Chapter 229 - 227: Best to Kill Her

Words : 1377 Updated : Sep 25th, 2025

Shen Yinning deliberately revealed a look of difficulty: "It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I’m insignificant and powerless. By the Empress Dowager’s side, I’m merely a bit more dignified than ordinary palace maids. Besides, the Empress Dowager is old and doesn’t have much authority in the temple. If you want to be well-received, you should go appeal to the Crown Princess Consort." "All this goes back to being your fault!" Gao Yun sneered, "You and the Crown Princess Consort are clearly cousins. Yet you’ve chosen to offend her, making it impossible for us to interact with Shen Guogong Mansion through family connections! If my brother hadn’t married you, he might already be the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice by now. Instead, Cui Ji is the one enjoying that post!" Shen Yinning feigned guilt: "Once we return home, I will apologize to my husband. The Heaven Worship and Blessing Ceremony is about to begin, so I must go to the Empress Dowager’s side now. I ask you to help me safeguard this sacrificial text. This is what I wrote for the Virtuous Princess; the Empress Dowager values it greatly and plans to personally burn it for the Princess this afternoon." "By the way, I heard the Crown Princess Consort also wrote a text, but her handwriting is atrocious. Yesterday, she asked me several times to exchange texts, but I didn’t agree. I’m worried she might send someone to steal it; you must ensure this text is kept safe. If this sacrificial text wins favor with the Empress Dowager, I can use that opportunity to speak favorably about my husband in her presence." After saying this, Shen Yinning gave the pair a meaningful glance before leaving the Zen room. Yin Shanshan and Gao Yun simultaneously looked at the longevity-patterned wooden box. Gao Yun whispered, "Shanshan, tell me, if we secretly swap Shen Yinning’s text with the Crown Princess Consort’s, will the Crown Princess Consort favor us once she finds out? Even Shen Yinning said the Empress Dowager lacks authority nowadays. Rather than having her use the text to curry favor with the Empress Dowager, wouldn’t it be better for us to give it to the Crown Princess Consort and ally with her?" "Great minds think alike; I was just thinking the same!" Yin Shanshan suppressed her excitement, "If the Crown Princess Consort sees how sensible we are, she might arrange for us to stay in a Zen room and have palace maids serve us. Gao Yun, our good days are just beginning!" Heaven can bear witness—finally, her life as a transmigrator was about to ascend to glory! She firmly believed she was the heroine of this world. And the Crown Princess Consort, Shen Yunxi, was unquestionably the secondary female lead. It was their destiny to become good sisters, and today’s sacrificial text incident would surely mark a turning point in their relationship! As the Heaven Worship and Blessing Ceremony began, everyone moved to the temple’s front courtyard, leaving the rear Zen rooms nearly empty. Yin Shanshan and Gao Yun quietly swapped the longevity-patterned wooden boxes from Shen Yinning’s and Shen Yunxi’s rooms, then cheerfully went to share the "good news" with Gao’s mother and Gao Zheng. Gao’s mother was washing clothes so long her back ached and hands were swollen. She straightened her back, overwhelmed with excitement: "Does this mean I don’t have to wash these clothes anymore? We’ll soon be living good days?!" "Mother, with the Crown Princess Consort’s help, you’ll soon be discussing Buddhist Law with the Empress Dowager!" Gao Yun remarked smugly. "Amitabha!" Gao’s mother’s eyes turned red with emotion, "As the mother of an Eighth-Rank Evaluator of the Ministry of Justice, I am a person of some significance here in the Capital. Yet I had to spend the entire night in this temple washing clothes for others! Finally, my suffering is at an end! Shanshan, if I may say so, your elder brother is utterly unreliable! What on earth has he accomplished?!" Yin Shanshan replied reluctantly, "Mother, isn’t everything getting better now?" "And that Shen Yinning," Gao’s mother straightened her back, cursing, "Ungrateful wretch! As a daughter-in-law, she serves the Empress Dowager all day long and doesn’t even consider attending to me! She has no