Chapter 3: The Mask Comes Off, and One Sentence Gives It All Away

“Lies! It’s all lies!”

Lady Feng’s shrill voice suddenly shattered the silence.

She pulled Shen Ruolan behind her and glared coldly at Luzhu.

“A lowly maid like you, slandering your mistress to save your own skin? Someone! Drag her out and give her twenty strokes!”

Two servants stepped forward at once.

“Wait.”

Gu Mingxuan said only one word, and everyone stopped.

He looked at Lady Feng coolly.

“Madam Shen, the matter hasn’t been made clear yet. Rushing to punish the witness hardly seems appropriate.”

Lady Feng stiffened.

“My lord misunderstands. I only wish to uphold the household’s discipline and not let a maid slander a young lady of this house.”

“If you wish to uphold the household’s discipline, then all the more reason to investigate properly.”

Gu Mingxuan turned to my father.

“Lord Shen, what do you think?”

My father had no answer.

If he sided with Lady Feng, he would be known for shielding someone who faked illness and tolerating the destruction of a gift meant for the imperial family.

If he sided with me, he would have to admit he had wronged his legitimate daughter time and time again.

After a long silence, my father could only say:

“This must be looked into carefully. We can’t listen to only one side.”

I almost laughed.

What a fine father I had.

In my past life, when I was falsely accused, he never once said anything like that.

Only now, with an official standing here, did he remember the word fairness.

I didn’t expose him. I only said calmly:

“Father is quite right. If we want to make things clear, why not ask a physician to examine my sister’s condition? Since this morning, I’ve had an experienced physician invited to the house. He’s waiting in the side chamber now.”

Lady Feng’s face changed at once.

“You invited a physician on your own?”

“I was worried about my sister’s health. Is that wrong too?”

I looked at her with an innocent face.

“Or does Stepmother think there’s no need to treat her?”

“I…”

Lady Feng was lost for words.

I turned to my father.

“Father, if my sister is truly ill, we should find a way to treat her as soon as possible. If she isn’t, we need to find out why she’s been causing trouble. We can’t just let things go on like this, damaging the bond between sisters and the good name of the Shen household.”

Gu Mingxuan nodded.

“Miss Shen makes a fair point.”

My father had no choice but to send for the physician.

Before long, an old physician with white hair came in.

He introduced himself as Physician Wen. He had practiced medicine for more than thirty years and had treated many powerful families in the capital.

After hearing a brief account of what had happened, Physician Wen went over to take Shen Ruolan’s pulse.

Shen Ruolan immediately collapsed to the floor, clutching her head and wailing.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”

Lady Feng hurried to hold her.

“Physician, my daughter suffers from a strange illness. Every night she goes mad and doesn’t recognize her own family. Please find a way to cure her quickly!”

Physician Wen didn’t answer right away.

He only watched Shen Ruolan for a while, then took out a clean handkerchief and laid it gently over her wrist.

“Second Young Lady, this old man is only taking your pulse. I won’t hurt you. Please calm yourself.”

Shen Ruolan kept struggling.

But when Physician Wen said he would write up a medical record right here, noting every symptom, with Lord Gu and Lord Shen both as witnesses, she suddenly stopped crying.

“A medical record?”

Physician Wen answered calmly:

“That’s right. If the illness is serious enough that she can’t control her own actions, the family should keep a medical record so it can be monitored. I also need to ask exactly when the first fit happened, the time, the symptoms, and what remedies have been used.”

Shen Ruolan glanced at Lady Feng at once.

That one look told me everything.

She was afraid.

Not of the physician, but of her statements being written down and checked against each other.

Sure enough, when Physician Wen asked on what day the first fit had happened, Lady Feng said it had been going on for months. But when asked what medicine she had taken, she couldn’t name a single prescription.

I added gently:

“When Luzhu was caught, she said that until this afternoon my sister had been eating well and sleeping soundly, and had never taken a single dose of medicine.”

Lady Feng glared at me but couldn’t deny it.

Finally, Physician Wen stood and said gravely:

“I cannot conclude from a single pulse reading that the second young lady has no illness at all. However, what I’ve just seen is not enough to prove she suffers from an illness that robs her of control over her mind. To be certain, she would need to be observed and examined thoroughly.”

He paused, his gaze resting on the torn scraps on the floor.

“But ill or not, deliberately going into one particular courtyard, destroying things, and then immediately crying out the moment others appear is something that must be looked into. Illness cannot automatically become an excuse that frees a person of all responsibility.”

Every word he said landed like a slap across Lady Feng’s face.

She trembled with anger but couldn’t argue.

Gu Mingxuan clasped his hands behind his back and asked in a low voice:

“Second Miss Shen, do you have anything to explain?”

Shen Ruolan knelt on the floor, tears streaming down her face.

“My lord, I truly don’t know what I did. All I remember is that my head was in chaos…”

“Then why did you open the courtyard gate with a key?”

