Shen Tianshu thought for a long time and then told Mingyu: "Go and ask Rongan if dad has rested.
"If you have time now, ask him to pass a message to me. Just say that I have something important to tell dad."
After a while, Mingyu came back and said, "Girl, the master has asked you to come over!"
Shen Zhonglei had already changed into clothes ready for bed, but he knew that Shen Tianshu was not the kind of child to look for trouble.
When Shen Tianshu came to the room, he put on a coat and came out.
"Shu'er, do you have anything to do with dad?"
Shen Tianshu carefully waved away the servants in the room, and then said with some hesitation: "Dad, my daughter has discovered something in the past two days, but she is not sure about it. After thinking about it, she feels that no matter whether it is true or not, It’s better that I tell you, so that if something happens, you won’t know about it.”
Shen Zhonglei originally thought that what his daughter would talk about was just some trivial matters in the back house, but he didn't expect that she would be so serious and he would concentrate accordingly.
"What's up?"
Shen Tianshu said: "Father should know that when my daughter came back from another courtyard this time, the concubine gave her a maid as a reward."
"Yeah, isn't that the one named Yun'er? What, what's wrong with her?" Shen Zhonglei became wary after hearing this.
Shen Tianshu shook his head and told Shen Zhonglei everything that happened tonight.
"Afurong?" Shen Zhonglei frowned upon hearing this, and his first reaction was to doubt Xie Yun, "Can she be sure? Afurong is a banned drug in Daqi, how did your uncle get it?"
"My daughter doesn't know where the uncle got it from, but I heard that aphrodisiac has analgesic effect. Maybe the uncle was feeling unwell, so he used a small amount.
"But I heard from Yun'er that although opium does have analgesic effect, if it is used for a long time, it will not only make people addicted, but also make people's health worse and worse. Drinking poison to quench thirst is not the solution after all!"
"This is natural, otherwise why do you think Daqi would list afurong as a banned drug?" Shen Zhonglei said with a stern face, "Back then, the soldiers in the Western Regions were strong, brave and good at fighting, and they almost set foot in the hinterland of our Central Plains. The result was that the army abused afurong as a drug. The soldiers' pain relief turned the original elite troops into a bunch of useless people, so Emperor Taizu had decreed that afurong should be banned."
"It turns out this medicine is so terrible." Shen Tianshu looked worried, "I don't know how long the uncle has been using it.
"And now my uncle and aunt live in the old lady's courtyard. I heard that they also like to play with Bao'er.
"Bao'er is so young, if he accidentally gets infected, dad..."
Shen Zhonglei's expression froze when he heard this, and his expression finally turned serious. He patted his daughter on the shoulder and said, "I know about this matter, and I will find a way to deal with it.
"Thank you for being careful, but please don't mention this to the second person again."
Shen Zhonglei said he wanted to deal with it and did not delay. He sent someone to find out the situation in Mr. Shen's room that night.
The next day, Shen Zhonglei came directly to the door.
"Is sister-in-law busy? I came to talk to brother." Shen Zhonglei said as he entered the door.
"Second brother is here." Mrs. Dong was waiting for Mr. Shen to suck a lotus in the room. When she heard the maid passing the news, she was startled and hurried out to greet him.
She didn't know why Shen Zhonglei came here at this time, but she still forced a smile and said, "Is the office so early today? Why do you have time to come here?"
"Sister-in-law is blaming me for not coming enough." Shen Zhonglei said with a smile.
Mrs. Dong hurriedly said: "Second brother, sister-in-law doesn't mean this. You are the parent official of Fucheng. We all understand that there are many complicated things every day."
"Brother and sister-in-law can understand that I, the younger brother, can't just feel at ease like this, right?
"I'm also thinking about it. I've been busy since my eldest brother came. The two brothers haven't seen each other for several years, and they haven't even taken the time to sit down and have a chat.
"So I took advantage of my free time today and came over to take a look."
Shen Zhonglei said, looking around and saying, "Where's brother? Are you still resting? What's the smell in the room?"
Looking at Shen Zhonglei's slightly flaring nose, Dong said with a heart in his heart: "Your eldest brother is doing moxibustion inside, the smell is very strong, why don't you come back later!"
"What's the matter? I won't delay chatting while doing medicinal moxibustion. I'll go in and accompany my elder brother." Shen Zhonglei said and was about to walk into the house.
Mrs. Dong hurriedly stopped him and said: "Second brother, your eldest brother has been sick for so many years. It is inevitable that his temper will be a little weird. It doesn't show up on weekdays. But when people are not feeling well during moxibustion, his temper will be very strong. Except for me, he will have a bad temper." No one else is allowed in."
"That's it, then I was being abrupt." Hearing this, Shen Zhonglei stopped at the door of the back room.
Just when Mr. Dong breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say a few words to smooth things over, Shen Zhonglei suddenly sniffed and said, "Is this smell really medicinal moxibustion?"
"Yes, cough, yes..." Dong didn't fall over in one breath and almost choked herself.
Shen Zhonglei's face sank and he said: "Sister-in-law, please don't try to deceive me. This doesn't smell like moxibustion. It smells like the banned drug afurong!"
"During my tenure in Yongzhou Prefecture, I once uncovered a case of smuggling opium. You can deceive others with this smell, but you can't deceive me!"
After hearing this, Mr. Dong fell down on the chair, raised his hands to cover his face and said: "Second brother, your eldest brother is not in good health and usually suffers from severe pain, so..."
"Sister-in-law, you are so confused, this is a life-threatening thing, how can you use it casually!
"What? Are you afraid that if someone discovers that I have used banned substances, it will affect your career?" The door to the back room was suddenly pushed open, and Mr. Shen sat in a wheelchair and rocked out.
His usually gentle appearance was gone, and his expression was rather gloomy.
"Brother, that's not what I meant. It's just that since this aphrodisiac is classified as a banned drug, there must be a reason for it. Using it too much will not be good for you."
"It's easy for you to say that." Mr. Shen said sullenly, "You are not me, how can you understand? Sitting on this bed all my life, I feel uncomfortable every day. When it's cloudy and rainy, I can't move around in pain. What does sleep feel like?
"Finally, I have something to make me feel better. Why don't you stand and talk again without back pain?"
Shen Zhonglei did not expect that the usually gentle and steady elder brother would have such a side, but he still subconsciously attributed it all to the influence of Afurong, and said sincerely: "Brother, I have been thinking of ways to ask Lady Tong to come and see you. Now, Since we have come from our hometown this time, we are not in a hurry to leave. Let’s take good care of our bodies before we do it. It’s just that we should not use this harmful thing again.”
"Second brother, if you came today just to say this, please come back. I'm very tired, so I won't send it to you!" Mr. Shen turned his wheelchair back to the back room without any trouble.
Shen Zhonglei was still about to say something, but Mrs. Dong hurriedly stopped him and said, "Second brother, please go back first. If you have anything to do, talk about it later. My sister-in-law is begging you."
Shen Zhonglei also felt that Mr. Shen was probably over the effects of the medicine at this time and couldn't listen to anything he said. He nodded helplessly and said: "Okay, sister-in-law, I'll come back when I have time."
