HBWMA -Chapter 240 Shen Mianzhi vs. Shen E

The atmosphere fell silent for a few seconds before Shen E suddenly erupted, crying out hoarsely, “Dad, it’s not that I want to make a scene—Lanlan is being driven to death by Fifth Brother! Today, he must give me an explanation, otherwise the Xiao family and I will never let this go!”

As she spoke, she tugged at Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi stood up, his expression grave. “Dad, Lanlan is my only daughter. I’ve cherished her like the apple of my eye since she was little. Even if she really did something wrong, she doesn’t deserve to be hung from a helicopter by her own uncle. Don’t you agree?”

“Exactly.” Shen Yuan chimed in, supporting him. “Children’s quarrels should be settled by themselves. But Fifth Brother directly mobilized his shadow guards to surround the school and even injured a teacher—wasn’t that making a mountain out of a molehill? What will outsiders think of our Shen family?”

Shen Qian calmly lifted his teacup, offering no opinion.

Shen Zhuang neither agreed nor disagreed. He turned to the third branch. “Fifth, speak.”

Shen Rang was every bit the tough man—his bloodied back straight as a rod, his voice firm and resounding. “Dad, I did nothing wrong! I’ll make this clear today—I only have one daughter, Zhizhi. Anyone who dares bully her again, I’ll wipe out their entire family!”

“You—!” Xiao Qi’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected the usually cheerful Shen Rang to be this domineering. They had just said the Xiao family wouldn’t let things go, and he immediately escalated it to exterminating an entire clan.

Bang!

Shen E slammed the table, unable to take it anymore, pointing at Shen Rang as she shouted,
“What right do you have to say that? If it weren’t for your blindness back then, Dad would’ve almost lost his life! Have you ever thought about what you owe us?”

Shen Rang clenched his fists. In his entire life, this was the one thing he would always feel guilty toward his father about.

Shen Mianzhi couldn’t bear to see him face it alone, so she quietly took his hand.

The warmth from her palm spread to his heart. Shen Rang’s eyes reddened slightly as he gripped her hand tightly in return.

Just as he was about to speak, Shen Jiao stepped forward. “That’s ancient history. Dad hasn’t even brought it up—why are you nagging about it all day?”

Shen E lifted her chin. “What’s it got to do with you?”

Shen Jiao crossed her arms. “I’m a daughter of the Shen family, of course it concerns me. Shen Rang is my brother, and Zhizhi is my niece—tell me, does it involve me or not?”

Shen Qian gently set down his teacup. “A-Jiao, we’re family.”

Shen Jiao couldn’t stand his hypocritical demeanor and deliberately provoked him. “What? Have you cleaned up the mess at Nanwan? Or are you about to become council chairman tomorrow? Your second branch has embarrassed the family countless times—haven’t we always tolerated it? But now Fifth Brother sends a few people to a school, and suddenly he’s unforgivable?”

Shen Qian’s face turned livid with anger.

As expected of Queen Jiao—Jiang Huashan silently gave her a thumbs-up.

Shen Jiao then turned to Shen Zhuang. “Dad, is there even anything to argue about here? Xiao Lanlan deliberately framed Zhizhi. If Zhizhi had been labeled mentally unstable, her entire life would’ve been ruined. As parents, who could tolerate their child suffering such injustice?”

“You’re talking nonsense!” Shen E lost control, pointing at Shen Mianzhi.

“She’s the one with something wrong in her head! Lanlan only accidentally exposed her secret.” Then she turned to Shen Zhuang again. “Dad, Zhizhi has a mental illness, and Fifth Brother never mentioned it. Who knows what he’s hiding? They—”

“I’m not sick!” Shen Mianzhi looked at Shen Zhuang, her expression firm. “Grandpa, Aunt is slandering me.”

Shen E had come prepared. She turned around, pulled out two stacks of documents from her handbag, and threw them at Shen Mianzhi. “What’s this then? Still trying to deny it?”

Shen Rang flew into a rage, about to retaliate, but Shen Mianzhi stepped forward first. “Aunt, have you ever heard the saying—there’s only a fine line between a genius and a madman?”

“Hah?” Shen E laughed in anger, pointing at her nose. “So you’re saying you’re a genius?”

Shen Mianzhi turned to Shen Zhuang. “Grandpa, ever since I was very young, I’ve felt that I was different from others. I…”

Jiang Huashan lifted her gaze and looked at Shen Mianzhi’s profile.

Are you going to tell them about your past?

No… no one could truly understand. After all, no two leaves in this world are exactly the same.

Shen Mianzhi paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. “I’ve had a photographic memory since I was little. Whether it’s numbers, words, or people I’ve seen—even after ten years, I still remember them clearly after just one glance. Because there are too many stored images in my mind, I once wondered if something was wrong with me mentally. That’s why I asked my father to keep it a secret for the time being.”

“What nonsense.” Shen E refused to let her defend herself, her words sharp and cutting. “Now you even dare to fool the old master. Looks like lying has become second nature to you.”

Shen Mianzhi met Shen E’s gaze directly. “Eight years ago, when you came to the Shen residence for New Year’s, you wore a white-gold silk fur jacket, had a moonlight pearl in your hair, and plum blossoms painted on your nails. You pushed me to the ground, pointed at my nose, and said: ‘Don’t think anyone in this family will stand up for you. You’d better behave, or even your father will be thrown out of the Shen residence with you.’”

Shen E’s expression shifted slightly.

All that had been said was ultimately to bring up what happened back then.

Shen Mianzhi’s face remained calm as she recounted everyone’s attire from that day—even the outfits of dozens of maids in the Shen residence.

Jiang Huashan looked at her profile and thought to herself—she really had changed.

Saying all this was simply to prove the authenticity of her accusation against Shen E. If she could remember even the shade of everyone’s lipstick, how could she possibly misremember a threatening sentence?

Shen Rang looked at his daughter’s slender back, his eyes reddening despite being a forty-year-old man.

He didn’t dare imagine how his daughter had lived these past eight years. He had always lamented that she was too passive, too weak—thinking only of acceptance and tolerance—yet he had never tried to trace the root of it all.

Shen Jiao, after hearing this, was furious. “Have you lost your mind? How could you say something like that to a child?”

She had thought Shen E was merely harsh, but never expected her to be so malicious.

The way everyone looked at Shen E changed—especially the younger generation.

Shen E forced herself to explain, “She’s lying. Yes, I accidentally revealed something about Fifth Brother’s family back then, but that’s all. I never threatened her—and Lanlan certainly didn’t either.”

A trace of darkness flashed across Shen Mianzhi’s otherwise gentle, doe-like eyes. She countered smoothly, “Three years ago, if Aunt and Cousin hadn’t threatened me, why would I have lied in front of everyone? I clearly saw Sister Lanlan tearing Huashan’s clothes, yet I still told a blatant lie.”

“Shut up!” The incident from three years ago was Shen E’s greatest taboo. Enraged, she lost control of her words. “That day had nothing to do with me or Lanlan! You lied because you were afraid—”

Xiao Qi’s expression changed slightly as he grabbed her arm. “That’s enough.”

Shen Qian set down his teacup with a dark expression.

All eyes fell on Shen E’s almost hysterical face.

Realizing her slip, Shen E quickly grabbed Shen Zhuang’s arm. “Dad, listen to my explanation—she’s lying…”

Shen Zhuang calmly pulled his arm away.

Whether Shen Mianzhi was lying didn’t matter.

What mattered was that her logic was consistent.

There were no loopholes—everything was reasonable and well-supported. Even in a court of law, it would stand as valid testimony.