---
Tears streamed down Shen Yulan's cheeks in silent rivers, her slender frame trembling in her soaked robes.
To the onlookers, she was clearly the one who had been wronged — yet instead of seeking justice, she pleaded tearfully for the very sister who had supposedly caused her so much pain. Who wouldn't be moved by such selfless grace?
"Shen Yuhan, do you have no shame?" Lin Zhixuan snarled, finally losing his composure. He pointed at her, his eyes burning with disappointment and righteous fury.
Especially when the onlookers were both blind and biased, Shen Yuhan mused, the corner of her lips curling with silent contempt.
"You've bullied Yulan to this extent, and yet she still pleads for you! But look at yourself — do you even deserve her kindness?" Lin Zhixuan's voice echoed through the hall, each syllable laced with scorn, his righteous condemnation as sharp as a blade.
"As her elder sister, shouldn't you be the one kneeling and begging for forgiveness for pushing her into the cold lotus pond?"
"Lin Zhixuan, are you deaf or just stupid?" Shen Yuhan snapped, her voice cold and precise. "Didn't you hear me earlier? I said, if you have any evidence or a witness proving I pushed her, then show me. Otherwise, don't go around making false accusations."
Having been snapped at by Shen Yuhan twice in a row, Lin Zhixuan flushed, his face darkening with a mix of anger and humiliation.
Nearby, Shen Zhirui's expression shifted—his brows knitting as a trace of uncertainty crept into his gaze.
His eldest daughter had always been headstrong — pampered by her birth mother in her early years. Yet after losing her mother, while the temper remained, she had learned to bow her head. When caught in the wrong, she would admit fault first without hesitation. Even when she wasn't at fault, she would still apologize just to avoid his displeasure.
But now, seeing her stand her ground, calm and unyielding in the face of blame… perhaps this time, she truly wasn't at fault. Perhaps they were pushing her too hard to admit to something she hadn't done.
For a fleeting moment, guilt flickered in his eyes, but the scowl soon returned.
Though she might be innocent, she was too disobedient. It wouldn't hurt to teach her a small lesson. As long as she admitted her mistake and apologize to Yulan today, he would let the matter rest, or so Shen Zhirui thought to himself.
Looking at the slender girl in her soaked clothes and defiant gaze, Lin Zhixuan's thoughts mirrored Shen Zhirui's.
Both men fixed their gazes on the girl standing in the center, her posture straight and her gaze stubborn.
Sensing the subtle shift in the room, Shen Yulan's heart skipped a beat. Panic fluttered beneath her calm facade. However, she quickly masked her panic with another pitiful shiver, then turned to Madam Su with a practiced look of helplessness, wordlessly urging her to step in.
Madam Su caught her daughter's panicked glance and instantly understood.
She, too, had sensed the shift in the air.
After nearly sixteen years of sharing a bed with Shen Zhirui, how could she not recognize the subtle flicker of doubt behind his otherwise stern composure? Without hesitation, she stepped forward to shield her daughter, her expression composed but her intent unmistakably clear.
"But Yulan wouldn't jump into frozen water just to frame you, would she?" she broke the silence. Wiping her fake tears, she continued, "Everyone in the residence knows that Yulan was born prematurely, and her frail body can't withstand the cold. Even if she did wish to harm you, surely there are easier ways than risking her own life, don't you think?"
Her words were reasonable. Shen Zhirui and Lin Zhixuan both found themselves swayed by Madam Su's argument, and once again, their softened gazes hardened.
"Your mother is right, Yuhan. We all know Yulan has been frail since childhood—her body can't stand the cold, and she's always been most afraid of it. In winter, she often refuses to set foot in the Lotus Pavilion," Shen Zhirui said, casting a gentle, sorrowful look at his youngest daughter before turning a cold, demanding gaze on his eldest. "So tell me—why would she, who has always feared the cold, jump into a frozen pond just to frame you?"
Facing her father's frosty glare, Shen Yuhan didn't flinch. Instead, she met his eyes with unwavering resolve—her own bright eyes tinged red, perhaps from the cold, or from standing too long in soaked clothes.
"How should I know?" she said, tilting her head slightly. "And besides, if we're talking about who fears the water the most… shouldn't I be the victim here?"
She met Shen Zhirui's eyes without flinching. The redness around her eyes stood in stark contrast to the obsidian black of her irises, and the chill in her voice as she spoke carried a cutting edge.
"Or have you forgotten how my mother died?"
The words, quiet yet sharp, struck Shen Zhirui like a slap.
For a moment, the past surged up like a specter. He was dragged back to that winter's day—the sight of his first wife, heavily pregnant, flailing in the icy waters of the Lotus Pond begging him to save her but what he had done?
"Stop pretending Lu Yunxi!" He had sneered. "Who in all of Meixi County doesn't know that the proud Young Miss of the Lu family could swim across the entire Meixi River in one breath? What now? After marrying into my Shen household, you conveniently forgot how to swim?"
With that cruel taunt, he had turned and walked away—arm in arm with Su Wanning, his favored concubine—without a shred of remorse.
Before leaving, he even ordered the servants coldly, "Anyone who dares to help her without my command will be punished to death for defying their master."
What later happened...
The memory was a knife twisting in his gut.
"Enough!" he barked, louder than necessary—almost as if trying to silence his own guilt.