RWNEFE -Chapter 7 Who Was It That Harmed Her, After All?

Chunxue still wanted to ask more, but Qiushuang forcefully pulled her away.

Miss was right. Such a huge matter as the Shen family being implicated—Miss could not possibly be lying to them. Whether it was true or not, they would know once they went out and asked around. But if they were truly trapped inside the Prince’s residence, who would carry out the tasks Miss had entrusted to them?

The two maids knew martial arts. They didn’t dare use the main gate. Taking advantage of the momentary lapse in security, they leapt over the wall and left.

—

“Master, they’ve left safely,” Nu Bai reported.

Shen Lanxi was deep in thought and didn’t respond right away.

The one who poisoned her was neither Bai Qingling nor Zhou Ruyuan!

In her previous life, it couldn’t have been that she heard wrong. Someone had deliberately fed her false information, ensuring that she died without ever knowing who her true enemy was. They wanted her to die with unclosed eyes—this was the kind of death born only of extreme hatred.

So who was it that harmed her?

Who hated her so much?

Shen Lanxi took out the poisoned wine she had swapped earlier and poured it onto a potted plant. In an instant, the plant turned black and withered.

Such a powerful poison. In her previous life, if Nu Bai hadn’t taken on part of the poison for her, she would likely have died outright on her wedding night.

If she had died, the charge of murdering her would certainly have been pinned on Zhou Ruyuan!

The person who poisoned her wanted to kill two birds with one stone.

This city was like a giant beast with its bloody maw wide open. Thinking of the unseen enemies lurking around her, Shen Lanxi clenched her teeth and fists tightly.

“Nu Bai, put this flowerpot away and replace it with an identical one. Don’t arouse suspicion!”

Her fingers slowly relaxed, and a light unlike anything before burst forth in Shen Lanxi’s eyes.

The one who harmed her—even if they hid at the very center of the earth, she would dig them out and make them pay with their lives!

“Master, Zhou Ruyuan has learned about the Shen family being confiscated. He’s coming this way!”

Shen Lanxi curled her lips into a cold smile. “So what if he knows? Does he want to be a despicable wretch, or does he want to be struck by heaven’s thunder?”

If Nu Bai could show expressions, his eyes would surely be sparkling right now.

“Master, you’re amazing! Nu Bai worships you with all my heart!”

“Ah… Master, he’s gone back again. He can’t be a despicable wretch, and there’s no way for him to be struck by thunder either… what a pity!” Nu Bai said regretfully.

Recalling what she had experienced in her previous life, a chill flashed through Shen Lanxi’s eyes.

If Zhou Ruyuan didn’t come, someone else would.

A loud, arrogant matron’s voice rang out from outside the room.

“Last night the Prince spent the entire night in the separate courtyard—three times water was called…”

“The Shen family committed a crime worthy of extermination of nine generations. Their house was confiscated overnight, and the whole family has been thrown into the Heavenly Prison to await punishment…”

“You’d all better open your dog eyes wide and see clearly who deserves your respect and who doesn’t. Otherwise, you won’t even know how you died when you offend the wrong person!”

Shen Lanxi sat upright and composed inside the room. This matron was indeed arrogant, but the final question she raised was excellent—one Shen Lanxi herself very much wanted answered.

She would let this matron serve as a touchstone, helping her distinguish who around her was loyal and who was treacherous.

“Nanny Li, is what you said true?”

“Nanny Li, the Shen family is finished. What should we do? Our indenture contracts are still in the eldest miss’s hands.”

Nanny Li lifted her chin arrogantly, hands tucked into her sleeves, and said disdainfully, “Since you’ve already entered the Prince’s residence, you’re naturally people of the Prince’s residence now. Those willing to change their contracts can follow me. After changing them, you’ll be servants of the Prince’s residence, eating the Prince’s food, and from now on you’ll obey our Prince. Do you all understand?”

Some said they understood; others remained silent.

As Nanny Li moved, the servants in the courtyard looked at one another. When they saw some people follow her, they all followed along.

With a rush, everyone left, and the large courtyard fell silent.

Shen Lanxi walked to the door and opened it.

“Master, Master! There’s still a family in the corner that hasn’t left!” Nu Bai reported urgently.

Shen Lanxi stepped outside and turned to look at that family.

They were the household attendants her family had arranged for her.

“Everyone else has left. Why haven’t you gone?”

Her words seemed to jolt the family awake.

“Prin—” The six members of the household hurriedly knelt, but didn’t know how to address her.

“Call me Eldest Miss,” Shen Lanxi said calmly. “A title is just a name. The Shen family has already been confiscated, and everyone in this residence thinks my position as Princess is only nominal. Calling me Princess would only feel ironic.”

“Eldest Miss, something has happened to the Shen family!” Nanny Li reported hurriedly.

Shen Lanxi said, “If you go with them, you can still keep your lives.”

Nanny Li—no, Nanny Li—was extremely stubborn. “This servant is the Eldest Miss’s household attendant. Even if something happens to the Shen family, it doesn’t implicate a married daughter. If we followed those people just now, that would be betraying our master. Servants who betray their master are beaten to death!”

She had no particular impression of this family. In her previous life, after she was poisoned, aside from Chunxue and Qiushuang, she never saw anyone else—presumably they were either sold off or dispersed and reassigned. Later, Chunxue and Qiushuang were also eliminated on pretexts.

“Wait here.” She turned back into the room.

“Nu Bai, find the indenture contracts of the household attendants!”

In the blink of an eye, a box containing the contracts appeared in her hands.

“Which ones belong to your family? Find them yourselves.” Besides the contracts, she also took out a one-hundred-tael silver note and handed it to Nanny Li.

“In my current state, I can’t protect you. While they still don’t dare do anything to me, take the contracts and the money and seek another livelihood.”

Nanny Li was so frightened she didn’t dare accept them. Shen Lanxi shoved them into her hands.

“Hurry!”

Trembling, Nanny Li glanced at her, then quickly handed the box to her son to find their contracts. She folded the silver note and tucked it into her hair.

After the contracts were found, Shen Lanxi personally escorted the family out.

Just as they reached the back courtyard, a matron ran over to block them.

“The Prince has ordered that no one from Tingfang Courtyard may enter or leave!” The burly matron spread her arms with a fierce expression.

Shen Lanxi slapped her across the face without hesitation.

“You dog slave! How dare you block this Princess’s path—have you eaten leopard’s gall?”

The matron’s head snapped to the side. Intimidated by Shen Lanxi’s presence, she shrank back for a moment, then immediately gathered her courage again, remembering that the Shen family had fallen from power.

“This servant is carrying out the Prince’s orders!”

Shen Lanxi slapped her again.

“And who does the Prince think he is? I can come and go freely in the imperial palace—does he have more authority than the Empress Dowager and His Majesty?”

That single accusation crushed the burly matron’s arrogance completely.

Shen Lanxi lifted her chin, her eyes filled with lofty disdain. “Even if the Shen family is in trouble, I am still the Lanxi Princess most beloved by His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, and the Princess Consort of the Zhen Nan Prince’s residence. Crushing you would be easier than crushing an ant!”

The burly matron was frightened. The other matrons who had wanted to rush over to help were frightened too.

She was right—: even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. What if His Majesty were to pardon the Shen family?

Everyone in the capital knew that Princess Lanxi had grown up in the Empress Dowager’s palace, cherished like the apple of her eye. They truly had been muddle-headed, listening to a few words from that woman in the separate courtyard and thinking this one before them was already a fallen, discarded wife. That woman had malicious intentions, pushing them out as cannon fodder. The burly matron regretted it so deeply her intestines turned green.