The twilight was gradually deepening.
Yan Mingli looked at the crowd in front of him, full of confusion. "Minghua is just sending something to his mother. What are you all doing here?"
Shen Baozhu raised her hand. "I paid for it, Baozhu did. I want to visit Second Auntie."
Qiuqiu clung to Baozhu and wanted to go along. Since Qiuqiu was going, the Fourth Prince also clamored to go.
Shen Haiyan had a reasonable explanation. "I also contributed money, and I have something important to do."
The Prince of Rui was quite frank. "You know, I love watching the fun the most. If I can't watch it, I won't be able to sleep well at night, and it will affect my health."
When it was Shen Minghua's turn, he was still excited about seeing Mrs. Shen the Second. It wasn't until everyone stared at him in unison that he exclaimed in shock. "Why are you all looking at me? I'm Minghua. I'm the one sending things to my mother. Of course I'm going!"
Yan Mingli's gaze fell on the last person. "Okay, then Yu Tang, explain what you're doing here. Isn't Xiaotao just recovering? She still needs a few days of rest. Aren't you supposed to take care of her?"
"My grandfather told me to find an opportunity to go to the prison and laugh at the Shen family. He said he'd give me fifty taels for each person I could laugh at. If I could see Shen Qingshan's embarrassment, he'd give me the black iron he's been hoarding for years." Xu Yutang explained in a low voice.
This time it was Shen Haiyan's turn to be puzzled. "You don't need black iron. Why don't you ask Prime Minister Sima for something else?"
Xu Yutang's voice became even softer. "I heard you wanted to buy black iron, so I thought I'd buy it and give it to you. But grandfather said it was hard to buy, and he just happened to have one. If I could see Shen Qingshan's embarrassment, he'd give it to me."
The Dragon King: [So it's for Shen Haiyan. Then we must go.]
Shen Baozhu thought the same way. She grabbed Xu Yutang and wouldn't let go. "Sister Yutang must go. Third Brother will definitely like the gift of black iron."
Yan Mingli did some mental calculations and suddenly realized that everyone had a reason they had to go.
Lin Yu: [Hahaha, everyone has their own reasons.]
The Dragon King: [Not really. The fool has no reason. Let the fool stay at home and let the others go.]
Yan Mingli thought the same way. He said happily, "Then you all go. It's just that Miaochun is back. I'll stay at home and accompany her."
"Ah? But Sister Miaochun isn't at home. She accompanied Sister Ruxia back to the Yong'an Marquis Mansion." Shen Baozhu still remembered that when Chen Ruxia left, she specifically told Qiuqiu to be obedient in the princess mansion and not to tease the Fourth Prince.
Under Yan Mingli's disbelieving gaze, Qiuqiu nodded in agreement. "Yes. Sister Ruxia found something wrong with the accounts. She found out that Father sent someone to steal money. Sister Miaochun and Sister Ruxia went back to ask Father for the money."
Speaking of something wrong with the accounts, Yan Mingli had some impression. "Was it the accounts of those dowry shops that were wrong? I helped Ruxia figure it out. How did it involve the old Marquis of Yong'an stealing money? No, that's not the point. The point is, why didn't I know Miaochun was going back!"
Xu Yutang had heard Chen Ruxia mention it. She whispered to Yan Mingli, "Back then, the late madam left quite a lot of dowry, specifically for Sister Ruxia. After my aunt married in, the old marquis didn't give the late madam's dowry to her. Instead, he sent someone to manage it himself."
"In the past few years, the old marquis only gave Sister Ruxia a few shops. It wasn't until the old marquis fell seriously ill a few days ago that my aunt gave all of the late madam's dowry to Sister Ruxia and told her to discuss how to divide it with Sister Miaochun."
The dowries were all registered with the government. Mother Chen copied the dowry list from the government and sorted out all the dowries and gave them to Chen Ruxia.
