Shen Haiyan held Shen Baozhu in his arms and admonished her, "Baozhu, let third brother handle this kind of thing."
Even Xu Yutang, who was sobbing nearby, slowly raised her head. Through her sobs, she said, "That's right, Baozhu. Don't dirty your own hands."
Yan Mingli watched Shen Haiyan holding Shen Baozhu and Xu Yutang sitting on the ground crying. He scratched his head, feeling utterly useless.
After much deliberation, Yan Mingli resolutely grabbed a wooden plank from the kitchen and swung it at Xu Yusong. "Let's beat them a few times to vent our anger!"
Yan Mingli beat each of the three members of the Xu family a few times. Just then, the imperial guards arrived at the kitchen.
When they saw the imperial guards, Shen Haiyan and Yan Mingli shared an unspoken understanding. One tugged at Shen Baozhu's hair ornaments, while the other tore at her clothes.
Shen Baozhu didn't understand what they were doing, but she obediently stayed still, allowing her hair ornaments and even some of her hair to be pulled out. Holes appeared in her once - beautiful clothes, and Yan Mingli smeared ash on her face. In an instant, the cute little girl was transformed into a street urchin.
The leader of the imperial guards turned to Shen Haiyan and asked, "Young Master Shen, have you found the little princess?"
"Ah!" Yan Mingli let out a startled cry, drawing everyone's attention. He then lashed out at the Xu family members, kicking and punching them wildly. "You beasts! Baozhu is just a child. Even if she's close to Xu Yutang, you shouldn't have kidnapped her!"
"Baozhu is only five years old. She suffers from headaches, chest tightness, and heartaches!"
"Woo - woo - woo. My poor Baozhu! What if you keep having these headaches, chest tightness, and heartaches?"
Lin Yu: [Do you understand, Baozhu?]
Lin Yu: [From now on, you have headaches, chest tightness, and heartaches.]
Shen Baozhu, huddled in Shen Haiyan's arms, blinked her eyes. She placed her small hand on her head and said firmly, "That's right. Baozhu has headaches, chest tightness, and heartaches!"
Shen Baozhu continued this act all the way to the palace.
...
In the Qianqing Palace.
On the bright - yellow bed, Shen Baozhu lay flat, her eyes brimming with tears. She looked utterly pitiful.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" The emperor was heartbroken. He quickly ordered someone to bring snacks like candied fruits, hoping to console Shen Baozhu.
The Dragon King: [Little cutie, your acting is so good!]
Shen Baozhu said in a despairing tone, "Because third brother told me before he left that mother is angry. I won't get any cakes next month or the month after!"
"Woo - woo - woo. Baozhu was just trying to help Sister Yutang. How could they punish me?"
Thinking that she wouldn't be able to eat cakes for the next two months, Shen Baozhu became even more sad. She bit her lips, her eyes dull.
Lin Yu: [Since the punishment has been increased, let's also extend the date of our agreement with Baozhu.]
Upon seeing this message, Shen Baozhu finally couldn't hold back. She rolled over and hugged the pillow, sobbing loudly.
The Dragon King: [Little cutie, there's someone as miserable as you.]
The Dragon King: [Tell the emperor that the gods are very angry.]
Shen Baozhu raised her head and repeated the Dragon King's words. Coupled with her current pitiful appearance, the emperor trembled and his face turned ashen.
He staggered a few steps and almost lost his balance. "Go, go, go! Summon Prime Minister Sima and the Minister of Justice. I want to immediately try the case of the Xu family! Hurry!"
Lin Yu: [Don't cry, Baozhu. Your mother's punishment has nothing to do with our agreement. It's my fault. I shouldn't have teased you.]
Knowing that the date of the agreement remained unchanged, Shen Baozhu let out a sigh of relief. She still remembered Yan Mingli's words. Supporting her head, she looked at the emperor and said, "Uncle Emperor, Baozhu is a bit hungry."
Although she had eaten two big meals today and had also eaten something in the Xu family's kitchen, Shen Baozhu had expended a lot of energy. Her stomach had long been growling. She had just been too preoccupied with mourning the loss of her cakes for the next two months and had temporarily forgotten about eating.
Ping Hai quickly turned around and ran to the imperial kitchen.
The emperor led Shen Baozhu to sit at the table. Seeing Shen Baozhu supporting her head with both hands, the emperor asked cautiously, "What's wrong with you, Baozhu?"
The Dragon King: [Say you have a headache and that you feel better when you support your head!]
Shen Baozhu repeated the words exactly, which made the emperor startled again.
Under the careful guidance of the Dragon King, the emperor's anger towards the Xu family grew.
