I was pampered like a treasure after being married off to the young marshal, but my father and broth

In his eyes, Shang Sheyu was a good-for-nothing who would never be able to turn his life around.

There's no other explanation for her sudden success except cheating.

"This is just the first written test."

Shang Li stood up: "There are still several more shows to come. You're setting such a high bar now; if you slip up later, you know how badly you'll fall. Do you want the entire Shang family to be dragged down with you?"

Looking at the ferocious-looking man in front of him, Shang Sheyu couldn't help but find it amusing.

This is her older brother.

They immediately convicted her, deeming her a cheater and a menace.

"If you think I'll lose, then you don't need to worry."

Shang Sheyu leaned back in her chair, looking languid: "After all, I'm married now. My surname is now Quan, not Shang."

"Even if I lose, it's the Quan family who will lose face. What does it have to do with the merchants?"

"You!" Shang Li was speechless, his face turning ashen.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, sat back down in his chair, and adopted a more earnest tone.

"Third sister, I know you're holding a grudge."

Shang Li stared at her, his eyes scrutinizing her: "You resent your family and Pengyue because of the arranged marriage incident, so you deliberately targeted her in the competition to embarrass her, didn't you?"

"You feel that your family is biased, that we treat Pengyue better than you."

"But have you ever thought about why we would be biased?"

Shang Sheyu didn't speak, but just looked at him quietly, waiting for him to continue.

She also wanted to know why.

Why is she the daughter of the legal wife, their own sister from the same mother?

Shang Pengyue was merely a concubine's daughter.

However, from childhood to adulthood, her two older brothers, Shang Li and Shang Zhuo, doted on Shang Pengyue, but treated her, their younger sister, like dirt.

He even helped Shang Pengyue bully her.

"Because Pengyue is sensible, she knows how to care for others."

Shang Li said matter-of-factly, "From childhood to adulthood, Peng Yue always thinks of us when she has something delicious to eat, she makes us knee pads when it's cold, and she stays by our bedside to bring us tea and water when we're sick."

"Although she was born out of wedlock, she treated us like her own brothers."

"But what about you?"

Shang Li looked at Shang Sheyu: "You've been withdrawn and selfish since you were little."

"They always keep good things to themselves and never share them."

"When we're sick, you just stay far away, afraid of catching our illness."

"How can we treat a heartless ingrate like you with no gratitude?"

Upon hearing these words, Shang Sheyu finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Selfish and self-serving? Staying far away?"

Shang Sheyu stood up, walked step by step to Shang Li, and looked down at him: "Big brother."

"That winter, you had a high fever and craved osmanthus cake from the south of the city. Who braved the heavy snow, running for miles until their feet were frostbitten, to buy the warm cake and bring it to your bedside?"

"You were the one who complained that the pastry's packaging was wet from the snow, so you threw it in the trash without even looking at it, and then called me an idiot."

"And my second brother, he got into a fight and his head was broken. He didn't dare let Dad know. Who secretly went to the pharmacy to get medicine and brewed it to treat his wound? It was you and my second brother who turned around and told Dad that I pushed my second brother down, which caused me to be beaten by Dad with family discipline and unable to get out of bed for half a month."

With each word Shang Sheyu spoke, Shang Li's face paled a little more.

These old stories, laid bare by her, were like slaps to his face.

"As for the fourth sister..."

Shang Sheyu sneered: "The knee pads she made for you were made with the material I bought with my saved-up pocket money. I stayed up all night sewing them stitch by stitch. She just embroidered her name on them at the end and delivered them to you, and that became her achievement."

"Which of those desserts you eat wasn't made by me? Shang Pengyue is a woman who never lifts a finger; what could she possibly do?"

"What you call 'sensible' and 'thoughtful' is nothing more than her taking credit for my hard work, while you willingly let her keep you in the dark."

Shang Li opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found himself speechless.

Although some memories were vague, Shang Sheyu's reminder made it clear that some parts didn't match up.

But he was unwilling to admit it.

That's enough.

Shang Li interrupted her in a fit of embarrassment and anger.

"What's the point of bringing up such old, trivial matters now? Even if there were some misunderstandings in the past, it's your own fault for not knowing how to explain."

"Besides, Pengyue is now the hope of the businesses, and her reputation is related to their future."

"As the daughter of a merchant, you should yield for the sake of the family's interests."

"I'm here today to warn you."

Shang Li stood up, straightened his collar, and resumed his arrogant demeanor: "You'd better watch yourself in the upcoming matches."

"If you dare to target Pengyue again and embarrass her in public, don't blame me for not showing any brotherly affection."

After saying that, he didn't dare look at Shang Sheyu again and turned to leave in a hurry.

He stopped at the door, glanced back at the magnificent main hall, and gritted his teeth as he uttered:

"Don't think you're all grown up just because you married into the Quan family. Without your family's support, you'll be eaten alive in this kind of big mansion sooner or later. Even if you come back crying and begging us, I won't open the door for you."

Watching Shang Li storm off in anger, Xi'er stomped her feet in frustration.

"Miss, the young master has gone too far!"

Xi'er's eyes reddened: "It was clearly you who did those things, how come it's all the Fourth Miss's credit? How can they be so biased?"

Shang Sheyu, however, remained calm.

She sat back down in her chair, picked up the now-cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

The tea was bitter, but it had a sweet aftertaste when it went down the throat.

"It doesn't matter."

Shang Sheyu put down her teacup, her eyes clear: "From the moment I stepped out of the Shang family's gate, I no longer had a brother."

Debts from the past life, grievances in this life.

Since they've chosen Shang Pengyue, let them be locked together forever.

When the true colors of Shang Pengyue are fully exposed, and when the Shang family is on the verge of collapse, I hope this "good older brother" can still defend his good younger sister with the same righteous indignation he has today.

Inside the merchant's bookstore.

Shang Pengyue stood in front of the tall mahogany bookshelf, her fingers impatiently tracing the spines of the rows of ancient books.

Her movements were so large that several thread-bound books were knocked over and fell to the ground with a few thuds.

"Where is it? Where exactly is it?"

She muttered something incoherently, her eyes filled with a frighteningly sinister glint.

Ever since she lost to Shang Sheyu in yesterday's medical skills competition, she's been acting like she's possessed, burying herself in books and determined to find the source of Shang Sheyu's prescription.

Finally, in a yellowed annotated edition of the Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases, she turned to that page.

"When the cold poison penetrates to the bone, it cannot be attacked without strong medicine. We must fight poison with poison and drive away the cold with fire, putting ourselves in a desperate situation so that we can survive."

Shang Pengyue's pupils contracted, and her breathing became rapid.

really have.

This prescription is a risky move; the slightest mistake could cost the patient their life. Therefore, it is not recorded in ordinary medical books, and is only mentioned briefly in rare and incomplete medical texts.