After becoming pregnant, the cold-hearted nobles all went mad.

"No!"

Shen Su also suppressed his anger, "I can give in to you on other matters, but on this matter, you should be punished for your mistake."

The old lady helped Shen Tingjiao up, shielded her behind her, and said in a stern voice, "Then you might as well kill this old woman first."

"You were all there back then, and you heard it with your own ears. That monk said that our Jiaojiao was born with the destiny of a phoenix, and was destined to be an empress."

The old lady's words startled Shen Su, and he only felt relieved after looking around to make sure no one else was there.

Madam Jiang was secretly annoyed that the old lady could say such things, and hurriedly said, "Old Madam, such things should not be said lightly."

Shen Lingyi could hardly suppress the sarcasm in her heart. She now understood why, even though Shen Tingjiao had become the Crown Princess in the storybooks, the General's Mansion still gradually declined.

This is all thanks to her kind grandmother.

With the old lady protecting Shen Tingjiao, Shen Su couldn't possibly have actually killed her.

In the end, the only option was to confine the person to the residence.

Jiang took a sip of tea to calm her anger, but still harbored resentment towards the old lady: "Your grandmother is really senile. She still believes the words of a mad monk after more than ten years."

Shen Lingyi, unaware of the mad monk's origins, asked, "Mother, where did that monk come from?"

"Your father sent someone to investigate, but they couldn't find anything."

Seeing Jiang's gloomy expression, Shen Lingyi knew that she still harbored resentment after all these years. She snuggled against her like a baby swallow, saying coquettishly, "Mother, you still have me."

Jiang's gaze softened. It was fortunate that she had a daughter by her side; otherwise, she certainly wouldn't have been able to persevere.

After returning home, Shen Lingyi tapped the table in thought and then called Feng Ren over.

"What are your orders, Second Miss?"

Feng Ren placed his hands on his knees, lowered his eyes, and knelt on the ground. With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he did not wear a mask even in the mansion, revealing his handsome and elegant face.

Shen Lingyi asked him with concern, "Are you fully recovered?"

"Thank you for your concern, Miss." Feng Ren rolled up his sleeves, revealing smooth lines on his arms and long, slender fingers that could easily crush stones. He used this method to show that he had recovered.

Shen Lingyi raised her finger and handed him the paper she had written on. "This is what I asked my mother about. Try to find it by looking at what's written on it."

He paused, then added, "We must find this person."

Shen Lingyi finally understood what preferential treatment meant for "daughters of destiny".

If an ordinary person had done what Shen Tingjiao did, they would have been condemned by everyone, but she remained unscathed.

Shen Lingyi muttered to herself, "It seems that I can't touch Shen Tingjiao unless I make Grandmother completely give up."

...In that case, she sent someone to find the mad monk.

The old lady believed so deeply in the concept of destiny that only destiny could break it.

"Yes."

Feng Ren is a master at getting things done exactly where he's told; Shen Lingyi only feels at ease when she entrusts matters to him.

The next day.

Peony brought an invitation from the Xie family, and Shen Lingyi was surprised that Xie Chichun, her old rival, would invite her.

"Miss, shall we go?" Peony also found it strange. The Xie family and the Shen family were both oddballs who didn't get along well with others. They didn't belong to any faction in the court and didn't interact with each other much.

Shen Lingyi placed the invitation on the table for the time being and pondered for a long time. "This poetry banquet hosted by the Xie family is a good opportunity to make a name for myself and will be of great help to my admission to the academy."

Shen Lingyi changed her clothes and went to the banquet with Shaoyao.

Upon arrival, they learned that the Xie family had invited women renowned for their talent in the capital.

As everyone knows, Miss Shen is vulgar, rude, and utterly domineering; she was met with much ridicule upon her arrival.

"I never expected Shen Er to come too."

"What is that lady from the Xie family thinking? This person can't even match the poems properly, what's the point of inviting her here?"

"How can she share the stage with us?" Miss Chen, the daughter of the Minister of Works, scoffed. She was proud of her talent and always looked down on the way spoiled brats, and Shen Lingyi was precisely that biggest spoiled brat.

A few years ago, he and Wei Chengrui were known as the "Black and White Duo," but now they have both reformed and are just so-so.

"Shut up, all of you!"

Peony was furious. Who said that? Her young lady wasn't illiterate at all. Shen Lingyi's calligraphy was clearly excellent!

However, since when did the rumor that Shen Lingyi was illiterate begin to circulate in the capital, and everyone believed it without a doubt?

Shen Lingyi also realized that she had been deaf and blind before, and had been slandered so badly while still being clueless and unaware.

"The fact that the Xie family was able to invite you here shows that their judgment is rather poor. In my opinion, your sister is better than you."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a brisk female voice snorted coldly, "What complaints does Miss Chen have about the banquet my aunt hosted? Why don't you speak up and we'll all hear it together."

Xie Chichun emerged from the training ground, his body drenched in sweat, his gaze terrifyingly intense, like a alpha wolf eyeing its prey.

The young lady from the Vice Minister's family instinctively took a step back, her panic evident in her expression.

"Thank you, Miss Xie, you misunderstand. How could I have a problem with Mr. Tingzhu? It was all a misunderstanding."

"I just remembered I have something important to attend to, so I won't keep you two any longer and will take my leave now."

The young lady of the Vice Minister's family cursed her bad luck in her heart.

Xie Chichun's aunt was the most talented woman in the capital, and her reputation was so great that no one dared to say anything about it. Moreover, the Xie family was very protective of their own.

Staying here would be foolish; she doesn't want to get into trouble.

Seeing Xie Chichun snort and about to leave, Shen Lingyi stepped forward and said, "Miss Xie has helped me again, I should be thanking you. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Who wants your thanks?" Xie Chichun said disdainfully. She helped Shen Lingyi not for gratitude, but simply because she couldn't stand those people.

Then, with a fierce look on his face, he said, "Don't think that just because I helped you, everything from the past is wiped clean."

"Do we have anything that could be considered animosity?"

"Of course I have," Xie Chichun said with a sneer, reminding her when she saw that she had forgotten so quickly. "Last winter, you saw that I was dressed thinly and kicked me into Yehu Lake, making me lose face big time."

Shen Lingyi still remembered this incident. It started when Shen Tingjiao provoked her, and the person in front of her stood up for her.

With her grandmother protecting her, Shen Tingjiao couldn't get any advantage from Xie Chichun, so she took her anger out on him.

Shen Lingyi raised her eyebrows slightly, her expression nonchalant.

"Well, you got your revenge. You brought a hornet's nest with you in the spring, smeared honey on my clothes, and made me get stung all over the place."

"We have shared every drink and every bite, so we owe each other nothing. Since we owe each other nothing, we can naturally turn hostility into friendship."

The girl's eyes held a subtle smile, and the bright red floral decoration on her forehead was dazzling and captivating.

Xie Chichun blushed quietly.

I used to only know that she was hateful, so I never cared whether she was good-looking or not. But today I realized that Shen Lingyi is such a femme fatale. It's not unfair to call her a monster.

But after all, they had been enemies for many years. How could she let go of them overnight? "Everyone knows that you and I are mortal enemies."

Shen Lingyi snorted coldly, "The reason we are enemies is not because of the two of us, but because of another person. If you hadn't stood up for others every time, we wouldn't have ended up like this."

Xie Chichun's eyes flickered with hesitation, and after a while, he finally gritted his teeth and asked, "Did Shen Tingjiao really do that kind of thing?"