Half a quarter of an hour later, Shen Baozhu sat back on the chair, swinging her legs as she watched Shen Heqing going through the letters.
The more letters he read, the worse Shen Heqing's complexion became.
Some of the letters were from more than a decade ago, when Shen Yunfeng and the Princess of Jingning were not yet married. Others were from just a few months ago, in which the woman urged Shen Yunfeng to get a divorce quickly. The time span was extremely large, indicating that Shen Yunfeng had been in contact with this woman all along.
The contents of the letters revealed many things.
Shen Heqing clenched his fists tightly. "What a brute! If he was in love with that woman back then, why did he come to propose to Mother!"
"So he regarded Concubine Yun as a substitute. He got jealous because of that woman, and all these years he just ignored Danqing..."
Shen Heqing almost lost control of his emotions. He even wanted to confront Shen Yunfeng with these letters.
On the side, Shen Baozhu asked curiously, "Brother, what are you talking about? Can we go make clay figurines now?"
Shen Baozhu's voice pulled Shen Heqing back to his senses. He put the letters back into the box, covered the floor tile as it was, and then casually took out a book from the bookshelf. "Baozhu, let's go."
...
In the guest room.
Even though he was in the Princess Mansion, Su Qian still couldn't sleep well.
When Shen Heqing brought Shen Baozhu there, he was dozing off on the table with a pillow in his arms, looking rather pitiful.
"If you're sleepy, go to bed and sleep. What are you doing lying here?" Shen Heqing reached out and patted the table, waking Su Qian up.
Su Qian hugged the pillow tightly, looking aggrieved. "I'm scared. The first few times I slept in the bed, I almost had my head chopped off by a knife. Now whenever I lie in the bed, I think of that day."
"My mother left in a hurry and didn't explain many things. I've been busy for more than half a month and finally finished everything. I lay in the bed and was about to sleep."
"Not long after, I heard the door open, but I didn't care. I just turned over... And then I heard the sound of the bed board being chopped through!"
"Brother Heqing, if I hadn't been lucky enough to turn over towards the wall, I would have been chopped in half."
This was also the reason why Su Qian hid in the water tank in the workshop.
As Su Qian was talking, he began to cry loudly with the pillow in his arms. He had had a tough time these days.
If it weren't for Shen Baozhu insisting on going to the Su Family Workshop to make clay figurines, he might have been killed yesterday.
Thinking of this, Su Qian looked at Shen Baozhu gratefully. "Baozhu, thanks to you wanting to make clay figurines, I was saved. Anyway, I don't have much time left. Why don't I give all my property to you."
"I don't have much savings. Only the Su Family Workshop is worth something..."
Shen Heqing took the pillow out of Su Qian's arms. "That's enough. What do you mean you don't have much time left? Mother has already sent Hongshen to investigate. Just stay in the Princess Mansion peacefully and you'll surely live a long life."
Su Qian wasn't as optimistic as Shen Heqing. He frowned and said, "It's not that simple. The people from the yamen couldn't find any clues. My sister said it might be a ghost seeking revenge."
"A ghost seeking revenge? Su Qian, are you out of your mind?" Shen Heqing scoffed. "Which ghost would hire someone to kill you and use a knife? This is clearly a man - made disaster!"
But Su Qian wasn't talking nonsense. He listed several points.
The black - clothed men who were chasing him usually came at night. Only yesterday was an exception.
Actually, Su Qian had reported the case twice. Each time, the yamen had arranged more than a dozen people inside and outside. The black - clothed men didn't make a move. As soon as the yamen withdrew the people, the black - clothed men came again.
The second time, the yamen even tried to lure the enemy out by pretending to withdraw, but the black - clothed men still didn't come.
Su Qian said angrily, "The plans were all kept secret. There's no way the black - clothed men could have known, but they still managed to come as soon as the yamen runners left. Doesn't this prove something?"
Shen Heqing retorted, "Prove what? It proves that your plan was leaked. What does this have to do with a ghost seeking revenge?"
