Chapter 237 Lure the snake out of its hole

Zhao Wan looked at Shen Qingtan in a daze.

"The old lady is an open-minded person. If a man's character is not upright, she will not let you marry him."

Shen Qingtan comforted him, "Even if your husband treats you badly, you don't have to be afraid of him. You have the Duke's Mansion behind you. How can a girl from our Duke's Mansion be bullied? If you feel wronged, your second brother will help you."

Zhao Wan's eyes felt slightly hot when she heard Shen Qingtan's words. No one had ever said such heartfelt words to her.

Her mother only wanted her to marry a powerful man. If she became prominent, the third wife would be able to hold her head high and help her younger brother in the future.

Ever since her mother knew that the old lady intended for her to marry Pei Wuyan, she had been secretly inquiring about Pei Wuyan's family background.

When her mother knew that Pei Wuyan came from a wealthy family, she urged her to please Pei Wuyan.

From that moment on, she realized more deeply that she was alone and had no one to rely on.

Only her second sister-in-law told her that if she was wronged, her second brother would stand up for her.

Even just a few words to comfort her would be enough.

Zhao Wan expressed gratitude from the bottom of her heart: "Thank you, sister-in-law."

-

In the evening, Zhao Yi returned to Lanxue Garden in the twilight. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Shen Qingtan reclining on the Arhat couch, his chin supported by one hand, staring at the oil lamp on the table in a trance.

He walked towards her slowly, with light steps, and stopped in front of her. He bent down and moved closer to her.

The two people's faces are close to each other, only a finger's distance apart, and the tips of their noses can touch.

Zhao Yi said nothing, but silently looked at his shadow, which occupied her dark pupils.

Shen Qingtan was so frightened when she saw the face that suddenly enlarged in front of her that her heart skipped a beat. She put her hand on her chest and said coquettishly, "What do you want to do?"

Zhao Yi chuckled and kissed her on the lips: "Do this."

Shen Qingtan's cheeks flushed. She moved back to the couch, pulled his sleeve, and let him sit on the couch.

Zhao Yi looked at the person leaning against him. She had nothing on her hair, her long black hair was soft and scattered down, her hair was black and her lips were red, she was extremely beautiful.

He raised his hand and brushed the hair beside her cheek behind her ear: "What were you thinking about just now?"

"Grandmother asked me to come over today. She asked you to check for Sister Wan and see if Master Pei is someone worthy of trust."

Shen Qingtan's eyes were filled with sadness. "After what Third Brother said in the carriage, I don't have a good impression of Master Pei. If you have time, please meet him. We can't let Sister Wan jump into the fire pit."

"Yeah." Zhao Yi agreed and whispered, "Jiang Mu sent me news that Second Aunt and her brother from her mother's side are selling counterfeit goods."

Shen Qingtan sat up straight: "Have you found out?"

Zhao Yi nodded slightly. "Jiang Mu also discovered something strange. After Second Aunt moved out of the Duke's Mansion, she came to the Mansion several times. She never went to the front gate, but always to the side gate on the West Garden side. The Duke's Mansion was guarded by people from the Imperial Palace, so she didn't dare to get too close."

Shen Qingtan always felt that Zhao Yi's investigation was going too smoothly, as if there was a hand behind the scenes fanning the flames.

She pondered over what Zhao Yi had said, feeling increasingly strange: "Second Aunt, do you have some belongings that you haven't moved out yet? Do you want to move them out through the side door in the West Garden?"

At this point, she suddenly remembered something: "Second Master, do you remember when I forced Second Aunt to give up her dowry, she said that a thief had stolen my dowry and hidden it in the deserted West Garden?"

"Remember."

"That batch of dowry was indeed carried back from the West Garden." Shen Qingtan pondered, "I thought at the time that she redeemed the dowry from the pawnshop, so she carried it directly into the West Garden through the side door and hid the dowry in the West Garden."

At this point, Shen Qingtan said in confusion, "I took the dowry back then and didn't think much about it. Now that I think about it again, I feel that it's very strange. How did she quietly carry this batch of dowry out of the house and sell it to the pawnshop?"

A thought flashed in Zhao Yi's eyes. The Second Madam took things out of the mansion little by little. If she took them out too often, it would arouse suspicion.

It would be even more impossible to send the dowry out of the mansion from Xiyuan.

/：.

The West Garden is too far away from the Second House and spans half of the Duke's Mansion.

Suddenly, Zhao Yi thought of something: "Every important official's residence will have a secret escape passage."

Shen Qingtan felt that this was very possible. Only by transporting the dowry out through the secret passage would no one be alerted.

She leaned her soft body into Zhao Yi's arms and whispered in his ear, "Second Master, tell the Emperor to withdraw the guards from the West Garden."

Zhao Yi immediately understood Shen Qingtan's intention. She wanted to lure the snake out of its hole.

-

Xingningfang, Zhao family.

The second wife sat in the dim room, looking haggard.

Their family had lived in the house for a while, but there was still a damp smell in the house that made her very uncomfortable.

When they first moved in, the second wife couldn't stand it and couldn't sleep for nights.

Now I can't bear it anymore and finally close my eyes and sleep for a while.

She had lived a wealthy life for most of her life, and she never expected that she would have to live a life of poverty in her later years.

The house was completely bare, without a single decent piece of furniture.

She asked her brother for some money, bought some things, and spent it all.

She went to her brother to ask for more money, but he only gave her a bag of silver and told her to spend it sparingly. He didn't have any extra money, as he had given most of it to honor the nobles.

Thinking of this, the second wife felt a surge of resentment in her heart.

She originally thought that the private room hidden in the dark room would allow her to live a good life. However, people from the palace came to guard the West Garden, and she couldn't even enter the West Garden, let alone move the private room out.

She knew that the second branch had separated from the Duke's Mansion, and in order to avoid the limelight, all the gambling houses and counterfeit workshops had been closed.

My brother couldn't get any benefits from her and was unwilling to be her money bag anymore.

She didn't dare spend the money recklessly, for fear that it would be all gone and she would not have enough to eat.

I was not even willing to spend money to buy incense to suppress the smell in the house.

The second wife was very anxious. As long as she couldn't move out the private room hidden in the Duke's Mansion, she would not be able to rest in peace. She was worried that Shen Qingtan would discover the secret room.

She hoped that the guards guarding the West Garden would be withdrawn quickly.

The second wife touched her sleeve and found only one piece of silver left in the pocket.

She gritted her teeth and decided to go look for her brother again.

At this time, the maid came in and said to her, "Madam, the guards guarding the West Garden have been withdrawn."