Unexpectedly, the first person to arrive at the Qianqing Palace was not Prime Minister Sima or the Minister of Justice, nor was it the dinner that Ping Hai had gone to fetch. It was Shen Qingshan.
Shen Qingshan had retired from office for many years, but there were still many Shen family members serving in the court. Considering his advanced age, the emperor had bestowed upon him a token to enter the palace a few years ago.
The token wasn't of great significance, but it did speed up the process. With the token at the palace gate, the person would be directly announced to the Qianqing Palace.
The emperor was a bit curious about Shen Qingshan's purpose. Did he come to plead for the Xu family?
Out of this curiosity, the emperor agreed to see Shen Qingshan.
Afraid of disturbing Shen Baozhu, the emperor admonished the chief eunuch to take good care of her and then went to meet Shen Qingshan.
The Dragon King: [Little cutie, quickly follow him. I want to watch the show!]
Shen Baozhu was very obedient to the Dragon King. She immediately trotted after the emperor. She also didn't forget to hide her tracks. Whenever the emperor turned around, she would hide behind the chief eunuch.
The emperor walked and stopped, stopped and walked again, and finally had to默许 Shen Baozhu's following.
With the emperor's permission, the chief eunuch found a good spot for Shen Baozhu where she could hear the conversation but not be seen by Shen Qingshan.
Shen Baozhu tugged at the chief eunuch's robe and asked, "Can Baozhu stay here?"
The chief eunuch pointed in the direction of Shen Qingshan's figure and made a shushing gesture with his index finger. "Shh!"
Shen Baozhu understood and immediately fell silent.
Then Shen Qingshan said, "Your Majesty, I heard that the Xu family kidnapped Baozhu. I've come to inquire about the situation."
"Why are you being so formal with me, my subject?" The emperor deliberately diverted the topic and didn't answer Shen Qingshan.
Shen Qingshan changed his address and was eager to shift the blame onto the Xu family. "Your Majesty! The Xu family must be dissatisfied with me and is deliberately taking revenge!"
Everyone perked up.
The Dragon King: [Did they have a feud before?]
Lin Yu: [Dog - eat - dog?]
Qingyun Zhenren: [The Xu family probably won't be able to outwit him.]
Qingyun Zhenren was right. Shen Qingshan had been in the officialdom for many years and had extraordinary means. If it weren't for his bad luck—just when the emperor was annoyed with him and wanted to deal with him, General Mu returned in triumph from battle and Shen Yunfeng took a concubine—the emperor might not have been able to force Shen Qingshan to "retire to his hometown" under the pretext of Shen Yunfeng's concubine - taking.
Therefore, the emperor was very curious about how Xu Zeyuan had offended Shen Qingshan that Shen Qingshan hadn't taken action against him.
Shen Qingshan didn't know what the emperor was thinking. He was passionately slandering Xu Zeyuan and shifting the blame for the embezzlement case from years ago onto Prime Minister Sima.
According to Shen Qingshan, he had accidentally discovered evidence of Xu Zeyuan's embezzlement, but he hadn't noticed it at the time and had been deceived by Xu Zeyuan. It was only in recent days that he had realized that Xu Zeyuan must be afraid that he would expose the matter, so he had kidnapped Shen Baozhu to threaten him.
The emperor listened with great interest and raised a doubt. "When the case happened years ago, Xu Zeyuan's official position wasn't high. He was even demoted. How could he have the ability to embezzle?"
"Precisely because Xu Zeyuan had a low official position, which was very misleading, he was able to remain unscathed. As for the ability... perhaps someone helped him." Shen Qingshan didn't say everything directly but left some room for interpretation.
However, the implication was that he was subtly referring to Prime Minister Sima. It was easy to find out that Xu Zeyuan had been promoted by Prime Minister Sima.
Prime Minister Sima was also a cunning old fox, but in the emperor's eyes, he was much more trustworthy than Shen Qingshan.
Therefore, after listening to Shen Qingshan's story, the emperor just remained silent.
This situation was also expected by Shen Qingshan. He took out the evidence he had prepared from his sleeve and presented it to the emperor. "Your Majesty! I have evidence!"
Shen Qingshan had only met Xu Zeyuan early this morning, and the evidence couldn't have been forged in a short time. So Shen Qingshan wasn't afraid of the emperor's investigation. Instead, he confidently misinterpreted the meeting as the Xu family's failed attempt to threaten him, followed by their abduction of Shen Baozhu in the afternoon.
Even if he couldn't convict Sima Bai, he could at least ruin Xu Zeyuan and deprive the other side of a powerful ally!
Shen Qingshan still remembered Shen Haiyan's words: Xu Zeyuan was highly favored by the emperor!