HBWMA -Chapter 149 Tampering with Labels

“……”

Shen Guiling and Shen Lanxi remained expressionless. On the side, Shen Qingyu’s eyes lit up with excitement. Not bad—lying so smoothly right in front of the old master. She was clearly no ordinary character.

The old master believed it, then turned to look at Xiao Lanlan.

“Lanlan, Shanshan doesn’t lie. There may be some misunderstanding here. You’re all children of the Shen family. Grandpa hopes you can get along well.”

Xiao Lanlan was completely stunned. Who did Grandpa just say didn’t lie? She had just told a blatant lie!

Jiang Huashan looked completely unbothered and tugged at Fu Sui’er.

“Grandpa, we’re going to play now.”

Shen Zhuang nodded. “Lanxi.”

Shen Lanxi understood and stepped forward to follow them. Shen Guiling and Shen Qingyu also bowed slightly to Shen Zhuang before turning to leave.

The younger generation all left together. Xiao Lanlan naturally couldn’t stay either—after hesitating for a moment, she followed them out as well.

After all the children had left, Shen Zhuang slowly turned around. His gaze swept across his children.

“What? You’re all dissatisfied with the child I’ve adopted?”

Everyone froze, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation. Especially Shen E, who broke out in a cold sweat.

Only then did they understand—Jiang Huashan was the granddaughter acknowledged by the old master. Insulting her was equivalent to slapping the old master in the face.

Shen Zhuang tapped his cane on the ground and pointed at them one by one.

“If you’re unhappy, then endure it. Wait until I’m dead—when you’re in charge—come to my grave and tell me how unhappy you are!”

The words were severe. Everyone immediately panicked and begged for forgiveness.

Shen Qian glared at Shen E, then stepped forward to support the old man.

“Dad, please calm down. You’re always in charge of this family. How could we possibly be dissatisfied? It’s just the children bickering, nothing serious.”

Shen Yuan quickly followed. “Exactly, Dad. We’d be too ashamed to even say that. The child you like must be good—we’re not so unreasonable.” As he spoke, he shot Shen E a warning look.

Shen E’s expression stiffened. “Dad, I spoke in haste earlier. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Shen Jiao let out a cold laugh.

“Big brother, second brother, eldest sister—you shouldn’t just talk. If you really care about Dad, you should learn from me. Since Dad likes Shanshan, I treat her like my own daughter. I never nitpick her.”

Only then did Shen E realize: this woman was deeply calculating. No wonder she suddenly adopted a daughter—she was doing it to please the old master.

“Old master.” Shen Zhi saw that Shen Zhuang’s anger had eased and stepped forward beside him, lowering his voice. “An honored guest has arrived.”

A glint flashed in Shen Zhuang’s eyes. After a moment of thought, he waved his hand.

“Escort the guest to Qinyuan.”

Then he looked at Shen Qian.

“You handle things here for now.”

“Yes,” Shen Qian replied.

After the old master left the main courtyard, Shen Yuan finally let out a breath of relief.

“Who is it? To be directly sent to Qinyuan?”

This question represented everyone’s thoughts.

Today was the first time Shen Manor had opened in over thirty years. For security reasons, only the front courtyard was open, and even guests like the Zhou and Su families were arranged in guest courtyards.

Yet this visitor was directly escorted to Qinyuan.

Everyone exchanged meaningful glances and quietly returned to the main hall to drink tea.

Meanwhile, Jiang Huashan and Fu Sui’er had just left the main hall and were heading toward the Chrysanthemum Garden.

As soon as they turned into the corridor connecting to the inner courtyard, they saw Shen Mianzhi standing by the pond.

This path was the only way back to the Chrysanthemum Garden. Shen Mianzhi was clearly waiting for them on purpose.

“I have something to ask you.”

Before she could even speak, Jiang Huashan said calmly, “Yes. I did it on purpose.”

Shen Mianzhi frowned. “You’re really going too far. How can you take advantage of someone else’s kindness?”

Jiang Huashan raised her eyes slightly, as if she had found something interesting.

“What did you say?”

Shen Mianzhi continued seriously, “You deliberately asked me back then, knowing I wouldn’t want to escalate things so I would help you lie. And just now, you provoked Sister Lanlan on purpose, because you knew that once a conflict broke out, I wouldn’t stand by and do nothing. You used me to escalate the conflict. Even admitting it now is because you know I won’t tell Grandpa!”

