The Roster and William Walker’s Marriage

The think-tank of Shunning Marquis Manor had been shut in their study, trying to decipher the deeper meaning behind Serena Feng's move. They refused to believe Serena would show them goodwill for no reason. If it was just Serena making way, fine—but bringing Dominic Zhai along was clearly a gesture toward Shunning Marquis Manor.

"She’s in the wrong. In my opinion, Serena Feng must be guilty, or she wouldn’t have brought Dominic Zhai to yield the way with her. Serena Feng simply doesn’t have any evidence to prove Simon Sun’s innocence. She’s trying to make nice with us, hoping we’ll let Simon off the hook."

Once one of the advisers voiced this conclusion, the rest quickly agreed—even Shunning Marquis himself thought so. If Serena Feng wasn’t guilty, if she could prove Simon Sun’s innocence, why would she need Dominic Zhai to yield the way for their manor?

So, Shunning Marquis Manor grew smug. Although they’d miscalculated today, Serena Feng held no evidence in Simon Sun’s favor. The timeline was a glaring flaw, and in that chaotic scene, they hadn’t had time to think. Framing Simon was their only option—they had no one else to pin it on.

At this point, all they had to do was insist the sixth young lady died in Simon Sun’s arms and claim ignorance about how he supposedly did it. No matter what Serena Feng said, they couldn’t change their story—Shunning Marquis Manor could not afford a scandal.

As for how Simon Sun supposedly violated the sixth young lady—what did that have to do with Shunning Marquis Manor? That was Simon Sun’s problem. Find him and ask him yourself…

And if Simon Sun couldn’t be found, the case would never be resolved. All they needed to do was keep shifting the blame onto him.

While Shunning Marquis Manor schemed how to deal with Serena Feng, Dominic Zhai was also questioning Serena: why, when she clearly had the upper hand today, didn’t she just crush Shunning in one blow?

"It’s not that easy. Shunning Marquis Manor has deep roots. Besides, my reasoning today makes sense, but I still can’t prove how the sixth young lady actually died. I have a feeling her death isn’t simple, and Simon really is unlucky to get caught up in this. Unless we find the real culprit, there’s no way to clear Simon’s name with timing alone." Serena trusted Dominic, but she kept her plan to examine the body to herself. She knew he’d see opening the coffin as disrespectful and would never agree.

Serena didn’t want to continue that topic. She pointed to the roster in the guard’s hands behind her and asked playfully, “Young Lord Dominic, you’re impressive—how did you manage to get that roster?”

The roster itself was real, but the entries for yesterday and today’s gate guards were clearly faked. Serena just couldn’t figure out how Dominic Zhai managed it—he was usually so careless, how could he have prepared so thoroughly?

Hahaha...

The moment the roster came up, Dominic Zhai started showing off—this was his masterpiece. He instantly forgot about grilling Serena and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Want to know?"

Not really!

But if she actually said no, Dominic Zhai would probably get all sulky, so...

Serena nodded against her own will. "I want to know."

"I’m not telling you—just to make you squirm!" Dominic puffed himself up, strutting around with his head held high, humming a little tune, playing the part of a cocky young lord.

Serena couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. Still, she knew that without Dominic’s help today, she might’ve fallen into Bloodcloak’s hands. Suppressing her impatience, she coaxed Dominic with a smile, "Young Lord, how did you pull it off? Come on, tell me."

"Nope, not telling. Unless you beg me." Dominic kept up his act—he really was the capital’s number one playboy, and he did have the swagger to match.

"Young Lord, I’m begging you—please, just tell me! I’m dying of curiosity here." Serena played along perfectly, giving Dominic all the face he wanted.

Watching the two up ahead—one acting all proud, the other coaxing—the four guards behind Dominic Zhai lowered their heads to stifle their laughter, secretly wondering if they should report this to the prince.

In this world, the only people who could keep Dominic Zhai in check were William Wang Jinling and Serena Feng. Their methods might differ, but the result was the same.

Dominic put on a show, cleared his throat, and declared, "Alright, since you’ve asked so sincerely, I’ll be merciful and tell you. Once the roster is sorted, it has to be recopied. The new version can’t have any mistakes—if the scribe messes up, the whole book is discarded. So all I did was dig up a few pages from last month’s discarded roster, tear off the old names, and paste in the ones I needed."

Faking it was simple—the real trick was in the craftsmanship. You had to make it invisible, almost like the art of miniature carving.

"So that’s how it is." Things that seemed mysterious always lost their magic once explained. Dominic didn’t say the last part, but Serena knew anyway. She praised him sincerely: "I never expected you’d have such a talented craftsman under you. But how did you think to prepare the forgery ahead of time?"

Serena had just asked casually, but the question instantly wiped the smugness off Dominic’s face. "It wasn’t me—it was William. William said the gate guards yesterday had seen you and Ninth Royal Uncle, and if Bloodcloak couldn’t question the palace staff, they might go after the gate soldiers. Just in case, he had the roster prepared in advance."

After saying this, Dominic shot Serena a resentful look—damn woman, couldn’t she let him bask in his glory a bit longer?

"So it was William. I knew it—Young Lord, you’re a battle commander, not one for these fiddly details." Serena gave Dominic a subtle compliment, and he immediately started showing off again: "Of course! I’m a man of big deeds—why would I care about little things like this?"

From then on, Dominic needed no encouragement—he started bragging about himself to the skies, totally self-satisfied. Serena didn’t interrupt, just listened quietly. When he finally finished, she changed the subject: "By the way, I heard William is getting married. Do you know which family’s girl he’s chosen, and when the wedding will be?"

"Wedding? What wedding? William’s getting married? How come I haven’t heard about it?" Dominic stopped dead, nearly crashing into his own guards if they hadn’t reacted quickly.

Serena was just as confused, even more so than Dominic. "Huh? Didn’t the Wang family arrange a match for him and urge him to marry early?"

Could it be that Ninth Royal Uncle’s intel was wrong?

"Oh, you mean that!" Dominic suddenly understood. "Yeah, the Wang elders did try about half a month ago, but William refused. He said the Wang matriarch can’t be chosen lightly. His wife won’t just be his consort—she’ll be the mistress of the entire Wang clan. He has to choose carefully; she must be worthy of the role. He’ll never marry a woman who isn’t fit to be the Wang matriarch."

It was a bit much, sure—he’d offended almost every eligible woman in the capital. But since William basically ran the Wang family, and his logic was sound, the elders didn’t push him. He wasn’t that old anyway; waiting a couple of years wouldn’t hurt. Being the Wang matriarch was no easy job, so it was better to be cautious about marriage. Marry the wrong wife, and your whole life could be ruined.