sense of filial duty, no decency! When I see the Empress Dowager, I will certainly put in a word against her!" Gao Zheng didn’t join in on the disparagement of Shen Yinning, instead focusing intently on his prospects. Though he’d arrived at Shengguo Temple, he hadn’t received any introductions; officials ranked above Third Grade paid him no mind at all. For instance, last night, when several ministers were discussing northern and southern agriculture, he sat among them full of confidence, sharing his insights, only for them to turn a blind eye, their faces showing cryptic smirks that embarrassed him greatly. These ministers utterly failed to realize whom they had slighted! They had offended a future Prime Minister and Grand Secretary—the right-hand man of the next Emperor! After returning, Gao Zheng brooded indignantly all night. He determined that if he wanted to advance, he must rely on Shen Yinning. Tonight, he made up his mind to send Shen Yinning to the Crown Prince’s bed, ensuring she would open her legs and secure his bright future! While the members of the Gao Family entertained their individual ambitions, the Heaven Worship and Blessing Ceremony proceeded smoothly. By the time the ceremony concluded, it was already noon. Shen Yinning accompanied Empress Dowager Li for lunch. Upon returning to the Zen room, she immediately noticed the swapped sacrificial texts. Gently brushing a hand over the wooden box, her gaze revealed a cold, mocking glint. The afternoon marked the time for the sacrificial ceremony honoring the Virtuous Princess. The Virtuous Princess was the Empress Dowager Li’s beloved daughter and Emperor Lu Yu’s cherished sister. Consequently, the Imperial Family held this ceremony in great reverence. Besides Shen Yinning, only the Imperial Family members were invited, with the Huaguang Hall adorned with Everlasting Palace Lamps and over a hundred monks reciting scriptures for her blessing. Having lost her daughter in old age, white-haired bidding farewell to black-haired, Empress Dowager Li couldn’t help shedding countless tears. Supported by Liu Nanny, she narrowly avoided fainting from excessive grief. Shen Yunxi dabbed her teary eyes, choking up: "Poor Royal Aunt, taken from us so young, leaving those of us alive sorrowful and heartbroken. Royal Grandmother, I prepared several sacrificial texts for Royal Aunt with great care, hoping to properly honor her and comfort her spirit in the afterlife." Empress Dowager Li closed her eyes mournfully: "Bring them forth." Shen Yunxi received the longevity-patterned wooden box from Lianxin and was about to open it when she caught Shen Yinning in the corner of her eye. She smiled slightly and casually commented, "I heard Cousin also prepared a sacrificial text for Royal Aunt. Cousin, why don’t we start with yours?" Shen Yinning didn’t miss the trace of malice in her gaze. She replied warmly, "This humble servant abides by Your Majesty’s directive." Shen Yunxi was elated, hesitating to even blink. She could hardly wait to see the Empress Dowager’s reaction upon discovering Shen Yinning’s sacrificial text adorned with drawings of large turtles. Surely, she would be utterly enraged and command for Shen Yinning to be flogged, perhaps even to death! The thought thrilled her, and she craned her neck in anticipation— Only to see Shen Yinning produce sheets filled with meticulously written sacrificial texts, each line impassioned and mournfully elegant, the strokes resembling majestic phoenixes and steel-plated hooks. Ink slightly smudged at poignant sections, making it appear as though the writer had wept in grief over the Virtuous Princess’s premature demise. Page after page, Empress Dowager Li grew tearfully inconsolable, collapsing multiple times in Liu Nanny’s embrace. Shen Yunxi was dumbfounded. She had clearly replaced Shen Yinning’s sacrificial text with the turtle drawings—where had these texts come from? Could Shen Yinning have rewritten them? Suspicious, she stared at Shen Yinning, only to see her calmly comforting Empress Dowager Li, not revealing the slightest trace of duplicity. As Shen Yunxi floundered, Empress Dowager Li, struggling through her tears, asked, "Where is the Crown Princess Consort’s sacrificial text?"

Chapter 229 - 227: Best to Kill Her

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