It was already past midnight when they returned to the general's mansion.

Lingyunxuan was quiet, and the maid on night watch was sleeping soundly by the door.

Xiao Ling climbed over the wall and landed steadily by the window behind Shen Yuan's bedroom, placing Shen Yuan on the windowsill.

Shen Yuan yawned, jumped into the room from the windowsill, and then closed the window.

Xiao Ling didn't linger and turned back to her room.

Shen Wei emerged from the shadows of the trees, his gaze lingering for a moment in the direction Xiao Ling had left before departing from Lingyun Pavilion.

The next morning, Shen Yuan opened the door, startling the maid on night watch.

The young maid saw the quilt draped over her and quickly stood up, clutching the quilt. "Miss...Miss, I didn't fall asleep on purpose!"

Seeing the maidservant shrinking her head, as if she were afraid of her, Shen Yuan touched the tip of her nose sheepishly, then smiled at the maidservant: "It's alright. Your neck must be a little sore from sitting in front of the door last night. You don't need to work today, go and rest!"

The maid was stunned. She hadn't expected that Shen Yuan would not only not punish her, but would also allow her to go back and rest.

After a two-second pause, the maidservant quickly expressed her gratitude: "Thank you for your kindness, Miss!"

Butler Cheng came by in the morning and said that Changfeng Residence had been cleaned up. Shen Yuan then packed her things and moved to Changfeng Residence.

Changfeng Residence is indeed as Shen Wei said, located in a secluded and quiet area in the northwest corner of the General's Mansion.

Compared to other places, this place is very small, with only two side rooms on the east and west sides and a small kitchen besides the main hall. Fortunately, the main hall is spacious and has been divided into three rooms for resting, eating, and relaxing.

Two large water tanks were placed in the middle courtyard, and several new fish were raised there. The fish swam happily in the shade of the trees.

Shen Wei rushed to Changfeng Residence after finishing the morning court session. He looked around and then instructed his servants to add a few more utensils.

The servants brought over all the carved screens and gold-threaded soft pillows from the storeroom, but Shen Wei still felt it wasn't enough, and said, "Bring over the desk that His Majesty bestowed upon me from my room and put it in Miss's room."

Shen Yuan stopped her, saying, "There's no need to change the desk. The small table I'm using now is just fine. The room is small, and there's no room for so many things."

Upon hearing this, Shen Wei said angrily, "Changfeng Residence is far too small. Why not renovate the neighboring courtyard as well and expand it again..."

“General, there’s no need for that.” Shen Yuan couldn’t help but interrupt Shen Wei, smiling at him. “This place is quite nice, even bigger than where I used to live. There’s no need to expand it!”

Upon hearing this, Shen Wei's eyes suddenly reddened.

He looked at Shen Yuan, lowered his head apologetically, and said, "My child, you've suffered so much all these years! It's all my fault! It's all my fault!"

As he spoke, Shen Wei choked up a little.

Shen Yuan didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only stand silently to the side.

Seeing that his daughter's face was expressionless, Shen Wei knew he shouldn't have lost his composure like this. He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said, "Your grandmother is still sick. I'm going to go see her!"

Shen Yuan rose to see him off, saying, "Please give my regards to the old lady for me, General."

"Good, my dear child, your father will let your grandmother know your feelings."

After seeing Shen Wei off at the courtyard gate, Shen Yuan suddenly remembered something and asked, "When did the general send the people to pick up my grandmother?"

"Seven days ago, they should have already passed Jizhou by now." Shen Wei turned to Shen Yuan: "Yuan Yuan, don't worry, the people I sent will be on their way at top speed, and they'll be able to bring your grandmother to the capital in less than a month. Once your grandmother arrives in the capital and clears your name, no one will dare to question your origins anymore!"

Shen Yuan shook her head: "Grandma is old and not in good health, so please make the carriage travel slowly. If she doesn't want to come, please don't force her, General."

After a moment's thought, Shen Wei nodded heavily: "Alright, I'll send someone by carrier pigeon to inform them."

After Shen Wei left, Shen Yuan returned to her room.

But she hadn't been inside for long when she heard a commotion outside, quite loud.

Shen Yuan came out of the house and saw that the large water vat that had been placed in the dean's house was broken. The koi that had been brought there that morning was now lying on the bluestone bricks in the yard, weakly swishing its tail. The whole yard was flooded.

She couldn't help but frown and asked, "What's going on?"

The maid glanced at Shen Qingshu and Shen Changshu, who were blocking the entrance to Changfeng Residence, and whispered, "It's...it's because the eldest young master and the young master were playing Cuju (ancient Chinese football) and accidentally broke the fish tank."

"careless?"

Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow, looked up at Shen Qingshu and Shen Changshu, and saw that the two brothers were staring at her with smug smiles in their eyes.

Shen Yuan smiled, walked down the steps, and picked up the koi fish that had fallen to the ground.

Seeing that Shen Yuan didn't react, Shen Qingshu became even more smug: "How can you be so shameless? You're still staying at my house and refusing to leave?"

Shen Qingshu was thirteen years old, much taller than other children his age. He wore a purple-gold crown inlaid with rubies and a red headband embroidered with pearls. His chin was raised, and his cold and arrogant eyes seemed somewhat incongruous with his still-childish features.

Shen Yuan found it hard to believe that Shen Yunjin, Shen Qingshu, and Shen Changshu were actually her younger sister and brother.

Could it be that their different upbringings led them to develop such sharp-tongued, mean-spirited, and unreasonable personalities?

Seeing that Shen Yuan remained silent, Shen Qingshu assumed that Shen Yuan was afraid of him. He picked up the football and walked into the courtyard, threatening, "Hurry up and pack your things. Go back to where you came from! Our General's Mansion does not welcome bastards of unknown origin like you!"

After saying that, Shen Qingshu raised the football in his hand and threw it forcefully into the large water vat in front of Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan was about to put the koi into the water tank when she was splashed in the face by water from the football ball, and her hair and clothes were soaked in an instant.

Seeing Shen Yuan's disheveled appearance, Shen Qingshu clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.

"A drowning dog! Hahaha!"

Shen Changshu didn't say anything, but he was also covering his mouth and chuckling.

He didn't like this sister of unknown origin at all, and his second sister said that if their father had another child, there would be another person competing with the two brothers for the family property.

Shen Yuan is seventeen years old and will be getting married soon. If she returns to the General's Mansion, her father will definitely arrange a good marriage for her and send her off with a grand wedding procession.

Where did those dowries come from?

They definitely snatched it from those two brothers!

All the land deeds, properties, shops... all the family wealth belongs to the three siblings, and there must not be any more people to share it with them!

So he and his brother were determined to get rid of this wild girl! They wanted to make her give up and not stay in the General's Mansion!

Just then, a calm and even voice suddenly rang out from above.

"It's funny, isn't it?"

"Hmph!" Shen Changshu snorted coldly, ignoring Shen Yuan.

Shen Qingshu crossed his arms and laughed loudly, "Yes, yes, yes! That's hilarious! You look like a drowned rat..."

Before he could finish speaking, the back of his collar was suddenly grabbed, and he flew out like a parabola, crashing straight into the large water vat.

Shen Changshu's expression changed, but Shen Yuan didn't give her a chance to react. She grabbed one of them in each hand and threw them forcefully into the large water vat.