Chapter 396: Chapter 394: He Wants to Cheer Her Up
The lead assassin knelt to the ground: "Master, the matter has been resolved."
Cui Ji raised his gaze: "Where is Yin Shanshan?"
"She has already been sent to the side courtyard of the residence."
Cui Ji closed the lid.
She would probably be happy to see Yin Shanshan captured alive, wouldn’t she?
He wanted to cheer her up.
By now, the people Shen Yinning had sent to Gan State months ago had returned.
That person reported: "We visited the town and village where Yin Shanshan and Yin Yang lived as children. The elderly there all said that Yin Shanshan was timid and dull, completely obedient to her elder brother Yin Yang. She washed clothes, cooked meals, gathered grass, and fed pigs daily. She was a diligent and hardworking girl. She often interacted with women of her age in the village. There was even a grandmother at the end of the village who couldn’t afford food, and she secretly helped her a few times with her friends, without telling Yin Yang."
Just as expected...
Shen Yinning gently caressed the books on the desk.
Yin Shanshan only began to drastically change her personality during the period before and after fleeing her marriage.
These books were teaching materials Yin Shanshan had compiled for her two sons. Shen Yinning had flipped through them, and they contained things she had never heard of before.
One of the books was titled "English." Following its step-by-step teaching, Shen Yinning tried studying it and discovered that this language was not made up arbitrarily. The structure and phrasing of its sentences had an internal logic.
"I’ve finished reading it." Shangguan Min closed another book while sitting in the armchair next to her. "You’re saying this book was written by Gao Zheng’s concubine? It contains many arithmetic methods, which, in her terminology, should be called ’mathematical formulas.’ I ran some calculations in my mind, and all of the formulas are logical. Some of these formulas and conjectures are things the Imperial College has spent years researching without success. Commandery Princess, your suspicions are well-founded—this concubine is no ordinary person."
Shen Yinning spoke deliberately, "A sudden change in personality can be attributed to a major life upheaval. But for her mind to suddenly harbor so many things unknown to this world—that is strange. And these things seem rational, as though they truly existed in this world, as though she had once witnessed them with her own eyes."
The study fell silent.
Shangguan Min unconsciously fell into deep thought.
After a while, Shen Yinning suddenly remarked with amusement, "In supernatural tales, there’s often talk of souls seizing bodies. Do you think Yin Shanshan’s body is occupied by an outsider’s soul? Someone who has seen another world, which is why she can utter such astonishing words and conceive of such peculiar things so frequently?"
Shangguan Min had thought the same: "If that’s true, then she would be of immense value. Just this mathematics book alone has already broadened my horizons."
The two, intrigued by Yin Shanshan, decided to visit her at the side courtyard.
Yin Shanshan was there, weeping bitterly while clutching her two sons.
The assassins had killed Gao Zheng’s entire family, sparing only her and her sons.
She assumed that some powerful and depraved noble in the Capital had taken a fancy to her beauty. He had exterminated her family and imprisoned her here to claim her by force!
She screamed angrily at the sky, "You killed my husband, and I will never love you! You despicable and shameless scoundrel! Even if you wield immense power and possess wealth to rival a nation, do not expect me to spare you a single glance! I will never break my proud spirit or submit to the tyrannical love of some arrogant prince! You can give up on that idea entirely!"
Shen Yinning: "..."
Shangguan Min: "..."
Is she serious?
The two stood awkwardly outside the courtyard for a long moment before stepping inside.
Shen Yinning greeted smoothly, "Sister Shanshan, long time no see."
Yin Shanshan: "..."
The teardrop-laden, pitiful expression on her face instantly froze.
So, after all this time, the person who had imprisoned her here was Shen Yinning?!
She had treated Shen Yinning poorly in the past.
Now reduced to a prisoner, she instinctively clung to her two children. "What... what do you want?"
Shen Yinning cut straight to the point: "You are not the real Yin Shanshan. You came here from another world, didn’t you?"
Yin Shanshan was stunned.
By now, she was well aware that Shen Yinning was no ordinary woman.
Shen Yinning had neither competed with her nor sought conflict within the Gao Family because her ambitions weren’t focused on Gao Zheng at all. Her sights had always been set on the powerful and prominent Crown Prince. It was laughable—she had treated Shen Yinning as if she were a rival all this time, thinking she had triumphed over her!
Shen Yinning, with her cunning and ambitions like those of the scheming villainesses in novels, was nothing like the ignorant, conservative woman bound by old traditions that Yin Shanshan had initially assumed her to be!
Terrified of Shen Yinning’s smiling façade, Yin Shanshan turned pale and avoided her gaze. "I don’t understand what you’re talking about!"
Shen Yinning unfolded her gilded folding fan with a faint, mysterious smile. "Dear sister, if you don’t confess, these two little brats of yours—"
"We don’t mean to harm you," Shangguan Min interrupted, taking over the conversation. She shot Shen Yinning a reproachful glance, as though scolding her for involving the children.
Shen Yinning arched a brow and gracefully sat back in the armchair, sipping her tea, leaving Shangguan Min to lead the questioning.
Shangguan Min said, "We’ve already investigated everything about you and are certain you come from another world. Miss Yin, we have no intention of hurting you. We only wish to know what your world is like—its culture, arithmetic, geography, history, and human customs. Would you kindly share them with us?"
Her demeanor was kind, her features resembling those of Guanyin, and her tone was calm and dignified.
This made Yin Shanshan feel a slight affinity toward her.
After hesitating briefly, Yin Shanshan asked, "You won’t burn me alive?"
Shangguan Min was taken aback. "Why would we?!"
"You might not," Yin Shanshan said warily, casting a sideways glance at Shen Yinning. "But she might!"
Shen Yinning shot her a cold glare. "Try adding one more word, and see what happens."
Yin Shanshan stiffened and turned her head away, not uttering another sound.
Shen Yinning and Shangguan Min stayed at the side courtyard for an entire day, listening to Yin Shanshan describe many things from her original world.
Shangguan Min was utterly fascinated by that other world, where men and women were equals. Women could not only take the imperial examination but also serve as officials in the court. People no longer traveled using oxen and horses but instead relied on machines. According to Yin Shanshan’s account, people in her world had even used machines to travel to the moon.
Shen Yinning, resting her chin on her hand, took interest in the "mahjong" and other gambling games Yin Shanshan described.
That very night, she dispatched a few young maids to learn these games from Yin Shanshan.
Cui Ji happened to be in her room and, noticing her actions, remarked quietly, "I heard that Shen Yunxi has a deep love for gambling. During her time as the Crown Princess Consort, she often invited the noblewomen and young ladies into the palace to gamble for money. Are you planning to plant these maids in the palace to lure her into massive debt? But the new emperor watches you like a hawk—it seems unlikely you could get these maids into the palace."
"Who said I was going to send them into the palace?" Shen Yinning reclined on the bamboo rocking chair by the window. "Cui Ji, I simply want to make these little games fashionable among the noblewomen in the Capital. Cui Ji, I’m merely offering these bored ladies and misses a way to pass the time. I never intended to target anyone."
Cui Ji stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the swaying shadows of flowers outside the window, cast across her fair and delicate face.
Her words sounded so innocent, yet her cousin Yunxi was ambitious and utterly lacking in self-control. If everyone else played, could she refrain from doing so?
During this time, Lu Ying hadn’t summoned Shen Yunxi. The palace was lonely, and how could she not become addicted to gambling?
Once she lost herself entirely, given her terrible gambling skills, colossal debts would undoubtedly follow.
And Shen Xinghan’s household wasn’t wealthy enough to support her lavish spending.