The Dungeon.
" Heqing? Why are you back?"
Old Lady Shen looked at Shen Heqing through the prison bars. Her eyes widened in surprise at the well - worn long gown on his body.
Shen Heqing stepped forward and took Old Lady Shen's hand. " Grandmother, I was traveling in the countryside with my teacher to experience the people's livelihood. Suddenly, I got the news that our family had been imprisoned. What on earth happened?"
Old Lady Shen sighed. " It's all because of Sima Bai. He's been scheming against the Shen family for a long time. The Emperor was deceived by this treacherous official and actually believed his lies."
" Don't worry, Grandmother. I have some good friends in the capital. Their elders are all important court officials. I'll go and ask them to help investigate this matter and clear our family's name!" Shen Heqing said, looking at Old Lady Shen with heartache. Then he suddenly turned around and snatched the money pouch from Shen Haiyan's waist.
Shen Haiyan instinctively tried to grab it back, but heard Shen Heqing say in a humble tone, " Haiyan, can I borrow this money from you, please?"
Even though Shen Heqing spoke in a low voice, Old Lady Shen noticed something was amiss. " What's going on? Heqing, you're a good boy. Tell Grandmother the truth. What's really going on!"
Shen Heqing turned around and squeezed out a few tears, then wiped them away with the back of his hand. To the Shen family, it seemed that he couldn't help crying because he was thinking of something sad.
Old Lady Shen glared angrily at Shen Haiyan. " Did you bully your elder brother?"
Shen Haiyan, who had no idea what was going on, felt wronged. He didn't know what Shen Heqing was up to, so he could only keep silent.
After brewing his emotions, Shen Heqing turned to Old Lady Shen. " Grandmother, don't blame Haiyan. Actually, I've already visited a few of my closest friends, but they all avoided me. They said that our Shen family deserved what we got and that we even helped the Cui family harm the Fourth Prince."
" Logically, we should also have been arrested, but Mother couldn't bear to part with Baozhu. So she negotiated with the Emperor and used grandfather's military merits from his maternal family to secure our safety."
This explanation cleared up the doubts of the Shen family. No wonder Shen Haiyan could swagger into the prison with Shen Baozhu to deliver things.
Only Old Lady Shen felt sorry in her heart. She thought that if Yun Feng hadn't divorced Mu Lanyue, the Shen family might have been able to get out of trouble with the military merits of the Mu family.
Shen Heqing tightened his grip on the money pouch and got to the point. " Grandmother, actually, we came here secretly. Mother is afraid that we'll get involved in the corruption case again, so she told us to stay at home as much as possible. And Haiyan and I don't have much money."
Old Lady Shen was filled with hatred. " Damn the Cui family! They secretly switched the princes and dragged our Shen family down with them!"
Seeing that Old Lady Shen wasn't taking the bait, Shen Heqing's eyes flashed slightly. " Yes, Grandmother. Don't worry. I heard from Haiyan that you gave him your favorite bronze mirror. We haven't touched that money. We're keeping it to bribe people for Grandfather."
" Sooner or later, the truth will come to light. Whether it takes one year, two years, or ten years, twenty years, the Emperor will surely clear our Shen family's name!"
Old Lady Shen's pupils shrank suddenly. Regardless of the truth, she couldn't wait that long, and neither could the Shen family, especially Shen Qingshan!
Thinking of the abnormal and crazy Shen Qingshan, Old Lady Shen trembled. She quickly asked, " Didn't you say those people avoided you? Can you still bribe them? Is the money enough?"
Shen Heqing winked at Old Lady Shen. " They avoid the grandson of Shen Qingshan, but they might not avoid the grandson of General Mu."
Old Lady Shen was suddenly enlightened and nodded. " Right, right. Is the money for bribing still enough?"
" Enough. Don't worry, Grandmother. I'll do my best to bribe them." Shen Heqing said halfway, but his face showed pain. He looked at Shen Haiyan with a troubled expression.
