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After a few moments, the physician finally spoke, her tone calm but firm.
"She's suffering from cold exposure and physical stress. Her fever is high, but not critical. With proper rest and the right medicine, she should recover in a few days."
Everyone exhaled slightly in relief, though the tension in the air didn't ease.
"I will prepare the decoction immediately," the physician continued. "She should drink it while it's hot."
As a maid stepped forward to assist, Madam Su gently took Shen Yulan's hand in hers.
"My poor child… even in this state, you're still so obedient and quiet. Unlike that other one—shameless and heartless."
Shen Zhirui said nothing, but the way his eyes narrowed spoke volumes.
Lin Zhixuan remained silent too, but his gaze was cold, fixed on some invisible point in the room—as though already imagining the confrontation that would come.
No one said her name. But in their hearts, they all knew who the "other one" was.
At that very moment, the "other one" was blissfully soaking in a steaming hot bath, entirely unbothered by the chaos she'd left behind.
The soft glow of lantern light danced across the surface of the water, casting golden ripples over her bare shoulders. Steam curled around her like a silken veil, wrapping her in warmth and quiet serenity. For the first time since her return to this world, Shen Yuhan allowed herself to truly relax.
An hour passed in tranquil silence.
Finally, when the water began to cool, she rose gracefully from the tub. Wrapping herself in a thick robe of deep plum silk, she moved with languid ease to the vanity table and sat before the large bronze mirror.
Her reflection stared back—clear-eyed and calm. There was no trace of the girl who once trembled under her father's glare or wept quietly behind closed doors. This was a new Shen Yuhan—sharp, dangerous, reborn with vengeance etched into her bones.
This world thought it had cast her as a side character.
A villainess to be pitied and then discarded.
But Shen Yuhan had no intention of dying again.
This time, she would not play the villain. And she would not beg for scraps of sympathy.
She would flip the board and become the hand that moved the pieces.
A bitter silence settled for a moment. Shen Yuhan lowered her lashes, "Ah Zhu, you came with Mother when she married into the Shen family, didn't you? You've been with her since childhood. Say, if Mother would see her daughter being bullied by the Shen Family to this state, would she be unhappy?" Shen Yuhan didn't know why but strangely, she wanted to know if her mother in this world would have loved her instead of abandoning her like her own mother did, in the real world.
"This-" Hearing Shen Yuhan's questions, Ah Zhu was stunned for a moment before coming back to her senses. "Yes. Madam would have been very sad if she would have known about how this Shens treat her precious daughter. Even before marriage, Madam had always wanted a cute and chubby daughter to play with. When choosing for her Dowry set, she chose everything of premium quality so that most of those dowries could be used by you when you were of age. Shops, lands, she acquired many assets to include in your dowry when you came of age. However..." As the painful memories were recounted, Ah Zhu choked on her words.
"There was a pair of white jade bracelets," Ah Zhu added with a sniff. "Madam said they'd be perfect for you on your wedding day. 'Not too flashy,' she said, 'but clear as moonlight. For my daughter's first love.' She tucked them into the dowry chest herself."
As Shen Yuhan heard her words, her heart surged with a warm feeling, but soon it turned colder, "If I'm not wrong, everything my mother left for me should be in Su Wanning's hands, right?"
At that, both Ah Zhu and Ming'er stiffened.
"You," Ah Zhu said slowly, "how did you know?"
Shen Yuhan's eyes flashed with something unreadable, "I've seen the ledgers." She just made up some excuse.
She wasn't sure previously but now she was.
Earlier, when Shen Yuhan had stood face-to-face with Shen Zhirui, a sudden memory had surged through her mind which was unfamiliar to her. It was fragmented and fleeting, yet enough to piece together the painful truth behind Shen Yuhan's mother, Lu Yunxi's death.
And now, as Ah Zhu reminisced about her mother's past, another image flashed in her mind—this time, of Su Wanning brazenly taking possession of the dowries her mother had lovingly set aside for her.
After these two incidents, Shen Yuhan was sure, those sudden fragmented memories were of the previous Shen Yuhan.
It seemed as long as others mentioned things related to previous Shen Yuhan, her memories would surge in her mind in fragmented forms.
Realizing this, Shen Yuhan felt a strange sense of gratitude. Perhaps this was the System's way of granting her a thread to hold onto, a compass in this foreign world it had thrust her into.
Shen Yuhan clenched her fingers, her eyes flashing with determination. A mercy—or a weapon. Either way, she would use it.
Not knowing what was going in her young mistress's mind, Ah Zhu sat down heavily beside her. "That witch Su Wanning didn't even wait a year after your mother's passing. She clawed her way to the mistress of the house, and Master closed his eyes, blinded by his love. But you were just a child back then—how could you understand what was being taken from you?"
"I understand now."
Shen Yuhan's voice was quiet, yet the calm clarity within it sent a chill through the hearts of those listening.
She lifted her head, meeting her own reflection in the bronze mirror—her gaze bright, sharp, and unwavering. "I will reclaim everything that rightfully belongs to me and my mother."
Her steady, resolute tone left no room for doubt or question.