Once they passed the front courtyard of the Buddha Hall, they reached the courtyard where the Old Lady of the Shen family resided. Just as they stepped through the doors, they heard the weeping and wailing of Shen Lianxin.
"Old Lady, please save Lianxin! If the Marquis Manor casts me aside, what will become of me for the rest of my life?"
Conubine Li was kneeling behind her, her face ashen.
Right in front of the numerous maids and matrons, Concubine Li knocked her head hard against the floor. "Old Lady, this concubine is entirely to blame. I mistakenly trusted an unscrupulous and incompetent physician, which almost harmed the Heir. If punishment is to be dealt, please let the Third Young Master and the Old Lady punish me instead. The Second Young Lady is truly innocent."
Conubine Li took the entire blame upon herself.
If the Marquis Manor divorced its wife, not only would Shen Lianxin's life be ruined, but the reputation of the Shen Residence would also be destroyed, and her two unmarried younger sisters would be affected as well.
To preserve the bigger picture, the Shen Residence would most likely punish her alone, leaving Shen Lianxin completely blameless.
This tactic of shedding the golden cicada's shell was truly brilliant.
It was a pity, however, that she had crossed paths with Shen Feiwan.
The moment she heard Concubine Li finish speaking, Shen Feiwan supported Xiao Ling's arm. "Heir! Are you feeling unwell again?"
She squeezed his hand hard.
Xiao Ling smiled bitterly to himself, furrowing his brow and nodding slowly.
At this, everyone in the room looked over at the sound, their hearts hanging in suspense.
After all, Xiao Ling was the Heir. First, his health had been poisoned by the physician sent by Concubine Li, and if something were to happen to him within the Shen Residence as well...
"Eldest Brother, you should be recuperating quietly at the Marquis Manor. Why did you come out of the estate?"
Disbelief filled the eyes of both Xiao Nian'an and Shen Lianxin.
They had been certain that Xiao Ling could not possibly leave the manor for Shen Feiwan's sake, which was why they had orchestrated this entire scene.
Xiao Nian'an clamored for a divorce simply to blow the matter out of proportion and implicate the reputation of the Shen Residence. Reason and emotion alike dictated that the Old Lady would never stand by and watch Shen Lianxin be cast aside.
Even if Shen Feiwan gave chase, they had nothing to fear.
Yet as it happened, Xiao Ling had come as well!
Shen Feiwan helped Xiao Ling to a seat and whispered a word into his ear.
The next second, Xiao Ling leaned weakly against the rosewood chair, looking the very picture of someone who had just recovered from a severe illness.
"Feiwan pays her respects to the Old Lady."
With poised grace, Shen Feiwan first offered her greetings before turning her gaze to Xiao Nian'an, Shen Lianxin, and Concubine Li, who was still kneeling on the ground.
Pinned by her gaze, Concubine Li hurriedly lowered her head.
"Has the Eldest Miss brought her husband back to the residence to call me to account?" Concubine Li struck first with a counter-accusation. "Knowing full well that my sins are grave, I might as well end my life here and now, sparing the Old Lady any further difficulty."
She made a show of pulling the hairpin from her hair as if to stab it into her own neck.
"Auntie!"
Shen Lianxin immediately lunged forward to stop her.
Truly, mother and daughter shared the same mind; looking at the scene, one would have thought someone had a blade at their throats.
Right as the commotion reached its peak, Shen Yuze hurried back in a flurry of anxiety.
"What is the meaning of this uproar?!"
"Get up, all of you! What kind of propriety is this?"
With an angry roar from him, both Shen Lianxin and Concubine Li stopped crying.
Such scenes had been staged far too many times within the Shen Residence, and Shen Feiwan had long grown numb to them.
Her father was good in every respect, except for his pampering of his concubines—a flaw that chilled people to the bone.
Conubine Li was Shen Yuze's childhood sweetheart, lovers in their youth, but due to various past events, he had failed to take her as his primary wife. For all these years, Shen Yuze had harbored a lingering guilt toward Concubine Li.
Thus, whenever Concubine Li shed a few tears, his heart would inevitably soften.
At that moment, with both sons-in-law present and the matter brought before the Old Lady, Shen Yuze forcefully suppressed his rising temper. "Feiwan, your father has heard about the affairs at the Marquis Manor. Fortunately, the Heir is unharmed, and that incompetent physician has been severely punished. Might we..."
