lu Youyou breathed a huge sigh of relief.

As long as Wei Yuan and Ming Zhu don't have a romantic relationship, that's fine.

Thinking this, the next moment she saw Wei Yuan step forward, grab Shen Mingshu's wrist, and turn away without saying a word, his face cold.

Lu Youyou's heart sank. She looked stiffly at Wei Ziye and asked nervously, "Brother A-Yuan, is he normal?"

Wei Ziye stared intently at Shen Mingshu's staggering figure as she caught up with Wei Yuan.

He gave a soft, indistinct "hmm".

Lu Youyou breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

……

On the carriage.

Wei Yuan roughly dragged Shen Mingshu into the carriage, his face cold: "Explain."

"..." Shen Mingshu stumbled and fell onto the carriage. Before she could even catch her breath, she was stared at by him with a gloomy face, and she couldn't help but feel wronged.

"It's not what you see—"

"All I saw was you standing there quietly while he kissed you!"

Wei Yuan suddenly roared, startling Shen Mingshu. "I...I didn't—"

"Shen Mingshu!" Wei Yuan gripped Shen Mingshu's wrist tightly, suppressing his surging anger as he demanded, "You still dare to like him?"

"..."