When Shen Danqing and his party returned, the sky was gradually darkening. Shen Baozhu was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open.
Before they even entered the city, she nestled in Shen Danqing's arms and fell asleep.
When they arrived at the Princess Mansion, Shen Danqing gently got off the carriage and handed Shen Baozhu to Shen Heqing. "Elder brother, I have something important to discuss with mother."
Shen Heqing was only focused on the sleeping Shen Baozhu in his arms and didn't pay attention to Shen Danqing's words. He just casually nodded, but then he noticed Shen Danqing's delighted expression. He couldn't help but feel curious. "What happened? Why are you so happy?"
"Baozhu is protected by an immortal!" After much thought, Shen Danqing still whispered this. "The immortal even gave Baozhu such a huge gold nugget!"
"A gold nugget as big as Baozhu!"
Looking at the size Shen Danqing described, Shen Heqing laughed. "Are you pulling my leg? How could that be... Could it really be true?"
"Wouldn't Baozhu be the richest in our family then?"
Shen Danqing said anxiously, "Is that the point? The point is that Baozhu is protected by an immortal!"
"Elder brother, I won't talk to you anymore. I'm going to see mother."
He left Shen Heqing standing there, lost in thought.
...
Early the next morning.
Shen Baozhu woke up groggily. She rolled around on the bed with her small quilt until she woke herself up, then opened her eyes.
Unexpectedly, she met a pair of gentle eyes. Shen Baozhu subconsciously widened her eyes. "Second brother!"
"Why do you only see the second brother? The elder brother is here too!" Shen Heqing beside her seemed to be in a great mood. He even invited Shen Baozhu to the study. "Baozhu woke up so early. Do you want to accompany elder brother to the study to practice calligraphy?"
Hearing this, Shen Baozhu closed her eyes and rolled around a few more times with her small quilt. "Baozhu is still asleep. Baozhu is dreaming!"
Shen Heqing reached out and picked her up, shaking her gently. "Does Baozhu think elder brother is a fool? Can a sleeping child still talk?"
"Baozhu is asleep, but her mouth is awake." Shen Baozhu started to talk nonsense.
Shen Heqing didn't believe her at all. He smiled and said, "Your second brother and I carried a certain little girl's gold nugget back last night. Mother is going to store it in the warehouse. I'm just afraid that a certain little girl will wake up too late and won't be able to see her gold nugget. It's a pity. I even prepared the tools for making clay figurines..."
Shen Baozhu quickly opened her eyes and looked at her elder brother seriously. "Baozhu is awake. Let's go and see the gold nugget and make clay figurines!"
[Why put it away? It's such a waste. I specifically picked this gold nugget. It's the perfect size. You should use it to make a statue of yourself.]
Looking at the Dragon King's bullet screen, Shen Baozhu was a bit confused. "Why do I need to make a statue out of gold?"
[Apart from sleeping on it and making a statue, I can't think of a third use for gold.]
[Maybe you'd rather sleep on it? The one from yesterday wasn't big enough. I'll give you a bigger one so you can lie on it and sleep.]
"No, thank you. Baozhu doesn't like sleeping on gold." Shen Baozhu thought for a while. She felt that gold was too hard and sleeping on it would definitely be uncomfortable, so she declined.
After Shen Heqing helped Shen Baozhu wash up, he first took her to see the gold nugget.
Last night, after Shen Danqing told Princess Jingning about the gold nugget, Princess Jingning was worried about leaving it in the Su family's workshop. So she asked Shen Heqing and Shen Danqing to take the guards and carry the gold nugget back overnight.
As Shen Heqing led Shen Baozhu along, he said, "Mother was afraid that we would feel sleepy in the middle of the night, so she gave us some kind of water. As a result, your second brother and I are still full of energy and not sleepy at all."
Shen Baozhu immediately thought of the potion from Brother Lin Yu. She asked for praise. "Baozhu knows. It's the potion Brother Lin Yu gave to Baozhu. It can refresh elder brother's mind!"
"Wow, it turns out it's all thanks to Baozhu. Thank you, Baozhu..." Shen Heqing already knew the general situation from Princess Jingning, so he wasn't surprised.
