Chapter 154 Conspiracy and Framing
She looked at Song Sangyu in disbelief.
Bai Mei approached step by step, her gaze sharp as a knife.
Left with no other option, Ruan Jiawen could only awkwardly offer a bow.
Song Sangyu stood up, forcing herself to remain calm:
"Sister, why aren't you staying at your Marquis's residence? What brings you to my Song family?"
Shen Yiqiu was too lazy to engage in pretense with her and coldly said:
"Of course I'm here to take back what belongs to me."
Song Sangyu immediately realized that she was referring to the huge dowry that the old Marquis of Yongjia, Shen Zhaohua, had left in the Song family's storeroom, specifically for her.
A flicker of panic crossed her face, and she quickly stepped forward to block his path:
"Are you here to collect the inheritance?"
Looking at her guilty-looking appearance, Shen Yiqiu's suspicions deepened:
Why not?
She ignored them and walked straight toward the warehouse.
Song Sangyu suddenly changed her expression, went berserk, and screamed shrilly in the courtyard:
"Quick! Go call your brother! Call your father! Call your mother! Shen Yiqiu has gone to the storeroom again; she's going to steal things!"
Shen Yiqiu sensed something was amiss, broke free from her grasp, and quickened her pace towards the warehouse.
Sure enough, the warehouse door was locked, with three heavy brass padlocks hanging prominently above it.
Bai Mei frowned: "Miss, this..."
Shen Yiqiu's eyes turned cold: "Break down the door!"
"yes!"
Bai Mei immediately directed the servants from the Marquis's mansion she had brought to find sturdy wooden stakes. Together, they began to systematically ram the heavy storeroom door.
"They've rebelled! They've defied the heavens!"
Song Qingming's exasperated voice came from behind.
“You unmarried daughter dared to openly break down the treasury door in your father’s house. Shen Yiqiu, do you still have any respect for me as your father? Do you still have any respect for the law? Don’t forget, even if you are the Marquis of Yongjia, you are still my daughter.”
Shen Yiqiu turned around and gave a perfunctory bow: "Father."
Song Qingming rushed forward, pushed aside the servant who had rammed the door, and glared angrily at Shen Yiqiu:
"What are you doing back here? Are you going to tear this house down?"
"I just want to take back what belongs to me, as clearly stated in black and white."
"What do you mean 'yours' and 'mine'? This all belongs to the Song family, to everyone! Since you've severed ties with the family and changed your surname, voluntarily leaving the Song family, it means you've given up everything. I'm only willing to share with you out of consideration for our father-daughter relationship. Look at yourself now, what kind of behavior is this? Disregarding family ties and social norms, you're simply a scoundrel!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Yiqiu burst into laughter, a laugh filled with sarcasm.
Too lazy to argue with him, she simply gave the order:
"Keep ramming the door!"
Just then, Song Sangyu helped the seemingly dying Song Shenshi out, followed by her four older brothers.
Seeing Song Shenshi and Song Sangyu's hands clasped tightly, Shen Yiqiu's last trace of longing and expectation for her mother vanished completely.
If she can forgive betrayal, what else is there to say?
Song Shenshi's voice was weak; it seemed more like an admonition than a reprimand.
“Yiqiu…we were wrong about what happened back then…but…but it has nothing to do with you, your brothers and sisters…Can you…let the Song family go, let Sangyu go, let your brothers go…”
Several older brothers' interfaces:
"Yes, little sister, we're family after all, connected by blood, why be so cruel?"
"We're all family, let's talk things out, why resort to violence?"
"Yiqiu, come back. Your brothers will definitely treat you well from now on..."
"That's right, we're all family, what's yours is ours too."
Bai Mei was so angry that she trembled all over and couldn't help but speak up:
"Madam's words are rather biased, and the young masters' words are even more laughable. How did you treat Miss back then? Now you're talking about blood ties?"
