At the Princess Mansion.
"What's wrong with Shen Heqing?" Yan Mingli nudged Shen Haiyan with his shoulder.
Shen Haiyan glared at him. "You're asking me? You were there too. I don't know what that old hag said to big brother. He locked himself in his room as soon as he came back."
Noticing that Shen Heqing was in a bad mood, Yan Mingli and Shen Haiyan didn't dare to go in and disturb him. So they sat in the yard and waited.
Bored, Yan Mingli furtively took out a palm - sized booklet from his sleeve. He handed the booklet to Shen Haiyan, his ears gradually turning red. "Haiyan, you have good taste. Help me pick some, okay?"
Shen Haiyan took the booklet and flipped through a couple of pages. Seeing that they were all jewelry on it, he instantly guessed that Yan Mingli was preparing them for Chen Miaochun. He asked for a reward. "I can help you, but you have to buy something for Baozhu and Qiuqiu too."
Yan Mingli was taken aback and politely declined in a low voice. "Baozhu and Qiuqiu aren't really suitable. I'll give you the money."
Neither of them was short of money. Shen Haiyan had no use for Yan Mingli's money, so he also declined Yan Mingli's offer.
This left Yan Mingli a bit confused. He stuffed the booklet back into Shen Haiyan's hands. "Please help me. This is really important this time. The jewelry in this booklet was carefully selected by me. It'll take two or three years to make. I'm afraid it'll be too late later."
Hearing that it would take two or three years, Shen Haiyan sensed something was wrong. He looked through the booklet more carefully. The front pages were jewelry for young girls, while the back pages were headdresses for married women.
Under Shen Haiyan's puzzled gaze, Yan Mingli explained, "I want to order two sets. One for Miaochun to wear before marriage, and the other for after marriage. We still need to find the raw materials for these ornaments and then have a craftsman make them into jewelry. It'll take at least two or three years."
"If we start preparing now, I can give them to Miaochun directly in the future."
Hearing the happiness in Yan Mingli's words, Shen Haiyan felt a warm feeling in his heart and began to help him choose seriously.
Yan Mingli wasn't without aesthetic sense. The clothes and accessories he paired for himself were very appropriate. But when it came to Chen Miaochun, he became muddle - headed. He always gave Chen Miaochun the most expensive and best things all at once. Individually, the things were excellent, but when combined, they were an eyesore.
Based on Chen Miaochun's personality and preferences, Shen Haiyan helped Yan Mingli choose a pure - gold hollowed - out peach hairpin and a set of ruby headdresses.
Yan Mingli put away the booklet and explained again. "Baozhu and Qiuqiu are still young. In a few years, when they're a bit older, I'll also give them jewelry."
Shen Haiyan paused for a moment and then nodded.
Thanks to Yan Mingli's interruption, Shen Haiyan forgot his worries. He discussed with Yan Mingli whether Shen Heqing was really the number one young master in the capital.
Yan Mingli argued vehemently and even slandered Shen Haiyan for being jealous of Shen Heqing's talent, which made Shen Haiyan laugh out of anger.
Just as their voices got louder, the door opened.
Without saying a word, Shen Heqing directly pulled Yan Mingli and Shen Haiyan into the room. He was almost on the verge of collapse. "Haiyan, grandmother said that the Shen family is innocent."
Yan Mingli stared at Shen Heqing in shock and asked in disbelief, "You believe whatever she says? I could say I'm going to be the number one scholar in the imperial exam!"
Shen Haiyan wasn't surprised. Or rather, he had long expected this day.
He was disliked by the Shen family and had seen the family's cold - heartedness since childhood, but Shen Heqing was different.
Even though he had expected this, Shen Haiyan couldn't help feeling angry. Both he and Baozhu had been harmed by Shen Yunfeng, yet Shen Heqing was still纠结 about the innocence of the Shen family. What kind of big brother was he?
Shen Haiyan heard his own voice. "Mingli's right. You believe whatever she says? Everything needs evidence."
"Yes, the Shen family has an imperial edict from the previous emperor and a secret letter. She said this is the Shen family's trump card." Shen Heqing was extremely anxious. "Will the emperor spare the Shen family because of the secret letter?"
"If I burn the imperial edict and the secret letter, will it implicate you and Baozhu?"
"What should I do? What should I do!"
