Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I had always thought the truth was clear enough by this point.

But on the way back to the capital, the situation turned out to be far more ruthless than I had imagined.

We had just entered the city when people from the Huo Mansion intercepted me at the gates.

Leading them was my father’s head steward. He opened his mouth and said immediately, “Eldest Miss, the Master requests that you return to the mansion at once.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then this old servant will have no choice but to ‘invite’ you back.” He used the word “invite,” but his hand was already resting on the hilt of his blade.

Shen Xingjian’s expression chilled, and the guards from the Marquis Mansion stepped forward in unison. Just as the two sides were at each other’s throats, someone suddenly arrived from the palace.

It was a clerk from the Imperial Clan Court, delivering an oral decree.

Because the identity of the Huo Family’s legitimate daughter was in question, the marriage between the Shen and Huo families was to be suspended. All of Lady Gu’s former assets and dowry were to be temporarily frozen until the matter of identity was investigated and resolved.

I understood everything in an instant.

Luo Yingxue and Huo Yanzhi had already made their move.

They had dragged the matter to the Imperial Clan Court to drag my identity through the mud before I could produce any evidence. As long as I was not the legitimate daughter of the Huo Family, the dowry, shops, and even the Gu Family account books left to me by my maternal grandfather could rightfully remain with the Huo Mansion.

And the old accounts Shen Xingjian wanted to investigate would reach a dead end right here.

When I returned to the Huo Mansion, the way the servants looked at me had changed.

Those who used to call me “Eldest Miss” now kept their heads bowed, as if they feared catching some foul luck just by speaking a single word to me.

Luo Yingxue sat in the main hall. Her eyes were red and swollen, but her expression had regained its composure, carrying a sort of triumphant mercy.

“Lingning,” she sighed, “if you know what’s good for you, you will hand over the Gu Family dowry yourself. You have enjoyed eighteen years of luxury in the Huo Mansion; we won’t drive you to total ruin.”

I looked at her, suddenly finding it laughable.

“You trample me into the dirt and then offer me a scrap of food-does Mother actually think herself merciful?”

Her face darkened slightly. “Do not be ungrateful. If the truth about the twins is fully exposed, the world will only say that Madam Gu gave birth to an inauspicious pair of twins and that the Huo Family covered her shame for years. Do you think you’ll have anything left?”

Before I could speak, Shen Xingjian walked slowly into the room.

He placed the ledger he had brought back from the manor onto the table and said calmly, “She will have the truth.”

Huo Yanzhi’s face finally fell. “Heir, this is a private matter of the Huo Family.”

“But you are using a private matter to try and destroy my marriage contract and hide the Gu Family’s old accounts.” Shen Xingjian looked at him, his tone light but his presence overwhelmingly oppressive. “Does Lord Huo truly think I will stand idly by?”

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Huo Yanzhi’s eyes.

For the first time, I saw clearly that this marriage was never just a simple alliance in his eyes.

He was never afraid of whether I was real or fake.

He was afraid that Shen Xingjian would use the marriage to enter the Huo Family and uncover the secrets he had hidden deepest all these years.

That night, I was “invited” back to my original courtyard, and two extra locks were placed on the outside. Luo Yingxue likely felt I had been backed into a corner, for she stopped pretending to be a loving mother. Before leaving, she left me with one final sentence:

“Yue’er is dead. If you don’t behave, the next one in a coffin will be you.”

After she left, I sat in the empty room and, for the first time, seriously read through the entire ledger Huo Shuyue had left behind.

When I reached the very last page, I felt a tiny, folded piece of thin paper hidden in the lining.

The handwriting on it wasn’t hers.

It was the handwriting of my mother, Lady Gu.

“Eldest daughter Lingning, moon-shaped mole on right ankle; second daughter Shuyue, red birthmark on left shoulder. If one day someone tries to deceive using jade locks, swaddling clothes, or so-called birth records, none are to be believed. The Huo Family recognizes only profit, not daughters.”

I stared at those last six words, feeling as if someone were strangling me.

*The Huo Family recognizes only profit, not daughters.*

It turned out my mother had seen through everything long before she died.

And the reason Huo Shuyue had risked everything to hide this paper until today wasn’t to steal my identity.

It was to give my identity back to me.