They hugged each other for a bit before letting go. Xi Lin hadn’t forgotten Si Mobai’s warning that they couldn’t even hold hands, let alone hug.
“Dai’er, what the hell happened during that time? At the time, that boy, He Lianhuang, suspected that you would die, but we didn’t believe him.” Saying this, Xi Lin felt ashamed. As Dai’er’s good friend, she had actually believed it so easily.
He Lianhuang really liked Dai’er. If he didn’t, how could he have gotten it correct, right down to the last detail? He was the only one who had suspected anything.
Compared to He Lianhuang, she and her Imperial Brother were an embarrassment.
Feng Tianlan looked up at the tall, languid, and noble Xi Lin, whose face was filled with shame, worry, and doubt. She tried to think of what to say and finally opened her mouth to briefly recount what had happened during that time.
Her health hadn’t been that good at the beginning of that year. In order to avoid getting sick, she’d cooped herself up at home most of the time and had rarely gone out to play, even when Sister Lin asked her. Moreover, when Sister Lin’s sister went to Shang Institution to cultivate, she went outside even less frequently.
At the time, He Lianhuang was a hostage, so he had little freedom. Furthermore, men and women weren’t allowed to interact with each other much.
Big brother Jin happened to be traveling then, so they hadn’t been able to meet up. The people she saw the most during that time and who were the most solicitous for her well-being were Jiang Ying and Shen Yunya. Her illness didn’t improve, but it also didn’t worsen. To this day, she couldn’t come up with an answer for what might have caused it.
She could only say that Shen Yunya’s methods had been too clever.
And now, when she thought about it, the matter of Shen Yunya wanting to kill her wasn’t something that had happened overnight. Perhaps she had plotted her death for a long time and rehearsed for a lengthy period. She’d had so much hatred in her heart, and yet she still had inquired so solicitously about her well-being and addressed her as “sister” with a smile.
How strong was Shen Yunya’s endurance?
Three years had passed. Even if she wanted to search for evidence, even if she claimed to be Shen Qingdai and accused Shen Yunya as her murderer, how many people would believe her? She was afraid that everyone would think that she was a demoness and want to burn her at the stake.
Therefore, it was a hopeless situation. There was nothing else she could do but seek revenge and take back the Shen Family.
After listening to what Feng Tianlan said, Xi Lin was stunned and absolutely didn’t dare to believe it. She said, “Are you saying it was Jiang Ying and Shen Yunya who killed…”
Feng Tianlan imperceptibly nodded her head and said, “Hard to imagine.”
If she hadn’t been the person they’d killed, she also wouldn’t have believed such a thing just based on the deep affection they’d showed her in front of people.
Xi Lin swallowed hard and said, “I finally understand why I don’t like the two of them very much.”
Before, when she was young, she’d only taken them out to play because of Dai’er, and she’d found that the two of them actually got along rather well, so there hadn’t been too much resistance on her end. But she hadn’t expected the two of them to kill Dai’er in the end.
Feng Tianlan pressed her lips into a thin line. No matter how much she disliked them, it was too late to do anything about it.
Xi Lin worriedly said, “But Imperial Brother and Shen Yunya are about to get married. She’s so vicious, and she’s long since hooked up with Jiang Ying. How can she become the princess consort and the queen?”
“That’s why I wanted you to persuade him not to marry Shen Yunya.” It was also why she had revealed her true identity to Sister Lin.
Xi Lin took Feng Tianlan’s hand and walked outside. “I’ll take you to see Imperial Brother,” she said. “You tell him that you’re Dai’er. Your appearance will trump everything else. Imperial Brother won’t marry her.”
“Sister Lynn, it won’t work.” Feng Tianlan shook off Xi Lin’s hand.
“Why?” Xi Lin looked at Feng Tianlan in surprise and said, “Shen Yunya is so vicious, and she killed you. Why does she have the right to be happy? We can’t let her marry Imperial Brother. We can kill her when the opportunity strikes. She has too many connections. It’s not possible to kill her right away.”