I cut in gently.

“That key had to be taken from the steward. Someone had to prepare it in advance. A person not in her right mind who knows how to unlock a gate, knows to knock three times, and has someone waiting in the corridor since the first watch to run and raise the alarm. Second Sister, does your illness keep a schedule too?”

Shen Ruolan bit her lip.

I went on:

“And another thing. The moment you saw Luzhu, you recognized her, and you even knew what she was about to say. If you don’t remember what happened before, how did you react so quickly?”

“I didn’t!”

She screamed.

“I didn’t do it on purpose! You forced me! You put those things here on purpose to frame me!”

I laughed.

“Second Sister, everything in this room is mine. Am I not allowed to put my own things wherever I like?”

“You…”

“If this is a trap, it’s a trap that only catches someone who unlocks the gate herself, walks in herself, and tears up the painting with her own hands. I didn’t drag you here, and I didn’t give you the key.”

I looked at her and said slowly:

“Explain it to me. Why would I need to frame someone who wasn’t planning to do anything?”

Shen Ruolan was suddenly speechless.

A simple question, and she couldn’t answer it.

Because if she admitted there was a trap, she also had to admit she had walked into it of her own accord.

And if she kept pretending to be out of her mind, Luzhu’s testimony had already torn too many holes in the act.

Gu Mingxuan looked at her for a long time, then finally turned to my father.

“Lord Shen, this concerns the reputation of your household. According to the maid’s testimony, the second young lady was looking for the very painting that was to be presented to the Empress Dowager. Even if tonight she only tore up a practice piece by mistake, the intent to destroy a gift for the Empress Dowager was there. This is no longer a simple family matter.”

My father broke into a cold sweat at once.

“My lord is right.”

He turned to Shen Ruolan, his voice icy:

“What exactly is going on? If you’re truly ill, I’ll send you to the convent outside the city to recuperate, and you won’t leave until you’re well. If you did it on purpose, you’ll be dealt with by family law, and I’ll have to confess the offense to those above. Tell the truth, now!”

Shen Ruolan cried so hard her whole body shook.

But this time, no one stepped forward to hold her.

Lady Feng looked at her daughter, her lips trembling.

“Ruolan, speak up. Did someone put you up to this?”

She was still trying to find a way out for her.

But Shen Ruolan had already realized: if she was faking illness, she’d go to the convent. If she’d done it on purpose, she’d be guilty. Both roads were blocked.

She bit her lip hard, her eyes darting. Then she suddenly pointed at me, her voice choked yet hurried, as if trying to push everything toward something smaller.

“It’s because of her!”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Because of me?”

“Yes! Why do you get everything? You have talent, a good match, precious things. Even Grandmother only loved you! And what about me? I’m Father’s daughter too. Why does everyone praise you and no one ever notices me?”

The more she said, the more worked up she got.

“I just wanted you to be humiliated once! It was just sisters squabbling. I didn’t know it was the painting for the Empress Dowager, and I never meant any disrespect to the throne!”

The room went dead silent.

Even Lady Feng was stunned.

Perhaps she hadn’t expected her daughter to say so much in front of an outsider.

I looked at Shen Ruolan and felt not a shred of pity.

In my past life, she had used words just like these to excuse every wrong she did.

The only difference was that back then, I was the one who bore all the consequences.

I walked up to her.

“Second Sister, if you’re jealous of me, that’s your business. But why would jealousy need a key, someone keeping watch in the corridor, and instructions in advance to cry that your eldest sister hit you? And as for not knowing it was the painting for the Empress Dowager, Luzhu says you told her to find the very one meant for her. Which of you is lying?”

Shen Ruolan looked up, her mouth open, but no sound came out.

I said calmly:

“Besides, the painting you just tore up was only a practice piece. The real painting was put somewhere safe long ago.”

She froze.

“That’s impossible!”

“Why is it impossible?”

I smiled.

“I knew you liked taking my things, so I took precautions. Did you really think I’d stand still forever and wait for you to come trample me?”

Her face went white.

I bent down and picked up the phoenix hairpin from the table.

“This hairpin is a keepsake Grandmother left me. I’ve had Ziyun record it in a ledger. I’ve recorded the small things that went missing over the past few months, too. If you truly have nothing to do with it, I can ask Father to look into what you’ve sent people to sneak out of my room all these years.”

Shen Ruolan’s eyes went wide.

I wasn’t entirely bluffing.

In the years before, she really had stolen a number of small things from me. In my past life, I had no proof, so I swallowed my anger. But after I was reborn, I went back through my ledger and found that many of the missing items had appeared on the list of goods for her courtyard.

If the investigation continued, those things would come to light sooner or later.

Shen Ruolan finally understood.

She was no longer facing the older sister who only knew how to cry and plead.

The person in front of her was a Shen Zhiwei who already knew every one of her schemes.

And this time, I wouldn’t give her a chance to turn the tables.