How Did the Female Lead in the Angst Novel Become My Ex-Wife’s Sister? - Chapter 4

The Shen Estate was located in the eastern part of the city, an official residence bestowed by the Emperor himself. From the Cen Manor, it was a mere fifteen-minute carriage ride. The late winter dusk fell rapidly; by the time the two arrived, the sky had already deepened into a heavy gloom.

The population of the Shen household was even scanter than that of the Cen Manor. Despite it being the end of the year, the courtyard decorations were sparse and utilitarian. A chilling quiet clung to the air. After passing through several connecting halls, they arrived at the veranda of the main courtyard, where they were greeted by only a single elderly nanny and a handful of serving maids. One look at their faces told the story: none of them looked particularly pleased.

Pei Linlang mentally cross-referenced the descriptions from the book to identify them.

The woman leading the group was likely the Scum Alpha’s wet nurse. According to the setting, this woman was unaware of the Scum Alpha’s true gender; as a result, she treated Cen Xianyue with the overbearing air of a mother-in-law dealing with a disappointing daughter-in-law. Seeing that Cen Xianyue had actually brought someone back with her, her expression soured further.

“My,” she drawled, her voice frostier than the winter wind. “This young master is quite the stranger. Which side of the family does he hail from, Madam?”

“He is a younger brother raised within the clan. He’ll be staying with us from now on. Nanny, find him a room, somewhere bright and tidy,” Cen Xianyue instructed simply, before adding, “Linlang, this is Nanny Zhang.”

Pei Linlang offered a respectful nod and followed Xianyue along the veranda toward the main entrance.

“A younger brother from the clan?” Nanny Zhang continued to size her up from head to toe, shaking her head with a smirk. “How curious. I’ve never seen him before. Ah, wait… I remember now. Could this be that…”

“Nanny, watch your tongue.” Cen Xianyue stopped in her tracks and looked back.

Standing on the other side, Linlang couldn’t see Xianyue’s expression, but she heard her voice. It was soft and melodic, lacking even a hint of the authority one would expect from the mistress of a house.

Linlang couldn’t help but worry that the heroine would be bullied by her own servants. Yet, inexplicably, Nanny Zhang froze. Her face went stiff, and she held her breath.

With a low “Yes, Madam,” and a lingering, resentful huff, the old woman hurried past them.

Linlang was baffled. She knew the original owner was notorious as the city’s most infamous “tag-along,” and the realization made her prickly with unease. As she glanced around cautiously, she was met with a fierce glare from the maid standing next to Xianyue.

Linlang shuddered, looked left and right, and pointed at herself. The maid simply huffed and looked away.

This was Yunxiu, a girl of about seventeen in lotus-pink robes, her face full of youthful energy and a stubborn, sharp-witted spark. She was Cen Xianyue’s personal maid, the walking “live commentary” of the novel, whose sole job was to insult anyone and everyone near the heroine.

When reading the book, Linlang had admired the girl’s bluntness. Now that she was on the receiving end of it, she realized fate had a cruel sense of humor.

Xianyue lived a modest life and kept only this one maid. Though Linlang had no intention of causing trouble, they were bound to cross paths. Sure enough, after a quiet dinner with Xianyue, Linlang was in her new room familiarizing herself with the surroundings when Yunxiu barged in.

She clutched a bundle of clothes, her lips curled in a reluctant pout. “These are the Master’s old robes. My lady says you’ll have to make do with them for now.” With that, she tossed the clothes onto the bed.

As a guest in someone else’s home, Linlang had no complaints. She thanked her and picked up the robes to inspect them.

Though they were “old,” they looked brand new. Considering the Scum Alpha was currently the man of the hour, these robes probably hadn’t been in the wardrobe for more than two years. Talk about extravagant, Linlang thought.

Yunxiu didn’t leave immediately. She watched Linlang for a moment, expecting the usual temper tantrum. When it didn’t come, her eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t… you’re not actually…”

Linlang knew exactly what she was thinking. “I truly don’t remember a single thing,” she said with a weary sigh. “I’m not faking it. You can relax. I promise I will never, ever pester your mistress again. I’ll swear it on my life if I have to, okay?”

