Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

In the spring of the twenty-third year of Mingde, in the Third Prince’s Palace.

Shen Chuning's face was pale and her eyes were empty. She was lying on a large ebony and gilded bed with auspicious dragons and phoenixes carved on it. Her belly was bulging and she looked lifeless.

"Sister, it's time to take the pregnancy-maintaining medicine."

The person who came was Shen Jingwan, her sister, or to be more precise, the daughter of her father's concubine. At the age of fifteen, she was rewarded with the title of County Lady by the emperor for her contribution of a prescription for treating the plague. Because her mother gave birth to a son, she was taken back as a co-wife, and Shen Jingwan followed him back to the Shen Mansion.

On the day when the Third Prince proposed to Shen Chuning, she had sex with the Third Prince.

On the day of Shen Chuning's wedding to the Third Prince, she was taken into the Third Prince's mansion as a concubine.

Shen Jingwan was holding a rosewood lacquered and carved tray, on which was a white porcelain bowl filled with brown medicinal juice.

Shen Chuning looked at the brown medicine juice and frowned.

"Leave it alone, I'll drink it later."

"How can that be? The Third Prince asked me to watch my sister finish drinking. If my sister doesn't drink it, I can't explain to the Third Prince." Shen Jingwan said, looking at Shen Chuning with disgust.

Shen Chuning struggled to half-raise her body, picked up the white porcelain bowl on the tray and drank it all in one gulp. The bitter medicine in her throat triggered a violent coughing fit.

She quickly picked up a handkerchief and covered her mouth. There were blood stains on the handkerchief. Shen Chuning stuffed the handkerchief into her sleeve.

"Sister, don't hide it. I saw it all."

Shen Jingwan had an obvious smile on her face. She had been waiting for this moment for too long.

Shen Chuning forced herself to cheer up and looked at Shen Jingwan coldly, "I have finished the medicine, you can go now. Let the maid bring tomorrow's medicine, so I won't bother you."

Shen Jingwan seemed to have heard a huge joke and laughed, "Tomorrow? Do you think there will be a tomorrow?"

Shen Chuning suddenly realized that after taking the pregnancy-maintaining medicine for ten days, the baby in her belly was no longer making noises, but her body was getting weaker and weaker. In the past, she thought that all the nutrients were absorbed by the baby in her belly, and she was secretly glad.

It turns out that the fact that the baby in her belly was quiet did not mean that the baby was safe, but it was very likely that the baby was stillborn.

Thinking of this possibility, she clenched the quilt covering her body.

"Where is the third prince? I want to see the third prince. Shen Jingwan, do you know that you have committed a heinous crime, punishable by death for your entire clan?" Shen Chuning widened her eyes and stared at Shen Jingwan.

"Royal heir? Why, sister, can you guess, has the Third Prince never entered your room since the wedding night? Oh, no, that's not right. Even on the wedding night, the Third Prince was in your room."

"I don't understand what you are saying. The Third Prince no longer sleeps with me because he is afraid of hurting the baby in my belly. This is the Third Prince's eldest son."

Shen Jingwan gently stroked her flat belly. "The child in my belly is the Third Prince's eldest son. Sister, do you want to know who the father of your child is?"

Shen Chuning didn't dare to believe what she said, and her mind went blank.

Then Shen Jingwan continued, "Sister, you have to thank me. I picked the most handsome man in the capital for you. Unfortunately, that man has only a good appearance but no brains. In order to find out who the woman was who he had sex with that night, he even stole the military token from his home and gave it to the Third Prince. Sister, you can be said to have helped the Third Prince a lot. That man rejected several marriages for your sake. I couldn't bear to tell him that he got drunk and slept with a maid in the palace. The maid couldn't bear the humiliation and committed suicide by jumping into a well. Who knew that the fool would run to the border to kill the enemy in anger?"

"Shen Jingwan, I don't believe a word you say. How dare you murder the wife? I want to see the Third Prince."

"Sister, what you said is ridiculous. You are still talking to me as if it were the wife. Do you really think that the Third Prince doesn't know what I have done? He is just doting on me. If it weren't for your status as a legitimate daughter, it would have been me, Shen Jingwan, who was married as the wife. I entered the Third Prince's mansion with a dowry of one million taels."

Shen Jingwan is very good at business. The shop under her name often launches some new and interesting things, which are very popular in Beijing.

When she returned to the Shen Mansion, all her properties were transferred to the Shen Mansion as a price, but in just a few years, she earned a dowry of one million taels for herself.

Shen Chuning looked at Shen Jingwan coldly, "Even if I die, the position of the principal wife is not something that a concubine like you can covet."

Far from being angry, Shen Jingwan laughed a few times and said through gritted teeth, "Sister, you still don't know that your mother is dead. The people from the Shen Mansion came to announce the funeral, but I turned them away on the pretext that you needed to take care of your pregnancy."

"What did you say? What did you do to my mother?" Shen Chuning's eyes were bloodshot and he grabbed Shen Jingwan's arms fiercely with both hands.

"I haven't finished yet, why are you in such a hurry, sister?" Shen Jingwan said as she pried open Shen Chuning's fingers that were grabbing her arm one by one. "Not only your mother, but even your grandmother who loved you the most is dead." She chuckled after saying this.

When Shen Chuning heard that her grandmother had passed away, she spat out another mouthful of blood with a "pu" sound. The blood had turned dark red, almost black.

"Sister, there's no need to be so sad for Grandmother. Guess who was behind the scenes that allowed our family of three to return to the Shen Mansion?"

"Sister, apart from being the daughter of a chancellor, how can you compare to me? In terms of talent, I am a famous talented woman in the capital, while you are known for being unlearned and unskilled."

"As for your appearance, you should take a look at yourself in the mirror right now. I'm afraid any man would be scared if he saw you like this."

"In terms of ability, I can help the Third Prince earn money and win over the court officials. What can my sister do for the Third Prince?"

For Shen Jingwan, her family background has been a thorn in her heart for more than ten years, but fortunately it has been resolved now.

"Sister, you should be happy for me now. Without your mother, my mother is no longer a concubine, no longer a wife of the emperor. From now on, I will be the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion. Later, I will be the Third Prince's wife. When the Third Prince succeeds, I will be the Empress of the Great Yong Dynasty."

"As for you, sister, the father of your unborn child died on the front lines. Now you two can be a pair of wild mandarin ducks in the underworld."

Hearing Shen Jingwan say this, Shen Chuning spat out a mouthful of blood and her consciousness gradually became blurred.

Before she lost consciousness, Shen Chuning had only one thought in her mind, which was to avenge her grandmother, mother and her children, and to make Xiao Yuanlang and Shen Jingwan pay for their blood debt with blood.