Seeing that Mrs. Shen was really angry, Shen Tianshu said nothing more, but took advantage of her unpreparedness and gave Chunlan a hidden wink at the side.
Chunlan understood instantly and slipped out of the room while the old lady wasn't paying attention. She waved a little girl over and gave a few instructions in a low voice.
Not long after, Shen Zhonglei hurried over.
Rongan, who was following him, was holding a large porcelain plate with several red peaches on it.
Shen Zhonglei pretended not to know anything and entered the house, and said as he came in: "Mom, today an old man carried a load and brought two baskets of peaches to his son. He said they were grown in his own family. He respected his parents and the master, so he left the baskets at the door of the Yamen. Just ran away.
"I quickly asked someone to catch up with the old man, gave him some money, and finally bought the peach.
"My son remembers that you love peaches the most. Seeing that these peaches are big and red, I quickly washed a few and brought them to you."
Old Mrs. Shen naturally knew that her son was here to give Tao'er some kind of peach. He was clearly here to rescue his beloved eldest daughter, but she was still quite happy after hearing this.
First of all, if a son becomes an official and is loved by the people, this can be recorded in his official achievements.
Secondly, her son was so filial, which also made her look good.
Especially in front of a junior and so many servants, Shen Zhonglei gave her enough face, so naturally she couldn't refute him.
Mrs. Shen's face softened a little, but her tone was still unhappy and she said: "Leave the peaches and take them away, so as not to make me angry here."
Shen Zhonglei then pretended to have just seen Shen Tianshu and asked: "What, what did you do to make the old lady angry? Why don't you admit your mistake quickly!"
"Okay, stop pretending. You were born to me, how can you still deceive me with your little tricks?
"Take your precious daughter away quickly, I can't control it anymore, you can take care of yourself!
"If you continue to indulge him like this, if something happens in the future, don't blame me as an old man for not warning you."
After Shen Tianshu repeatedly admitted his mistake, he was finally fished out of Mrs. Shen's room by Shen Zhonglei.
The father and daughter walked out one after the other.
After walking out of the courtyard where Mrs. Shen lived, Shen Tianshu said: "Dad, I'm sorry, my daughter caused you trouble, and you were scolded by the old lady."
Unexpectedly, Shen Zhonglei raised his hand and rubbed her head and said, "Okay, dad already knows.
"It's true that you kid keeps everything to yourself. Even if you don't want to tell the old lady, why don't you tell dad?"
Shen Tianshu was confused and had no idea what Shen Zhonglei was talking about.
Fortunately, Shen Zhonglei didn't let her guess too much and continued: "If the prince hadn't sent someone to say hello, you would have kept me in the dark."
Shen Tianshu still didn't know why, but at least he knew it wasn't a bad thing. It was probably Li Zian who found a reasonable excuse for him.
But even if you have to make excuses, you should still send yourself a message!
The secret is about to be revealed!
Then Shen Zhonglei changed the topic and praised her again: "But at your age, it is really rare for you to be so tight-lipped and not even say that you were scolded by the old lady.
"Especially since this is a private matter related to the palace, even if a few words get out, it is a big deal.
"The best way to keep it secret is to keep it to yourself.
"But the prince is really considerate in his work. He was afraid that your family would blame you for this, so he specially asked someone to come and tell me.
"The old lady doesn't know the reason for this, so she just taught you not to take it to heart."
Shen Tianshu said hurriedly: "Grandma doesn't know what's going on, and she's just training me for my own good. How could I take it to heart?
"Because I don't dare to leak the news about the palace at will, I can't explain it to my grandmother. I'm really afraid that the old man will be very angry."
"Okay, Dad knows that you are not that kind of narrow-minded child.
"I'll go say hello to the old lady, so you don't have to worry. The palace will come to pick you up in the future, so just go there openly."
After hearing this, Shen Tianshu looked up at Shen Zhonglei in surprise. Although he didn't know what Li Zian said to his father, the effect was really not that good.
In this way, it will be much more convenient for her to go out in the future.
"Okay, you must be very restrained as a guest in the palace. You must be tired after the day. Go back and rest."
Shen Zhonglei sent his daughter to the door of Shuangtang Courtyard, watched her go in, and then turned back to Mrs. Shen's room.
Mrs. Shen seemed to have expected that her son would come back soon, and she still sat there waiting for him.
The peaches, peeled and cut into small pieces, were served in exquisite glass cups.
Mrs. Shen said: "After all, it was given to you by the people. Don't let them down. Come and have a taste."
The peaches do taste very good. They must have picked the best ones from home and sent them over.
The mother and son sat across from each other and took a few bites of peaches, and the atmosphere relaxed a lot.
Shen Zhonglei stopped after tasting a few pieces. After sending everyone in the room out, he said to Mrs. Shen: "Mom, it's not that my son is protecting Shu'er and not giving you face. The main reason is that this matter did happen for a reason.
"Shu'er is an honest kid. Even her family members don't dare to tell her if she is told to keep it a secret.
"It was only today that the Crown Prince sent someone to tell me that I knew the reason.
"I'm also afraid that if you scold someone too harshly, you'll feel sad and regret it later."
"Then tell me, what's the reason?" Mrs. Shen glanced at him and asked.
Although there were no outsiders in the room, Shen Zhonglei still lowered his voice and said: "You also know the situation of Prince Rui. The princess only has a son and a daughter under her knees, and they all hurt like eyeballs.
"Princess Danyang has not been going well in the past two years, especially when she was assassinated last time she went out.
"Princess Rui was uneasy, so she asked a master to help the princess. Unexpectedly, the master calculated and said that Shu'er was a noble person of the princess. As long as Shu'er can always accompany the princess, she can make the princess happy. Turn misfortune into good fortune, and disaster into good fortune.
"That's why during this period, the princess often asked people to take Shu'er to the palace as a guest. To put it bluntly, she just went to play with the princess."
Old Mrs. Shen believed this. After listening to Shen Zhonglei's words, most of her previous doubts disappeared, and she was a little worried about her face. She said half complaining and half jokingly: "You said this child, since he has such a reason, tell me quietly. Just say no and you don’t know how to defend yourself when you are scolded.”
"Hey, it's not like you don't know that Shu'er has always been such a sincere child."
Shen Zhonglei knew very well what his mother loved to hear, so he continued with a smile: "I was wondering before, how come the official affairs have been done so smoothly recently, especially in the palace, which not only requires people to contribute, but also often takes the initiative to help I.
"The old people in the yamen are even more strange, and they all speculate whether our family has some kind of relationship with the prince's palace.
"Now the truth is revealed. It turns out that I, the father, took advantage of my daughter!"
