098 The Real and the Fake Guan Shiyin

Chapter Title: 098 The Real and the Fake Guan Shiyin

Before the main gate of the Guan Residence, a carriage came to a halt.

Guan Yue, who had long been waiting at the entrance, stepped forward and lifted the carriage curtain. From the dense crowd gathered outside, Fang Rulai immediately spotted a certain Second Prince.

Once the impostor Ke Shao, now the Second Prince, Li Lingcheng.

He was dressed in a long robe of moon-white, holding a folding fan, standing tall and composed. Because Fang Rulai’s head was veiled, she could not clearly see Li Lingcheng’s facial features at this moment. Yet, precisely because of this obscurity, the cold and noble aura he exuded became all the more pronounced.

Fang Rulai suddenly recalled their first meeting: she was in the water, and Li Lingcheng stood on the shore. Even then, his back gave her the impression that he was far from being a sickly person. Looking back now, that feeling was indeed correct.

As the carriage curtain was lifted, Li Lingcheng smiled slightly and tapped away Guan Yue’s extended hand with his folding fan. “Step aside. I will come down myself.”

Immediately, gasps as loud as crashing waves echoed around. That was the Second Prince! Even if he hadn’t recovered from his illness, which girl from a noble family could hope for such royal favor?

Following the gasps were voices filled with sudden realization: “Remember? Miss Guan has often visited the palace to accompany the Second Prince since childhood.” “Yes, yes, rumors of childhood sweethearts and intimate confidantes have long circulated.” “Could this mean they are finally to be united?”

Amid the noisy murmurs, Li Lingcheng raised his right hand and called out, “Shiyin?”

The familiarity of the address was so natural that the crowd’s chatter surged again. Fang Rulai was startled, while hidden atop the carriage, Guan Shiyin’s hand silently clenched the corner of the curtain.

“What, you don’t recognize me now that I’m better?” Li Lingcheng devoted himself to playing the role of a devoted childhood companion welcoming home his sweetheart, while subtly winking at Fang Rulai from an angle only she could see: Hurry and get down, lingering too long will draw attention.

Fang Rulai came back to herself and raised her hand, but instead of placing it in Li Lingcheng’s outstretched palm, she slipped her hand over his wrist through her sleeve, then slowly descended from the carriage.

The crowd fell silent in astonishment. Didn’t Miss Guan have difficulty walking? How could she suddenly be able to walk today?

From the carriage rooftop, Guan Shiyin contentedly smoothed the wrinkled corner of the curtain he had just gripped. Could she not walk? If she still couldn’t, then she’d need to be carried out again. That was simply unacceptable! Besides, his previous claim of being incapacitated due to poisoning was merely to conceal a physique that would betray her true gender upon standing. Now that Fang Rulai was impersonating him, remaining seated would surely arouse suspicion from those with keen eyes. It was better to have the new “Guan Shiyin” stand, altering the perspective and making subtle differences harder to detect.

Li Lingcheng cast a meaningful glance at the sleeve of the woman’s hand barely touching his wrist. Just as he was about to speak, a sudden voice from behind interrupted him.

“Second Prince, move aside! Danger!”

Accompanying the voice was the whoosh of a fist rushing toward Li Lingcheng, who was supporting the fake Guan Shiyin, the real Fang Rulai.

Asi stepped forward two paces, spinning one and a half turns, swiftly pulling Li Lingcheng away from the path of the incoming fist.

Guan Yue flashed in from the side, flicking her wrist to draw her sword, then slashed directly at the center of the incoming fist’s force.

The sword’s aura was fierce; the punch shattered instantly.

The attacker was forced to retreat, but Guan Yue did not follow up. Instead, she crossed her sword horizontally to guard in front of Fang Rulai. “Who dares harm my lady?”

“If that’s not your lady at all!” Behind the attacker, Guan Shiyin’s uncle, Guan Yihe, strode forward and immediately kowtowed before Li Lingcheng. “Your Highness, this woman cannot possibly be the commoner’s niece! Please judge wisely!”

A cold light flashed in Li Lingcheng’s eyes, though Guan Yihe, kneeling on the ground, could not see it.

“What? Is this true?” Li Lingcheng’s voice held just the right measure of surprise and anger. “Guan Yihe, you’d better explain clearly, or you’ll be charged with slandering the prince’s consort and sent straight to the Shengjing prison!”

