The dialogue in this section is sharp enough to cut, and every character has a distinct voice. Wei Shuimei's lines are particularly vicious in their casual delivery. When she says, ultimately if a woman can't keep a man's heart, it's because she lacks ability, the sentence lands like a slap because it's delivered with the ease of someone who has never considered that the speaker might be the target. Xiang Yi's responses are measured and defensive—Sister-in-law, watch your words!—showing a woman who has learned to speak carefully in a hostile environment. Shang Qingyan's dialogue is terse and cold. His line, Young Master Yu, don't forget what you said on the day of the carriage collision, is loaded with implication. He's reminding Yu Ange of her promise to care for him, and the subtext is clear: you can't just use me and disappear. Yu Ange's voice, meanwhile, shifts between deferential and razor-edged. Her polite thank you, Your Highness, for avenging my sister carries a double meaning—the reader understands she's thanking him for crippling Cen Jiashu, not just for the medical care. And her final confrontation with Wei Shuimei, I didn't hear clearly just now. Third Aunt, who did you say was born of a mother but raised without one?—is delivered with perfect timing and chilling restraint. The author lets the dialogue do the work without over-explaining the emotions behind it.
