Chapter 59 Courage She is no longer afraid of Lu Yi's threats
After her mother left, Shen Yunshu still went to the Dali Temple to find Xiao Ci.
But it was not because of Lu Yi's matter, but because of her father-in-law, the third master of the Pei family.
As soon as her mother left, someone came to Ciyouyuan to ask to see her and Pei Huaian.
He was the person who was previously sent to Quanzhou by Pei Huaijin. He brought back some bad news, but did not dare to go directly to Chunxuan Hall to report to the old lady. Instead, he came to Ciyouyuan first and explained the situation to Shen Yunshu and Pei Huaian.
The man said he went to Quanzhou to look for the Third Master, only to learn that he had returned to Beijing with a large sum of money the day after receiving the old lady's letter. It had been over half a month since the Third Master left Quanzhou, so logically, he should have arrived in the capital long ago...
It hasn't arrived yet, so something must have happened.
Pei Huaian panicked immediately, remembering his eldest brother's instructions before he left: "My wife, my eldest brother told me to go find Xiao Sizhi from the Dali Temple if anything happens to my father. I'm going to find him now..."
Shen Yunshu asked Tinglan to go get their cloaks. "I've been to the Dali Temple several times. Don't worry, I'll go with you."
Dali Temple.
After listening to what the two said, Xiao Ci found a map and analyzed the route that Mr. Pei might take when he came to Beijing.
"Quanzhou is separated from the capital by two rivers and three mountains. If we take the official road, it would be easier to investigate if something really happened. But I'm afraid that Master Pei San will be so eager to save people that he'll take a shortcut or a small road, which would be difficult to deal with..."
He pointed out several paths on the map, one of which was the closest, but it went through a deep mountain.
Tapping his fingers on the path, Xiao Ci said thoughtfully, "I hope Master Pei San didn't take this road..."
"What's wrong with this road?" Shen Yunshu asked him.
"The Dali Temple has been pursuing those fleeing bandits. Based on the traces they left behind, we infer that they fled along this mountain road. Calculating the time of their escape and the time when Mr. Pei San came to Beijing, if Mr. Pei San really took this mountain road, he would have very likely encountered them..."
As soon as these words were spoken, the color on Pei Huaian's face immediately faded away.
"But this is just my worst guess. I'll split my forces into two groups to investigate, first the official road and then this small road..."
Under great worry, Pei Huaian's throat was so tight that he could hardly speak. He had to force out a few words: "Thank you, Lord Xiao."
"Seventh Young Master, you are too polite. This is our duty."
Shen Yunshu held his hand, which had been clenched unconsciously, and silently comforted him.
Xiao Ci's gaze swept across their folded hands, then looked away.
After the case was reported, Xiao Ci promised to send someone to contact the provincial government to conduct a thorough search soon. Seeing that Pei Huaian was in a trance, Shen Yunshu asked him to go back first, as she had someone else to see here.
"I'll go with you."
"I'm going to jail. It's not a good place. You're injured, so don't go there."
"The person you want to see is... in prison? Who is it?"
Shen Yunshu thought about it and decided that since she had decided to marry him, he also had the right to know about some things.
"Lu Yi." She replied.
"Your stepbrother?" Pei Huaian asked in surprise, "Why is he in prison?"
"I'll explain this to you slowly later. You can go back first, or wait for me in the carriage."
Pei Huaian was in no mood to ask more questions at this moment: "Then I'll wait for you in the carriage."
"Well, pay attention to your wound and walk slowly."
Shen Yunshu watched him walk away for a distance, then turned around and said to Xiao Ci respectfully, "Sir Xiao, I would like to see Lu Yi. Could you please be flexible and find someone to take me to the prison..."
Xiao Ci glanced at the clepsydra and said, "It's time to end our duty at noon. It's not easy to ask others to do it. I'll take you there."
"Then I'll trouble you, Master Xiao."
"No trouble."
The Dali Temple Prison is a dungeon with only a small door on the ground. Then you walk down a narrow staircase into the ground. The deeper you go, the worse the smell becomes. The moldy, rotten, and sour odors mixed with the humid air stick to people's bodies and cannot be dispelled or avoided.
Shen Yunshu knew this wasn't a good place, but it was her first time here, and she had no idea it was a hundred times worse than she'd imagined. She wanted to cover her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, but seeing the people around her looking normal, it would seem too hypocritical of her to do so.
So I can only endure it.
Xiao Ci turned his head and glanced at the woman with knitted brows: "The smell inside is even worse. You can cover your mouth and nose with a handkerchief. It's not embarrassing."
