CHAPTER 358: CHAPTER 356: WON’T LIKE HER ANYMORE

Lu Ying’s silence had already given Shen Yunxi his answer.

Shen Yunxi’s legs gave way, and if it hadn’t been for Lianxin and Lianye supporting her, she would have collapsed to the ground.

Large tears streamed down her face.

She stared at Lu Ying in despair, her mind consumed by memories of the years she secretly loved him.

How glorious Shen Yinning had been back then, with her illustrious family, stunning beauty, and sharp intellect. She was adored by Prince Wu, Lu Shiyan, and admired by every nobleman in the Capital.

Even Lu Ying—the newly titled Crown Prince, cold and taciturn as he was—was willing to bow his head before her.

Time and again, Shen Yunxi had deliberately feigned naivety and innocence, approaching him under the guise of being Shen Yinning’s cousin and addressing him as "brother-in-law." Using excuses of relaying Shen Yinning’s preferences, she coaxed him into outings for leisurely strolls and sightseeing.

And he treated her well, almost as though she were his own sister.

At her request, he would buy her many expensive pieces of jewelry. But each time he did, he would also buy Shen Yinning a separate, even more exquisite set of ornaments—hairpins and bejeweled accessories—that he entrusted Shen Yunxi to deliver on his behalf.

She couldn’t stand it. Countless times, she secretly kept the gifts meant for Shen Yinning and then turned around to tell him that her elder sister not only despised his gifts but also despised him.

Eventually, he began to realize she was trying to seduce him.

He stopped paying her any attention.

She could only watch helplessly as Lu Ying and Shen Yinning grew ever closer, unable to understand how he could love someone as wretched as Shen Yinning.

Driven by jealousy and envy, she made countless effigies of Shen Yinning in secret, cursing her thousands of times to fall from grace and be hated by everyone, praying that she could take her place, basking in her radiance—

Until her father and brother framed her uncle, leading to her entire family’s downfall, and she finally got her wish.

For the past four years, she believed herself to be the most noble, the happiest woman in the world.

She thought she had completely crushed Shen Yinning beneath her feet.

Even when Shen Yinning returned to the Capital from Gan State, she felt no fear or apprehension, going as far as planning endless ways to mock and humiliate her.

But...

But she never could have imagined that this wretched Shen Yinning had silently seduced the Crown Prince!

Then what was all the affection she had flaunted with the Crown Prince in front of Shen Yinning?

A joke?!

Shen Yunxi’s face flushed with fury and shame, her expression twisted with rage.

She cried and wailed, "I thought His Highness had long forgotten Shen Yinning! I thought even if he didn’t love me entirely, I was still different from all the other women to him! I worked so hard to get close to him, so hard to become his wife, and I have loved him with all my heart! How could he hide his rekindled affair with that wretch Shen Yinning from me?!"

Before Lu Ying could reply, she turned her bloodshot eyes to Shen Yinning and screamed, "And you! You wretch! How dare you destroy my relationship with His Highness?! How dare you provoke me again and again?! A defeated dog should know its place! Since you were exiled to Gan State, you should have stayed there forever, serving those lowly men until the end of your days! Your father, your brother, and your mother are all dead—what right do you have to cling to life in this world?!"

She was nearly hysterical.

As she spoke, she lunged forward, trying to scratch at Shen Yinning’s face.

Shen Yinning stepped back.

Several guards instantly stepped between them, shoving Shen Yunxi harshly to the ground.

Shen Yinning looked down at her from above, her gaze cold and disdainful as she watched her struggle in anguish on the ground. "A defeated dog? The game isn’t over yet, dear cousin. What makes you so sure I’ve lost this match?"

Shen Yunxi could only howl and shout like a madwoman.

"Oh, by the way," Shen Yinning smiled, her radiant expression tinged with cruelty, "dear cousin, perhaps you still don’t know this, but your body is completely ruined. From now on, you will never have children again. Do you remember last year during the hunt on the outskirts of the city, how a new Palace Maid appeared to help with your laundry? That maid was me. Every day, I mixed sterility powder into the water to wash your clothes. The scent lingered long enough for the effects to seep into your body. You’ll never bear a child for your beloved Crown Prince again."

Shen Yunxi’s screams abruptly ceased.

She lifted her tear-streaked face in a daze, staring blankly at Shen Yinning.

She couldn’t have children anymore?

But no Imperial Physician had ever mentioned this to her...

Even when the Imperial Physicians came to examine her after she took an arrow for the Crown Prince at Yanzi Ji, none of them had said anything.

Her lips trembled. "You’re lying..."

Shen Yinning chuckled softly. "It’s no lie. After all, Brother Lu Ying was afraid you’d hurt me if you found out the truth, so he bought off every Imperial Physician to keep it from you."

Shen Yunxi suddenly turned to Lu Ying.

Lu Ying’s face remained hidden in the shadow of a tree.

She couldn’t see his expression, only the tight line of his lips.

Panic and despair surged within her as she crawled to him on her hands and knees, clutching at his robes. "Your Highness! Your Highness! Tell me this wretch is lying! Tell me she’s trying to drive a wedge between us!"

The early summer breeze carried the lingering chill of late spring.

Lu Ying was not skilled at lying to women.

He spoke calmly. "She’s not lying to you."

Shen Yunxi stared at him, frozen.

The last glimmer of light in her eyes faded away, her hands falling limp to the ground as though all the strength had been drained from her body in an instant.

She couldn’t even wipe the tears and snot from her face as her shoulders quivered silently with sobs. In a hoarse whisper, she asked, "Your Highness, surely you knew that a woman’s standing in the harem depends on having children, yet you allowed her to treat me like this... After all these years, is she still the only one in your heart?"

Lu Ying’s hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.

Through the dappled light and shadow of the pomegranate blossoms, he gazed at Shen Yinning in the distance.

She was more beautiful than ever, radiant as a blazing sun, so dazzling she seemed to outshine all the flowers of late spring and early summer, burning bright enough to scorch the eyes.

In his youth, he had been like a moth, recklessly flying toward her light, foolishly believing he could make the sun his own.

But now, he would not make that mistake again.

He sheathed his sword. "I don’t love her."

After a pause, he glanced at Shen Yinning again, his narrowed eyes calm and emotionless. "And I never will again."

Shen Yinning tilted her head slightly.

She watched as Lu Ying helped Shen Yunxi to her feet, her voice tinged with discontent. "Brother Lu Ying."

Lu Ying ignored her.

Shen Yunxi was stunned by his favor. "Your Highness?"

Beside them, Shen Xinya couldn’t hide her happiness and quickly stepped forward, feigning obedience. "Your Highness, allow me to help my elder sister."

Shen Xinya began supporting Shen Yunxi toward the Black Stone Hall. As they brushed past Shen Yinning, Shen Yinning suddenly raised a hand to stop them.

Her tone was icy. "Did I allow you to leave?"

"And who do you think you are?" Shen Yunxi, emboldened like a victorious rooster, shot Shen Yinning a vicious glare. "This is His Highness’s domain. He doesn’t care for you anymore, so what gives you the right to stand here barking orders? Doesn’t that make you an eyesore?"

Shen Yinning asked calmly, "What did you just say?"

"I said, His Highness doesn’t care for you anymore, and you still—"

A flash of cold light!

Shen Yinning drew the guard’s sword from her side and slashed directly at Shen Yunxi!

Shen Yunxi instinctively raised her hand to defend herself, but the sword, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud, severed three of her fingers in a single swing!