Winter, blanketed in snow.
Outside the courtyard, frost coated the whitewashed walls; willow branches hung low, swaying in the wind.
Outside the Orchid Garden of the Shen Manor, snow piled knee-deep.
A young woman, having shed her luxurious, layered warm garments, knelt in the icy snow.
The merciless wind and snow lashed her body. Her lotus-blossom face, as bright as the moon, was ravaged by the cold—her lips and teeth turned white, her dark brows obscured by frost.
The matron in charge of the Orchid Garden had come joyfully to welcome their eldest young miss home after her medical studies. Yet, as soon as she stepped through the moon-shaped archway and crossed the long corridor, she saw the pampered daughter of the Shen family, cherished like the moon by all, kneeling in the snow.
Yan Ma'am's legs buckled, and she fell to her knees with a thud. Crawling forward, she reached the girl: "Young Miss! You've studied medicine for six years. The Old Madam and Madam have waited so long for your return. How could you kneel in the snow? Rise at once—the ground is too cold!"
The girl kneeling before her was none other than the eldest Miss Shen, the medical prodigy returning home—and the reincarnated soul from hell, Shen Wan!
She never imagined that when she opened her eyes, she would find herself back at the age of nine.
That year, she had just been taken by her master to Mount Muxian to study medicine.
It wasn't until she turned fifteen that she completed her studies and descended the mountain, becoming the most outstanding physician in that realm.
Over the past six years, she had secretly investigated her origins, uncovering the truth behind the baby swap between herself and Shen Lian.
Now, she had finally found a lead.
She was indeed not the legitimate daughter of the Shen family.
"Sui Sui, why are you kneeling on the ground? Quickly help the young miss up." The matriarch of the Shen family approached from another corridor. Spotting Shen Wan kneeling in the snow clad only in light garments, she stepped directly into the snow and walked toward her.
The "Sui Sui" the matriarch addressed was Shen Wan's childhood name.
At the same time, Lady Shen and the two Shen sons also arrived.
Shen Wan's gaze swept over every member of the Shen family.
Following behind Lady Shen was Shen Chengxiao, the eldest son of the Shen family, and the other was Shen Chengfeng, the second son.
The woman wearing the floral cloak was her adoptive mother, Jing Miaoyi!
Only her adoptive father, Shen Zhengyi, and the third, fourth, and fifth sons of the Shen family were absent.
But it didn't matter; the presence of these individuals was sufficient.
The Old Lady Shen had already approached her, taking her hand and saying, "Sui Sui, rise quickly."
Madam Shen also came over, instructing her two sons beside her, "Quickly drape your sister in the cloak..."
"Sui Sui..." Shen Chengxiao, the eldest son of the Shen family, immediately removed his own cloak. As he approached Shen Wan...
Shen Wan suddenly bowed her head heavily, saying, "Grandmother, Mother, Eldest Brother, it's not necessary."
What wasn't necessary!
Both Lady Shen and Madam Shen were utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend her words.
The second son, Shen Chengfeng, asked, "Sui Sui, did someone bully you outside? Tell your second brother."
"Second brother, no one bullied me. It's just... I'm afraid I'll disappoint Grandmother, Mother, and my brothers."
"What do you mean, Sui Sui? Stand up and speak. Don't kneel. Get up and come inside to talk." Lady Shen's eyes reddened with urgency as she reached out to help Shen Wan up.
Shen Wan seized the old lady's wrist with her free hand, tears welling in her eyes as she shook her head. "On my way back to the Shen residence, I rescued a father and daughter. The girl shares my exact birthdate—she was born on the same day, month, and year as me. Her name is Zhong Lian."
At this point, Shen Wan lifted her gaze to meet Lady Shen's eyes. "When I first saw her, I couldn't help but notice how strikingly similar she looks to Mother."
"But countless women share your mother's features and were born on the same day as you. Kneeling in this freezing snow has only harmed yourself and caused Grandmother and Mother such worry. Shuishui, rise now and speak." Shen Chengxiao finished, reaching out to help her up.
Yet Shen Wan's words halted Shen Chengxiao's movement: "When Mother gave birth to me, she encountered floods and rockslides while returning to her maternal home. Stranded in Anlin Village, she delivered prematurely."
"The family who took her in also welcomed a daughter that very day. Mother placed the hundred-year lock—which Grandmother had commissioned in advance—upon the child."
"But I heard from Mother Yan that the lock later vanished without a trace. Grandmother then had an identical one made for me. Yet, on that girl's body, I saw her wearing a lock exactly like mine."
"If it were just any ordinary longevity lock, it wouldn't matter. But the lotus and koi patterns on that lock matched the design on mine perfectly, and it also bore the character 'Sui' engraved upon it."