Guan Yihe slightly furrowed his brow at the mention of “prince’s consort,” then his gaze grew more sincere. “Your Highness, the commoner’s niece is indeed incapacitated; all of Shengjing knows this.”

The crowd nodded in agreement. Indeed, if Miss Guan were not disabled, how could she be twenty years old and yet unmarried?

Guan Yihe pointed at Fang Rulai. “Look at this person now—nimble and agile, where is the slightest sign of incapacity? She must be an impostor, trying to use this opportunity to latch onto Your Highness and climb the social ladder…”

Before he could finish, Li Lingcheng raised his foot and kicked him sharply. “Get lost! Is that all the proof you have? Ridiculous!”

“Your Highness!” Guan Yihe, knocked to the ground, eyes gleaming with a hint of triumph, thought: Just the kick I wanted! If I can spoil the loyalty of the people here toward the Guan family before they even enter the residence, then the alliance with the Second Prince can be delayed.

“Cough, cough,” Guan Yihe covered his chest, feigning pain, coughing several times before getting up with a face blended with shock, heartbreak, and disappointment. “Your Highness, you…”

His words trailed off perfectly, leaving the crowd to interpret the unspoken complaint: “You’re His Highness; I dare not dodge, but even so, you can’t just strike without hearing me out!”

Whispers began circulating among the crowd, “The noble Second Prince’s temper is not as gentle as his appearance suggests…”

Li Lingcheng snorted in disdain, seemingly oblivious to the damage his kick had done to his reputation among the common folk. “Shiyin slipped out of Shengjing secretly to treat her leg and her poison. You may not know this, but I do. The miraculous doctor who cured her? I introduced him!”

“What? Impersonation?” Li Lingcheng bent slightly, poking Guan Yihe’s head with his fan. “No one else in the world knows about Shiyin’s treatment except us. If someone were truly impersonating her, wouldn’t they know to feign incapacity? You just said everyone knows she’s disabled; how foolish would an impostor be to walk openly down from the carriage and let you expose them so blatantly? Guan Yihe, are you really brainless, or do you think I am?”

A gasp arose from the crowd. The recovered Second Prince was sharp indeed! From the perspective of a future fiancé, that kick was not excessive—it seemed more like the spirited action of a straightforward young neighbor.

Beneath her veil, Fang Rulai’s lips curled in a slight smile. Was this the first round of confrontation between the invisible Crown Prince and the newly emerged Second Prince? The result was not bad; the Second Prince won the opening match with a grounded move. But Guan Yihe wouldn’t be foolish enough to lose in just one move, would he?

“Your Highness, there is no such thing as a wall without cracks. Who can guarantee that no third party knows about Shiyin’s trip out of the city for treatment? Even if no one in the capital knows, what about the doctor who treated her? What if the secret leaked from him?” Guan Yihe crawled forward, prostrating himself at Li Lingcheng’s feet, his face stern with righteous counsel. “If that doctor knows her leg is healed, then she might be using that fact to dispel suspicion at first sight. Your Highness!”

He pointed at Fang Rulai. “Even without the leg, look closely at this person! How could she be the commoner’s niece, Shiyin? Shiyin’s mother died young, and we cared for her until she was twenty! Who knows her height and weight better than we do? Look—she’s shorter and thinner than the Shiyin who left the city.”

The crowd followed Guan Yihe’s gesture, noticing the discrepancy in stature compared to their memory of Miss Guan.

Guan Yue met their gaze and flipped her wrist, drawing a sharp sword flourish. “Guan Erye, if anyone knows Miss’s true height and weight better than me—the personal maid who lives with her—it's not you, who cannot even enter her chambers.”

The crowd, dazzled by the sword flourish, nodded in agreement. Fair enough.

Guan Yue’s voice grew louder. “Miss suffered much on her journey for treatment. Isn’t it natural for her to be thinner and smaller? If Guan Erye wants to see the plumper Miss Guan of old, that’s fine. Wait a month—Guan Yue guarantees she’ll feed her back to health and better!”

Guan Yihe snorted. “Maybe you’re in cahoots with her, that’s why you speak for her! Your Highness, don’t believe her!”

“You’ve long coveted the Guan family’s fortune and want to overthrow Miss to take her place! Your Highness, do you find him trustworthy?” Guan Yue’s words were directed at Li Lingcheng, but her gaze swept the entire crowd.

The common people recalled many past incidents. “Yes, Guan Erye’s attempts to seize power and property are no secret. Could this be another scheme?”

