Shadow Bride - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Thousand Silk Lane

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Su Xingyu was stunned. She realized her sister was framing her. How… shameless!

She scoffed coldly and looked at Su Xingqi. “Why didn’t I comprehend that you were such a person in the past?” She could not be bothered to defend herself anymore. After all, she did not have any evidence to prove that Liu Meizhi had lent her the gown. Now, wasn’t it just them casually saying it?

Su Xingqi sounded aggrieved. “Sister, what do you mean by that? I was just telling the truth. Why are you being so sarcastic? If you hadn’t framed Mother for being harsh on you in front of so many people, I… I wouldn’t have exposed you. After all, we are sisters… Sister, how did you become like this?”

The more she spoke, the more hurt she felt. In the end, she started to cry.

The rich ladies looked at Su Xingyu in disdain. No wonder everyone said that it was not easy to be a stepmother. This stepdaughter of hers was too scheming. Look at her biological daughter, Su Xingqi. Her upbringing and sense of propriety made her a true lady.

Qin Mu couldn’t stand it anymore. He stood up and consoled Su Xingqi gently. “Alright, Xingqi, don’t be sad anymore. It’s not your fault. It’s your sister who doesn’t know what’s good for her. Why are you talking about sisterhood with this kind of woman? Stay away from her in the future.”

Su Xingqi leaned her head into his embrace with a grievance. “Qin Mu…”

Qin Mu patted her shoulder reassuringly.

When Su Xingyu saw this scene, she felt a sharp pain in her heart. Even if she had already decided to forget him, she could inevitably feel pain whenever she sees him. It was especially so after he had abandoned her for a woman who had betrayed and framed her. She raised her head high, not allowing anyone to see her frailty as she said coldly, “Auntie Liu, since you don’t want this gown, I’ll take it with me. I don’t have the habit of being falsely accused.”

Liu Meizhi looked at her mockingly. “Who wants your lousy clothes? I say you have had poor taste since you were young. How dare you call such a lousy dress a gown? Wear it yourself and don’t blame it on me!”

Su Xingyu could not be bothered to waste her breath on her. It was a waste of time to argue with someone like her.

She bent down and reached for the smoky gray gown on the table, but a hand reached out from the side and snatched it up first. “Ah, this gown is not bad.” It was a rich lady’s voice as she unfolded the dress. “No wonder the pattern looks familiar. It looks like the signature rose pattern from Thousand Silk Lane. It’s indeed from Thousand Silk Lane!”

As she spoke, she flipped out a small piece of embroidery on the corner of her skirt for everyone to see.

“Thousand Silk Lane?!” Another rich lady was shocked. “Quickly, bring it over for me to see!”

“What is Thousand Silk Lane?” Liu Meizhi asked in confusion.

That rich lady, who was the first to discover the gown, looked at Liu Meizhi proudly and reservedly. “You don’t even know about Thousand Silk Lane? It’s a shop that specializes in making clothes for elite families. I mean the elite families! It’s not a small family like ours that has just risen to prominence in one or two generations. It’s a big family like Young Master Qin’s. They are very precious.”

Finally, she looked at Qin Mu with a flattering smile. “Young Master Qin, you must have heard of Thousand Silk Lane, right?”

How would he be like Liu Meizhi, who was ignorant and had never even heard of Thousand Silk Lane? A nouveau riche was a nouveau riche. The rich lady was full of disdain for Liu Meizhi in her heart. If not for the fact that her daughter had become closer to Qin Mu, why would they come to the Su family for an afternoon tea and waste their time on this uneducated, stupid woman?

Qin Mu nodded, but he was incomparably shocked in his heart. How could Su Xingyu have something from Thousand Silk Lane? That shop was specialized in making clothes for influential families and celebrities. They only made clothes for regular customers, and even if ordinary people went there with money, they would reject them. In reality, Thousand Silk Lane’s clothes were considered high-grade among the influential families. Even his mother, Madam Qin, had only made a few pieces.

He looked at Su Xingyu. “Why do you have something from Thousand Silk Lane?”

Su Xingyu said, “Do I have to explain to you?”

She was not here to satisfy their curiosity.

In reality, she was also stunned. She did not expect that when the maid said she would take out the gown to make up for it that day, she took it to Thousand Silk Lane. She knew that shop. When she was young, and before her mother passed away, she liked the clothes in that shop very much. She still remembered her mother hugging her in her arms, the soft and delicate fabric against her small face. It felt so comfortable that it was like a dream that she would never wake up from.

She retrieved the gown from the rich lady’s hands. Upon closer inspection, she realized that someone had embroidered over the initially damaged areas with exquisite roses. It was simple and elegant, and it perfectly concealed the traces of sewing. With the embellishments of these roses, the initially ordinary-looking smoky gray gown instantly became much more exquisite. Thousand Silk Lane was indeed worthy of being called Thousand Silk Lane. It was capable of turning something bad into something good.

She looked at Liu Meizhi mockingly and waved the gown in her hand. “I wanted to return it to you at first, but since you don’t want it, it seems like I’ve earned it. When my mother died, you sold her clothes from Thousand Silk Lane for quite a bit of money, right? Thanks, I’ll sell this gown later as a little interest from you for embezzling my mother’s inheritance.”

“You!” Liu Meizhi was so angry that she was trembling. She picked up a teacup and threw it at her. “Stupid girl, I’ll beat you to death!”

“Mother!”

“Madam Su!”

Su Xingqi and Qin Mu hurriedly pulled her back, and the scene became chaotic.

Su Xingqi was both angry and anxious. This time, she wanted to cry. How did she end up with such a mother? She had lost all her manners after someone had easily provoked her. She even threw a tantrum in front of Qin Mu and so many rich ladies. Where was she going to put her face as a daughter? She stomped her feet. “Qin Mu, quickly bring my mother back to her room to rest!”

As she turned around, a forced smile appeared on her face, and she said to the rich ladies, “Everyone, I’m sorry to have made a fool of myself in front of all of you. My sister is insensible and has angered Mother so much that her headaches have acted up again. Look…”

“I understand.” One of the rich ladies smiled lovingly and touched Su Xingqi’s hand. “I still have something on, so I’ll take my leave first. Xingqi, take good care of your mother. Young Master Qin, I’ll take my leave now. If you have time in the future, let’s have tea together.” With the current situation, it was not suitable for her to stay any longer.

The other rich ladies also tactfully stood up to leave.

Su Xingyu stood alone in the living room, watching this scene coldly.

On the other side, Liu Meizhi was still shouting, “You wretched girl, I’m not done with you!”

One of the rich ladies wanted to suck up to Liu Meizhi. When she passed by Su Xingyu, she said arrogantly, “Madam Su, you’ve raised an ingrate. A dog would still know how to wag its tail. But what about you? Hah. Look how much she loves you that she gave you so much money for you to be able to afford clothes from Thousand Silk Lane? Don’t be ungrateful!”