Shen Manyao

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Shen Manyao (沈曼瑶)
Alias(es)	Former “goddess” of Rende High School; former campus belle 3 40
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Shen family; Chi family through marriage 60 63
Occupation/Role	Former student; actress and female lead of Urban Women Soldiers 94
Status	Convicted and sentenced for kidnapping; exact sentence unspecified 100
First Appearance	Chapter 1 (mentioned) 1

Background and History

Early life and broken engagement

Shen Manyao was raised as the eldest legitimate daughter of the old-established Shen family, a powerful Wancheng clan with deep local ties. Publicly, she was regarded as beautiful, academically gifted, gentle, orderly, and exceptionally well-mannered; her schoolwork was noted for consistently high grades and precise, well-argued writing 1 3.

She grew up alongside Li Rongxiu and became his fiancée after the Li family chose her as a seemingly suitable partner: capable enough to guide him, yet outwardly gentle and sensible. The Shen family actively encouraged the alliance while their business was suffering losses, seeing the marriage as a route to closer cooperation with the Li family 3.

Li Rongyu privately distrusted her polished image, considering Shen Manyao strong-willed, stubborn, and better suited to business than companionship. Li Rongxiu later learned that she had been secretly involved with Chi Junrui while still engaged to him 4 7.

At the engagement ceremony, intimate photographs exposed her affair and pregnancy before the assembled Li, Shen, Chi, and Yao families. Shen Manyao fainted amid the scandal, and the engagement collapsed publicly 6 7. To limit the damage to the Shen family, Shen Yingbo subsequently disowned her 17.

Marriage, career, and downfall

After the scandal, Shen Manyao attempted to regain control of her position. She approached Li Rongxiu at a café, returned the white jade bracelets he had once given her, offered information about the Chi family's asset sale, and sought to create the impression that she might reconcile with him. Her actual aim was to make Chi Junrui fear losing her and their child 22 23.

She ultimately married Chi Junrui. On their wedding day, she gave birth prematurely to a sickly daughter who required incubator observation; Shen Manyao herself was unconscious after the delivery 60. Her marriage remained strained by the Chi family's resentment and Chi Junrui's later involvement with Ji Weibai 60 63.

With her standing in the Shen family weakened by Shen Qiao'an's emergence, Shen Manyao persuaded Chi Junrui to let her return to acting. She secured the female lead in Urban Women Soldiers, using the project to rebuild her career and pursue renewed proximity to Li Rongxiu 94.

While working around Wancheng University, Shen Manyao monitored Li Rongxiu's movements and passed information about him to the Alie family elders' council. She urged them to kidnap him as a means of punishing Shen Yujun, though the attempt failed 97. She was later tried and sentenced for kidnapping 100.

Appearance

Shen Manyao is renowned for an elegant, refined beauty often contrasted with more overtly aggressive socialites. Her appearance and poise were central to her former reputation as Wancheng's “goddess” and campus belle 3 39.

• Thick black hair, often styled to expose her forehead and slender neck 40
• Fair complexion and delicate features, emphasized by understated jewelry 40
• Favored a white evening dress altered for pregnancy, paired with a black diamond necklace 40
• Switched from high heels to white crystal-trimmed flats during pregnancy 40
• Possesses a notably soft, carefully cultivated speaking voice; she reportedly studied with renowned voice actors to refine it 4

Personality

Shen Manyao initially presents herself as gentle, understanding, disciplined, and considerate. She is skilled at maintaining an image of graceful propriety, even when facing public mockery or hostility 3 40 56.

Beneath that image, she is proud, ambitious, and highly conscious of status. Losing the protection of her family name and social reputation leaves her resentful and unwilling to remain passive. She repeatedly seeks to regain influence—whether through Li Rongxiu, Chi Junrui, her acting career, or the Shen family's inheritance struggle 23 41 80 94.

Her methods become increasingly calculating. She uses emotional vulnerability, social appearances, insider information, and eventually surveillance of Li Rongxiu to pursue security and revenge. Her caution leaves Shen Yujun with limited direct evidence against her, but her actions ultimately lead to criminal conviction 22 23 97 100.

Abilities and Skills

Academic ability

Shen Manyao was an outstanding student during her time at Rende High School.

• Consistently earned A and A+ grades 3
• Produced papers described as precise, sharply written, and thoroughly argued 3
• Maintained a diligent, disciplined public image among Wancheng's elite students 3

Acting

Shen Manyao later entered the entertainment industry and demonstrated enough ability to be cast in major productions.

• Her performance in Killer of Shang received positive responses from audiences, media, and critics 94
• Returned to acting after raising her daughter and became the female lead of Urban Women Soldiers 94
• Used her comeback as a means of restoring her public standing and influence 94

Social manipulation and information gathering

Shen Manyao is adept at reading social situations and using carefully controlled behavior to influence others.

• Used tears, vulnerability, and the return of Li Rongxiu's bracelets to test whether she could re-establish leverage over him 22 23
• Supplied Li Rongxiu with intelligence concerning the Chi family's shipyard and asset sale 23
• Maintained composure under provocation at the Chi family auction and while facing Xin Mengmeng's hostility 40 56
• Monitored Li Rongxiu through her work around the university and supplied information to the Alie family elders' council 97
• Her schemes ultimately exposed her to legal consequences 100

Relationships

• Li Rongxiu — Childhood friend and former fiancé. Shen Manyao's affair with Chi Junrui destroyed their engagement; afterward, she repeatedly attempted to use their past connection to regain influence or make Chi Junrui jealous 3 6 22 23.
• Chi Junrui — Former lover and later husband. Their relationship survives public scandal, pregnancy, and family opposition, but becomes strained by his business motives and infidelity 7 26 60 63.
• Shen Yingbo — Father and head of the Shen family. He disowned Shen Manyao to protect the family's reputation, later offering concessions connected to the Shen estate in exchange for her cooperation 17 94.
• Sun Minqiu — Mother. Sun Minqiu remains Shen Manyao's most vocal defender after her disgrace and supports her against the Chi family 38 60.
• Shen Qiao'an — Shen Yingbo's illegitimate son and a threat to Shen Manyao's position within the Shen family. His return shifts Shen Yingbo's favor away from Shen Manyao and Sun Minqiu 79 93.
• Yao Pingting — Chi Junrui's former fiancée and Shen Manyao's public rival. Yao confronted Shen Manyao's affair at the engagement ceremony and helped turn the scandal into a social humiliation 7 8.
• Xin Mengmeng — Longtime hostile acquaintance who repeatedly provokes Shen Manyao over her affair, pregnancy, and marriage 40 56 63.
• Unnamed daughter — Shen Manyao and Chi Junrui's premature daughter, born on their wedding day and placed under medical observation 60.

Notable Quotes

“What we drink has never mattered. What matters is who we drink it with.” 22