"Forgive my younger sister and Concubine Li?"
Shen Feiwan raised her eyes to look at him. "Father, if it were I who had hired the physician last night, poisoning the Third Young Master—a perfectly healthy man—into a cripple incapable of ever fathering children, would Father say the exact same thing to my sister? Would you ask her to endure it and live as a widow for the rest of her days?"
"..."
"Ever since Lianxin married into the Marquis Manor, she has told everyone she meets that back home, I, her legitimate elder sister, constantly bullied her and Concubine Li. Did your daughter truly ever do such a thing?"
In her past life, if her father had not favored Shen Lianxin, he would never have forced her, the legitimate daughter, to marry a secondary son of the Marquis Manor!
And yet Shen Lianxin had managed to become the primary wife of the Heir!
Every single grievance had long since burned scars deep into Shen Feiwan's heart.
Since Shen Lianxin was determined to make a scene, then let the whole matter be blown wide open.
It was nothing more than crying, making a fuss, and threatening suicide—who didn't know how to play that game?
"Now that the Heir's health has been impaired, the entire Marquis Manor knows it was Concubine Li's doing, and even the Third Young Master has spoken of casting his wife aside. If Father continues to shield them like this, how are we to answer to the Marquis Manor and the Third Young Master?"
"Then you might as well let the Heir divorce your daughter along with her, so I can return to the Shen Residence and spend my days here—that would still be better than living as a widow in the Marquis Manor."
"You..."
The rest of Shen Yuze's words were choked back.
"Elder Sister, Mother-in-law has already handed over the management of the central and western courtyards to you. How could she possibly let the Heir divorce you?"
Shen Lianxin burst into tears once more.
"It is only because Lianxin falls short of my elder sister..."
Faced with this commotion, Shen Yuze's brows knitted tighter and tighter.
According to what Shen Lianxin said, Shen Feiwan had a firm pillar of support in the Marquis Manor, and given that Xiao Ling's health was not like that of ordinary men, the Marquis Manor would never divorce both daughters-in-law at once.
For a moment, Shen Yuze wavered between his two daughters, hesitating over which one to abandon.
Watching her father hesitate right to her face, Shen Feiwan's heart shattered all over again.
Just as in her past life, no matter what she said, her father would invariably favor Shen Lianxin and Concubine Li.
Shen Feiwan slowly closed her eyes. "Then..."
Before the words "let it be as Father says" could leave her lips, a heavy thud sounded from across the room, followed by Xiao Ling collapsing to the ground and coughing up a mouthful of black blood.
The sight drained the color entirely from the faces of everyone in the Shen household.
"Quickly, someone fetch a physician!"
Shen Yuze was frantic; if the Heir were to meet with misfortune in the Shen Residence, he would truly have to go to the Marquis Manor carrying a birch rod to plead guilty.
Xiao Nian'an also froze for a split second, staring at the pool of black blood on the floor with furrowed, silent brows.
A covert sense of glee rose in his heart—if Qi Hui's medicine had truly ruined Xiao Ling's constitution, then everything had been worth it.
With any luck, Xiao Ling would end up just like him, forever barren!
"Heir!"
Panic seized Shen Feiwan, driving her out of her wits.
Could it be that Xiao Ling taking two different types of medicine last night had caused a dangerous reaction within his body?
She reached out to touch him, but Xiao Ling's hands were icy cold.
Regret filled her eyes; if she hadn't chosen to fight them at their own game, perhaps Xiao Ling would never have...
Witnessing this turn of events, Shen Lianxin collapsed to the floor. If anything happened to Xiao Ling now, she could cry rivers of tears, but there would no longer be any place for her in the Marquis Manor.
Originally, it had only been a ruse of feigned injury, but now that things had escalated to this point, Shen Lianxin cast a helpless, innocent look toward Xiao Nian'an, thinking that perhaps they should just drop the matter here.
Only...
Xiao Nian'an's gaze was pitch-dark and ominous. "If my eldest brother truly meets with an untimely end, the bond of kinship between the Marquis Manor and the Shen Residence ends today."
"Third Brother!"
Shen Lianxin was stunned.
She had never seen such a stern expression on Xiao Nian'an before; he genuinely intended to divorce her!
In an instant, her entire body went freezing cold, as though she had plunged into a deep, icy abyss.
"Where is the physician? Why hasn't he arrived yet?!" Shen Feiwan cried out, her hands shaking violently.