The day Shen Zhaoning’s engagement was broken off, all the powerful families in the capital gathered in the Pei residence’s reception hall, waiting for her to bow her head.
Her fiancé thought she had no power or status, her stepsister was wearing her wedding dress, and even her own father told her to accept her fate. Holding half a cup of cold tea, she thought only one thing: The Pei family faked military achievements and still dared to break off my engagement. They’d better not grovel too pathetically when their house is raided three days from now.
The room fell silent.
From that moment on, everyone who could hear her thoughts panicked. Some feared she would expose their old embezzlement records, others that she would reveal the truth about the switched children, and still others that she would uncover a murder in the palace. The ailing, powerful official Xie Xuanheng was the only one who dared to stand beside her. He heard her call him short-lived, and he also heard her dismantle the capital’s deadly traps one by one.
Everyone thought she was being pampered because of her inner thoughts. Only later did they realize that every word she let them hear was part of her plan.
