Severing ties

With a swish, a man leaped down from the rafters. He wore black, with a black cloth covering his face and leaving only his deep, icy eyes exposed.

Shen Yangge: "..."

There really was someone up there.

When had he gotten up there, and how long had he been there?

"Yang'er, this..."

Madam Shen was a little startled. Shen Yangge motioned for the man in black to speak. "My friend from the rafters, you must have been up there for quite some time. No one knows better than you who planted the incense."

The man in black nodded and lifted his chin, answering coldly, "Her."

His gaze fixed squarely on the young woman pretending to be frail.

Shen Susu shrieked, "That's a vicious lie! I don't know anything! Why are you framing me?!"

The man in black folded his arms and sneered. "I've seen plenty of people like you. Why pretend to be an innocent white lotus? You're a black-hearted lotus if ever I saw one. How do you think you got into this room?"

[-Wait, don't tell me this guy is about to say...]

"If I hadn't opened the door, could you have gotten in?"

Shen Yangge: "..."

"How dare you slander our young lady! Who are you, anyway, to enter the second young master's room?"

What a comeback.

The man in black said, "I'm the second young master's personal guard. Protecting him is my duty. Even sharing his bed would be perfectly within my rights. What kind of lowlife are you to question me?"

The maid's face flushed red, then turned livid with rage. As a woman, she should have had the upper hand in an argument, but against this man in black, she couldn't even save face, let alone gain an advantage.

The maid was furious but helpless. In the past, she would have already summoned people to teach this master and servant a lesson. But now the second young master had earned the Crown Prince's favor, and Consort Shen thought highly of him as well. Rashly offending him would only bring consequences she couldn't bear.

Besides, the fifth young lady had a marriage arrangement pending... Nothing could go wrong at such a crucial moment.

Tears welled in Shen Susu's eyes. "Second Brother, I really didn't! I don't know anything! You have to believe me, I..."

Madam Shen had always treated Shen Susu a little better than her own daughter. Seeing this normally obedient, well-behaved girl suddenly turn such a vicious hand against her own son filled Madam Shen with disgust. "We'll know whether you did it once we've questioned every maid around you."

"If you've been wronged, I'll have your second brother apologize to you."

Shen Yangge raised an eyebrow. "Wronged how? Mother, I'm not that kind of person."

Madam Shen patted his hand affectionately. "Don't worry. This time, I'll make sure you get justice. I've failed you and your fourth sister terribly all these years."

With that, she hurried away with a group of people. Only when two people remained in the room did Shen Yangge take a proper look at this personal guard who had jumped down from the rafters.

"The Crown Prince sent you?"

The man in black nodded.

"Then did he say that if I talked too much with anyone else, you were to cut off their ears?"

The man in black nodded again.

"And mine too... while you were at it?"

The man in black hesitated for a moment, then nodded once more.

Shen Yangge: "..."

"How much is he paying you? I'll double it. I'll hire you to cut off the ears of anyone who talks to him, and chop off their you-know-what while you're at it. You can skip that part if they're eunuchs."

The man in black gave him a surprised look, then stared at him as though asking whether he was an idiot. "Will you give me twice as many lives, Lord Shen?"

"..."

So he was the Crown Prince's exclusive guard, a death-sworn agent who served only him.

Shen Yangge said, "Forget I said anything."

[-Like master, like servant. This death-sworn guard probably got that sharp tongue from spending too long around the Crown Prince. He likely trades barbs with him whenever the Crown Prince has one of his episodes.]

"So, are you really going to cut off my ears?"

The man in black shook his head. "Lord Shen, I'd like to live a few more years."

[-Whew. As long as he isn't really going to cut off my ears.]

"Then don't cut off my mother's ears either. Everyone else's are fair game."

The man in black: "..."

This young master had the fine features of a decent man, with a refined, scholarly grace. Of everyone the guard had ever seen, he was the most outstanding. Who would have thought his character would be so... difficult to describe?

He had misjudged only two people in his entire life. The first was the Crown Prince, and the second was the young master before him.

In a sense, perhaps fate had brought those two together.

At the first pale light of dawn, the main hall of the Shen Residence was already full. Shen Zhi occupied the seat of honor, with Madam Shen and his concubines seated to either side, followed by the sons and daughters of his principal wife.

The children of concubines and those from collateral branches sat last.

Shen Yangge arrived late and found someone occupying his seat. Rather than getting angry, he calmly walked up to the boy sitting there, grabbed his collar, and lifted him slightly.

"Little Six, don't you know this is my seat?"

The boy was only around ten. Being hauled up by Shen Yangge made him feel utterly humiliated. Proud and arrogant, he couldn't bear the slightest insult, and shouted, "It's just a seat! Second Brother, why are you so petty?"

Shen Yangge gave him a backhanded slap, then followed it with another. Only after the boy started crying did he speak.

"You have no respect for your elders. Did your mother never teach you manners, or did she never teach you who's older and who's younger? Are you sitting here because you want to climb all over your second brother, hmm?"

His tone grew especially harsh at that last question. The concubine sitting in front of Shen Zhi wailed.

"Tianrong, Rong'er, you... are you all right? Your face is swollen! Sob... you... Shen Yangge, how could you be so cruel? He's your little brother! He's still so young-what does he know?"

Shen Yangge almost laughed in sheer anger.

[-System, this doesn't count as breaking character, does it? The original owner was already this arrogant and domineering. I've only made his personality a little more pronounced.]

System 615: [Well done, host! You haven't broken character at all. If I could do it for you, I'd definitely help you hit him~]

"He's still so young-what does he know? So because I'm older, I'm supposed to give way to him in everything? Why don't I just hand him my position as the principal wife's son?"

"Enough!"

Shen Zhi's roar silenced the hall. He looked at the defiant son he loathed most and snorted.

"Susu wasn't the one who drugged you with a sleeping potion. It was those greedy servants around her. I've already sent them away."

Shen Yangge said, "Sent them away?"

"She wasn't the one who drugged me?"

[-Hah. You worthless scumbag. Nothing you do ever has an ounce of sincerity behind it.]

Madam Shen said, "Shen Zhi, that isn't what you told me."

"What does a woman like you know? There's no need for you to trouble yourself with this. Aren't you ill? You don't need to worry about these matters."

Madam Shen said coldly, "I'm ill, but I'm not dead yet."

Just as the two were about to argue, Shen Yangge spoke. "Mother, you'll be returning to your family soon. I'll go with you. It seems I can no longer stay here, and I don't care if I have to sever all ties with the Shen Residence."