Shen Linghan felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles. The gazes of the people around her were like steel needles stabbing into her body, making her feel extremely embarrassed. Her hand beneath the table fiercely tore the handkerchief, and her eyes were filled with resentment.
Shen Xuanye noticed the change in her expression and frowned slightly. Now he came to know why Shen Linghan and Madam Zhao had been completely held in rein by Shen Ninghua these days. People with such impatience would never be of any great use.
“Eldest sister spent so long a time preparing the gift. You have indeed put a lot of effort into it.” Shen Ninghua had started to lay out the plan so long in advance. She was way too sophisticated. But she was wrong if she thought that he didn’t get any message while he was away from home.
Shen Ninghua coldly said, “Thank you, brother Xuanye.” Even if he knew that she had ulterior motives, so what? Tomorrow, the entire capital would know that Shen Ninghua was the most filial child in the Shen family. She had presented her grandmother the most exquisite embroidery as a birthday gift. The reputation of “being filial” could definitely help her resolve many problems.
Shen Xuanye drooped his eyes. His thin eyebrows were similar to Shen Linghan’s but were more masculine. At this moment, his eyes under the thin eyebrows were brimming with chilling coldness. Shen Ninghua must be gotten rid of!
As Shen Xuanye had this thought in mind, he looked up at Shen Linghan and nodded slightly at her. Shen Linghan was delighted.
“Grandmother, my eldest sister prepared such a wonderful gift. How can I lag behind? I’ve also prepared a gift for you.” Her laughter was sweet, but her eyes were filled with frantic ecstasy as if she was about to get revenge, which made people shiver with fear.
Madam Zhao adjusted her smile and looked at Shen Linghan gently. “You naughty girl. You secretly saved up your monthly allowance for a long time to buy this gift. Don’t keep people guessing and quickly show it to your grandmother.”
Shen Ninghua looked at Shen Linghan and Madam Zhao, and a cold smile appeared on her lips.
Shen Linghan trembled when seeing her smile. She felt a chill slowly rising in her back. She almost thought that Shen Ninghua had discovered the plot made by her and her mother, but then she fiercely suppressed this thought. This method was taught by Shen Xuanye, and Shen Ninghua had no way of knowing it. Besides, even if Shen Ninghua knew it, she couldn’t escape from it!
Old Lady Xiao smiled and said, “Linghan, it’s very thoughtful of you. I will have your allowance reissued later. I can’t let my granddaughter have a rough time due to buying a gift for me.”
Everyone praised Old Lady Xiao one after another. Their praises were so extravagant that Old Lady Xiao herself thought that she was the luckiest lady in the world.
When Shen Linghan ordered her maid to bring up a white jade box, the window had been covered by a black cloth, and the room became much darker.
Everyone was wondering when they saw Shen Linghan open the box. In an instant, a gentle light came out. The light illuminated the entire hall.
“Illuminating pearl…”
“What a big illuminating pearl, and its light is so gentle and bright. Never in the world has such an illuminating pearl been seen.”
“Yes, it’s so beautiful.”
The audience kept talking about it.
Baili Jinchuan and Baili Jinze were the emperor’s sons. Although they had never seen a better illuminating pearl than this one, they had seen many good stuff. Therefore, they weren’t as surprised as the rest of the people and were the first to restore their senses. They thought for a moment and began to feel a little uncomfortable. No matter how exquisite and rare the embroidery presented by Shen Ninghua was, it was personally embroidered by a girl, and they had nothing to pick on. However, the illuminating pearl Shen Linghan presented was different. As princes, they had never seen such a thing before. But at the Shen family, it was used as a gift to please a woman. Wasn’t the Shen family too ostentatious?
Hearing the continuous compliments from the guests, Baili Jinchuan felt increasingly uncomfortable in his heart.
Chu Junyi noticed the change in his emotions and mockingly curled his lips. The royal family were most skilled at being self-righteous. They couldn’t bear to see others being better than them. Such a mindset was really disgusting!
Old Lady Xiao took over the illuminating pearl. Her eyes shone with admiration. She had never seen such a beautiful pearl before. She said a little excitedly, “Linghan, you are really extremely considerate to do so.”
Shen Linghan looked at Shen Ninghua proudly. “Grandmother, you are welcome. I’m glad that you like it.”
“Yes, I like it. Of course I like it very much.”
Old Lady Xiao held the illuminating pearl and carefully observed it. Shen Linghan said, “Grandmother, this pearl can emit fluorescence in the darkness, but it can emit seven-colored lights under the sunlight, which is truly rare in this world.”
By now, the surrounding maids had unveiled the black cloth, and the hall became bright again. The pearl was truly shining colorfully.
Old Lady Xiao caressed it again and again in surprise. She simply couldn’t let go of it.
Suddenly, she saw a flash of black light from within the pearl. She subconsciously blinked her eyes, thinking that she was dazzled. She turned the pearl in her hand, and the black light flashed again. Old Lady Xiao suddenly frowned and wiped the surface of the pearl hard. Suddenly, she felt a stream of water gushing out from the pearl. When her fingers touched the water, she heard a burning sound, and she screamed miserably in great pain.
“Ah!”
She threw the illuminating pearl onto the ground and it rolled a few feet away. Water continuously dripped out of the pearl. As soon as the water touched the ground, it made a cracking sound and corroded the hard-stone ground.