Shen Yiqiu raised her hand to stop Bai Mei, her gaze calmly sweeping over the group of people in front of her:
“Madam Song, what do you mean by letting me go? What my grandmother left me is clear and unambiguous; it is my dowry, meant solely for my own survival, and has nothing to do with the entire Song family!”
“I have always been incredibly kind and righteous to the Song family and my brothers. Since I returned home, what haven't I done to help them? And what about you? Have you ever, even for a moment, treated me as family? Have you ever, even for a moment, regarded me as your sister?”
The people on the field were speechless after her question, their expressions changing as they remained silent.
Shen Yiqiu stopped looking at them and resolutely ordered, "Break down the door!"
The members of the Song family exchanged a sinister look.
Bang!
Just then, the warehouse door was suddenly kicked open.
However, the scene inside the door made Shen Yiqiu's heart sink. It was completely empty. The huge warehouse looked as if it had been ransacked, with nothing left.
Shen Yiqiu strode in and opened the hidden room mechanism with practiced ease.
Inside, it was also completely empty.
She realized she had fallen into a trap and was about to back out when a loud bang came from behind her. The iron door of the warehouse was slammed shut, and the sound of the lock clicking shut was clearly audible.
The servants from the Marquis's mansion that she brought were forcibly separated from her by the servants of the Song family. Inside the gate, only the Song family members, her, and Bai Mei and Qing Zhu remained.
Bai Mei reacted extremely quickly, instantly drawing her sword and standing in front of Shen Yiqiu, shouting sharply:
What do you want to do?
Song Sangyu laughed triumphantly, filled with the satisfaction of successfully retaliating:
"Sister, you've always been so clever, but you've made a foolish mistake! Haven't you heard of the saying 'catching a turtle in a jar'? This isn't your Yongjia Marquis's residence, nor is it the Crown Prince's Palace. No one will come to rescue you!"
As Shen Yiqiu looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces before her, their figures slowly overlapped with those who had tormented her in the woodshed of her past life.
It turned out that no matter how much she struggled or resisted, this family was like a demon crawling out of hell, their greedy and vicious nature never changed, and they never thought of letting her go.
Bai Mei, sword in hand, warned: "To murder a high-ranking official of the imperial court is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family! How dare you!"
Qingzhu shouted anxiously, "Miss, they were just putting on an act to lure us in!"
The second brother strode forward, leering as he reached out and hooked his hand towards Qingzhu's chin. Qingzhu turned her head away in disgust.
He then smiled sinisterly:
"Now you understand? Too bad, it's too late! From the day you inherited the title, we began secretly moving things from the treasury. Yes, it bears Shen Zhaohua's private seal, but now the Marquis of Yongjia is you, Shen Yiqiu! Once you're dead, this enormous, ownerless fortune will naturally fall into the hands of the Song family!"
The eldest brother, Song Tianhan, rubbed his hands together, his face full of greed:
“Little sister, don’t blame your brothers for being heartless. Blame yourself for being disobedient. We’re all very tight on money, and we’re counting on this to turn our lives around. If Sang Yu had inherited the title, we wouldn’t have needed to go through all this trouble.”
Shen Yiqiu forced herself to calm down, turned her gaze to the silent Song Shenshi, and deliberately squeezed out a few sorrowful tears:
"Mother... I am your biological daughter. The one beside you isn't even related to you by blood. They've been lying to you and using you all along. Why... why are you still helping them?"
There was no remorse on Song Shenshi's face, only resentment. She looked at Shen Yiqiu as if she were looking at an enemy.
"Who do you think ordered Zhao Xuan to open the door for those bandits back then? Shen Zhaohua... She killed my father, she killed my dearest younger brother and sister! I want her dead! I want her Shen family line to end!"
"If you had just behaved yourself as the eldest daughter of the Song family and hadn't tried to sever ties or change your surname, I might have spared your worthless life! But you insisted on recognizing a thief as your ancestor! The Shen family should be wiped out!"
Shen Yiqiu felt a chill run through her body. She thought about many things, but she never imagined that there could be a mother in this world who hated her own daughter to the core.
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