Yunxiu’s face hardened again. “You’d better mean it! If you go back on your word, don’t blame me for being ruthless!” She spun around and stomped away.

As night deepened, the manor grew deathly still. A lone festive ribbon, forgotten on a branch, swayed in the wind.

Beyond the ribbon lay the Master’s quarters, a grand suite of five rooms. Cen Xianyue stood in the center of the veranda, her lips moving as she spoke with Nanny Zhang. The old nanny maintained her prickly demeanor, standing with her chest puffed out as if she, not Xianyue, were the one in charge.

In the shadows, Yunxiu paused her steps. Hearing something that clearly angered her, she hurried over.

Reaching Xianyue’s side, she put her hands on her hips and barked at Nanny Zhang, “How is he not a brother? They grew up under the same roof, of course he’s a brother! You old hag, your own heart is so filthy that you think everything you see is dirty!”

Yunxiu’s voice was loud enough that every word reached Linlang’s ears.

It wasn’t hard to guess what the nanny had implied. She was likely sneering at Linlang’s “lowly” status, calling her presence improper and claiming she would bring scandal to the heroine and shame to the Shen family name.

Life was already hard enough for Xianyue. Now that Linlang had tagged along, things were only going to get worse.

I’m such a scoundrel, Linlang thought. It was bad enough when the original owner hounded her, but now I’m a literal burden. When the Scum Alpha gets back, there’s going to be hell to pay…

Speak of the devil. A servant’s voice suddenly rang out: “The Master has returned!”

A figure strode quickly through the covered walkway toward Cen Xianyue.

The person carried the chill of the night air. As they passed Linlang, they cast a cold, sidelong glance her way.

Moments later, the figure stood before Xianyue. Like a dutiful wife, Xianyue looked up and then lowered her gaze, helping the person unfasten their cloak while murmuring quiet, domestic questions about their long day. The person offered only a few curt words in response. Their attitude was ice-cold, exactly as described in the book.

So, this is the Scum Alpha, Shen Zhao? Yes, it could be no one else.

Linlang watched in a daze. From across the courtyard, Xianyue’s eyes met hers for a fleeting second before turning away with quiet indifference. She dismissed the servants and led Shen Zhao inside.

The door clicked shut.

Linlang stood frozen for a moment, then crept toward the room.

*****

“So that was Pei Linlang? Your so-called ‘brother’?”

“Yes.”

“You certainly don’t care for appearances, bringing him straight into the manor like this.”

Leaning against the door, Linlang heard Shen Zhao’s voice. Without an audience, her tone was dripping with unrestrained irritation. She didn’t grant her wife even a shred of dignity.

Linlang sighed. She remembered a line from the book describing Shen Zhao’s inner thoughts: Cen Xianyue is an utterly ordinary woman.

It wasn’t that she looked down on Xianyue; she simply didn’t acknowledge her existence at all. Shen Zhao prided herself on her “lofty ambitions,” for which she was willing to cross-dress and marry a beautiful woman. Yet, despite her progressive goals, she viewed marriage as nothing more than a stepping stone.

Tragically, in the book, Xianyue made this person her entire world, worrying for her, caring for her, and eventually dying for her. Even after two years of this dutiful service, the simple addition of Linlang to the household was enough to make Shen Zhao lose her temper.

I should probably pack my bags, Linlang thought. Even if Xianyue didn’t feel anything for her, she had a duty to fulfill. If she left, Xianyue would surely give her enough money to survive, which was better than living here as a charity case.

Just as she turned to leave, Xianyue’s voice rang out from inside:

“I cannot let her go.”

She seemed unwilling to explain further. In the ensuing silence, Linlang waited for more. So did Shen Zhao. But Xianyue only repeated herself in a daze: “Shen Zhao, I cannot let her go.”

Her voice was low, carrying a tone of weary resignation, the sound of someone who had reached the end of their rope.

