The mother and daughter-in-law frowned upon hearing this: "What does this have to do with your father's affairs?"

"Eunuch Qin is the most favored servant of the Imperial Noble Consort, which Grandmother and Mother naturally know. But you have probably forgotten that the Imperial Noble Consort is a daughter of the Duke of Ningguo who has married out of the family. She is the aunt of Xiao Yan, the commander of the Thousand Eagle Guard."

"If the Imperial Noble Consort and the Noble Consort are not on good terms, how good can Qin Li's relationship with Xiao Yan be?"

"They are sworn enemies. How much power does Qin Li, a mere eunuch, have to dare to reach into the Thousand Eagle Guard to bail someone out?"

“If Xiao Yan knew that we had secretly allied ourselves with Qin Li, he would surely think that Father had secretly sided with the Imperial Noble Consort. Even if he was thinking of clipping the wings of the Imperial Noble Consort, he would never let Father leave the Thousand Eagle Guard alive!”

"At that time, not only will Father's life be in danger, but the entire Shen family will be plunged into an abyss of no return, and the two elder brothers' future prospects will be out of the question."

Upon hearing this, both Old Madam Shen and Madam Shen felt a wave of fear.

Thinking of something, Madam Shen asked in a panic, "But I've already been to the Qin residence today, what should I do?"

But the moment she brought it up, it only displeased the old lady, who began to scold her, "How dare you ask! If it weren't for your own decisions, none of this would have happened, and we'd wasted thousands of taels of silver! Tell me, how are you going to cover this deficit?"

"Me, cover this deficit?!" Madam Shen's voice rose considerably when money was involved: "I told you beforehand about going to the Qin family to plead for them, and you agreed. Now that something has gone wrong, why are you blaming me?"

"Besides, this money was originally meant to save your son, why should I pay for it all..."

"You dare talk back!"

Before they could even exchange a word, Madam Shen started scolding again. It wasn't until she was panting heavily and started drinking tea that Shen Qiyin finally spoke up leisurely: "We know the rules of Qin Li when he does things for people, and I'm sure the Thousand Eagle Guards know them even better. Mother came out of that mansion in good health today, so they must know that things didn't go as planned."

"As for the three thousand taels of silver..." She paused, then, under Madam Shen's hopeful gaze, casually shattered her hopes: "Just deduct it from Mother's dowry."