The late spring drizzle fell like weeping, wrapping around the flying eaves of the Shen Estate ancestral hall, dyeing the plaque bearing the words "Filial Piety and Loyalty Passed Through Generations" a deep, watery black. Shen Mingyue stood on the steps of the ancestral hall, clutching a yellowed medical prescription so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The bluestone slabs reflected her chilling countenance, overlapping with the candlelight from the day her mother breathed her last—ten years, and the time for reckoning had finally arrived. She took a deep breath, her fingertips tracing the frayed edge of the prescription, a mark left by a wood splinter the previous night when she was searching the bottom of Lady Cao's dowry chest. At this moment, it felt like a badge of honor, burning hot against her palm.
"I, Shen Mingyue, eldest daughter of the primary branch, earnestly request our ancestors to bear witness." Her voice cut through the rain curtain, startling the sparrows perched on the eaves. The clan elders filed into the ancestral hall one after another, Third Great-Uncle's dried tobacco pipe tapping against the stone steps to create a dull, heavy sound. Shen Zhengtang wore everyday attire, his gaze sweeping with complicated emotions over the scroll in her hands, followed closely by Lady Cao and her daughter, whose eyes were red and swollen. Shen Mingyue noticed that the hand Lady Cao used to clutch her prayer beads was trembling, and traces of ink from copying scriptures the previous night still lingered under her fingernails—she had personally verified the toxic powder particles of aconite mixed into those scripture ashes in the Buddha hall.
Inside the ancestral hall, the everlasting lamps flickered in the draft, casting a cold gleam over the ancestral tablets of twenty-eight generations. Shen Mingyue knelt before the altar; the sandalwood in the incense burner suddenly flared, the rising smoke twisting into a ferocious, ghostly grin. She kowtowed three times, and as she rose, a fragment of jade slipped from her sleeve—a token her mother had gripped tightly before passing away, the edges still stained with dried blood. The scene from ten years ago suddenly flashed before her as clear as yesterday: her mother lying in bed, black blood seeping from the corners of her lips, pressing the jade fragment into her palm while her fingernails dug deep into the back of her hand. "Yue'er, remember..." Before she could finish, she took her final breath.
"Today, I have asked all the elders here to investigate the cause of my biological mother Lady Liu's death." Shen Mingyue unfolded the prescription, the cinnabar annotations looking like bloodstains under the candlelight. "This is a prescription from imperial physician Zhang of the Imperial Hospital. It appears to be an ordinary postpartum recovery decoction, but tampering was done with the aconite." Her fingertip brushed across the characters 'raw aconite ground into powder,' and her voice abruptly turned icy. "Raw aconite is highly toxic. Mother died in agony three days after taking it, and the imperial physician Zhang who prescribed it long ago retired to his hometown under Lady Cao's arrangements."
Hearing this, Lady Cao stumbled back half a step, barely managing to steady herself by grabbing the incense table. She had deliberately worn a plain white ruqun today, the silver hairpin at her temple flashing dazzlingly, yet it failed to conceal the panic in her eyes. "Yue'er, how can you make such vicious accusations? Back then, your mother was simply of frail health..."
"Frail health?" Shen Mingyue sneered, a laugh carrying ten years of grievance and resentment. Chuntao timely stepped forward holding a gilded box, releasing a pungent, moldy odor when opened. Shen Mingyue reached in and pulled out a neatly folded cloud-brocade cloak, as if uncovering a sealed corpse. "This is the cloud-brocade cloak from my mother's dowry. The dark stains on the inside of the collar have been verified by a physician as blood spittle from aconite poisoning. And you—" She spun around abruptly, the wind stirred by the cloak extinguishing two candles. "Every year on my mother's death anniversary, you copy the *Medicine Buddha Sutra* to pray for blessings, yet aconite powder was mixed into these very scriptures!"
When Nanny Liu presented the copied scriptures, gasps erupted across the ancestral hall one after another. Shen Qingyao suddenly lunged before Lady Cao, hiding her face with an embroidered handkerchief while her fingertips tightly clenched the corner of her skirt. "Why does Elder Sister always target Mother? Merely a concubine-born daughter, yet you dare covet the position of the legitimate matriarch!"
These words struck like a sharp blade straight into the scar within Shen Mingyue's heart. In her past life, it was precisely because of this "concubine-born daughter" status that she was stripped of her right to inherit the family estate and trampled into the mud. At this moment, however, she merely curved the corners of her lips into an icy, spine-chilling smile. "Concubine-born status? Do you know that before Mother breathed her last, Father once intended to elevate her to legitimate wife?"
Lady Cao's pupils constricted, and the prayer beads in her hand shattered onto the floor with a clatter. Shen Zhengtang abruptly raised his head, his gaze slashing like a knife toward Lady Cao, while Shen Mingyue continued: "It was you who whispered into Father's ear that Mother came from humble origins and was unworthy of being the mistress. It was also you who poisoned Mother's restorative soup, terrified that she might bear a son and shatter your ambitions!"