"My suspicions grew. When I questioned that woman's father, I learned she was a child he had found abandoned in a mountain ravine while passing through Anlin Village."
"So I deliberately returned to Anlin Village, tracked down the family who had taken in my mother all those years ago, and uncovered the truth from them..."
It turned out that back then, it wasn't that family who secretly switched her with Shen Lian—it was her adoptive father, Shen Zhengyi, who orchestrated the entire scheme...
Shen Lian bore a palm-sized black birthmark on her left cheek. Shen Zhengyi despised her appearance, compounded by her premature birth that left her face wrinkled and shriveled. He deemed her an ill omen, fearing she would frighten the old matriarch if brought home.
Moreover, an unwritten rule prevailed in the Shang Kingdom: every empress throughout history had come from the Shen family. With Shen Lian's appearance, she was utterly unfit to become the future empress.
To preserve the honor and legacy of the Shen clan,
He forcibly swapped her—full-term and already three days old—with Shen Lian. He paid the family hush money, then poisoned the couple into silence as they left the village, ordering them to bury Shen Lian.
It was likely around that time that Steward Zhong found Shen Lian.
Of course, Shen Wan never revealed to Jing Miaoyi that Shen Zhengyi had orchestrated the switch in their identities.
She believed that once Jing Miaoyi learned the truth, she would certainly seek out Shen Zhengyi for answers.
What she anticipated even more was whether, in this lifetime—without the medicine she had concocted to rid Shen Lian of her facial birthmark and restore her beauty—the Shen family would still cherish Shen Lian and hold her in the palm of their hands...
Soon, Jing Miaoyi dispatched servants to retrieve Shen Lian back to the mansion, while the eldest son of the Shen family immediately entered the palace to inform his father, Shen Zhengyi, of the matter.
Upon learning that his biological daughter was not dead and had been brought back to the Ministry of Revenue residence, Shen Zhengyi frowned angrily. "This is absurd!"
"Master, you owe me an explanation. The precious daughter I raised for fifteen years is someone else's child?" Upon returning home, Jing Miaoyi rushed to the South Wing Pavilion, her eyes reddened as she demanded.
Shen Zhengyi replied, "Sui Sui has blossomed into a graceful young woman. She is the prized disciple of the sacred physician of Muxianshan, well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Her bearing and manners are dignified and refined. What more could you possibly want from such an intelligent and exceptionally beautiful daughter? Why bring that child back?"
Jing Miaoyi froze. "Husband, I don't understand what you mean. You..."
"Master, Mistress, the girl has been brought back," Nanny Song interrupted from the doorway.
Shen Zhengyi said, "Don't reveal her identity yet. See her for yourself first, then we'll discuss it."
Jing Miaoyi was filled with confusion, unable to fathom Shen Zhengyi's reaction. But when she saw Shen Lian's true face beneath the veil, she nearly fainted.
The black birthmark on Shen Lian's face had not faded with time. Instead, it had grown darker and spread across her nose bridge as she aged. The entire left side of her face was covered by a slightly raised, horribly ugly birthmark.
How could this bear any resemblance to her?
No—with the veil on, the resemblance was striking. Shen Lian's eyebrows and eyes mirrored Jing Miaoyi's own.
When Song Nanny first laid eyes on her, she had thought Shen Lian resembled Jing Miaoyi in her youth.
But who could have known that beneath the veil, she would appear like a demonic specter, repulsive to behold.
Jing Miaoyi glanced at her from afar before hastily turning back to her own courtyard. "Master, that thing on her face..."
"It's congenital," Shen Zheng replied calmly. Recalling that night fifteen years ago, he sighed. " You know our Shen family is different from others. When you were carrying our last child, the entire clan—even Her Majesty the Empress—longed for a daughter to ensure the Shen lineage could inherit the Empress Dowager's throne. But when that child grew into this monstrosity, how could I possibly present her to the Empress?"
"So Shen Wan is the child from that family in Anlin Village?" Jing Miaoyi asked.
Shen Zhengyi did not deny it: "She was born three days before our child, and full-term at that. I saw her appearance was exquisite—fair and delicate, radiating good fortune. Such features were what our daughter should have possessed. So I requested that family's child instead."
Having navigated the treacherous waters of officialdom for years, weathered countless schemes and betrayals, and witnessed too much darkness, his expression remained utterly unruffled as he recounted this matter.
If Madam truly wishes to bring her back to the Shen residence, it is not entirely impossible. We shall announce to the outside world that she and Sui Sui are twin sisters, the second-born, who remained at the estate to recuperate due to frail health since childhood. Now that she has reached the age of coming of age, she has returned to the capital to discuss marriage. As for Shen Wan, she must remain the legitimate eldest daughter of the Shen family—the future Empress!