Shen Yingluo glanced at Shen Xihe, then turned her gaze to Shen Yueshan, who nodded in response.
For some reason, a surge of anger rose in her chest. Shen Yingluo said, "Weren't you also pushed off the boat that day?"
Shen Yueshan's eyes turned sharp. How could Shen Xihe have been pushed off the boat? Wasn't it the doing of the spy Xiao Shi had meticulously planted for ten years?
Realizing Shen Yueshan's anger, Shen Yingluo understood she had spoken carelessly. After all, it was her own mother who had orchestrated the incident. She shouldn't have lost her temper, yet she stubbornly refused to back down.
"Linglong was to me then what Tan Shi is to you now," Shen Xihe replied without anger. Both Xiao Shi and Linglong were dead—she had already exacted her revenge.
Moreover, without Linglong's push, how would she have had the chance to receive Gu Qingzhi's guidance? How would she have encountered the Fairy Ribbon and obtained the Bone Shedding Pill? Without the pill, even if she hadn't fallen into the water, she likely wouldn't have many days left to live.
Fortune and misfortune are intertwined. Thus, she had long put the past behind her.
Shen Yingluo looked at Tan Shi beside her and had to admit that if Tan Shi ever plotted against her, it would be a fatal blow. Tan Shi had accompanied her growing up, just as Linglong had accompanied Shen Xihe.
"I neither like nor dislike you," Shen Xihe stated plainly. "I understand the longing in your heart, but you've forgotten your position. Besides being Father's daughter, you are also His Majesty's niece. Do not forget how you came into this world. His Majesty used your mother back then, and he will use you in the future."
It was as if a sudden clarity struck Shen Yingluo. Her pupils contracted, and she seemed to lose her spirit in an instant, becoming utterly desolate. She staggered, unable to stand steadily, and Tan Shi had to support her.
Tan Shi couldn't bear it. "Princess, please show some mercy."
The truth was too cruel. Over the years, while His Majesty hadn't showered Shen Yingluo with excessive favor, he had never neglected her. He was the only relative who truly kept her in mind.
"I'm not saying His Majesty's kindness toward you is necessarily driven by ulterior motives," Shen Xihe softened. "Perhaps it's to make up for his guilt. But you must understand that the favor you perceive as genuine affection feels that way precisely because you are distant from us. Otherwise, do you think His Majesty's favor would remain so pure?"
Shen Yingluo clung tightly to Tan Shi, looking as lost and helpless as a child who had strayed, her eyes brimming with tears and panic.
"Since your birth, you've been under His Majesty's protection because Father neglected you. That is why His Majesty genuinely cares for you," Shen Xihe said softly. "You are no longer a naive child. You are exceptionally intelligent and should understand that one day, we and His Majesty will find it difficult to coexist. Now, you lack neither wealth nor status, and it will remain so in the future."
No matter who prevails in the end—His Majesty or their side—as long as Shen Yingluo maintains her current stance, they will not harm her, and His Majesty will not implicate her. Even if the Shen family were to face execution, she could follow Xiao Fuxing's example and take her mother's surname.
A clear tear slipped uncontrollably from the corner of Shen Yingluo's eye."Neither I nor Father have ever resented you for your background," Shen Xihe continued. "But ask yourself this: if you were required to sever the bond of flesh and blood between Your Majesty and yourself, and from now on engage with His Majesty in superficial courtesy as I do, only then could you receive Father's care—could you truly do it?"
In the cold wind, Shen Yingluo opened her mouth. She desperately wanted to say she could, but no sound emerged, for her reason told her she couldn't!
Just as Shen Xihe had said, the favor His Majesty had shown her thus far contained no ulterior motives of exploitation, even if there might be some observation. His Majesty had brought her into the palace, made her a study companion to the princess, taught her to read and understand principles, and was the only one who never forgot her birthday each year.
Her respect and gratitude toward His Majesty couldn't allow her to become an ungrateful wretch. She couldn't, for the sake of gaining Father's affection, betray her conscience by viewing all His Majesty's kindness over the years as calculated schemes for future use.
She wasn't important enough for that. If His Majesty truly had such intentions, he wouldn't have allowed her elder sister to enter the capital. By agreeing to her sister's arrival, he acknowledged that Shen Yueshan held no paternal affection for her.
Yet during festivals and holidays, His Majesty's generosity toward her never diminished in the slightest. "I... have been insatiably greedy..." Shen Yingluo barely managed to utter these words, using all her strength.
"Realizing it now is not too late." Shen Xihe lowered the carriage curtain. "Live your life well from now on. Father has said he won't allow anyone to bully you."
Shen Yueshan sighed softly and added, "Take care of yourself."
Watching their carriage disappear into the distance, Shen Yingluo's tears burst forth. Once alone, she could no longer restrain herself and collapsed into Tan Shi's embrace, weeping bitterly.
Tan Shi gently patted her back. After a long, long time, Shen Yingluo finally choked out, "I'm not as good as her..."
"The Princess's magnanimity is beyond ordinary comparison." Even as Shen Yingluo's confidante, Tan Shi couldn't help but admire Shen Xihe.
Shen Yingluo's single-minded longing for her father's care undoubtedly meant competing with Shen Xihe for benefits. Yet Shen Xihe never resented her for this—this was her second act of tolerance, following her first of not resenting her because of Xiao Shi.
Shen Yingluo had forgotten her own circumstances, forgotten that she was still connected to His Majesty. Had it been any other sister, they would have long used this matter to mock and humiliate her to the point of utter shame and fury.
But Shen Xihe didn't. Instead, she gently awakened her with soft words—this was her third act of tolerance.
Finally, Shen Xihe acknowledged Shen Yueshan's promise not to tolerate any bullying of Shen Yingluo—this was her fourth act of tolerance.
If their positions were reversed, Shen Yingluo asked herself, she couldn't have done it. Not only couldn't she, but probably few in this world could achieve such conduct.
She had always considered herself outstanding in virtue, appearance, speech, and skill. She believed that even if she wasn't better than Shen Xihe, she wouldn't be inferior. But today she understood that she fell far short of Shen Xihe in both virtue and magnanimity.
"Why did you have to say those things to her?" Back at the Princess Manor, walking inside with his daughter, Shen Yueshan sighed softly.
"Just as you told her not to overthink—it's better to have short pain than long pain," Shen Xihe replied. "If she isn't awakened now, she might maintain rationality once or twice, not being used by others or provoked. But who can guarantee she won't waver the third or fourth time?"Those words were truly cruel to Shen Yingluo, making her soberly aware of her own situation. Had she not softened her heart at the last moment, she would have made Shen Yingluo firmly believe that the only person who had ever held her in their heart from beginning to end was also harboring ulterior motives.
"Youyou is kind-hearted." Shen Yueshan offered an ingratiating smile.
Making Shen Yingluo completely disillusioned with Your Majesty was the way to eradicate any possibility of her leaning toward Your Majesty. Although they were not close to Shen Yingluo, they were still bound by blood ties. If one day Your Majesty ruthlessly decided to use Shen Yingluo, it might inevitably become a constraint for them.
It was better to make Shen Yingluo guard against Your Majesty earlier.
In the end, Shen Xihe could not bear to see Shen Yingluo too pitiful and thus showed mercy with her words.
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