Shen Yunshu then took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and hurriedly covered it with it: "Thank you."
Walking along the moldy wall to the end, you will reach the real prison. Even through the handkerchief, you can still smell it. In addition to the unpleasant smells just now, there is also a strong smell of blood in the air.
Dim candles hung overhead. In the cells on both sides, within the blackened iron bars corroded by rust, the prisoners were either sitting or standing, some were silent, some were sighing, all looking haggard and listless.
Shen Yunshu tried her best not to look away and followed Xiao Ci to Lu Yi's cell.
"A quarter of an hour, is that enough?" Xiao Ci asked her.
"That's enough, thank you."
Xiao Ci nodded slightly, retreated to a place not far from her, and waited quietly.
In the cell, Lu Yi was wearing a rough and dirty prison uniform, sitting against the wall. He was no longer as high-spirited as before, with sunken cheeks and dark eyes. When he saw her, he smiled at her, and his face looked a little scary.
"I knew you would come to see me..." He slowly stood up and walked to the iron railing.
Shen Yunshu took off the handkerchief and looked at him indifferently: "My mother came to me today and wanted me to use my connections to plead for you."
"You'd better get me out as soon as possible, otherwise, I can't guarantee that I will tell you anything..."
"I rejected my mother," Shen Yunshu interrupted him, "I won't rescue you."
Lu Yi's expression suddenly twisted: "How dare you? Aren't you afraid of me..."
"What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that you'll ruin my reputation?" Shen Yunshu sneered. "During the three days when my third sister was abducted, I didn't return to the Pei family. Everyone thought it was me who was abducted. My reputation has already been ruined by you, so I don't mind adding to it."
Lu Yi paused for a moment.
"Actually, I don't care how you try to frame me anymore. Today, I just told Mom that you'd been bullying me. Mom was about to go back and divorce my stepfather, but I persuaded her not to..."
She remembered that when she mustered up the courage to tell Pei Huaijin about this unbearable incident, Pei Huaijin said in a firm tone that it was not her fault.
Later, in order to solve the case of bride kidnapping, Pei Huaijin told Xiao Ci about this matter, and Xiao Ci never looked at her strangely.
And her mother's attitude today gave her enough courage and made her no longer afraid of Lu Yi's threats.
"But I'm here today to persuade you not to reveal the dirty deeds you've done to me. If Mother knew how you bullied me, no matter how much I try to persuade her, she'll definitely divorce her stepfather. My stepfather has only been an official in Beijing for a few months, and his foundation is already unstable. Now he's still thinking of using his connections to save you, but he thinks you've simply strayed. Even if he can't save you, when you're exiled, he'll spend money to make your exile more comfortable, considering our father-son relationship. If he learns your true identity and loses Mother, do you think he'll still care about your life or death?"
Her voice was soft but clear. Xiao Ci, who was standing not far away, heard all her words.
A dim oil lamp hung above, illuminating her delicate yet stubborn figure.
"That's all I have to say. Think about it carefully."
Shen Yunshu turned around and left neatly.
When passing by Xiao Ci, she immediately followed her footsteps, keeping a distance of half a shoulder from her.
Shen Yunshu covered her mouth and nose tightly, thinking about leaving here quickly. She never imagined that besides the unbearable smell, the emaciated prisoners, and the rats running around...
A black shadow suddenly jumped onto her embroidered shoes. Shen Yunshu screamed, the handkerchief in her hand fell, and she bumped into Xiao Ci.
Xiao Ci quickly pulled her to the other side and kicked the rat away.
"Are you okay?"
"It's okay," Shen Yunshu said awkwardly, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Master Xiao."
Just as she was about to pick up the embroidered handkerchief that had fallen to the ground, her cloak fell down as she bent over. Xiao Ci stopped her, "Don't get your clothes dirty."
He picked it up for her. The handkerchief was dirty and could no longer be used, but it was a woman's personal property after all and could not be left here.
Shen Yunshu took it and saw him hand over her handkerchief: "I haven't used it today, it's still clean."
"Thank you." Shen Yunshu took his plain green handkerchief, which had a refreshing scent of soapberry.
After leaving the cell, Xiao Ci took the initiative to ask for it back.
After all, he had already used it. Shen Yunshu originally wanted to wash it and then return it to him. He must have guessed this and didn't want to cause her so much trouble, so he took the initiative to take it back at this time.
Shen Yunshu thanked him again and left the Dali Temple.
*
Shangshu Mansion.
