A thick silence settled over the courtyard, the tension stretching so tight it was nearly suffocating.
Hua Jing turned slowly, her gaze locking onto Chen Li.
Chen Li stiffened.
Her breath hitched as an inexplicable chill crawled up her spine.
There was sothing in Hua Jing’s eyes—sothing sharp, sothing knowing.
A flicker of panic flashed in Chen Li’s gaze.
What does she know?
Her thoughts raced, jumping from one possibility to another.
Then, suddenly—
A single realization struck her like lightning.
Her eyes widened.
Hua Jing smiled.
Eureka.
She already knew what had just crossed Chen Li’s mind.
And that was all the confirmation Hua Jing needed.
Zhao Yan loosened his hold as Hua Jing gently pulled away.
Step by step, she walked forward, slow and deliberate, her gaze never once wavering from Chen Li.
To everyone else, her movents were smooth and unhurried.
But to Chen Li, every step felt heavier than the last.
Like an executioner approaching with a sharpened blade.
For the first ti, stepmother and stepdaughter stood face to face.
Hua Jing tilted her head, amusent dancing in her gaze.
"I can see fear in your eyes, Stepmother." Her voice was soft, almost playful, but the underlying steel was unmistakable. "Do you not want to stay?"
Chen Li inhaled sharply, forcing herself to regain composure.
She straightened her back. "What do you want to say?"
Her voice was firm, but the slight tremor did not go unnoticed.
Hua Ling, who had been watching the exchange with increasing confusion, furrowed her brows.
Her mother had never—never—looked this rattled before.
Not even when the Emperor himself had spoken to her.
What was happening?
This wasn’t right.
Hua Ling stord forward, her heavily embroidered sleeves billowing behind her as she shoved Hua Jing’s shoulder.
"Leave my mother alone!" she hissed.
Hua Jing barely moved.
Instead, she turned her head lazily toward Hua Ling, her lips curving into a smirk.
"This has nothing to do with you," she said smoothly.
Then, without warning—
She flicked her gaze to the guards standing nearby.
"Remove her."
Two guards imdiately stepped forward.
"What—?! Let go!" Hua Ling shrieked as they grabbed her arms, pulling her back.
Chen Li’s composure cracked even further.
"Unhand my daughter!" she demanded.
But the guards didn’t budge.
Hua Jing leaned in slightly, her voice dropping to a near whisper, ant only for Chen Li to hear.
"Now," she murmured, "shall we continue?"
A chilling silence blanketed the courtyard. The guests, who had once whispered behind their fans and exchanged curious glances, were now deathly still. All attention was fixed on Hua Jing, who stood tall, her posture relaxed yet commanding.
She let the silence linger, savoring the anticipation, before finally speaking.
"Are you all curious about what happened to my mother?" she asked, her voice clear and unwavering.
So guests shifted uncomfortably, others leaned in, the suspense gripping them.
Hua Jing’s lips curled ever so slightly. "Everyone here knows the story. My mother was a re maid in the Hua household, a woman of low birth, soone unworthy of notice. And yet, she caught the eye of one man—the honorable Patriarch of the Hua family, my father, Hua Ming Rong."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd, though no one dared to interrupt.
"An affair," she continued smoothly. "A fleeting mont of passion, perhaps? But my existence was the proof of that sin. An illegitimate child, born outside of the noble lineage, a stain on the perfect reputation of this household."
She turned her gaze to Hua Ming Rong, who was glaring at her with barely concealed fury. His jaw tightened, the veins in his temple twitching as he stepped forward.
"Hua Jing," he warned, his voice like a blade’s edge. "That is enough."
Hua Jing rely tilted her head, her amusent unshaken. "Enough?" she echoed, mockingly. "Oh, Father, why are you so panicked? I haven’t even reached the best part of the story."
She took a slow step forward, eyes sweeping across the audience.
"After my mother gave birth to , she was no longer of use. A lowly maid with no status, no power—only a burden to the great Mada Hua."
Hua Jing’s gaze flickered toward Chen Li.
"You, Mada Hua, were gracious enough to take in. You raised , fed , clothed , and for that, I am grateful." Her voice was smooth, deceptive in its calmness. Then, her lips parted into a cold smile. "But you never let forget what I was, did you?"
Chen Li’s fingers twitched around her embroidered handkerchief. The fabric was slightly damp from the sweat on her palms.
The crowd was utterly enthralled. So looked at Chen Li with curiosity, others with dawning suspicion.
"My mother disappeared when I was four," Hua Jing continued, her tone turning thoughtful. "Vanished without a trace. Everyone told she abandoned , that she had run away and never looked back. And I believed it."
She let out a soft, humorless chuckle. "After all, what else was I to think? A helpless child, too young to understand the truth. But do you know what was strange?" Her eyes darkened. "The maids. The way they looked at . Their pity. Their hesitance. As if there was sothing they could not say."
Hua Ming Rong clenched his fists, his entire body wound tight with barely restrained anger. "You are making baseless accusations!"
"Am I?" Hua Jing asked, unfazed.
Then, she turned her full attention to Chen Li.
"And what Mada Hua did not know," she said, voice lowering into sothing dangerous, "was that I had seen everything."
A sharp gasp shot through the crowd.
Chen Li’s eyes widened. Her body stiffened as though ice had wrapped around her bones.
Hua Jing stepped closer, just enough for Chen Li to feel her presence looming over her.
Chen Li was frozen like a block of ice. It seed as if at any mont she was going to explode yet there was sothing holding her back from doing so.
"That night... the night my mother disappeared," Hua Jing murmured, "I wasn’t asleep like you thought I was. I saw it all."
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