Unlike that fool, when she recalled that scene, she didn't think about accusing Nan Shiying of filial impiety. Instead, she wondered why it was her who was observing the mourning period for the Poison Old Man.
Feng Luan, Nan Shiying!
When these two names were put together, Nan Yuan'er's mind conjured an almost absurd conjecture, and from this conjecture spread a matter that was even more terrifying to consider.
If Feng Luan was Nan Shiying, then why, now that she had revealed this truth, was she no longer concealing it?
Was there no longer any need to conceal it?
The more Nan Yuan'er thought, the more uneasy she became. She wanted to go find Nan Chaoyin, but then suddenly stopped.
...
Two days later, the coffin was carried for the funeral procession.
Gouzi and the mansion's servants carried the coffin. The funeral procession, grand and imposing, moved towards the outskirts of the city. The Poison Old Man wished to return to his roots, so Nan Shiying planned to escort his body back to Medicine King Valley for burial.
According to custom, they had to carry the coffin to the outskirts of the city and perform the coffin-carrying ceremony before placing it into a carriage.
A mourning banner was erected on the carriage, and the table inside had been removed. The coffin occupied most of the space within the carriage. Nan Shiying's hand rested on the coffin, paying no mind to any auspicious or inauspicious nonsense.
After Nan Shiying left, a saying spread throughout the capital: Feng Luan was the current Princess Consort!
"Hey, hey, did you guys hear? That Feng Luan is the Regent's Princess Consort?"
"I don't believe it. How could Feng Luan be that Nan Shiying!"
"But it was Nan Shiying who wore mourning weeds and carried the coffin for the Poison Old Man. Feng Luan wasn't seen at all."
"No way, it was her?"
"Yes, that's why this rumor started!"
"Hiss, don't say it, but if we follow this line of reasoning, doesn't that mean every time the Princess Consort closed her doors to visitors, she wasn't really sick, but changed her identity to go out and handle matters for the Prince?"
"Let's count what Feng Luan has done: treated disaster victims, held the Imperial Consort hostage, injured people at Yipin Ju, infiltrated Liao Jiang and caused internal strife, resolved the fog incident at Changming Mountain, uncovered the truth of the Wucheng disappearance case and privately set up an execution ground to torture and kill the Wucheng County Magistrate, passed through Xiling and slaughtered the Qin clan and the Ghost Sha Sect. Hiss~ If this is the Princess Consort, it's simply, simply... unbelievable!"
"Is the Princess Consort this ruthless in her actions?"
"Well... after all, there are no secondary consorts or concubines left in the Princess Consort's inner court."
"So it's not that the Prince dotes on the Princess Consort out of infatuation!"
"The Princess Consort went to send off the coffin."
The commoners who followed the funeral procession out of the city, after finishing their own affairs, returned home. Hearing the discussions everywhere, they couldn't help but chime in: "I saw the Princess Consort with the carriage and leave the capital."
"The Princess Consort personally escorted it?"
The passersby exclaimed in surprise.
The person nodded heavily: "Yes, the Princess Consort personally went to see it off. I saw it very clearly."
"It's confirmed!"
After Nan Shiying personally sent off the coffin without any pretense, everyone went mad. The matter was too bizarre. Who would have thought before today that the Feng Luan, who was like a Buddha or a demon, was the current Princess Consort, the one who was originally labeled as useless, a solitary star of misfortune, with shallow luck and a thin fate, and was mocked, disdained, slandered, and cursed by the world.
Qingshan Monastery should have closed its gates and doors, otherwise, it would have been drowned by the saliva of the capital's citizens.
Look, look, this is the divination you guys calculated.
...
"Ah~"
As the last scream subsided, silence fell again outside the carriage. Nan Shiying's voice came from within the carriage, "Are they all dealt with?"
Xuan Yi replied, "They are dealt with."
"What wave is this?"
"The third wave!"
"Who sent people this time."
"The Bear Division of Liao Jiang."
"Tsk!"
Nan Shiying let out a scoff. Even the trash from Liao Jiang had come looking for trouble, it seemed the news had spread quite quickly.
"Continue on our way!"
"Yes!"
Xuan Yi jumped onto the carriage, tightened the reins, and shouted, "Giddy up!"
The carriage once again drove into the distance.
...
Shen Man shook her hand and threw the dagger to the ground.
At her feet lay a corpse in a pool of blood. Shen Zhong, who was bound tightly, looked at the woman lying in a pool of blood, who looked almost identical to the Shen Man who had killed her, his eyes wide with terror.
How could there be two Shen Mans?
Half an hour ago, he had been drugged and tied up by Shen Man, who was now lying in a pool of blood. After a interrogation lasting half an hour, he had just revealed the location of his hidden correspondence when, in the next moment, she fell into a pool of blood.
"You, you..."
Shen Man squatted down and helped Shen Zhong up. Her cold fingers had no warmth. Her fingers brushed across Shen Zhong's skin, giving him goosebumps. "Are you human or a ghost?"
"Grandfather, are you confused from fright?"
Shen Man's voice was soft. "Of course, I'm human. I'm your granddaughter, Shen Man!"
"Then she!"
Shen Zhong pointed at the person lying in the pool of blood, his voice still trembling uncontrollably.
"She's from the Nan residence."
"Grandfather, it's like this!" Shen Man recounted the events of that day. Upon hearing that the person was from Nan Chaoyin's side, Shen Zhong's eyes seemed to ignite with fire, his chest heaving up and down like a bellows, clearly enraged. "Good, excellent indeed. Nan Chaoyin wants me to die! He wants to protect himself? Heh, as if!"
Shen Zhong let out a cold laugh, his features contorted like a Rakshasa. He looked up at Shen Man, his eyes scrutinizing and appraising her. "Man'er, the outside is heavily guarded. How did you get in, and how did you know I was kidnapped?"
"It was my maid. My maid has always known that she wasn't me. So, after learning that I had returned, she helped me get into the mansion... I didn't know you were kidnapped. I just wanted to find you to explain things first, to avoid any 'true and false daughter' misunderstandings."
"Oh, right, I'm also here to deliver a letter!"
"A letter from the clan elder to you."
"Quick, untie me and give me the letter!"
"Okay!"
Shen Man untied Shen Zhong and painstakingly helped him up.
"The letter!"
As soon as Shen Zhong sat down with Shen Man's help, he anxiously asked for the letter. Shen Man took out the letter from her embrace and handed it to Shen Zhong. Shen Zhong, without any reservation from Shen Man, opened the letter and read it at a glance.
By the end, his expression changed slightly.
"Did you read this letter?" Shen Zhong asked.
Shen Man quickly shook her head, "No!"
"Good!"
Shen Zhong nodded, then said to Shen Man, "Go and call your eldest uncle. You don't need to worry about anything else."
Shen Man obediently hummed, "Then your granddaughter will take her leave. You must take care of yourself and remember to have a doctor look at your wound."
"You're thoughtful!"
Shen Zhong waved her away wearily. Just as Shen Man was about to leave the room, he suddenly called her back, "Man'er, I shouldn't have treated you and your mother harshly because of your father's death. I hope you don't resent me."
"How could I? You're my grandfather!"
Shen Man turned back and smiled at Shen Zhong.