That day, the painter from the Dali Temple came to the mansion and painted the boy's eyes in front of Shen's father. Then he handed the complete portrait of the boy to Shen Youran. Shen Youran nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, that's what he looks like!"
When the painter was there, the father looked normal, but he asked the painter to draw another portrait of the boy and kept it.
After the painter left, the father held the portrait and kept looking at it, his fingertips trembling as he brushed the boy's eyebrows and eyes: "It's like him, it's so like him."
Shen Youran looked at his father, then at the boy in the painting, and suddenly felt that his father and the boy were more than just similar in appearance.
"Dad, why do I feel... this boy looks like you?"
My father's reaction was even stranger. Instead of being angry, he seemed a little excited: "Yeah, he looks like me."
This made Shen Youran even more confused: "Daddy..."
"Um?"
"Why do I feel like you know this person?"
"Yes, I know him."
“Could it be…” Shen Youran thought of a possibility and couldn’t help but take a breath, “Dad, could he be… your illegitimate son who is wandering around?”
Otherwise, why did my mother insist on divorcing my father back then?
It's possible that her mother left because she knew that her father had a child with another woman.
"What illegitimate child? What are you thinking about?" Shen Tingyu knocked her wandering head and carefully put the portrait away. "You will know soon."
*
On the fifth day after Shen Youran returned to the Shen family, her mother-in-law Zhu really sent her servant Zhang to ask her to go back. At that time, Liang Qingluo happened to come to the house to play with her and overheard a few things.
Mother Zhang chased her and tried to persuade her to go back, inevitably mentioning the matter of taking a concubine, saying that her mother-in-law had already agreed and that the matter of taking a concubine could be discussed later.
Seeing such insincerity, Shen Youran was too lazy to listen to her nonsense. She pulled Liang Qingluo into the house and ignored her.
Mother Zhang talked outside the door for a long time before finally leaving in disappointment.
Inside the house, Liang Qingluo asked in surprise, "Sister Youran, you are so beautiful, your husband wants to take a concubine?"
"It's not my husband who wants to take a concubine, it's my mother-in-law who insists on having one for him."
"But you've only been married for a few months. Why is your mother-in-law so anxious to find a concubine for your husband?"
Although what Zhu did was not authentic, Shen Youran didn't want to speak ill of her mother-in-law behind her back, so she only gave one of the reasons: "She wants to hold a grandson as soon as possible, but I don't want to..."
"You don't want to have children, does your husband agree?"
"He agrees," Shen Youran said with a smile, thinking about how he had already given her acupuncture. "He agrees very much."
"He's quite considerate..."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this..." It was rare for Liang Qingluo to come and play with her, so she didn't want to talk about those trivial matters.
Liang Qingluo played in the Shen Mansion for the whole afternoon. When dusk fell, Shen Youran warmly invited her to have dinner with him, and then asked the guards of the Shen Mansion to take her back.
When Liang Qingluo returned to the General's Mansion, her Sixth Brother was practicing archery in the front yard. Seeing her return, he called out to her, "You're back so late. Where have you been?"
"I'm going to play with Sister Youran."
Liang Xu thought she had gone to Pei's house, so he reminded her: "Next time you go to Pei's house, try to come back before sunset. That's her husband's house, you can't disturb it for too long..."
"No, I went to the Shen Mansion today. Sister Youran is staying at her own home now."
Liang Xu was stunned: "Why is she living in the Shen Mansion?"
"I had a quarrel with my in-laws."
Liang Xu put down his bow and arrow, walked over and asked her seriously, "What's wrong with her in-laws?"
Liang Qingluo said vaguely: "Her mother-in-law wants to take a concubine... No, she wants to take a concubine for her husband..."
"Pei Huaijin wants to take a concubine?"
This understanding seemed to be about right, so Liang Qingluo didn't correct him. "Well, it's said that her mother-in-law is anxious to have a grandchild, but Sister Youran doesn't want to..."
Liang Xu recalled the secret he had discovered that day in the clinic: "Is it that she doesn't want to have a baby, or is it that her husband doesn't want to have a baby?"
"Yes, her husband doesn't want to have children either." Liang Qingluo hadn't noticed his brother's strange behavior and envied him. "Sister Youran's husband is quite considerate..."
"Heh..." It's not that he doesn't want to have a baby, but he's probably not able to.
Liang Xu sneered silently: He suffers from a hidden illness, but he puts the blame on Shen Youran, and now he wants to take a concubine to cover up his tracks?
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The author has something to say: Two poachers are coming!
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