Guan Yihe was tasked today to prevent Guan Shiyin from returning home, serving two purposes: ideally, to block her entry and delay her betrothal to the Second Prince; if not, to sully the reputation of the newly recovered Second Prince, preventing his image as a benevolent ruler from rising further among the populace.

Yet, he had never imagined that both plans would fail and drag himself into disgrace. No, as Guan Erye, who had always appeared humble and friendly, he must not ruin his image before seizing the Guan family’s power.

With a sudden “whoosh,” Guan Yihe stood up. “How dare a lowly maid defame her mistress openly! Seize them—punish them by the house law!”

“Yes, sir.” The earlier attacker and four others stepped forward.

Guan Yue drew her sword again, a mocking expression on her face. “Erye, do you realize how self-contradictory you sound? You just said I’m an outsider conspiring with her; now you talk of house law? So which side am I really on?”

“Hmph, insolent wench!” Guan Yihe waved his hand. “Attack! Capture them first!”

Five burly servants charged forward, fists raised, but Guan Yue planted her sword across her chest, standing firm.

The watching crowd tightened their grips on their grain bags, tense and uncertain. Who was in the right? Was today’s bounty of grain truly lost?

Just as the tension was about to explode, Fang Rulai suddenly patted Guan Yue’s shoulder, signaling her to step back, then spoke calmly, “You few are unfamiliar to me.”

At the deliberately mimicked voice, Guan Yihe was stunned. He was sure the person before him was not Guan Shiyin. That was why he had accepted the suggestion to cause trouble outside the gate, confident the fake Shiyin would not speak openly in public, allowing him to insist on the imposture and succeed in blocking her.

But now, what was this voice? Even after two months, he could still recognize Shiyin’s voice.

What he did not know was that Fang Rulai, sensitive to voices and skilled in mimicry, had perfectly replicated it.

“Banxia,” Fang Rulai said again, and Banxia appeared.

The crowd was puzzled, but Guan Yihe retreated two steps in shock. If Guan Yue represented Guan Shiyin by day, then Banxia’s appearance at night to carry out punishments was akin to the real Guan Shiyin herself. No wonder Guan Yihe had only seen Guan Yue these past two months and never Banxia. Could it be that the real Guan Shiyin had truly gone out of the city for treatment?

“Seize them all alive!” Fang Rulai commanded only to Banxia, who moved with lightning speed. Without even drawing her sword, while the crowd speculated on the slender, handsome young man’s origin, Banxia had already bound the five attackers tightly in front of Fang Rulai.

“Master, Banxia reports success.”

“Good. Take them to the firewood shed in the back courtyard. I shall personally interrogate them this afternoon.” Fang Rulai’s cold gaze, even through the veil, reached Guan Yihe. Yet, she did not mention him. “Where is the old steward?”

“Miss, I am here!” An elderly figure, bent with age, hurried forward. He was about to bow, but Fang Rulai raised her hand to stop him.

“What is the meaning of this? When I left the residence, didn’t I instruct you that Guan Yue was my representative? Then who allowed these five servants to attack someone who is practically the mistress without Guan Yue’s permission? Who granted them entry into the Guan Residence?”

The old steward trembled, glancing sideways at Guan Yihe but said nothing.

The crowd exchanged knowing glances. This was all too familiar—when the rightful lady is away, power grabs and small schemes are inevitable.

Fang Rulai did not press further. Her purpose was to shift everyone’s attention from questioning her identity to targeting Guan Yihe. Now that her goal was achieved, she planned to seize this opportunity, enter the Guan Residence as the true Guan Shiyin, and deal with any future suspicions about her behavior as internal matters rather than citywide scandals.

“Hmph!” Fang Rulai feigned anger, flicked her sleeve, and strode toward the gate. “All of you, come inside! If this matter isn’t explained clearly today, you’ll be kicked out of the Guan Residence!”

She walked boldly forward, never once glancing directly at Guan Yihe. Guan Shiyin had made it clear—she had never cared for Guan Yihe in the past. When entering, if she encountered him, she would simply ignore him.

As she passed Guan Yihe, he silently stepped back two more paces. It wasn’t that he did not want to stop her, but the familiar feeling of being utterly disregarded filled him with involuntary fear.

Just as Fang Rulai was about to step onto the threshold, a familiar voice rang out from inside the gate.

“Wait!”

Fang Rulai’s heart skipped a beat. The one thing she dreaded most had not been avoided.

[End of excerpt.]