Shen Baozhu nodded vigorously. She didn't have much contact with the Shen family. Even when her eldest brother took her to play at the Shen residence, they mostly stayed in the backyard. So she was more familiar with the Shen family's female relatives.
She stretched out her little hand and imitated Shen Haiyan's gesture, poking her third brother's face. "Before, when Baozhu made a mistake, mother wouldn't let Baozhu eat pastries. Baozhu was so sad. Now grandmother, aunt, and cousins and sisters - in - law can't eat them either. They must be sad too."
Shen Haiyan understood. Baozhu was putting herself in others' shoes.
He asked curiously, "Then why should I be sad?"
"Because third brother doesn't like them. Baozhu can't do things that make third brother sad. Third brother is the most important!" Shen Baozhu secretly observed Shen Haiyan's expression, afraid that he would be sad.
But Shen Haiyan was thinking about the last sentence. His heart was filled with great joy. He even wanted to run around the capital city.
No, one lap was not enough. He had to run several more laps.
Dragon King: [Shen Haiyan's face is almost splitting from smiling.]
Dragon King: [I'm also the cutie's favorite dragon!]
Shen Haiyan was completely immersed in joy. He even went back to Lady Shen the Second's cell, picked up the little bag of the Fourth Prince, and walked out.
It startled the Prince of Rui, who kicked Yan Mingli and whispered, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Yan Mingli instinctively reached out to grab Shen Haiyan. He turned to look at the Prince of Rui, with full - fledged grievance in his eyes. "You could stop him yourself. Why did you kick me?"
The Prince of Rui felt relieved. He said righteously, "It was a reflex."
Xu Yutang looked worriedly at Shen Haiyan, whose face was flushed. She didn't lie on the wall to eavesdrop like the Prince of Rui, so she didn't hear clearly. Seeing Shen Haiyan like this, she mistakenly thought he was angry with the Shen family. She kindly asked, "Brother Haiyan, did the Shen family upset you..."
"I'm Baozhu's favorite elder brother!" Shen Haiyan replied irrelevantly.
Xu Yutang was left speechless. There was a glimmer of understanding and relief in her eyes. So Shen Haiyan was not omnipotent. He could also act stupid.
Sister Miaochun was right. No one was perfect. She didn't need to feel inferior.
Dragon King: [The first thing Shen Haiyan said when he saw the stupid girl was, "I'm Baozhu's favorite elder brother."]
Lin Yu: [The same when he saw Shen Danqing.]
Shen Baozhu suddenly understood the reason for Shen Haiyan's strange behavior. She felt relieved. Third brother wasn't sad!
Dragon King: [Not only was he not sad, he was almost over the moon with happiness.]
Yan Mingli grabbed Shen Haiyan and wouldn't let him go. "It can't be that fast to buy pastries. Stand here for a while."
"Lady Shen the Elder hasn't said the password yet. Is it possible that she doesn't know it?"
As soon as Yan Mingli put forward this conjecture, it was denied by Lady Shen the Second.
Lady Shen the Second patiently explained, "The Shen family has a clear division of labor. Father takes care of external affairs, and mother takes care of internal affairs. One is responsible for the marriage and future of the children, and the money is in mother's hands. They have an understanding with each other and don't interfere in each other's business."
"Mother manages all the accounts of the Shen family. The wooden hairpin of the bank is also in her room. She definitely knows the password."
Shen Haiyan gradually came to his senses and realized, "In that case, she just doesn't trust me. It may take a while to get the password."
Everyone looked at each other, but no one had a good idea.
Only the Prince of Rui had a naughty thought. "Do we really need the password? Not many people know that your mother divorced Shen Yunfeng. You can just take the wooden hairpin and go to get the money. Say that something sudden happened, and your mother only gave you the wooden hairpin and asked you to get the money but forgot the password."
"This method won't work. The bank doesn't recognize people. It only recognizes the token and the password. And there's a rule that within five years, you have to go to the bank with the token and the password to prove that you're still alive. If you exceed this time, the bank will consider the person dead and the money will belong to the bank." Lady Shen the Second shook her head and explained the bank's rules.
Yan Mingli asked curiously, "What if the token is lost but the password is still there?"
Lady Shen the Second shook her head again. "It doesn't count. Both the token and the password are required."
Hearing this, Shen Haiyan wasn't worried anymore. Now that the wooden hairpin was in his hand, the Shen family couldn't get the money. As long as the Shen family was unhappy, he was happy.
After waiting for a while, Yan Mingli let go. Shen Haiyan carried Shen Baozhu and walked to Lady Shen the Elder's cell with several small bags.
He handed the small bags to Lady Shen the First. "Aunt, I just went to buy some more pastries. Eat more."
The first branch of the Shen family was all selfish and cold - hearted. Once something was in Lady Shen the First's hands, it was hard to get it out. She didn't even think about sharing it equally. She only cared about her own children.
Just as Lady Shen the First was about to distribute some to her husband and son, Shen Haiyan reminded her, "Aunt, time is tight. I only bought these for the female relatives. You share them first. I'll buy something for uncle and the others later."
Lady Shen the First's hand paused. She didn't suspect anything and evenly distributed the food in the small bags.
The food in the cell was really unpalatable. When the Shen family's young ladies got the pastries, they didn't care about their manners and stuffed them into their mouths directly.
Shen Haiyan chatted for a few more words. He didn't leave with Shen Baozhu in his arms until the Shen family's female relatives had finished eating.
"Third brother, do you still have money to buy delicious food? Baozhu can ask the god to send some gold." Shen Baozhu remembered that Shen Haiyan had spent all the silver in his money bag.
Dragon King: [Although it's a bit annoying, for the cutie's sake, I can send some.]
Shen Haiyan patted Shen Baozhu's back and smiled. "No need. It's a waste to give good things to the Shen family."
Shen Baozhu didn't quite understand. "But third brother told aunt that you would buy something for uncle."
"Yes, I'm going to buy it, but the jailer won't let me in. It's not my fault." Shen Haiyan put Shen Baozhu down, casually took Yan Mingli's money bag, took out a few pieces of broken silver, and gave them to the jailer.
Seeing that the time was about right, Shen Minghua said reluctantly, "Mother, when I get the money, I'll use it to bribe the jailer so that you can live more comfortably."
Lady Shen the Second looked at her son with eyes full of reluctance. "You should be good outside and listen to Haiyan. With the protection of the Princess of Jingning, mother will be at ease."
"Wuwuwuwu, mother!" Shen Minghua hugged Lady Shen the Second. Without paying attention, his voice got louder and almost made the Shen family suspicious.
It was the Prince of Rui who reacted quickly and pinched Lady Shen the Second's arm.
Lady Shen the Second wasn't on guard at all. She let out a startled cry.
"My lady, I heard that you're in charge of the Shen family. How about handing over the account books for us to check? Maybe there are the dirty money from the Shen family's corruption and bribery in them." The Prince of Rui spoke in a shrill voice, imitating the eunuch perfectly.
The voice reached the ears of the Shen family and successfully dispelled their doubts.
At the same time, Lady Shen the First was extremely grateful. Fortunately, she wasn't the one in charge of the family. Otherwise, it would be her being arrested and tortured. Her second younger sister - in - law was really pitiful!
Although the others didn't say anything, they thought the same as Lady Shen the First.
Shen Minghua and Lady Shen the Second realized what had happened later and looked at the Prince of Rui gratefully.
After visiting Lady Shen the Second, everyone left the prison. Before leaving, the Prince of Rui gave all the money in Yan Mingli's money bag to the jailer, asking him to take good care of Lady Shen the Second and also cause her some small troubles.