The heroine must be so hurt by the Scum Alpha’s attitude, Linlang realized.

After a long silence, Xianyue sighed and continued in a calmer voice, “No one in that family truly cares for her. Her mother is gone; I am her last support. Regardless of the past, she is the brother I grew up with. I cannot simply turn my back on her.”

Shen Zhao scoffed. “There is nothing in this world that cannot be let go. You simply don’t want to.”

Xianyue didn’t argue. Shen Zhao paused, then asked, “What do your parents think of this?”

“Linlang has never had a head for studies. My father, being from the Hanlin Academy, could never stand her. Besides, her background…” Xianyue’s voice trailed off.

Shen Zhao’s contempt deepened. “Some people would give everything to study but are blocked at every turn. She has the privilege of a man but refuses to learn? It’s a waste of a life. Unfair.”

This was true. Compared to Shen Zhao, the original owner was a useless failure. A delinquent child who grew into a mediocre adult, destined to die an ignoble death.

But Xianyue flared up in defense. “She may have grown up in luxury, but did she ever have a choice? My father saw her as a thorn in his side; he never even pointed out which way the study door opened. If that was to be the case, he should never have brought her into the house in the first place. Shen Zhao, you were a poor scholar once—how can you not understand her hardship?”

Linlang was stunned that the gentle Xianyue would speak up for her like that. Shen Zhao was equally taken aback, falling into a stunned silence.

Linlang guessed Shen Zhao wanted to explain—to say she couldn’t understand, that as a woman who had fought through hell to get where she was, she could never sympathize with a lazy failure. But she couldn’t say any of that.

“Fine, I ‘understand,’ alright?” Shen Zhao said dismissively. “But he cannot stay in the main courtyard. I’m not comfortable with people coming and going. Have the servants find him a room in a side wing. And one more thing, he must move out within three months.”

Shen Zhao’s reasoning was obvious. She was a woman in disguise; having a strange man wandering around her private quarters was a massive risk.

Linlang had no objection to this. Three months should be plenty of time.

She began to walk away, but the conversation inside continued.

Shen Zhao and Xianyue sat in armchairs on opposite sides of the room, a vast distance between them. Xianyue kept her head down, silent for a long time. Shen Zhao didn’t understand why her wife cared so much about a lowly tag-along, but seeing Xianyue’s obvious reluctance, she tried to smooth things over.

“Xianyue, he has reached the age of majority, and he is a man. It is simply improper for him to live here.”

Shen Zhao rarely called her by name. She assumed that since Xianyue loved her, this small gesture of intimacy would give her an “out.” After all, despite their “contract,” she had benefited greatly from the Cen family; she was willing to be reasonable, up to a point.

To her surprise, Xianyue looked up after a long silence. “If you truly cared about what was ‘improper,’ why did you propose this contract and this sham marriage two years ago?”

She glanced at the grand official robes Shen Zhao was wearing, her eyes flashing with irony.

Fury flared in Shen Zhao’s chest. Her wife was actually throwing their secret in her face—all for the sake of a pathetic “brother.”

“If not for that contract,” Shen Zhao hissed, “do you think I would have ever let that person through my front door?”

Realizing that further arguing was pointless, Xianyue took a weary sip of her tea. She said nothing more.

The tea had gone cold. It tasted like nothing but bitterness.

******

Unwilling to make things harder for Xianyue, Linlang sought out Nanny Zhang and asked for a room in a remote part of the estate.

Nanny Zhang was quite pleased with this. She gave a crooked smile and sneered, “You look like a degenerate, but at least you have some self-awareness.”

Though remote, this courtyard felt fresh; the Shen Estate was new from the inside out, making even this side wing far superior to the Cen household. The tables, chairs, stools, and bedframe were all sturdy and well-crafted, though they were currently buried under a thick layer of dust.

Pei Linlang was perfectly content. Seeing a stone well sitting in the courtyard, she hauled up half a bucket of water and began cleaning the room herself, refusing any help.