"I did not!" Lady Cao screamed as she lunged forward, only to be intercepted by Xuanying. Seizing the opportunity, Shen Mingyue produced a yellowed ledger and slammed it onto the incense table. "This is the account book for your dowry estates. Every single year on Mother's death anniversary, massive amounts of cinnabar and aconite were purchased. Nanny Liu, be so kind as to read it aloud for the elders."
Nanny Liu opened the account book, her voice trembling with anger. "March fifteenth of the seventh year of Tianqi, purchased three catties of raw aconite; July seventh of the eighth year of Tianqi, purchased five liang of cinnabar..." With every line read, Lady Cao's face paled a shade further until she finally collapsed onto the ground like a walking corpse. Looking at Lady Cao's wretched display, Shen Mingyue felt no anticipated joy, only a bone-deep sorrow—to think her mother's death was merely a petty scheme played by this woman for favor.
Shen Qingyao suddenly snatched a candlestick from the offering table and hurled it at Shen Mingyue. "Go to hell!" The bronze candlestick brushed past her ear, striking a pillar with a loud crash as hot wax splattered against the back of her hand, making her frown in pain. Yet she did not dodge; instead, she stepped half a stride forward. The soft sword in her sleeve was already unsheathed, its tip lifting a strand of Shen Qingyao's hair. "If I die, your mother and daughter's crimes will only be exposed to the public all the faster. But you—" Her gaze swept across her dumbfounded elder brothers. "Do you truly believe Lu Huaijin would ever marry the daughter of a murderer who killed her mother?"
The hall fell into a dead silence, broken only by the sound of rain drumming against the window lattices. Staring at Lady Cao, Shen Zhengtang suddenly grabbed the clan genealogy book from the desk and smashed it heavily onto her head. "You bring utter shame upon our ancestors!" The genealogy book scattered, revealing a secret letter from the Blood Fiend Alliance hidden within its pages. "Is this what you call 'devoutly practicing Buddhism'?"
Gazing at the curved saber totem on the secret letter, Lady Cao's pupils shrank to pinpricks. That was the letter Jiang Yanbai had sent with his men last winter, claiming it would ensure Shen Qingyao became the Crown Prince's secondary consort. Trembling, she reached out to grab it, but Shen Mingyue brought the heel of her boot down hard upon her wrist, the force in her sole radiating the depth of her hatred. "There is even more—Xuanying, bring the midwife forward."
The midwife, well over sixty years of age, was hauled in by the shadow guards, her knees slamming heavily onto the gray bricks with a dull thud. Lifting her head to see Shen Mingyue, she trembled like chaff in the wind. "This old servant confesses... Back then, Lady Cao gave me three hundred taels of silver to add the drugs into First Mistress's tonic..." Her cloudy eyes were filled with terror. "She said it would merely prevent First Mistress from conceiving, never imagining it would cost a life..."
"Enough!" The eldest uncle of the main branch struck the incense table fiercely, shaking the candles on the candlesticks violently. "According to clan rules, how shall one who murders the primary matriarch be punished?"
"Strip her of her status as secondary mistress, confine her to the Buddha hall for the rest of her days, never to step outside a single step." The second branch uncle's voice trembled, the prayer beads in his hand snapping and scattering. "Lady Cao, do you have anything to say?"
Lady Cao suddenly lunged toward Shen Zhengtang, her fingernails raking across the back of his hand to leave three bloody trails. "Master, I have stayed by your side for twenty years! For Qingyao's sake, spare me!" Shen Qingyao knelt down as well, her hair bun disheveled, the pearl hairpin falling to the ground and shattering into pieces. "Father, this daughter is willing to suffer punishment in Mother's stead! I beg you, do not drive Mother away..."
With an expression of utter disgust, Shen Zhengtang flung Lady Cao away and drew a letter of divorce from his sleeve. The rustle of parchment sliced like a blunt knife across everyone's nerves. "You poisoned your lawful wife and colluded with foreign enemies; I, Shen Zhengtang, have no such wife! From this day forth, you shall copy the *Great Treasure Sutra* in the Buddha hall to deliver Lady Liu's departed soul from suffering."
"No!" Lady Cao shrieked as she lunged to grab the divorce letter, only to be dragged away by the shadow guards. Her screams faded into the distance, mingling with Shen Qingyao's sobs and echoing through the ancestral hall. Watching their retreating figures, Shen Mingyue suddenly recalled Lady Cao's sneer when she herself had been thrown into prison: "Shen Mingyue, do you think you can rest easy just because you are the legitimate daughter? In my eyes, you and your mother are both of cheap stock!" At this moment, those words still echoed in her ears, yet they could no longer hurt her by even a fraction.
Shen Qingyao attempted to block her way, but Shen Mingyue cut her off. Only now did Shen Qingyao notice that this elder sister, whom she had once trampled underfoot, now wore a gaze as cold as ice. "Shen Qingyao, starting today, you will move out of the Yufu Pavilion and into the auxiliary courtyard. As for your marriage alliance with Lu Huaijin—" She looked toward Shen Zhengtang, her tone carrying unyielding resolve. "I ask Father to make the decision."
