However, how did Shen Haiyan know for sure that the Shen family was going to be in big trouble?
Yan Mingli only stood there deep in thought for a moment before Shen Haiyan walked away with Shen Baozhu. He hurriedly caught up.
No matter how hard Yan Mingli tried to figure it out, he could never have guessed that Shen Baozhu liked to sneak into the palace to chat with the emperor, and Shen Haiyan secretly asked her to speak ill of the Shen family in front of the emperor.
Everyone has blind spots in their thinking. Even the once - all - powerful Old Master Shen of the Shen family couldn't cover every aspect. Moreover, with a large and prosperous family, it was even more difficult to manage.
Coincidentally, Shen Haiyan knew a lot of the Shen family's dirty secrets. He packaged these stories and told them to Shen Baozhu as bedtime stories.
The five - year - old Shen Baozhu loved to share. When chatting with her emperor uncle, she would share the stories she had heard. She also didn't forget her third brother's instructions. Every time she saw Prime Minister Sima, she would mention her grandfather.
After several times, the emperor also noticed the peculiarity of the stories from Shen Baozhu's mouth and began to secretly coax her to say more.
To be able to share more stories, Shen Baozhu started to pester Shen Haiyan more often and deliberately remembered the stories.
Shen Haiyan noticed the change in Shen Baozhu and guessed that his plan had succeeded. The emperor and Prime Minister Sima were indeed paying close attention to the Shen family.
This was the reason why he could say with certainty that the Shen family was going to be in trouble.
After walking a few hundred steps, they finally reached the courtyard of Old Lady Shen.
Shen Haiyan deliberately paused for a moment. After Yan Mingli caught up, he strode in.
But as soon as Shen Haiyan entered the courtyard, a maid stepped forward, "Young Master Haiyan, please keep your voice down. The old lady has gone to sleep. Please..."
"What! What did you say!" Shen Haiyan suddenly shouted, startling everyone.
Even though the maid was prepared, she couldn't help taking a step back.
Taking advantage of this moment, Shen Haiyan shouted again, "Mingli, I've just recovered from my injury and can't hear clearly. What did this maid say just now?"
Yan Mingli was stunned for a moment and replied dryly, "She said to keep your voice down. Old Lady Shen has gone to sleep and told us to..."
"What? Say it again?" Shen Haiyan interrupted Yan Mingli and asked again.
Yan Mingli also started to feel nervous. He whispered, "She seems to say that Old Lady Shen has..."
Shen Haiyan interrupted again, "What did you say? I can't hear you!"
This was the third hint. Shen Baozhu understood. She imitated Shen Haiyan and shouted, "Third brother, Baozhu didn't hear clearly either. Grandmother must be asking us to go in!"
Inspired by Shen Baozhu, Yan Mingli finally understood Shen Haiyan's intention. He blushed and shouted with all his might, "It should be like this!"
"I don't know either!"
"Let's go in and take a look!"
The shouts were so loud that they could be heard beyond the courtyard wall. But inside the room, Old Lady Shen remained motionless. She still lay in bed, pretending to be asleep.
Old Lady Shen knew very well how difficult Shen Haiyan was. If he came to visit without any special occasion, there must be trouble. So she just lay in bed pretending to be asleep, as long as she didn't have to meet Shen Haiyan.
Seeing there was no movement in the room, Shen Haiyan guessed what Old Lady Shen was thinking. He sneered, then suddenly picked up Shen Baozhu, bypassed the maid in front of him, and entered the room. He "accidentally" kicked over the table.
Shen Haiyan sighed, "Oh, why did I accidentally kick over the table?"
Lin Yu: [Baozhu's third brother said he did it accidentally?]
Lin Yu: [He walked straight to the table after entering the door, first put the teapot on the ground, and then kicked over the solid - wood table. Is this an accident?]
Dragon King: [Oh, didn't you hear what Shen Haiyan said? He did it accidentally! It must be an accident.]
Dragon King: [Right, little cutie?]
Shen Baozhu looked at her third brother and then at the kicked - over table. She hesitated for a moment and asked in a small voice, "Third brother, did you really kick it over accidentally?"
"Of course! Third brother never lies to Baozhu. I really kicked it over accidentally." Shen Haiyan answered loudly.
