"And why should I tell you? So you can disturb their peaceful lives? I know how our kind thinks. So of you...." she gestured vaguely at her brothers, "....would find ways to eliminate them, to ensure they never co after the inheritance."
Her voice turned flat and final.
"As far as you know, they’re dead. As far as they know, you’re dead too. Let it stay that way. Now go ho and handle your business. Find the person who’s been poisoning your wife. I’ll co by once I’m free."
She waved her hand dismissively, clearly done with this entire conversation.
Long Tian could see in her eyes that she knew more than she was revealing, knew exactly where these children were and what they were doing.
But he also understood that pushing her now, after everything that had just been exposed, would only drive her further away.
"Very well," he said quietly, his shoulders bowing under the weight of these revelations.
He moved to his wife, who was still standing in stunned silence, tears streaming down her face.
"Mingyue, I..."
"Not now," she whispered, her voice broken.
"We’ll discuss this at ho."
Long Tian nodded, understanding that he’d just shattered sothing fundantal in his marriage.
He carefully picked up his wife, cradling her against his chest, and with a gesture to his sons to follow, they all vanished in a shimr of celestial light, returning to the realm they’d co from.
The sitting room felt suddenly empty in their absence, the silence heavy and oppressive.
Lu Yuze turned to his wife, his voice gentle but firm.
"Honey, you shouldn’t have said it like that, so openly in front of everyone. He may indeed have failed at being a perfect king or husband, but he’s been a good father to you...."
"I don’t want to hear any lectures," Shuyin cut him off sharply.
She stood and headed toward the kitchen, her movents agitated.
She spotted the water dispenser first but then her eyes caught on sothing else, the wine rack in the adjacent wine bar, bottles arranged in neat rows that caught the light.
"I have never seen soone with such a huge wine collection," she muttered, moving toward it with purpose.
The maids working in the kitchen noticed and imdiately tried to intercept.
"Mistress, please have sothing to eat before you have a drink!" one of them pleaded, moving to block her path.
But Shuyin had already selected a bottle, pulling it from the rack with practiced ease.
As she moved to open it, she fumbled slightly, and the bottle nearly slipped from her fingers.
Lu Yuze appeared at that exact mont, catching the bottle before it could hit the floor.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, steadying both her and the wine.
"Honey, alcohol isn’t a good solution to your problems," he said quietly into her ear.
"If it isn’t good, then what is it doing in the house?" Shuyin shot back with sharp logic, pulling free of his embrace just enough to grab a wine glass.
She opened the bottle, determined, and poured herself a generous amount, the dark red liquid catching the light as it filled the crystal.
Lu Yuze found himself speechless, watching as she brought the glass to her lips.
"I don’t think I’ve ever tasted this particular type before," Shuyin comnted, examining the color.
Then she gulped it down in one smooth motion, feeling the burn slide down her throat.
It was surprisingly sweet at first, but almost imdiately, she felt an unexpected weakness spread through her limbs.
"Wow," she breathed, steadying herself against the counter.
Lu Yuze frowned, concerned by her reaction.
"Honey, let ask you sothing. You’re a rmaid, right? So how is it that you’re also Lin Shuyin? I don’t understand."
Shuyin poured herself another glass, her movents slightly less steady than before.
"The real Lin Shuyin is dead. I just borrowed her face, her identity, to use in the human world."
She glanced at him with dark humor in her eyes.
"You don’t expect to walk around in my true form with scales and gills, do you?"
"Hehehe... I didn’t an it that way," Lu Yuze said quickly, though he still didn’t fully understand the chanics of how that worked.
Sensing that this was a complicated topic that might lead down paths he wasn’t ready to explore, especially with his wife already drinking wine on an empty stomach, he smoothly changed the subject.
"How about we have so lunch? You haven’t eaten anything since this morning, and wine hits harder on an empty stomach."
Shuyin looked at him, her eyes slightly unfocused, and for the first ti since the confrontation with her family, her expression softened fractionally.
"Fine," she agreed, setting the wine glass down with exaggerated care.
"But I’m bringing the bottle."
Lu Yuze wisely didn’t argue, simply guiding her toward the dining area with one hand on her lower back, already signaling to the kitchen staff to prepare food quickly.
His wife had just revealed explosive family secrets, confronted her father about illegitimate children, and was now drinking wine like water while casually ntioning she’d stolen a dead woman’s identity.
Just another day in the life of being married to a celestial princess, apparently.
Lu Yuze guided Shuyin to the grand dining table, pulling out a chair for her. She sat down heavily, placing the wine bottle on the table with a definitive thunk.
The kitchen staff moved with efficient haste, laying out an array of dishes, stead fish, braised vegetables, clear soup, and fragrant rice.
"Eat sothing first," Lu Yuze urged, serving her a portion of fish.
Shuyin picked up her chopsticks, poked at the food, then set them down again in favor of the wine bottle. She refilled her glass.
"Honey," Lu Yuze began, a note of warning in his voice.
"I’m eating, see?" she said, taking a single, small bite of rice before washing it down with another large gulp of wine.
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