Shen Minghua nearly bit his tongue and immediately denied it. "Of, of course not."
"The jade horse in Baozhu's hand is worth 100,000 taels of silver. How could grandfather afford such an expensive ornament? It must not be the one."
However, Shen Haiyan seemed to have an epiphany. He said firmly, "It must be! That's why he embezzled the disaster relief supplies back then to buy the ornament..."
"Shen Haiyan, don't go too far! How could grandfather embezzle? If he really did, why would he arrange for the third uncle to marry the Princess Jingning and let my father marry my mother? The Shen family has been living off my mother's dowry for all these years. If they embezzled, what were they after?" Shen Minghua seemed to be hit on a sore spot. He suddenly stood up and shouted at Shen Haiyan.
He shouted with all his might, "The Shen family has no money, not a single cent. It's my mother's dowry that has been keeping the family going for all these years. How could a poor family like ours embezzle? The jade horse and the ornament, it's all a coincidence, just a coincidence!"
The sudden outburst scared Qiuqiu. Her little face turned deathly pale, and her body trembled violently. Her right hand tightly grasped Shen Baozhu's.
Yan Mingli stood up, hugged Qiuqiu, and softly comforted her. "Qiuqiu, don't be afraid. It's okay, it's okay. Baozhu is here, I'm here, everyone is here. Don't be afraid."
Dragon King: [Why did he suddenly go crazy? He scared Qiuqiu.]
Lin Yu: [Qiuqiu has been much happier with Baozhu. Will this scare from Shen Minghua make her recall the fire?]
Immortal Qingyun: [Shen Minghua was very calm just now. Why is he panicking now? Did he find evidence of the Shen family's embezzlement?]
The Fourth Prince, who had finished his soup, walked up to Qiuqiu and placed his hand beside her left hand. "Don't be afraid."
Only when Qiuqiu grasped his hand did the Fourth Prince realize that she was holding on so tightly that his hand even hurt a bit.
Seeing that Shen Baozhu and the Fourth Prince were beside Qiuqiu, Yan Mingli told the Prince Rui to look after Qiuqiu. Then he rushed forward and punched Shen Minghua in the face. "What are you going crazy for? You've scared the kids!"
But Shen Minghua grabbed Yan Mingli's hand and pleaded almost desperately. "Did you miscalculate? That jade horse isn't worth much. It was carved by my grandfather's close friend when he was young, and the material is of poor quality. It's really not worth much."
Yan Mingli was stunned by Shen Minghua's reaction but instinctively replied, "I own the two largest pawnshops in the capital. Even if I make a mistake, I can't mistake something worthless for something worth 100,000 taels. Just the material of that jade horse is worth a lot."
"Fine, maybe I exaggerated. But even if I'm not good at appraising, it's worth at least 50,000 taels. If you don't believe me, you can take it to the pawnshop and ask."
With the injury on his face, Shen Minghua clung to Yan Mingli and argued, "But it's so small, only the size of a palm. It can't be worth much."
"But the material is good, without any flaws, and the craftsman has good taste. The carving is beautiful, and that's why we can estimate its price. It's precisely because it's small. If it were bigger, it might be a priceless treasure." Yan Mingli explained to Shen Minghua. Now he thought Shen Minghua was crazy, and his tone was a bit helpless.
The room was in a complete mess. Shen Baozhu and the Fourth Prince were with Qiuqiu, and the Prince Rui stood behind them. Yan Mingli and Shen Minghua were entangled, arguing about whether the jade horse was really worth that much. Only Shen Haiyan stood quietly, with a strange glint in his eyes.
He had made his judgment. The jade horse was the one in Shen Qingshan's study, and the embezzled money was hidden in those four items.
The ancient book, the jade horse, the wooden hairpin, and the mirror.
...
In the capital city of Xiangyun Kingdom.
General Mu rubbed his neck. He was quite particular about his pillow. When the army entered the capital of Xiangyun Kingdom, his pillow was accidentally lost, which made it impossible for him to sleep well.
Seeing him constantly rubbing his neck, Shen Heqing asked, "Grandfather, what's wrong with your neck?"
Just after entering the capital, there were a lot of things to deal with. General Mu had secretly captured Xiangyun Kingdom behind the emperor's back, so he was feeling guilty. He didn't want to delay the progress because of his own matter, so he said, "It's nothing. I'm just rubbing it casually..."
"Rubbing it casually? He can't sleep well!" The military advisor had known General Mu for many years and immediately saw what was wrong with him. "Anyway, we're far away from the emperor. Don't call him grandfather-in-law. Just call him grandfather."
"This is your grandfather's old problem. He's very particular about his pillow. He used to bring his own pillow when he went out. It was too chaotic when the army entered the city. He was just too happy and forgot to check his pillow. As a result, it's gone."
Shen Heqing readily changed his address. "What kind of pillow does grandfather like? Xiangyun Kingdom trades with Dayong. Maybe we can find the pillow grandfather likes in the city."
This address of "grandfather" made General Mu feel extremely comfortable. He didn't want to cause any trouble. "Forget it. It's just a minor problem. I'll bear it for now. You guys should check the account books again and bring back all the good things!"
"Heqing, remember to pick some first and choose the things your mother and Baozhu like."
General Mu didn't forget to warn the military advisor. "I'm warning you. Don't snatch the things of my daughter and granddaughter."
The military advisor was too lazy to bother with General Mu. But seeing him in high spirits, he went along with his wishes. "Okay, okay, okay. I won't snatch the things of Lan Yue and Baozhu. Look at how stingy you are. When we get back to the capital, I'll go and laugh at Baozhu for having a stingy grandfather."
"Tsk, it's not grandfather-in-law. It's grandfather." General Mu wasn't happy. He kicked the military advisor and then left.
After General Mu walked away, Shen Heqing walked up to the military advisor and asked about the pillow he liked.
Most people in Dayong liked wooden pillows or soft pillows, but General Mu liked medicinal pillows.
As the name suggests, it's a pillow filled with medicinal herbs.
Seeing Shen Heqing deep in thought, the military advisor guessed that he wanted to find a pillow for General Mu. He was touched by Shen Heqing's kindness and temporarily forgot to tell him the reason why General Mu liked medicinal pillows.
Shen Heqing felt guilty towards General Mu. He knew that Shen Haiyan had a very good relationship with General Mu, but he himself had distanced himself from General Mu after growing up because of the Shen family. Even when Shen Haiyan told him that Shen Qingshan and Shen Yunfeng were not good people, he thought it was General Mu who had a bad influence on his younger brother.
Although General Mu was in the border area and they didn't spend much time together, so he didn't know that Shen Heqing had deliberately distanced himself from him, Shen Heqing always remembered it.
Now that he had a chance to show his filial piety, Shen Heqing wanted to find a medicinal pillow for General Mu.
Shen Heqing didn't know much about medicinal herbs. When he thought of a medicinal pillow, his first reaction was to go to a pharmacy.
Coincidentally, there were three pharmacies in the capital of Xiangyun Kingdom. Because of the army's entry, two of them had closed, and only one was still open. And the shopkeeper of this pharmacy happened to have a medicinal pillow that he had collected for many years.
The style and pattern of the medicinal pillow were exactly the ones that were popular in Dayong before.
So Shen Heqing spent a large sum of money to buy the medicinal pillow.