Chapter 242 No Way Out (2)

"What happened?" Shen Miao asked. On weekday mornings, Shen Qiu always stood in the courtyard, practicing swordplay and spearmanship. The best part of the West Courtyard was this spacious courtyard. Shen Qiu and Shen Xin used to love practicing in this courtyard, and occasionally, Luo Xueyan would join in when the mood struck. Shen Miao had become accustomed to seeing Shen Qiu practicing martial arts the moment she opened the door, but today, there was no movement, so something must have happened.

Chen Qiu laughed twice and said, "Nothing, sister, why are you out so early? Why don't you sleep a little longer?"

He changed the subject so lamely, and Shen Miao said without blinking, "It's about big sister and the Shen family, right?"

Shen Qiu coughed hastily, pulled Shen Miao up and walked into the house. After entering the house, he sent all the servants out and closed the door before looking at Shen Miao and saying, "Sister, don't say this outside."

"What happened?"

Chen Qiu scratched his head: "It's not a big deal, just leave it to my parents and me. Don't go out these days and don't worry about it."

He was vague, probably trying to fool Shen Miao. But if even Shen Qiu could fool Shen Miao, then Shen Miao would not be able to live in the Shen family. She stared at Shen Qiu intently: "Okay, big brother, you don't have to hide it from me. It's about the extermination of the Prince Yu's Mansion. Others suspected big sister, and now they suspect the Shen family."

Chen Qiu was stunned, looking at Shen Miao, and suddenly a feeling of powerlessness arose in his heart. He felt more and more that he could not live up to the feeling of a brother in front of Shen Miao. Shen Miao knew everything. When she was stupid, he was afraid that she would be bullied, but now that she was smart, he was helpless.

Seeing that Shen Qiu didn’t say anything, Shen Miao continued, “Big brother is worried about this?”

"Sister." Shen Qiu said sternly, "You are still young and don't understand the affairs of the court. Although this matter seems simple, the people behind the slander are not interested in this. If we are not careful, the Shen family will be implicated." He looked at Shen Miao, wanting to speak but stopping for a moment, and then hesitantly asked, "Sister, do you know about the case of Prince Yu's Mansion?" As soon as he said this, he immediately answered himself, "I think sister doesn't know. How can a girl like sister have such great ability?"

Ever since Shen Miao told Shen Qiu about the conspiracy between the Second House and Prince Yu, Shen Qiu had never been able to accept it. If Shen Miao hadn't forbidden Shen Qiu from telling his parents and hadn't forced him to not act rashly, Shen Qiu would have long ago avenged Shen Miao out of his anger. From the beginning to the end, Shen Miao had assured Shen Qiu that she had a way to handle everything.

What happened next seemed to be a recipe for disaster for the Second House, a series of bad luck. If Shen Qing's pregnancy had been discovered at the return banquet, and Shen Qing's eventual marriage to Prince Yu's mansion had been orchestrated by Shen Miao, Shen Qiu would have been quite surprised. But this time, the entire Prince Yu's mansion had been wiped out. If Shen Miao was also involved, Shen Qiu felt a chill creeping in his heart. Even if Shen Xin had dispatched, it would have taken considerable effort to make a prince's mansion disappear without a trace. How could Shen Miao, a delicate little girl, have done that? The more he thought it was impossible, the more Shen Qiu felt a hunch that there was a feud between Prince Yu's mansion and Shen Miao. Now that it had come to this, what if Shen Miao had been behind it?

Shen Miao glanced at Shen Qiu, sighed, and said, “Big brother, do you suspect I did it?”

“No, no, no, sister, how could I doubt you. You are just a little girl, if you really have such a skill, you will be laughed at if you tell others about it.” Shen Qiu quickly retorted, fearing that he would anger Shen Miao.