When Shen Jinshu woke up, she found herself lying on the street with her clothes disheveled, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Her heart sank to the bottom.
Although she felt perfectly fine, and her clothes had simply been deliberately torn, the people wouldn't listen to her explanations; they would only believe what they saw with their own eyes.
If these people were to see her face, her reputation would be completely ruined.
She was to marry into the Prince Li's mansion and ascend to the position second only to the emperor, so she absolutely could not let anyone know her true identity.
Thinking of this, Shen Jinshu quickly calmed down, lowered her head even further to cover the other half of her face, and got up to run away.
There were too many onlookers, and she was squeezed in the middle, making it difficult for her to get out.
If she forced her way in, these people might see her true face, and Shen Jinshu dared not take the risk.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, she spotted Shen Mingyi hurrying past her and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She pushed through the crowd and ran to Shen Mingyi's side, grabbing his sleeve. "Third brother, I'm your second sister, Song Zhiyu. Please help me."
Upon hearing that familiar voice, Shen Mingyi was first taken aback, then frowned and shook off his hand without thinking, "Song Zhiyu, I never thought you would ever ask me for help."
Upon seeing the person's face clearly, Shen Mingyi was speechless, a pang of heartache flashing in his eyes, "Book..."
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Jinshu pinched his arm hard, her nails digging deep into his flesh, instantly bringing him to his senses.
"Third brother, I am your second sister, Song Zhiyu. Don't you recognize me?" She deliberately emphasized the name Song Zhiyu so that the onlookers could hear her clearly.
As expected, people began to have doubts, and there was a lot of discussion.
"So this woman is the second young lady of the Marquis of Chengen's mansion. I thought she was the eldest young lady."
Few people have seen Song Zhiyu's true face, but they are familiar with Shen Mingyi.
After all, the Shen family clothing store was once very prosperous, but it was poorly managed and gradually declined, eventually disappearing from the capital.
"The two have somewhat similar builds, so it's normal to mistake one for the other. I just didn't expect the Second Miss to be so shameless, appearing on the street in broad daylight with her clothes disheveled. She really is a country bumpkin, completely ignorant of manners and shame."
They were successfully misled by Shen Jinshu. Even the man who had just suddenly seen Shen Jinshu's appearance scratched his head in confusion, somewhat doubting his own eyes.
At this moment, Shen Mingyi finally came to his senses. Before he could even ask Shen Jinshu what had happened, he immediately took the cloak handed to him by the servant and wrapped it tightly around her so that no one else could see her face.
Shu'er is kind, gentle, and soft-hearted. She will soon be married into the Prince Li's mansion. At this crucial moment, no accident can be allowed to happen.
If the common people knew that the disheveled woman in front of them was Shu'er, it would be very detrimental to her reputation, and she might even kill herself to prove her innocence.
Song Zhiyu is different. Her reputation is already bad, and she will be married into the Qin family in the future, so reputation is not important to her.
They were worried about how to get Song Zhiyu to compromise and marry. If she could admit to this shameful affair, not only could they protect Shu'er's reputation, but they could also help the Marquis's family successfully form a marriage alliance with the Qin family, killing two birds with one stone.
After thinking it through, Shen Mingyi pushed Song Zhiyu out without hesitation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my second sister was framed, which led to this heartbreaking incident."
But you all should understand how important reputation is to a person. I hope you can spare my poor second sister and not let her suffer any more distress.”
Shen Mingyi buried Shen Jinshu's face in his arms, shielding her completely, while mercilessly pouring the dirty water onto Song Zhiyu.
His heartbroken and distressed expression, as if he were deeply sorry for his sister, completely fooled everyone around him, making them think he was a wonderful older brother.
Sure enough, the unsuspecting people immediately began praising Shen Mingyi.
"Young Master Shen is so good to his sister. I think those rumors circulating outside that the Marquis's mansion doesn't like the Second Miss are all false. He doesn't seem to dislike her at all."
"..."
Everyone praised Shen Mingyi to the skies, which improved their impression of the Chengen Marquis's Mansion considerably.
Seeing this, Shen Mingyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he also knew that this place was not a good place to stay and that he should leave as soon as possible.
"Thank you all for your understanding. My second sister has suffered a great calamity. I was afraid she might do something rash, so I took her back to the manor to see a doctor. Please make way for my sister and me." Shen Mingyi put one arm around Shen Jinshu and quickly walked out through the crowd.
These people believed his story, and they figured that by tonight, everyone would know that Song Zhiyu had lost her innocence.
Shen Mingyi felt conflicted. He knew that this would be a devastating blow to the woman, and he wouldn't have done it if he had no other choice.
But Shu'er is not like Song Zhiyu; she has a bright future ahead of her and cannot let this matter ruin it. She can only temporarily make things difficult for Song Zhiyu.
In the future, as long as she doesn't cause trouble or make things difficult for Shu'er, he will no longer hold a grudge about what happened before and will give her some compensation.
After comforting himself, the last trace of guilt in Shen Mingyi's heart slowly dissipated.
He carefully escorted Shen Jinshu towards the Marquis's residence, as if he were protecting some rare treasure, which made the onlookers even more convinced that the two siblings had a deep bond and that the previous rumors were all unfounded.
The crowd spontaneously made way for them, and Shen Mingyi protected Shen Jinshu as they walked step by step through the crowd.
Upon reaching the end, Shen Mingyi's face, which hadn't looked too bad before, turned deathly pale the moment he saw the person standing in front of him, his eyes filled with panic.
"How come I didn't know that Young Master Shen had another younger sister?" Song Zhiyu looked at them calmly, her eyes revealing a coldness.
She knew Shen Jinshu wouldn't let it go, and sure enough, she tried to pin the blame on her.
These words caused an uproar among the crowd.
What's going on? Could it be that the person in the Third Young Master's arms isn't the Second Young Lady of the Marquis of Chengen's mansion?
Shen Mingyi clearly felt Shen Jinshu's body stiffen instantly, and felt extremely distressed.
"We'll talk about it when we get back." He lowered his voice and threatened, afraid that Song Zhiyu would reveal Shu'er's identity.
"Why go back to say it? Is the person in your arms so shameful? She is the second young lady of the Marquis's mansion, then who am I?" Song Zhiyu did not back down. When these two were trying to frame her, they didn't show any mercy.
So now you know the pain of being whipped yourself.
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