Shen Yinning opened the brocade box.
Inside was a palm-sized bronze saw-tooth key. She picked it up and toyed with it carefully. The key looked somewhat old, suggesting that her elder brother had entrusted it to Yan Zhehai many years ago.
She glanced at Yan Zheming. "Why are you giving this to me only now?"
Yan Zheming swirled the cup in his hand. "Miss Shen, you can't possibly think that I harbor no resentment toward you, after your brother murdered Ahai, can you? Originally, I had no intention of handing this over to you."
Shen Yinning recalled that stab Yan Zheming had given her in the palace.
At the time, they had discussed using a feigned blood feud to conceal their alliance. She figured a casual stab would suffice, but Yan Zheming went all out, stabbing so deeply that Doctor Xiao Chen later said if it had gone just an inch farther, she would have died on the spot. It was hard to dismiss the notion that he had taken that opportunity to vent his rage.
