Chapter 241 Help

"Why do I have to compete with him?" She uttered the rest of the words softly, helplessly lying back down, closing her eyes, and soon fell asleep.

I don’t know how long I slept, but the sky was already bright. The sunlight outside the window shone into the room through the window lattice. I don’t know when the candle went out, and the room was very bright.

Shen Anan suddenly remembered something in her mind, and sat up with a somersault. Looking at the sun shining into the house, she quickly called out, "Mo Xiang, Mo Xiang."

"Princess, what's wrong?" Mo Xiang pushed the door open and came in.

"What time is it?"

"It's still early. It won't be too late to get up in a quarter of an hour."

Shen Anan's sleepiness had not yet completely dissipated, and she stared blankly at Mo Xiang.

Mo Xiang, "Won't the princess be riding in a carriage to pick up the son-in-law soon? I'm keeping track of the time, so it won't be late."

Shen An breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back on the soft pillow, “How did you know I was going to pick him up?”

"My uncle specifically told me to do this when he left," she said with a snicker. "My uncle must have known that you would sleep in without a set time, so he specifically told me to wake you up at the right time."

“…”

A speechless look passed across Shen Anan’s face.

It's just a return home, why do you mind so much?

"Change your clothes and wash up."

Mo Xiang immediately went forward to help her get up. After everything was ready and breakfast was over, the butler had already prepared a carriage and was waiting at the gate of the mansion.

"Princess, we should leave now. If we are late, Master will be unhappy and this may bring bad luck to this servant."

After all, the son-in-law had given Shichen many instructions.

"Let's go." Shen Anan yawned and walked out of Wutong Garden.

"Princess, princess." A maid ran over in a hurry, "A guest has arrived."

Shen Anan frowned.

"What kind of guest comes so early?" Mo Xiang muttered.

In the main hall of the front yard, a noble lady sat on the upper seat, looking out anxiously, "Has your princess not stood up yet?"

"Get up, get up, madam, please sit for a moment. The prince's wife will be here soon. Please have some tea first." The maid changed another cup of tea for the lady and served her politely.

"Oh, thank you," she nodded, but she had no intention of tasting the tea from the Fourth Prince's Mansion. Her hands were tightly tangled together, and she was very flustered.

As soon as Shen Anan stepped into the hall, the woman immediately stood up and was about to pounce on her, but was stopped by the maid.

She quickly stood up and saluted, "Fourth Prince's Consort."

Shen Anan glanced at her and went to sit in the upper seat, “Mrs. Chen, you’re welcome. Please get up.”

"Why do you come to see me so early? What's the matter?"

Madam Chen sat down with an unpleasant look on her face, her eyes immediately turned red. "The Fourth Prince's Concubine," she said, and then she choked and cried.

"Madam Chen, if you have anything to say, please speak directly. My princess is very busy."

"Yes, yes, yes." Madam Chen immediately calmed down and looked at Shen An'an pleadingly, "Fourth Prince's Consort, my family and Madam Shen are cousins, and I am her aunt. So, I am also a relative of you, the Fourth Prince's Consort."

Shen Anan frowned when she first tried to establish a relationship with him, but she didn't say anything. After all, he was a relative of her sister-in-law, so she had to give him some face.

"If you have any questions, please tell me, Madam Chen. If I can help, I will definitely not refuse."

Mrs. Chen choked up again, "You are the only one in the whole capital who can find a way to save my son."

She stood up and was about to kneel down to Shen Anan, but was stopped by Mo Xiang, "Madam Chen, just say it directly. Why bother to make things difficult for my prince's wife so early in the morning?"

Hearing Mo Xiang's displeasure, she immediately stopped messing around and told the story, "It's like this, Yu Rou's cousin has passed the age of marriage, but still hasn't married. I was anxious, so I took the initiative to find him a lady with both good character and appearance, and set a date for the two to get married."

"Everything was fine, but the Dali Temple suddenly showed up the other day and took my son away, saying he had killed a pregnant prostitute. They also said my son had an affair with that woman. I have nowhere else to turn to, so I can only come to you."

"Fourth Prince's Consort, please lend a helping hand to her cousin for Yu Rou's sake. Her cousin made a lot of efforts to help her and Master Shen get married."

Shen Anan frowned. Madam Chen kept calling him Yu Rou's cousin and kept saying that she was accompanying her sister-in-law, which showed the kindness of relatives to the fullest.

If she refused directly, it would seem that she was unreasonable and had no conscience.

"Mrs. Chen is also from an official family. How could she have nowhere to turn to? It's because you are in the wrong and can't bring the case to court, so you want me to help get the person out of the Dali Temple." She said in a slightly cold voice.

Mrs. Chen choked and hung her head, unable to speak for a long time.

She said so much, but she never thought that Shen Anan would be so sharp and grasp the key point.

"This... this... my son is indeed wrong, but the death of that brothel girl really has nothing to do with my son. Please investigate clearly, Princess."

Shen Anan, "So, why did the Dali Temple say that Master Ling killed that woman? It can't be a fabricated accusation."