It was this act that made Chen Ruxia check the accounts of the shops from previous years and find something wrong.
Three of the shops were located on the busiest street in the capital, a place where every inch of land was precious. Logically speaking, there was no need to pay rent, and they should be able to make some money at least. But unexpectedly, the business was extremely poor. Even if they were rented out, they could earn a lot just from the rent.
Chen Ruxia became suspicious and called Yan Mingli to help her check the accounts. To her surprise, there was a shortage of fifty thousand taels of silver.
"What? Fifty thousand taels! So much!" Yan Mingli had only pointed out the problems in the accounts for Chen Ruxia and hadn't looked closely. He didn't expect there to be such a large shortage of silver. Thinking that this fifty thousand taels also included Miaochun's money, Yan Mingli was extremely angry.
Shen Minghua listened silently beside them, but he was stunned in his heart. He had originally thought the Shen family was rich enough, but he didn't expect there were others even richer. How wealthy the Yong'an Marquis Mansion was! They dared to make false accounts for fifty thousand taels.
Among the fifty thousand taels, five thousand taels was taken by Wang Wangchun. Since Princess Jingning refused to give him money, Wang Wangchun had been taking money from the shops.
Chen Ruxia and Chen Miaochun's trip back to the Yong'an Marquis Mansion was to get back the remaining forty - five thousand taels.
Yan Mingli changed his attitude from before. He clenched his fists. "Look for it. We must get all the money back!"
Since Chen Miaochun wasn't in the princess mansion, there was no point for Yan Mingli to stay. So he simply went with the others to the prison to visit Mrs. Shen the Second.
...
In the prison.
The jailer took the money and did the job. He found a separate cell for Mrs. Shen the Second without rats or centipedes. He ordered three meals a day from the restaurant, so Mrs. Shen the Second didn't suffer much. In fact, because she didn't have to worry about anything, she had a rosy complexion.
"Mother, you've suffered!"
As the cell door opened, Shen Minghua rushed over and hugged Mrs. Shen the Second tightly.
Mrs. Shen the Second patted his back gently and looked at Shen Haiyan, grateful. "Haiyan, thank you. I heard from the jailer that you helped arrange things. But there's no need to spend so much money on me alone. Your grandparents are old and in poor health. They need more care than I do, a healthy person."
Shen Minghua snorted a few times and began to complain about the Shen family's evil deeds. "Mother, you're just too kind - hearted, which is why you've been bullied by those villains in the Shen family."
"Grandmother doesn't appreciate your kindness at all. She treats you like a fool! Uncle doesn't rely on Princess Jingning to support him. On the contrary, he sends a lot of things to Brother Heqing during festivals. This money comes from grandfather and grandmother!"
"And that Bai Xinrou. Do you know how much money Uncle spent to save her?"
"Fifty thousand taels! A full fifty thousand taels!"
Speaking of the fifty thousand taels, Shen Minghua was extremely heart - broken. Fortunately, Brother Heqing got the money back, or he would have been heart - broken to death.
Mrs. Shen the Second's face changed. As someone who had managed the family for a long time, she had noticed something about what Shen Minghua said, but she didn't expect her younger brother - in - law to spend fifty thousand taels on a mistress.
Soon she reacted. "The Shen family doesn't have that much money. Even if you add grandmother's dowry, you can't make up fifty thousand taels of silver. Maybe he earned it himself, or you heard wrong."
Shen Minghua quickly pulled Mrs. Shen the Second to the corner and whispered in a very low voice. "Mother, do you remember the small jade horse in grandfather's study?"
"A thousand taels?" Mrs. Shen the Second remembered that the ornament was very small and not very noticeable in the study.
Shen Minghua gestured again. "One hundred thousand taels. If it was carved by a famous craftsman, it would be even more expensive."
An unnoticeable ornament worth one hundred thousand taels...
Mrs. Shen the Second was shocked by this news and fainted on the spot.