Qiuqiu followed behind Shen Baozhu and gave a hard kick. "Bad guy! You bullied Baozhu. I'll beat you!"
Dragon King: [When the cute little one is with Qiuqiu, the cuteness doubles.]
Dragon King: [Let this king guess. The Fourth Prince will also kick Shen Qingshan later.]
Lin Yu: [Dragon King, you seem to have guessed wrong.]
Lin Yu: [The Fourth Prince is going to smash Shen Qingshan's head with an inkstone.]
Ping Hai caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye and rushed over in one stride. He said softly, "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince, please be patient. His Majesty still needs to interrogate Shen Qingshan. After the matter of the Shen family is settled, we'll send him here for Your Highness to smash to your heart's content."
The Fourth Prince held the inkstone and looked a bit reluctant. "Smashing the head won't kill him. I was smashed and I didn't die."
"You are Your Highness, while Shen Qingshan is a criminal. How can he be compared with you?" Ping Hai kept smiling and coaxed the Fourth Prince to put down the inkstone. "This servant assures Your Highness that you will definitely get to smash Shen Qingshan's head."
The Fourth Prince looked at Shen Baozhu. Seeing that she was holding Qiuqiu's hand, he immediately threw down the inkstone, walked to Shen Baozhu's side, and took her other hand.
With both of her hands held, Shen Baozhu was still defending her second brother. "Aunt Yun is very kind, and so is my second brother. They are not humble at all. You are the worst!"
"My mother is the kindest and most generous. She's not stingy at all. She just won't give you money. Just won't!"
Qiuqiu was on very good terms with Shen Baozhu and had heard Shen Baozhu's complaints. She added, "That's right! That's right! Baozhu likes to eat pastries. She'll always be the cutest and most beautiful. She'll never get fat."
Shen Baozhu had forgotten about this. She was stunned for a moment and looked at Qiuqiu. "Did that really happen?"
"Of course it did! It was during the Chinese New Year. Brother Haiyan didn't come back from the military camp. Brother Heqing brought you to the Shen Mansion. This bad guy told you to eat less, saying that you'd have trouble getting married in the future. You came to my place and told me about it. You were so angry that you said your grandmother took the pastries away and wouldn't let you eat them. It was Brother Heqing who brought them back." Qiuqiu remembered it clearly and even mentioned the time and the specific things.
Besides, there were several other things that Shen Baozhu had forgotten.
Shen Haiyan had never heard Shen Baozhu mention these things. He casually cursed, "Is Shen Heqing a fool? How could he let Baozhu be bullied by Shen Qingshan?"
Reminded by Qiuqiu, Shen Baozhu remembered. She defended her elder brother. "I wasn't bullied. Brother thought it made sense. Then he took one piece of each kind of pastry and put them on a plate for me to choose my favorite. Then I could take the favorite one home to eat. In this way, I could taste many flavors!"
Dragon King: [It's a good solution. It really suits the character of a fool.]
Lin Yu: [Baozhu's elder brother trusts the Shen family very much, but he won't let Baozhu be wronged.]
Hearing that Shen Qingshan had bullied Shen Baozhu, the Fourth Prince looked at the inkstone on the ground and was eager to have a go.
Ping Hai, with sharp eyes, noticed this and quickly blocked in front of Shen Qingshan. He changed the topic. "Young Master Haiyan, His Majesty said that if there is anyone you are familiar with in the Shen family, you can take that person back to the Princess Mansion. However, you need to keep an eye on that person's every move to prevent the Shen family from transferring the stolen money."
Shen Haiyan thought for a while. The only person he was familiar with in the Shen family should be Shen Minghua.
He picked up Shen Baozhu. "Baozhu, let's go. I'll take you to find Shen Minghua."
"I'm going with the Fourth Prince too!" Qiuqiu pulled the Fourth Prince and followed behind Shen Haiyan.
In the blink of an eye, only Ping Hai, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Shen Qingshan lying on the ground were left in the room.
Ping Hai looked at the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and hesitated. "Minister Leng, did you hit him just now?"
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice shook his head. He hadn't got his turn just now. After the Martial Commander finished hitting, it was Shen Haiyan's turn, and then Shen Baozhu and Qiuqiu.
"Please, Minister." Ping Hai stepped aside to make way.
It was the first time in the Minister of the Ministry of Justice's life that he beat someone, and it was in front of others. He hesitated a bit. "Do I really have to beat him?"