The plan was leaked...
A look of confusion flashed across Su Qian's eyes. He seriously thought about Shen Heqing's words.
"If you think it's a ghost seeking revenge, then why is the ghost after your life?" Shen Heqing's question left Su Qian speechless.
Su Qian stammered for a long time. Finally, he looked at Shen Baozhu and said recklessly, "Baozhu, who do you think is right?"
Suddenly being mentioned, Shen Baozhu was stunned. She looked at Su Qian and then at Shen Heqing, looking a bit embarrassed. "Baozhu doesn't know..."
[Your brother is right. Besides, this silly boy has a predestined calamity in his life. If he can successfully get through it, he will have a future of great wealth and honor.] The subtitles in mid - air refreshed. The Dragon King could see Su Qian's fate from his appearance.
Shen Baozhu repeated it exactly as it was.
Su Qian started crying again. He cried even louder. He snatched the pillow from Shen Heqing's hand and hugged it while crying.
His cries were so miserable that anyone who heard them would feel sad.
Shen Heqing was a bit at a loss. "Why are you crying again? Stop crying!"
Su Qian looked up, looking aggrieved. "Why can't I cry? I've been scared these days and didn't even dare to say a word. Now that I have a chance to cry, you won't even let me cry to my heart's content."
"No, a real man shouldn't cry like this. What does it look like?" Shen Heqing wanted to say more, but when he met Su Qian's red - rimmed eyes, he could only shut up.
Su Qian also realized that his behavior was inappropriate, but he really couldn't control himself.
Just as Su Qian was hugging the pillow tightly, a small handkerchief covered his face and wiped it messily.
Shen Heqing looked in the direction of the handkerchief and saw that it was Shen Baozhu standing on tiptoe, helping Su Qian wipe his face.
After wiping messily for a while, Shen Baozhu put away the handkerchief. Acting like a little adult, she patted the pillow in Su Qian's arms. "Brother Su Qian, don't be afraid. Baozhu will protect you!"
"Whether it's a ghost or a bad guy, Baozhu will be here. You will surely be safe."
"Baozhu still wants to make clay figurines with Brother Su Qian!"
Su Qian was extremely touched. "Baozhu, you're so kind to me. From now on, you're my little sister... Waa, Brother Heqing!"
"Baozhu is my real sister. You brat, do you want to take my place?" Shen Heqing picked up Su Qian by the waist and threw him onto the bed, then forcibly covered him with the quilt.
As soon as he touched the bed, Su Qian remembered what had happened in the previous days. He subconsciously wanted to throw off the quilt and run away, but was forcibly held down by Shen Heqing.
Shen Heqing pulled Shen Baozhu to sit on the edge of the bed. "Sleep peacefully for a while. Baozhu and I will stay here with you."
Under Shen Heqing's coercion, it took a long time for Su Qian to fall asleep in the bed. But even in his sleep, his eyebrows were still tightly knitted, and he occasionally uttered a few words of "Help me".
Shen Baozhu reached out and poked Su Qian's face. "Brother, it's so much fun to poke someone's face."
"Brother is thinking about the things of the Su Family. I feel that this matter must be related to Su Qian's family..." Shen Heqing said thoughtfully. "It might be Su Qian's older brother."
Su Qian wasn't very smart and had no defense against Shen Heqing. He had told Shen Heqing many things about his family.
The Su Family had three children. Su Qian was the youngest. He had an older sister and an older brother.
His sister was more than a decade older than him and was already married. His brother was only a few months older than him and was said to be the son of his father's concubine.
Su Qian's father passed away more than a decade ago, and all the family businesses fell into his mother's hands.
Shen Heqing guessed that Su Qian's mother left all the family businesses to Su Qian, which made his older brother unhappy. In order to take revenge and get the family property, his older brother hired killers to kill him.
After explaining his reasoning, Shen Heqing became more and more certain of his conjecture. "Baozhu, do you understand?"
Shen Baozhu stopped poking Su Qian's face and looked up at her brother. "Ah?"