CHAPTER 5: Theatrics
The Grand Hall of the Shen Manor was a theater of absolute, suffocating chaos.
As I stepped over the high, intricately carved wooden threshold, the heavy scent of bitter medicinal herbs and panic assaulted my senses. The grand room was packed. Every elder of the Shen family, the household guards, and a swarm of gossiping servants were gathered around the central dais.
On the main divan lay my grandmother, the Matriarch of the Shen family. She had collapsed, her face a sickly, ashen gray, her lips tinged with a frightening blue. Several physicians were hovering over her, shaking their heads in despair.
But the true spectacle, the absolute center of attention, was the delicate figure kneeling on the polished stone floor, violently coughing into a snow-white silk handkerchief.
Lin Wan.
"Wan'er, hold on! Do not speak! The Imperial Physician is riding from the palace as we speak," Xiao Chen knelt beside her, his hands hovering over her trembling shoulders. His handsome face was etched with heroic, agonizing concern.
"Your Highness..." Lin Wan choked out, her voice a fragile, trembling whisper. She lowered the handkerchief to reveal a splatter of horrifyingly dark, black blood. A perfect, crystal tear slid down her pale cheek. "Please, do not blame Sister. I am but a lowly illegitimate daughter... I never meant to steal her place in the family’s heart. If my death brings her peace... then I accept it. Please, just promise me you won't hurt her."
The surrounding servants and elders gasped, a collective murmur of outrage sweeping through the hall.
"How noble! How tragically pure!"
"Eldest Miss Shen Luoyan is truly too vicious. To use lethal poison on her own half-sister out of petty jealousy!"
"She doesn't deserve to be the future Crown Princess! She is a disgrace to the Shen name!"
I stood at the entrance, leaning casually against the doorframe, watching this melodramatic display with immense, unadulterated boredom.
Was this really the garbage I lost to? I thought, a bitter smirk tugging at my lips. In my previous life, blinded by panic and a desperate need for validation, I hadn't realized how painfully exaggerated her acting was. It was so theatrical it belonged in a cheap roadside play, yet these supposedly wise elders were eating out of the palm of her hand.
I took a deliberate step forward. The heavy crimson silk of my gown dragged across the floor like a river of fresh blood, rustling loudly enough to cut through the murmurs.
"My, my," I said, my voice echoing clearly and coldly through the cavernous hall. "What a touching, heartbreaking scene. Should I hire a troupe of mourning musicians to accompany your final words, Sister? You are dragging out your death scene quite a bit."
Every head snapped toward me.
I strode into the room, holding my head high, my spine straight. I exuded the absolute, suffocating authority of the rightful heir of the primary bloodline. The elders, who had just been cursing my name, instinctively parted ways, intimidated by the sheer, icy pressure radiating from my eyes.
Xiao Chen stood up, his eyes blazing with a self-righteous fury that made me want to vomit.
"Shen Luoyan! You venomous, black-hearted woman! You finally dare to show your face!" he roared, his royal aura flaring. "Look at what you have done! Are you completely devoid of humanity?!"
He marched toward me, his boots slamming against the stone floor. As he closed the distance, he raised his right hand high. The air cracked with his golden spiritual energy. He was going to strike me down in front of the entire family, just like he did in the past life to shatter my dignity.
Comments