After Shen An Yan got married, Shen Ting Chi no longer allowed her to go to the Nan Feng Pavilion.
The rare times they met were the few days Shen Ting Chi was able to get out.
However, Shen An Yan heard the only news about Shen Ting Chi from others.
It was rumored that General Lu had taken a liking to one of the male courtesans at Nan Feng Pavilion.
That male courtesan was exceptionally skilled at playing the zither.
The gossip was vile, so Shen An Yan didn't hear it all.
But she could tell that General Lu was sincere towards her brother.
Their relationship was far from the sordid affairs those people described!
However, Shen An Yan's influence was limited. Even if she argued with them, she couldn't win.
But as long as her brother could find someone who truly loved him, what did it matter what unrelated people said?
Yet, Shen An Yan underestimated the power of rumors.
Not long after, General Lu returned to the imperial city.
It was said that he left in a great hurry, departing in the dead of night.
Upon hearing the news, Shen An Yan had no other recourse but to go to Nan Feng Pavilion to find Shen Ting Chi.
The third floor of Nan Feng Pavilion was a place she had never set foot in before.
Shen Ting Chi had been living here for the past few months.
As soon as she entered, she was struck by the furnishings.
They were not overly luxurious, but they inexplicably exuded a sense of comfort.
And inexplicably, she felt that this was where Shen Ting Chi should live.
Even his possessions should reflect his unique style.
"Brother Shen?"
The room was as silent as if no one lived there.
She called out, but no one responded.
She cautiously stepped inside.
A painting on the wall caught her attention.
The person in the painting was General Lu.
This must have been painted by her brother, right?
The person in the painting was clad in armor.
But she remembered that when General Lu visited Nan Feng Pavilion, he wore plain dark robes and never armor.
Yet this armor did not seem imagined.
A vague answer began to form in her mind.
She slowly moved closer, still hearing no sound.
Shen An Yan couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
It was as if something awaited her to uncover...
Her brother, in white, was hanging high from the ceiling beam.
On the table beside him lay a letter.
It was his suicide note.
If not for this suicide note, Shen An Yan would never have known that her brother had not taken his own life, but was murdered!
The killer thought it was flawless, unaware that she had studied calligraphy with Shen Ting Chi for years.
She knew his handwriting like the back of her hand.
Shen An Yan hid the suicide note.
She knew that these people were so audacious, even writing this suicide note so carelessly, they likely weren't worried about it being exposed.
They only sought to avoid further trouble…
Not a single tear fell from Shen An Yan's face. She, who was usually prone to tears, found herself unable to cry at this moment.
Because there was no longer anyone here to gently comfort her…
She didn't know how she calmly called for others, how she faced the official inquiries, or how she returned home.
She remained unusually calm the entire way.
Only when she returned home and closed the door.
Did she finally break down and cry.
Here, there was still someone who loved her.
Her husband.
They held each other and cried until the world went dark.
Until she fainted from grief.
The doctor arrived and said she was pregnant.
After ten months, she gave birth to the child.
Her husband was transferred to the imperial city.
On that day, she begged him to deliver that suicide note to the Lu manor, to General Lu.
She believed he would immediately understand that Shen Ting Chi's death was no suicide!
The case was hastily concluded.
Shen Ting Chi's body lay alone in the grave.
No kin, only the name Shen Ting Chi.
Lu Ming Cang must have been unaware…
Shen An Yan thought so.
But after waiting for a month, what she received was not Lu Ming Cang, but news of her husband's death.
And a group of masked assassins.
Her husband had met a tragic end in the imperial city.
The Lu family was responsible.
Those assassins were also sent by the Lu family.
The cause was that suicide note.
Only on her deathbed did Shen An Yan finally understand the cause of Shen Ting Chi's death.
Lu Ming Cang had been forcibly taken back by his family, and later, under family arrangements, married a renowned beauty of the imperial city.
That night, Lu Ming Cang was taken away.
Little did he know that after he was taken away, Shen Ting Chi was hanged from the beam by people sent by the Lu family.
He knew nothing of all this.
It was said that after they had been married for a year, Madam Lu became pregnant.
But because she had asked her husband to deliver Shen Ting Chi's suicide note to the Lu family, the Lu family's murderous intent resurfaced.
First, they framed her husband, leading to his death, and then they sent assassins to exterminate them all.
That night, the lives of more than a dozen people in the courtyard were extinguished in a single night.
She fought to protect her daughter, while she herself was stabbed multiple times.
Her daughter was just over two years old.
She hid the small body in a cabinet. Fortunately, Shen Yin remained silent.
That's right, her husband had named their daughter Shen Yin.
Because of Shen Ting Chi, she had Shen Yin.
Everything began with Shen, and ended with Shen.
…