Rubbing his brow, Shen Zhengtang remained silent for a long moment before speaking. "The marriage alliance with the Lu family... shall be postponed. Qingyao, go back and reflect behind closed doors." Weariness laced his voice, as if he had aged ten years in a single instant. Inwardly, Shen Mingyue sneered; this father of hers ultimately still could not bear to sacrifice a concubine-born daughter's future, even if her hands were stained with blood.
The rain had ceased at some point, and a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds to shine upon Shen Mingyue's face. Watching the wretched sight of Lady Cao being dragged out of the ancestral hall, she felt no joy whatsoever. Her mother's tablet stood quietly beneath the everlasting lamp, the corners of its mouth seeming to curve into a trace of comforting relief. Chuntao handed her a handkerchief, and only then did Shen Mingyue realize her face was covered in tear tracks—after all, she had still longed for her father's justice, even while knowing it was an extravagant hope.
"Eldest Miss, are you alright?" Chuntao asked in a low voice, her vigilant gaze sweeping over the dumbfounded clan elders. Wiping away her tears, Shen Mingyue turned to face the clan elders, her spine held as straight as an unbending spear. "For today's events, I thank all the elders for upholding justice. Though I am untalented, Mingyue is willing to manage the household affairs in Father's stead until my brothers come of age." Her gaze fell upon Shen Moyuan, who was nervously pinching his sleeve to avoid her eye.
That was her eldest brother, the one who had once cherished her the most. In her past life, it was he who had personally pushed her into the tiger's den, uttering phrases like "Your concubine-born sister is innocent, as the legitimate sister you ought to bear it." At this moment, his cowardice and hypocrisy stirred a wave of nausea within her.
Coughing twice, Third Great-Uncle took the lead in rising. "Since the truth has come to light, we shall take our leave. Zhengtang, household matters must still be properly put in order." The other clan elders chimed in and filed out, leaving only Shen Moyuan behind until the very end.
"Elder Sister, I..." He stopped, hesitating, his fingers twisting the jade pendant at his waist—a mutton-fat jade pendant their mother had given him while alive, which now appeared exceptionally glaring.
"Elder Brother need say no more." Shen Mingyue interrupted him, her voice carrying a bone-chilling frost. "I ask only this: do you still remember Mother holding your hand as she drew her final breath, telling you to take care of Elder Sister?"
Shen Moyuan turned ashen, retreating half a step as the jade pendant swung dazzlingly at his waist. "I... I was young back then..."
"Youth is no excuse." Shen Mingyue stared directly into his eyes, where the gentleness of her memories was gone, replaced entirely by evasion and a guilty conscience. "From this day forth, the ledgers and storehouse keys of the Shen Estate will be audited by me one by one. If I discover anyone shielding Lady Cao's remnants once more—" She paused, her soft sword sliding three inches from its scabbard, its chilling glare turning his face pale. "Then do not blame me for disregarding our bond as siblings."
Once everyone had departed, only she remained in the ancestral hall. Shen Mingyue knelt before her mother's tablet and lit three sticks of incense. Wisps of smoke curled upward, blurring the characters "Lady Liu" on the tablet. She thought of the osmanthus cakes her mother had loved best in life, the gentle tone with which her mother had taught her to read the *Precepts for Women*, and the look of unresigned bitterness in her mother's eyes at the moment of death.
"Mother, your daughter has finally avenged you," she murmured softly, her fingertips gently brushing across the tablet. "Yet this is merely the beginning. The Blood Fiend Alliance, Lu Huaijin, the Crown Prince... your daughter will make them pay, one by one. In heaven, you must watch your daughter make those who harmed you pay with their blood."
In the incense burner, the ash abruptly snapped neatly into two halves. She recalled her mother once saying that falling ash breaking meant the deceased had perceived something. A bitter smile involuntarily tugged at the corner of her lips; so her mother truly had heard, and she had never truly been alone.
When she stepped out of the ancestral hall, dusk had already dyed the entire horizon. Shen Qingyao's weeping drifted from the back courtyard, blending with the wooden fish drum of the Buddha hall to sound exceptionally grating. Shen Mingyue felt for the jade fragment in her sleeve, its icy touch keeping her mind sharp—this was merely the first step; the true tempest was yet to come. Raising her head to look at the sky, the dark clouds were scattering, and a cold star flickered in the twilight like her mother's watching eyes.
"Miss, Nanny Liu has already sealed Lady Cao's dowry estates as you instructed." Chuntao handed her a cloak, worry coloring her tone. "It's just that Second Miss's side..."
"Pay her no mind." Gazing at the boundless evening glow, Shen Mingyue spoke with unyielding determination. "What she ought to worry about now is whether Lu Huaijin will offend someone capable of bringing down the Jiang Family just for her sake." Pausing for a moment, she softly added, "And what she should worry about even more is when I will expose her collusion with the Blood Fiend Alliance to the world."
In the distance, the caw of a crow shattered the dusk. Shen Mingyue gripped the jade fragment tighter, letting its sharp edges pierce her palm—this road of revenge woven from blood and tears was one she would walk to its very end. And those who had once trampled upon her would finally understand what the wrath of a legitimate daughter truly meant: a blood debt repaid in blood.