"Young Master is too worried..."
"Don't bluff me." Before the yamen officer could finish his words, Shen Yuanlin interrupted anxiously, "If mother is not sick, why didn't you send someone to pick me up?"
The yamen servant did not expect that this was what Shen Yuanlin cared about at this time, and said helplessly: "The master was afraid that the wife would be worried, so he did not inform the wife of taking the young master home in advance, so he did not send anyone to pick him up.
"Master, please be patient. My wife is at home. You will see her when you get home soon."
Shen Yuanlin thought about it and felt that there was no need for the yamen servant to lie to him. After all, he was already at the city gate and would be home in a short while. He couldn't hide anything.
The carriage quickly passed through the city gate and drove quickly towards Shen's Mansion along the bluestone road.
As soon as the car stopped outside the second door, Shen Yuanlin jumped out of the car anxiously without help, and walked quickly towards the main courtyard.
"Mother? Mother, I'm back!" Shen Yuanlin's footsteps became faster and faster. After walking into the main courtyard door, he started running directly.
Soon, the news of the young master's return spread throughout the Shen residence.
"Are you home?" Mrs. Shen was kneeling in front of the Buddhist altar, twisting the beads in her hands.
Chunlan stood aside with a slight bow and whispered: "Yes, we have already entered the second door."
"I know, let's go down!" Old Mrs. Shen waved her hands, took a deep breath, closed her eyes again and began to chant sutras, trying to calm the surging emotions in her heart by chanting sutras and worshiping Buddha.
Shen Zhonglei has been absent-minded since morning.
Although he was sitting in the yamen, all his subordinates could see that his mind had already wandered off to nowhere, and official matters were handled by the staff on the side.
Although Shen Zhonglei did not give an explicit order, Xu was actually under house arrest in his room at this time.
No news from the outside could come in at all. Mrs. Xu could only think about Shen Yunyao who was sent out, and worry about Shen Yuanlin who was about to be taken back to her home.
No matter how soft-hearted Shen Zhonglei is, he is still a man, and he will definitely not be able to endure such a cuckolding.
Mrs. Xu didn't know what Shen Zhonglei would do with her and Shen Yuanlin, and she didn't dare to think too deeply. She only cried regretfully in the room all day long, and her eyes were swollen like two rotten peaches.
"Mancui, why do I seem to hear Lin'er's voice?" Xu suddenly sat up straight, listened to the noise outside, and asked nervously, "Did you hear it?"
Now that Man Qing and Shen Yunyao have left together, only Man Cui, an older maid, is left with Xu.
If it had been in the past, she might still feel happy that she had finally become the person closest to Xu.
But Shen Zhonglei's attitude towards Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Xu's current appearance told her that the big tree she wanted to lean on might fall down.
Manqing has been arranged by Xu to find a way out, but he can only be locked in the room with her with no way out.
So when she heard Xu's question, Mancui rolled her eyes out of sight, and then said: "Madam, I'm afraid you heard wrong. The young master hasn't even gone on vacation yet, and he's still studying in the academy!"
When Xu heard what she said, she thought she was hallucinating again, and she didn't know whether she was disappointed or relieved.
"Mom? Mom, are you at home? Why is there no one in the yard? Where did everyone go to have fun?" Shen Yuanlin ran all the way to the door of the main room, feeling increasingly panicked, "Are you two new here? "
Xu's courtyard is not usually lively, but there are about a dozen maids and women coming and going in the courtyard.
Now he didn't see anyone all the way here. The door to the main room was closed, and there were two women standing at the door who he didn't recognize.
"I've seen the young master." The ladies saluted normally and said hello.
Only now did Xu in the room dare to be sure that Shen Yuanlin was really back.
She threw herself against the door and looked out through the crack. The moment she saw Shen Yuanlin, she couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Lin'er! Why are you back!"
"Mom, what's going on?" Shen Yuanlin heard Xu's voice and asked hurriedly, "Why is everything weird in the house?"
"Lin'er, it's all your mother's fault. It's your mother who can't help you..."
Xu's words made Shen Yuanlin, who was already panicking, even more anxious. He shouted to the woman outside the door: "What are you doing blocking here? Why don't you open the door quickly!"
One of the women said: "Of course you can open the door, but there is something you need to explain to the young master first. Madam is currently under grounding. If the young master insists on going in, I will open the door for you. But after you go in, I'm afraid it will be inconvenient." Out."
Shen Yuanlin's expression changed instantly: "What do you mean? You dare to talk to me like this, who gave you the courage!"
The mother-in-law said, neither humble nor arrogant: "As far as I'm concerned, young master, this slave was sent by the old lady."
As soon as Shen Yuanlin heard that it was Mrs. Shen, Shen Yuanlin immediately became upset.
"Yuanlin, come in and let me tell you something!" Mrs. Xu said anxiously in the room.
But Shen Yuanlin hesitated for a moment, thinking that it would be bad if he really couldn't get out after he went in.
"Mom, I'm going to see my father first. If you have anything to do, wait till I get back."
"Yuan Lin, don't go! Yuan Lin!" Mrs. Xu was so anxious that she knocked on the door, but she could only watch Shen Yuanlin leave.
Shen Yuanlin went to the front office to find Shen Zhonglei, and Shen Tianshu, who was practicing calligraphy in the room, also quickly received the news.
Her writing hand stopped, she looked at the calligraphy she had just written on the table, and said to Mingyu beside her: "Take it and burn it."
"Ah?" Mingyu asked in confusion, "The girl's calligraphy is very good, why should she burn it? A few days ago, the master praised the girl's handwriting for getting better and better!"
Shen Tianshu raised his hand and brought the brush to his eyes, pinched a piece of wolf hair with his fingernails and pulled it out, saying: "I didn't realize it just now, and I ruined a piece of writing in vain."
Although Mingyu was literate, she did not have the professional ability to appreciate the quality of a piece of calligraphy. She just thought that her girl's handwriting looked beautiful no matter how she wrote it, so she said: "It's just a piece of loose hair, just throw it away. The servant lays out the paper for the girl and writes another one!"
Hearing this, Shen Tianshu suddenly smiled and said, "You're right, just throw away the bad things."
She dipped her pen in ink again, raised her hand and waved it away.
Mingyu took a closer look and saw four sharp characters on the paper - Zi Bu Luan Zhu.
Shen Tianshu admired the handwriting he had written for a while, put the pen down, and ordered before leaving: "Take them all and burn them, don't keep them."
"Ah?" Mingyu half-opened his mouth, wondering why this perfectly good thing was burning again.
But Shen Tianshu had left without looking back.
Mingyu had no choice but to turn around and collect the papers he had written on on the table. His eyes slowly turned to the brush beside him, and he frowned and said to himself: "Is it possible that the pen sent by Wenyuan Pavilion this time is not good? I can't save them the trouble next time. It’s better to go to the store and pick them up one by one.”
After that, she picked up the brush, took out the packed papers and burned them clean.
