Chapter 56 Back then

"So the Shen family let the concubine's daughter take the place?" Xiao Mo finally said.

"That's one aspect. Another aspect is so that Taotao can come back safely in the future. Otherwise, if everyone knows about it, even if he is found, his reputation will be ruined." Shen Shaoyu said and wiped his face again.

"I have kept this matter in my heart for a long time. This is the first time I have mentioned it to anyone in more than ten years." The only sound in the private room was the man's choking voice. He buried his head, and his thin shoulders trembled slightly.

"How old were you when you lost it?"

"Taotao was only two years old, and I was five years old at that time." Shen Shaoyu suddenly recalled the scene of that day.

He remembered that the Lantern Festival that year was particularly grand, and the Ministry of Works' Imperial Workshop began to arrange the mountain of lanterns early on.

When five-year-old Shao Yu heard the good news, he told his sister.

Little Taotao was not yet two years old at that time. He was a little girl as white as jade. He called "brother" all the time, and his voice sounded like it was filled with syrup.

"Brother! Mother said there will be a mountain of lights on the Lantern Festival. What does the mountain of lights look like?" The little girl asked him, supporting her head.

"There will be dragons and lions!"

Five-year-old Shen Shaoyu had never seen it before. In the past, his parents always thought he was weak.

He said there were dragons and lions because in his impression since childhood, these two animals were the most majestic and ferocious.

"Brother! No, no! It's a mountain with flowers on it, like the ones planted in mother's yard." The little guy shook his head and corrected.

The two children were looking forward to the mountain of lights that they had never seen before.

But on that day, their mother, who was supposed to take the brother and sister to see Dengshan, fell ill.

So he entrusted them to the maids in the mansion.

He also taught the brother and sister to hold the hands of the maids and servants carefully and not to get lost.

What did the little boy say at that time? He remembered that he patted his chest and promised his mother: "Shaoyu will take good care of his sister."

The aunts from the first, third, and fourth rooms burst into laughter, not taking the remark seriously.

What happened later proved that it was indeed a child's joke.

When they arrived at the place where they could see the lanterns on the mountain, he saw that the maid holding Taotao was standing too far away, so he volunteered to take his sister's hand and go forward.

The two children were so engrossed in watching, he didn't even realize when to let go of his sister's hand.

When he remembered, he only saw the swaying lights and the crowd of strangers around him.

Taotao is missing!

The maid was still standing where she was before, with nothing in her arms.

Shen Shaoyu remembered that day when he shouted his sister's name at the top of his lungs in front of the crowd, until his voice became hoarse, the lights went out, and it was late at night.

Later, my father came out to find someone and forcibly took him back.

"So what does this have to do with Cousin Xu?" Xiao Mo's words interrupted Shen Shaoyu's painful memories.

He thought about what Miss Xu had said that day and sighed helplessly, "It doesn't matter. But even if she's not my sister, she's someone else's sister. I saw she wasn't feeling well when she left that day, so why not ask her?"

Xiao Mo raised his eyebrows. Only the person in front of him could give such a reason.

But thinking of what the female doctor had said, he replied seriously, "He's fine now."

"Oh, that's good." Shen Shaoyu's gloomy expression seemed to have dissipated a little because he had finally told the truth.

Before he left, Xiao Mo asked about the real purpose of this trip: "What's going on with you in the Shen Mansion? You put drugs in your own banquet, are you afraid that your reputation won't be ruined quickly enough?"

After hearing this, Shen Shaoyu also looked ashamed.

Apart from Shen Jingshu, he could hardly think of anyone else.

But the other party pretended to be a victim in front of his mother.

Thinking of this, the eyes of the eldest son of the Shen family dimmed slightly. His mother seemed to have forgotten that she had a girl whom she gave birth to.

If she appeared in front of me at this moment, I wonder what kind of beautiful and intelligent young lady she would be.

"Shaoyu will tell his father about what you said after he returns home." His mother had been coaxed by Shen Qingshu to the point of being at a loss. Currently, only his father could make her sober up a little.

Thinking of this, the eldest young master of the Shen family was worried again.

Within a few days, news of Liu Qingwan and Xiao Jinrong's engagement spread from the Chengguo Mansion.

The actual day is at the end of the year, and there is not much time left until September.

Chen was in a bad mood for a while, but in the end she had no choice but to help her stepson prepare for the wedding.

The days are packed and busy.

At the Shen family, after Shen Shaoyu returned home, he went to his father Shen Xinian’s study.

Shen Xinian now holds the position of Right Censor-in-Chief, a fourth-rank official. As the eldest son of Grand Tutor Shen, Shen Xinian is an upright official, and he has only one wife, Ruan, in the inner house.

If there was anything that was not perfect about him, it was his offspring. Ruan only had one son and one daughter.

The whereabouts of his daughter are still unknown, and although his son passed the imperial examination at a young age, he is extremely weak.

The doctor once said that with the eldest son of the Shen family's current health, it might be difficult for him to have children in the future.

If the marriage fails, where will the offspring come from?

Chen Xinian frowned and looked up to see his thin eldest son walking in.

He was a little surprised. Shaoyu had suffered a great loss when he was young because of losing his sister, and he had never forgiven himself.

Although he later studied hard and was given an official position, he was not close to himself or Ruan.

It was even rarer for someone to come to him on their own initiative like now.

Chen Xinian smiled and asked his eldest son to sit opposite him. He then called the maid to bring tea and asked, "Why did you think of coming to see father today?"

Shen Shaoyu felt a pang of bitterness in his heart as he looked at his father's smile.

For so many years, my father has been treating me with such caution.

In other people's houses, only sons would smile carefully to their fathers, but in the Shen family, it was exactly the opposite.

Shen Shaoyu sat down slightly stiffly before saying, “Does father know everything that happened on Xiaoyan’s day?”

Chen Xinian was stunned. The daughter was originally from the first wife. When Ruan lost her beloved daughter, she cried every day.

He thought that it would be fine to adopt the child so that his wife would have something to do.

But I didn't expect that after keeping him by her side for all these years, Ruan had thrown her whole heart into him.

Now not only has the good marriage fallen through, but the entire Shen family is also on the Second Prince's side.

Therefore, Shen Xinian didn’t pay any attention to Xiaoyan at all.

"Tell me!" The man's eyes were full of coldness.

Shen Shaoyu then told the story of the young lady from the Shi family making a fool of herself at the banquet, and also talked about the current speculations outside.

After listening to this, Shen Xinian asked calmly, "Have you checked? Who did it?"

"There were many people that day, and the maid from the main house also came to help..."

"How short-sighted! Even if there is no girl from the Shi family, there are girls from the Wang family and girls from the Ma family... She is just a concubine, and she has harmed people before she even entered the mansion, yet she thinks she is smart." Chen Xinian put down the teacup heavily.

He then loudly called for the housekeeper, and a middle-aged man walked in. Then he heard Shen Xinian say, "Go and tell the Madam that the eldest daughter will be entering the Prince's residence soon, and that she should go to the main house to show some filial piety."