The continuous noise made it impossible for Old Lady Shen to lie in bed anymore. She had to be "woken up" reluctantly.
While Old Lady Shen was getting dressed and getting up, Shen Haiyan whispered in Shen Baozhu's ear, "Third brother originally wanted to overturn it, but suddenly remembered that I was holding Baozhu in my arms. In a hurry, I just kicked it over with my foot."
Dragon King: [Hahaha, Shen Haiyan doesn't lie to the little cutie. He really did it accidentally.]
Dragon King: [But why did he put the teapot on the ground?]
Soon, the Dragon King would know why Shen Haiyan did this.
Old Lady Shen had her hair coiled up, with a plum - shaped hairpin on her forehead decorated with several short hairpins. She was wearing a bright red long dress with a plum - shaped jade pendant hanging on her waist, looking dignified and elegant.
"Grandmother! Long time no see. Your grandson has been missing you all the time!" Shen Haiyan handed Shen Baozhu to Yan Mingli behind him and began to deal with Old Lady Shen.
Hearing Shen Haiyan's words, Old Lady Shen's face stiffened. Missing her? He probably cursed her behind her back.
Different from Shen Yunfeng and Old Master Shen, who just disliked Shen Haiyan, Old Lady Shen really had a feud with him.
Shen Heqing loved books and could stay in the study all day. But Shen Haiyan wasn't interested in poetry. He was energetic since childhood and liked to stick to Princess Jingning, just like Shen Baozhu, following Princess Jingning with his little legs.
As soon as Princess Jingning married into the Shen family, Old Lady Shen tried to control her, but Princess Jingning took the opportunity to split the family, taking her son Shen Yunfeng with her.
Then Princess Jingning got pregnant. Shen Yunfeng brought Concubine Yun into the mansion. Concubine Yun got pregnant, and Princess Jingning gave birth... A series of things happened later, which made Old Lady Shen unable to find a chance to control Princess Jingning.
But Old Lady Shen never gave up. Finally, when Shen Haiyan was seven years old, she found an opportunity. Taking advantage of the fact that Shen Haiyan sneaked out to play in the water and had a high fever, she forced Princess Jingning to take care of Shen Haiyan personally and hand over the management power of the princess mansion.
Shen Haiyan would never forget that night when he had a persistent high fever. Old Lady Shen shamelessly wanted to move in and immediately asked for the management power. His good father just watched silently without taking sides.
In the end, Princess Jingning "politely" persuaded Old Lady Shen to leave and stayed with Shen Haiyan until his fever subsided.
Thinking of this, the smile in Shen Haiyan's eyes grew wider, "Grandmother, why aren't you saying anything? Is your throat uncomfortable?"
"Your grandson misses you, and you must miss your grandson too. What? You want to give this excellent dark - green tea set to me? It's too precious. Your grandson doesn't dare to accept it."
"Since you insist on giving it to your grandson... Well, a gift from an elder cannot be refused. Your grandson will accept it."
"What? You also want to give the jade pendant on your waist to your grandson... Your grandson will reluctantly accept it."
Old Lady Shen, who hadn't said a single word, could hardly keep her composure. She endured it again and again.
Yan Mingli held Shen Baozhu's hand and reminded in a low voice, "This jade pendant matches the jade bracelet. There should be a jade bracelet too."
Shen Baozhu also whispered, "Will the jade pendant and the jade bracelet be more valuable if they are together?"
Dragon King: [Baozhu is right! We should also get the jade bracelet.]
Shen Haiyan looked at Old Lady Shen with a smile.
Old Lady Shen's body trembled. If it weren't for the maid supporting her, she would have fallen to the ground. She gritted her teeth and said, "That's enough! Don't push your luck!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Haiyan slapped the solid - wood table. With a crack, the table split from the center and fell apart.
Old Lady Shen trembled even more, "Go, go and get the jade bracelet on my table."
When the jade bracelet was brought over, Shen Haiyan gave the jade pendant and the bracelet to Shen Baozhu, "Baozhu, play with them. If you get bored, just give them away."
"You! Ungrateful descendant! How did I end up with..." Old Lady Shen just started to speak when she felt Shen Haiyan's stare and swallowed her words back.
In the following time, Shen Haiyan took Yan Mingli for a stroll around. And the "loving" Old Lady Shen could only give gifts to her grandchildren with tears in her eyes.