Ping Hai smiled. "Of course it's true. His Majesty always keeps his word. Minister, you are just fulfilling His Majesty's order. There's nothing wrong with it."
...
An hour later, at the Princess Mansion.
Shen Minghua, with a disheveled head and a dirty face, was eating a table full of dishes. He no longer looked like the wealthy young master he used to be. Instead, he looked a bit like a beggar.
Sitting opposite him were Shen Haiyan, Yan Mingli, Shen Baozhu, Qiuqiu, and the Fourth Prince.
Yan Mingli looked at this scene. He propped his chin up and whispered, "Baozhu, is he really your cousin? Why does he look a bit like a beggar?"
Shen Baozhu imitated his action, holding her little face with both hands, and whispered back, "Yes. Brother Minghua is the son of my second uncle. He's my cousin."
Although they were both whispering, since they were sitting at the same table, no matter how soft their voices were, they could still be clearly heard by Shen Haiyan.
Shen Haiyan kicked Shen Minghua's chair and coughed lightly. "Minghua, why are you in such a hurry?"
Shen Minghua was only focused on eating and ignored Shen Haiyan at all. It was as if if he ate more slowly, he wouldn't be able to eat for the rest of his life.
The Prince Rui happened to come in with several jade ornaments. "Baozhu, Qiuqiu, it's not mealtime yet. What are you all doing here?"
"Take a look at these. They're just some things the pawnshop just took in. They're not worth much. I'll give them to you as toys."
Several ornaments were placed on the table, making a clear sound.
Shen Minghua turned a deaf ear to these and was whole - heartedly eating the rice in his bowl.
Qiuqiu liked these beautiful things. She first picked a red jade pendant with the pattern of "Everything goes as you wish" for herself, and then began to choose for her little friends.
While Qiuqiu was picking the jade pendants, Shen Baozhu's gaze fell on Shen Minghua. Seeing that he had been eating vegetables and rice, she pointed at the chicken soup on the table. "Brother Mingli, please serve a bowl of chicken soup for cousin."
Yan Mingli was best at eating. He was very quick. Before Shen Minghua could refuse, a bowl of chicken soup appeared in front of him.
Seeing the chicken soup, the Fourth Prince touched his stomach. He wanted to say something but then lowered his head.
After Qiuqiu had chosen the jade pendants, she picked a jade pendant with the pattern of "Two dragons playing with a pearl" for Shen Baozhu and a cute little yellow jade puppy for the Fourth Prince. When she turned around to hand it to the Fourth Prince, she just saw this scene. She tugged at Shen Baozhu. "Baozhu, the Fourth Prince wants to eat something."
Reminded by Qiuqiu, Yan Mingli got up again. In the blink of an eye, half a bowl of chicken soup appeared in front of the Fourth Prince.
Shen Baozhu patiently explained to the Fourth Prince. "It's not mealtime yet. Drink half a bowl of soup first. If you eat too much, your stomach will feel uncomfortable."
Actually, the Fourth Prince wasn't hungry. It was just an old habit of his. Whenever he saw something, he wanted to eat it. He held the chicken soup and sipped it slowly.
When it came to eating, Shen Baozhu always felt that she had forgotten something, but she just couldn't remember.
Just as Shen Baozhu was thinking, the Prince Rui asked, "By the way, who is this person? Why is he crying while eating?"
Shen Haiyan originally thought that the Prince Rui had the same thought as Yan Mingli and also thought that Shen Minghua looked like a beggar. He was just about to explain when he heard the second half of the Prince Rui's words.
Shen Minghua was also stunned. He didn't expect the Prince Rui to notice that he was crying.
"Old man, don't talk nonsense. Who's crying?" Yan Mingli had also served himself a bowl of soup and was drinking it. He didn't even raise his head.
The Prince Rui complained, "Who's talking nonsense? Just raise your head and take a look. This guy's tears have all fallen into the soup. Taste it and see if the soup is salty."
Lin Yu: [So Shen Minghua has been crying secretly.]
Dragon King: [Shen Haiyan has already rescued him. What's there to cry about?]
With his disguise exposed, Shen Minghua raised his head. Tears were streaming down his face. He bypassed Shen Haiyan and hugged Shen Baozhu, crying loudly.
Yan Mingli asked curiously, "Why do you only cry in front of Baozhu?"
"I'm afraid Haiyan will beat me." Shen Minghua knew Shen Haiyan's temper very well.