These words were like a bucket of water, instantly dousing the anger in Shen Haiyan's heart.
Shen Haiyan's tone became much gentler. "Big brother, don't be in a hurry. Sit down first, and let's talk slowly."
In the prison just now, the old matriarch of the Shen family not only told Shen Heqing the address of the bank but also revealed a piece of news.
All these corruption cases were assigned by the previous emperor to Shen Qingshan. There was even an imperial edict and a secret letter as evidence. The old matriarch hoped that Shen Heqing would find an opportunity to tell the emperor about this.
Before Shen Heqing could finish speaking, Yan Mingli noticed a loophole. "Something's wrong. By the time the corruption case happened, the emperor had already changed. The grass on the previous emperor's grave would have been a foot high. The previous emperor couldn't have assigned Shen Qingshan from his grave, could he?"
"It's a lie. It must be a lie!"
Shen Haiyan thought that the old matriarch of the Shen family had no reason to lie. "She dared to let big brother go to the emperor. The imperial edict and the secret letter must be real. We have to think of a way to get them and then burn them!"
"The current emperor was passed the throne by the previous emperor. Based on this, after he sees the imperial edict and the secret letter, he will definitely spare the Shen family."
Yan Mingli didn't quite understand. "But the Shen family has committed a great crime!"
"But the Shen family has the imperial edict and the secret letter from the previous emperor. If the emperor denies them, it'll be like slapping the previous emperor in the face, and others will also doubt the legitimacy of his succession." After Shen Haiyan explained, he put his arm around Shen Heqing. "Big brother, I know you can't get over this. You think burning the imperial edict and the secret letter is disrespectful to the previous emperor, but we're not really burning them."
"It's just that it's dry and there was an accidental fire at home. The imperial edict and the secret letter just happened to be burned."
After comforting Shen Heqing for a few words, Shen Haiyan was afraid that he would think too much. So he and Yan Mingli quickly took him to the bank and also took Shen Minghua along.
Previously, Shen Minghua was an unremarkable young master from the second branch of the Shen family. Although he wasn't favored, he respected his grandfather and grandmother. But since he found out that the Shen family had been deceiving his mother, he had changed.
As soon as he got into the carriage, without any guidance from Shen Haiyan, he grabbed Shen Heqing and poured out his grievances, scolding the Shen family. "Brother Heqing, I'm not very good at studying and have no academic achievements. It's okay that they don't value me, but I feel sorry for you!"
"Back then, when you passed the imperial exams all the way from the child - level to the scholar - level, didn't grandfather praise you for having the charm of his younger days? He was just kidding you. He loved the eldest son of the eldest uncle's family the most."
"On the day you passed the provincial exam and became a juren, grandfather was so worried that he didn't sleep all night. He even wished he could exchange your juren title for his eldest grandson's!"
The eldest grandson that Shen Minghua was talking about was the eldest son of Shen Yunlin, the eldest grandson of the eldest branch of the Shen family.
Yan Mingli was sitting next to Shen Haiyan. He was filled with indignation after hearing this. "What? How could they treat brother Heqing like this? And then what happened?"
Shen Haiyan observed Shen Heqing's expression and subtly guided Shen Minghua. "Really? I thought grandfather really liked big brother and Baozhu."
"Come on. We're all family, so let's be honest. Judging from how biased grandfather and grandmother are, they might really like big brother, but there's no way they like Baozhu." Every word of Shen Minghua hit the points that Shen Heqing cared about. "Although Baozhu is smart, cute, polite when greeting people, doesn't break things randomly, isn't picky about food, and never throws a tantrum when she doesn't get what she likes... But after all, she's a girl!"
"Just like Haiyan likes martial arts and Mingli likes business. Will Haiyan like an abacus just because it's delicate and beautiful? Will Mingli like a weapon just because it's sharp and useful?"
Shen Heqing's face turned very pale. "Baozhu has been wronged."
Shen Minghua thought carefully. Shen Baozhu lived in the princess mansion and didn't go back to the Shen family very often. Every time she went back, she was with her three brothers.
Shen Heqing attached great importance to his younger sister, so no one dared to bully Baozhu. Shen Haiyan was also not easy to mess with, so others avoided him. And every time Shen Danqing took Baozhu back to the Shen mansion, she would call on those powerful maids beside Princess Jingning... So when exactly had Baozhu been wronged?