When they reached the front yard, Shen Heqing remembered Princess Jingning's instructions from last night. He changed direction and led Shen Baozhu straight in.
Shen Yunfeng wasn't in the front yard.
When the butler saw Shen Heqing, he quickly stepped forward to greet him. "Young master, you're here?"
After the 50,000 taels of silver was taken, the butler felt nervous whenever he saw Shen Heqing.
Shen Heqing looked around and asked, "Where's father? Isn't he in the front yard?"
Shen Yunfeng had an appointment with his friends to enjoy the flowers today, so he left early in the morning.
Shen Yunfeng wasn't here. Shen Heqing was overjoyed. He lifted his feet and headed towards the study. The butler wanted to follow, but Shen Heqing stopped him.
There was a hint of annoyance in his tone. "I'm going to my father's study to find some ancient books. Why are you following me?"
The butler could only force a smile. After watching Shen Heqing enter the study, he quietly approached, trying to hear what was going on inside, but was caught by Shen Heqing.
Shen Heqing directly opened the door of the study wide and sneered. "I'm going to ask grandfather what it means to be a loyal servant of the Shen family. You're constantly on guard against me."
"Get out of here quickly, or I'll go to grandfather."
These words were very harsh. The butler's forehead was covered in fine sweat. He was a servant born into the family. Three generations of his family had served in the Shen family. He was married and had a son who was the same age as Shen Heqing. His wife and son also worked for the Shen family. His son was going to get married next year. If Shen Heqing reported him to the old master, his whole family would be in trouble.
He was so worried about himself that he had no intention of helping Shen Yunfeng guard the study.
Shen Heqing closed the door of the study and started to search. But after searching for a long time, he didn't find any clues, so he became a bit impatient.
Shen Baozhu was sitting on a chair in the study, swinging her legs and propping her chin up as she watched her elder brother busily searching.
[Why are all the people around you so stupid? The floor tile is almost coming loose, and they're still looking on the bookshelves. How stupid!]
[Why haven't they noticed it yet! It's the floor tile on the far right!]
The Dragon King couldn't stand Shen Heqing's stupidity and couldn't help but complain.
Following the reminder on the subtitle, while Shen Heqing was still wandering around the bookshelves and cabinets, Shen Baozhu had already noticed the slightly raised floor tile.
The floor tile was at the very back of the study, and there was a shelf beside it, so an ordinary person would never notice it.
Shen Baozhu lifted the slightly raised floor tile, and there was a wooden box inside.
"Elder brother..." As soon as Shen Baozhu called out, Shen Heqing motioned for her to be quiet.
Shen Heqing looked warily outside. "We're doing something bad. Keep your voice down."
Shen Baozhu nodded and didn't call out to Shen Heqing again. Instead, she opened the wooden box herself.
Inside the wooden box was a jade flute pendant and a thick stack of letters. The jade flute was placed on top of the letters, and it was obvious that it had been frequently touched.
Shen Baozhu put the wooden box down and casually picked up a yellowed letter.
The handwriting on the letter was scribbled. Shen Baozhu could only barely make out the first few sentences. She read them out curiously. "I didn't expect that you would marry someone else..."
The rest of the handwriting was too scribbled, and there were tear stains on the letter. Shen Baozhu couldn't recognize the words, so she picked up another letter. "You have another woman. You've been... Elder brother, what does this character mean? Baozhu doesn't recognize it."
Hearing Shen Baozhu's call, Shen Heqing walked over in a few steps. "I told you to learn characters before, but you only wanted to play. Now look? You don't recognize them, do you?"
"This is pronounced 'pian', as in 'deceive'."
"Elder brother will read the whole letter. Baozhu listen carefully." Shen Heqing cleared his throat and started to read the letter. "You have another woman. You've been deceiving me all along. Now you have a wife and a concubine, while I've been ruined and locked up in the room. Shen Yunfeng, you're a big liar."
After reading the letter, Shen Heqing's face changed. He had really guessed right. Shen Yunfeng had a true love!