Madam Chen hesitated and refused to speak, and Mo Xiang reminded her, "Princess, the time has come. It will be too late if you don't leave now."

Shen Anan stood up and said, "Since Madam Chen is unwilling to tell you, then go back. I can't help you."

“Princess, don’t.” Madam Chen knelt down with a plop, blocking Shen Anan’s way to leave.

"How dare you! How dare you get out of the way?" Mo Xiang shouted.

Madam Chen gritted her teeth and remained motionless. "Fourth Prince's Consort, I'm telling you, I'm begging you not to stand idly by."

"My son is unwilling to get married because... because he had an affair with that prostitute. Our Chen family is such a powerful family, how could we tolerate a woman who only uses her beauty to please others?"

"So, you chose another girl for him and forcibly separated the two of them?"

Shen Anan squinted at Madam Chen, and suddenly felt that this case seemed very similar to the one reported by Qingfeng before. Could it be the same case? And the petition was in Shen Yunbai's hands.

Her interest, which was only 30% at first, suddenly increased by 70%. She tilted her head and winked at Mo Xiang, asking her to call Qingfeng over.

Madam Chen was so scared that she thought Shen Anan suspected her of murder. "The princess is very observant. I don't agree with their relationship. I even met with the girl several times to threaten her, but I never did anything cruel."

Shen Anan sat back down and looked at Madam Chen intently, "You just said that she is pregnant with your son?"

“…Probably.” Mrs. Chen admitted with difficulty.

"She had an affair with your son and got pregnant, but she died when your son was about to marry his new wife. Anyone would suspect you and your son. It's like jumping into the Yellow River and you can never wash yourself clean."

"But my mother and I really didn't kill her." Madam Chen was helpless. "I looked down on her, but if I knew she was pregnant, I would have taken her into the mansion as a concubine even if it meant sacrificing my reputation. After all, she is my son's blood."

Shen Anan stared at Madam Chen and saw that she did not seem to be lying, "You really didn't kill that woman?"

"No, I swear to heaven, if I harm her, I will... let my son die without a burial place."

Shen Anan gave Mo Xiang a look, and Mo Xiang immediately stepped forward to help Madam Chen up from the ground.

Madam Chen stood up, hope rising in her eyes, "Princess, please, for the sake of our relationship, please lend a helping hand and save her cousin."

Shen Anan glanced at her and said in a cold voice, "Just talk about the matter. Madam Chen doesn't have to use my sister-in-law as an excuse for every sentence."

"...Yes, I've made a note of it." Mrs. Chen lowered her head and nervously grasped the hem of her skirt at her waist.

"You go back first. I'll have someone go to the Dali Temple to ask around. We'll discuss this later when we get some news."

"Fourth Prince's wife, my son..." Madam Chen said hesitantly, "He shouldn't be tortured, right? After all, she is just a prostitute, a lowly person, while my son is the son of an official..."

"Madam Chen!" Shen An'an's face suddenly turned cold. "The brothel girl is also a human life, not to mention that it is a corpse with two lives. If it goes to court, you will not be able to escape the suspicion of harming people with such contemptuous words! !"

Madam Chen immediately shut her mouth. "What the princess said is right. It's my fault for being outspoken. I won't do that again."

Having said that, she felt very aggrieved.

The women in brothels have a life that is even lower than that of slaves. Every month, several of them are tortured and killed by the powerful. They have never reported the case to the police. But her son was unlucky and was arrested and taken to the Dali Temple. How can this be possible?

After asking the maid to send Madam Chen away, Qingfeng also arrived, "Princess, you called me."

"The case of the brothel of the peach-colored girl you mentioned earlier, is it related to the Chen family, an official of the Ministry of Personnel?"

"It seems so. I heard that the dead woman was in love with the young master of the Chen family." After saying that, Qingfeng thought of the woman who had just left and frowned.

"That person just now, could it be the wife of the Chen family?"

"Well, the Chen family and my sister-in-law from my mother's family are cousins. She came here to ask for help from the Fourth Prince's Mansion." Shen Anan picked up the teacup and took a sip.

"Then I will go to the Dali Temple immediately and ask someone to take care of Master Chen."

"No hurry." Shen Anan said in a cold tone, "Go to that brothel first and find out the whole story. If... the woman's death is really related to the Chen family, we won't get involved in this scandal."

"Shen Yunbai probably intervened in this matter because he knew about the relationship between my sister-in-law and the Chen family. Just find out the truth and don't let him plot against me and frame me for the prince's mansion."

"Yes." Qingfeng took the order and retreated.

Mo Xiang, "Princess, you don't plan to take care of it?"

Shen Anan walked out, "Aren't you going to pick someone up? Let's go, it will be too late if you are late."

If the Chen family really suffered injustice, she would help them for the sake of her sister-in-law.

But if it was really done by the Chen family, then Shen Yunbai's involvement was nothing more than an attempt to trip her up. She couldn't let her guard down. She had to have someone watching over her, keeping track of the progress at all times, and taking precautions in advance.

But you must not be careless and let others frame you.