Old Lady Xiao’s fingers had been in contact with the illuminating pearl for a long time. Her left hand was fine and was only slightly corroded. But her right index finger and middle finger had been entirely eroded. The pain caused her to scream wildly and she almost fainted.
Everyone was stunned. No one would have expected a beautiful illuminating pearl to carry such a killing intent.
Chu Junyi narrowed his eyes and looked at Shen Ninghua. Did she plan this?
Shen Linghan trembled, and her face was pale with fear. She heard from Shen Xuanye that the pearl would help her kill Shen Ninghua, but she didn’t expect it to be so vicious. The liquid hidden in the pearl could actually corrode the human body.
Shen Ninghua’s eyes were cold, and her heart was filled with a violent storm. Corpse melting water! The pearl contained exactly the corpse melting water that turned her into nothing in her previous life! So, she had guessed correctly. It was just this Shen Xuanye who gave the corpse melting water to Shen Linghan! The thought of the heartbreaking pain filled Shen Ninghua’s heart with hatred and killing intent.
Shen Dong’s face turned ashen and he shouted at the panicked servants, “Quickly get a doctor, quickly, go!”
Chu Junyi turned around and gestured to the servant beside him. “Go and invite doctor Chen to come here.”
Shen Dong looked at him gratefully. Before he could express his gratitude, he hurriedly went over to support Old Lady Xiao and said, “Mother, doctor Chen has been sent for. The imperial doctor will come over soon. Please endure for a moment.”
Old Lady Xiao’s entire body was twisted with pain. Her wrinkled face was covered in cold sweat. She fiercely gritted her teeth and glared at Shen Linghan, “Good…What a disloyal and unfilial…bastard…You actually…used such a vicious thing to murder me! Our…our Shen family doesn’t have a miss like you…”
Shen Linghan knelt on the ground with a plop. “No, no, grandmother! It’s not me. I bought this pearl from outside. I didn’t know that this pearl contained poison.”
Old Lady Xiao tightly grabbed Shen Dong’s arm, “I… don’t want to see her, let her… let her…scram! Our Shen family doesn’t have such a monster!”
Madam Zhao seemed to be stunned. She knelt beside Shen Linghan and begged, “Mother, Linghan just bought the pearl. She didn’t know there was something wrong with it. Right, this pearl was bought from the Treasure Gathering House. The shopkeeper must know the origin of this pearl. Someone must have framed up Linghan. Master, please speak up for Linghan.”
Shen Dong looked at Shen Linghan, and his eyes were filled with suspicion. Shen Linghan’s behavior in these past few days had made him increasingly disappointed. Who knew if she was deliberately doing this?
Shen Linghan looked helplessly at Shen Dong. “Father, please, you must believe me. I am filial to grandmother. I will never have the intention to harm her. I don’t know, I really don’t know.”
Shen Xuanye’s eyes moved with coldness. Shen Linghan did know nothing about the power of the pearl. He deliberately kept her in the dark in order to make her look innocent and frightened the way she was at the moment. Only in this way would Shen Dong feel sorry for her and continue to investigate this issue.
Sure enough, when Shen Dong saw Shen Linghan’s eyes, he began to waver. After all, he had pampered Shen Linghan for so many years, and he didn’t want to believe that his daughter would be so vicious. He turned to look at Second Prince Baili Jinchuan and said, “Your Highness, this matter…”
Baili Jinchuan nodded. “Go invite the Governor of Capital Guards here and bring the shopkeeper of the Treasure Gathering House for questioning.”
Shen Dong said gratefully, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
Soon, the Governor of Capital Guards rushed over and greeted Baili Jinchuan. After the Governor of Capital Guards knew about what had happened, his expression immediately became wretched. He looked at Shen Linghan as if she was a plague.
Chu Junyi keenly sensed his expression and a guess faintly rose in his heart. Shen Ninghua and the Governor of Capital Guards must have some sort of association, and Shen Ninghua must have something in her hands that the Governor of Capital Guards dreaded.
The Governor of Capital Guards asked, “You are Shopkeeper Zhang of the Treasure Gathering House?”
“Yes, my lord. I am.”
“Then let me ask you, did you sell this illuminating pearl to Miss Shen?”
Shopkeeper Zhang was so frightened that his head was covered in cold sweat, “No, I have never sold any illuminating pearls.”
Shen Linghan immediately refuted, “Nonsense. A few days ago, I went to your shop with my maids Ying Xia and Chun Xi. You sold the pearl to me.”
The Governor of Capital Guards shouted coldly, “Shopkeeper Zhang, how dared you lie to me? Do you need some physical encouragement?”
Shopkeeper Zhang seemed to be frightened out of his wits. He knelt on the ground and trembled like a sieve of chaff. “I confess. I totally confess. My lord, I sold the illuminating pearl to this young lady. However, when I sold it to her, the pearl was intact and there was no poison hidden in it.”
“This pearl is extremely precious. Where did you get it?” Baili Jinchuan asked with a frown.
Shopkeeper Zhang hesitated, “This… this…”
The Governor of Capital Guards shouted coldly, “Why are you so hesitant? The Second Prince is asking you. Confess honestly!”
“Your Highness, a masked woman brought the pearl to my shop and sold it to me. She said that this pearl came from the Xia family and was a family heirloom of the Xia family. I was possessed by ghosts, so I bought the pearl and wanted to make a fortune out of it. Your Excellency, please spare my life.”
Shen Linghan suddenly widened her eyes. “Xia Family’s things… Xia Family’s things… Shen Ninghua, it’s you!”