Even Yunxiu, who had been so eager to see her kicked out earlier, showed up carrying a thick mattress. As she spread it out, she muttered with an obvious lack of subtlety, “Don’t get the wrong idea, Second Young Master. My lady didn’t send me; she couldn’t care less about you. I’m just here because I’m a kind-hearted soul.”

Linlang simply smiled and didn’t argue.

As the night deepened, the last lingering warmth of the day vanished. Tucked away in the southwest corner of the estate and facing north, the courtyard became bone-chillingly cold. After a quick settling in, Linlang shivered and crawled into her blankets.

Too much had happened today, the transmigration, the Cen Manor, Cen Xianyue, and now the Shen Estate… She stared up at the dark wooden beams of the bedframe, her mind racing with thoughts of business, her future, and the chaos of her new life. Just then, a soft knock sounded at the door.

“Come in.”

It was Cen Xianyue, carrying a small oil lamp.

She was delicately built, her frame slender and graceful. Shrouded in the warm, amber glow of the lamp, she moved with a weightless, ethereal quality.

Linlang sat up abruptly, calling out an awkward, “Eldest Miss.”

Xianyue didn’t respond. She approached the bed and sat down on the edge, pulling a small object from her sleeve. “Since you are living with me, you should call me ‘Eldest Sister,’ just as Juexing does.”

She held a small porcelain jar of medicinal salve. As she spoke, she opened the lid and began swirling her finger inside to soften the ointment. A clean, herbal fragrance filled the room.

Linlang felt a wave of embarrassment. She knew she had witnessed a humiliating moment for Xianyue earlier; seeing the woman’s somber expression now, she assumed it was still bothering her. “Actually, I would have been fine staying elsewhere…” she said guiltily.

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized she had essentially admitted to eavesdropping. She tried to backtrack: “I mean, coming here so suddenly… I’m afraid I’m a bother. I shouldn’t trouble you, Eldest Sister…”

Xianyue froze, her long lashes casting shadows over her eyes. She remained still for a long time before continuing her movements.

When she finally lifted her finger, it was coated in a thick layer of salve. She raised her gaze, her cool eyes locking onto Linlang’s, and moved her hand closer.

Linlang flinched instinctively, but Xianyue used her other hand to gently cup Linlang’s cheek. “Don’t move,” she whispered.

The salve stung slightly as it was dabbed onto her skin. Linlang couldn’t even remember when she’d been injured; she had a vague memory of being scratched by a branch while trying to pick the lock earlier.

She hissed softly through her teeth.

Xianyue lightened her touch, her breath ghosting over Linlang’s face in the intimate proximity. Linlang uncomfortably shifted her gaze away. The room was silent, save for the faint, warm scent of the woman lingering near her lips.

“If the servants find out that the Mistress of the Shen family cannot even protect her own brother, I will become a laughingstock once more,” Xianyue said suddenly, her voice flowing slow and soft into the freezing air.

She gave Linlang one last look. “Stay here and be at peace. She is busy with official duties and does not come home often.”

Linlang blinked, the logic finally clicking. Xianyue was the Mistress of the house; every move she made was under scrutiny. If Linlang came only to leave immediately, it would look like Xianyue lacked the authority to keep her own family under her roof. Besides, Xianyue was the heroine—the “moral compass” of the story.

I really picked the right person to rely on, Linlang thought. Despite how the original owner treated her, Xianyue was still willing to shield her with her saintly light. Truly the kindest soul in the capital!

Linlang felt a weight lift off her shoulders. “Yes, Eldest Sister,” she said gratefully.

Such a good person shouldn’t be wasted on a Scum Alpha. If she could, she would definitely help the heroine—consider it repayment for taking her in. As for her own plans… Linlang thought of the Rubik’s Cube in her bundle. She needed to figure out how to use it to make her first fortune and move out.

Once the salve was applied, Xianyue slowly closed the jar. “Since your mother has passed and you have moved out of that house, it would be best to reclaim your identity as a woman.”

Linlang nodded. “Yes. I will consider it, Sister.”

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