Old Lady Shen realized something was wrong and also looked at Shen Haiyan.
Shen Haiyan, who had done nothing, could only keep silent.
Madam Shen, the eldest lady of the Shen family in the cell, seemed to see the " truth". She quickly said, " I still have some money. Heqing, take it all for bribing. Now you're the only one outside the family. We're all counting on you."
Shen Heqing nodded gratefully. " Okay, I'll go to the Shen mansion right away."
Finally, Shen Haiyan was on the same wavelength as his elder brother. He sighed. " Big brother, the whole Shen mansion has been sealed off. Not to mention Aunt's dowry, even Mother's dowry stored in the Shen mansion is gone. And there are soldiers guarding the mansion. How can you go and get the money for bribing?"
The hope that had just risen in the Shen family vanished again. Even the Shen men in the next - door cell were extremely anxious.
Shen Yunlin whispered to Shen Heqing and told him that he had saved 500 taels of silver in the gambling house.
Shen Haiyan continued to pour cold water on them. " 500 taels of silver can only bribe one person at most. It's not enough. It's better to keep this money so that everyone can have a good last meal."
" Haiyan, shut up!" Shen Heqing scolded Shen Haiyan, but he didn't refute, which made the Shen family even more panicked.
Unable to bear the pressure, Old Lady Shen called Shen Heqing over and whispered in his ear, " ... This is the secret code. Go to the bank to get the money. Remember to bribe the jailer first and bring a doctor to see your grandfather."
Shen Heqing was surprised but looked very worried on the surface. " What's wrong with Grandfather? Grandmother should have told me earlier. Haiyan, go back to the mansion now to get my token and then go to the Imperial Hospital to invite Doctor Liu."
Then he explained to Old Lady Shen, " Doctor Liu is an old friend of Mother. He once took care of the Empress. With him diagnosing Grandfather, you don't need to worry."
Old Lady Shen was excited but also worried that her precious grandson would be punished when he went back. " If we can invite a doctor from the Imperial Hospital, that would be great. But the doctor is a friend of the Princess. If the Princess finds out about this..."
" Grandmother, I'm Mother's own son and Grandfather's own grandson. I'm just inviting a doctor for my grandfather. What right does Mother have to scold me?" Shen Heqing said with a sense of righteousness, but his voice trembled slightly. Anyone could tell that he was trying hard to stay calm.
Old Lady Shen and the female members of the Shen family all looked at Shen Heqing with heartache.
This strange scene made Shen Haiyan silent. He realized that he had misjudged Shen Heqing before. Who said Shen Heqing was stupid? He had the whole Shen family wrapped around his finger.
After successfully getting the secret code, Shen Heqing didn't leave immediately. Instead, he went to see Shen Qingshan.
There was no sunlight in the cell, only the dim light of a candle. Shen Qingshan was clinging to the prison bars, the closest place to the light, with his eyes closed and muttering to himself.
Shen Heqing stepped forward tentatively. " Grandfather, are you okay?"
Shen Qingshan seemed not to hear and ignored him.
Seeing this, Shen Heqing had no choice but to leave with Shen Haiyan.
When the two of them walked out of the dungeon and were about to go to the bank to get the money, Shen Haiyan suddenly stopped. The familiar scene made him feel uneasy. He always felt that he had forgotten something.
He walked around the door a few times, trying to recall.
" We came out, going to get the money. Yan Mingli took the three children to buy candied haws, but the Fourth Prince got a stomachache from eating them... Stomachache, candied haws, Yutang's copper coins, looking for small silver coins, asking about the location of the bank. I remember! The location of the bank! Big brother, did that old hag say where the bank is?" Shen Haiyan suddenly remembered. He was standing right here at that time. Shen Minghua suddenly realized that Madam Shen the Second hadn't said where the bank was, so they asked again.
Shen Heqing paused for a moment and then smiled bitterly. " Isn't this secret code for the biggest bank in the capital? It seems she's on guard against me."