Fu Sui’er’s head was spinning. What? Was there really so much hidden meaning behind just a fight earlier?

Jiang Huashan curled her lips.

“Oh, so you knew all along?”

Shen Mianzhi froze in disbelief.

“How can you still say that? I never had any malice toward you. Why did you deliberately use me? And Grandpa—he trusts you so much, yet you used his trust too.”

Jiang Huashan couldn’t be bothered to argue with her and said lazily, her expression indifferent. “Done talking?”

Shen Mianzhi looked at her in disbelief. How could a person be this evil?!

Jiang Huashan replied, “If I’m that evil, go ahead and report me.”

Shen Mianzhi’s lips trembled in anger. “You’re just sure I won’t. You’re bullying me because I’m too kind.”

A dark glint surfaced in Jiang Huashan’s eyes. “Too kind? So you actually know that’s your problem?”

Shen Mianzhi froze.

Jiang Huashan stared straight into her eyes, as if trying to see through her soul. “I always thought you didn’t know. But it turns out… you know everything?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.” Shen Mianzhi looked away, guilty.

The interest in Jiang Huashan’s eyes deepened as she glanced at the labels above Shen Mianzhi’s head.

She had suddenly realized something.

Shen Mianzhi had five labels: lovesick, saintly mother, intelligent, decisive, and filial. Unlike Fu Sui’er, whose labels progressed in hierarchy, Shen Mianzhi’s four traits aside from “lovesick” were all equal in size. This meant that “intelligence,” “decisiveness,” and “filial piety” had influence equal to her “saintly mother” trait.

Smart and decisive people could always cut straight to the essence of things. Perhaps Shen Mianzhi didn’t not know her “saintly mother” trait at all—in fact, she might have deliberately defined this behavior as “kindness.”

If this was truly a carefully considered choice, then Shen Mianzhi was far more terrifying than Jiang Huashan had imagined. She had completely overturned her understanding of her.

When people are unaware of their mistakes, they often do wrong things unconsciously. Those mistakes are easier to correct—just make them realize they are wrong.

But there is another kind of mistake that can never be corrected: knowing wrongdoing but still doing it. Shen Mianzhi belonged to the latter.

It was the difference between accidental killing and premeditated murder.

Jiang Huashan stepped closer, her gaze sharp like a blade. “You really have no hostility toward me?”

Shen Mianzhi lowered her eyes slightly. The thick lenses of her glasses hid the light in her gaze.

“Alright, I’ll temporarily assume you don’t,” Jiang Huashan continued. “But… you do have goodwill toward me, don’t you?”

Shen Mianzhi kept silent.

Jiang Huashan went on by herself. “You’re so smart—you should be able to distinguish what is ‘good’ and what is ‘pseudo-good,’ right? So evaluate it: what you’re doing now—is it ‘good,’ or ‘fake goodness’?”

Shen Mianzhi kept her head down the entire time, refusing to answer.

Jiang Huashan smiled and withdrew her aggressive pressure. “Sui’er, let’s go.”

Fu Sui’er glanced at Shen Mianzhi and quietly followed Jiang Huashan. She kept sneaking looks back. “Is she also the kind who hides her bad intentions?”

Jiang Huashan shook her head. “Not sure. We’ll have to observe a bit more before deciding.”

Fu Sui’er was confused. “Observe what?”

Jiang Huashan shook her head again. “I don’t know either. My intuition tells me… to keep watching.”

“Zhizhi.”

Shen Rang came searching through the courtyard and finally let out a long breath when he saw Shen Mianzhi.

“Why are you here? Dad was looking everywhere for you.”

Shen Mianzhi adjusted her glasses and slowly exhaled. “Sorry, Dad. I shouldn’t have run off.”

Shen Rang patted her head. “That’s not what I meant. Dr. Meng said you left before your wound was even properly bandaged. I thought something had happened.”

Shen Mianzhi shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s just a small injury. I…” She paused. “Dad, I’m tired. Let’s go back and rest.”

As she spoke, a green light flashed above her head.

Her labels were updated to: lovesick, saintly mother, intelligent, filial, masked.