Upon hearing this, the old woman's eyelids twitched, and she quickly looked up at Zhao Qianlan, hinting that she should not.
But Zhao Qianlan had already made up her mind. She nodded firmly to the nanny and said, "Go, go quickly, and come back immediately."
After she finished speaking, she felt the very puzzled and strange looks from Song Ruoan and He Yunze standing to the side.
Zhao Qianlan forced a smile and said, "Mother has some private businesses. I'm having the nanny go get the money. You just need to know about this, but please don't let your father find out."
Song Ruoan nodded as if she understood, while He Yunze pursed his lips and remained silent.
The trusted nanny, though deeply troubled by Zhao Qianlan's orders, still managed to walk quickly.
She hurriedly went to Zhao Qingshu's office and told him Zhao Qianlan's exact words. Zhao Qingshu smiled knowingly when he heard this, and then, without making things difficult for her, he took the money and sent her away.
So the old nanny returned the way she came and hurriedly headed towards the inner quarters of the Song family mansion.
But then, they ran into someone they shouldn't have.
Song Juncai.
Song Juncai and Song Ruoan knelt in the house all night. It seemed that the old lady Song was recovering well, as she brought them soup and food in the morning.
She also instructed Zhao Qianlan to serve her and Song Xizhi during their washing and meals.
But the old woman seemed to have completely forgotten that her own son was still kneeling outside. In the end, Song Xizhi came out of the house after he had eaten and drunk his fill.
Seeing him kneeling in the corner of the outer room, she felt a pang of conscience and told him and Song Ruoan to get up and go back to rest, saying that although her grandmother had not given any orders, he should take responsibility if anything happened.
Upon hearing this, Song Juncai finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hurriedly asked his elder brother to change into clean clothes and then planned to go directly to the government office.
Hiding in the government office, far away from this place of trouble, would save him from being forced to kneel by that insane old woman.
But who knew that after he had rested for a while and changed his clothes before going out, he happened to see Zhao Qianlan's trusted nanny.
The trusted nanny looked around anxiously, her arms bulging as if she were carrying something.
Song Juncai frowned slightly, feeling that something was very wrong with the old woman in front of him, as if she had stolen something.
He rubbed his legs, took a step, and limped over to the old woman.
"Granny Chen? What are you doing here? Where is Qianlan?"
Unexpectedly, when the old woman heard his voice, she looked up in a panic. When she saw Song Juncai, her eyes narrowed, her whole body trembled, and she shot out like an arrow.
The package she was carrying fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
Seeing this, Song Juncai was filled with suspicion: "What did you do that makes you so guilty?"
As he spoke, he took another step and grabbed the package before the old woman could.
Upon opening the package, they were surprised to find it contained gleaming white silver ingots!
Song Juncai's eyes narrowed, and his face darkened: "You stole the silver?"
The old nanny hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Greetings, sir! Greetings, sir!"
"My lord, you've been wronged! This old servant was only ordered by my master to go out and borrow money for... for the Empress Dowager's birthday gift..."
The old woman lowered her voice at the end.
"A birthday gift for the Empress Dowager?" Song Juncai frowned. He had heard about it, but didn't know much about it.
But the amount of silver in her hand must be considerable: "Qianlan actually borrowed so much silver? Who lent it to her?"
Hearing this, the old nanny's heart clenched even more. She hurriedly made up a lie: "It was the mistress's family, the money that Old Madam Zhao borrowed, because she knew... it was for the clan's affairs."
"Master, master! It's urgent! The shopkeeper is coming soon. If we don't have the money, we won't get what we want. This old servant must go now!"
Upon hearing this, Song Juncai slowly nodded and, with a slight stagger, handed the silver in his hand to the old nanny.
"Okay, then you go ahead, don't delay the important business."
Hearing this, the old woman finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly headed towards the back gate of the Song residence with the silver.
But Song Juncai stood still, watching the old woman's back, his brows furrowed slightly.
He lowered his head slightly and instructed the servant beside him, "Go and check if this old woman went back to Qianlan's parents' home just now."
The middle-aged servant was somewhat surprised to hear this order: "Master, you don't trust what that old nanny said? She's an old nanny with the madam's physique."
Song Juncai rubbed his knees again, looking tired. "She looked so flustered when she saw me. I'm not afraid she'll steal anything, but something feels off."
"Secondly, Qianlan's maternal family is only a collateral branch, and she is an illegitimate daughter. How could she possibly borrow two or three thousand taels of silver all at once?"
The servant took a soft breath: "You suspect the madam...?"
Song Juncai shook his head: "It's not so much suspicion, I'm just afraid she borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates. I once heard that an official in the capital borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates and was caught by thugs and beaten up in an alley next to the Jingzhao Prefecture."
"Although I don't know exactly how that official managed to pay back the money, this matter is unseemly. If the Emperor finds out, his future will be in jeopardy. Such a thing cannot happen in our family."
"The future of the Song family cannot be allowed to change!"
As Song Juncai spoke, he supported the servant's arm and limped out, the bruises on his legs causing him to grimace in pain.
"Once Qianlan has settled the birthday gift arrangements, not only will I, but Yun Ce will also rise to prominence. At that time, will we still need to put up with that brat's temper?"
As soon as Song Juncai arrived at the government office, his servant began to investigate the matter as he had instructed.
The old nanny rushed to the back gate of the Song family mansion. By the time she arrived, the shopkeeper had already arrived, but she didn't have to wait long.
Zhao Qianlan took the silver from the old nanny and handed the package and purse to the shopkeeper. As she took the items out, not only were her hands trembling, but her heart was bleeding.
Once this matter is settled, she will see the day of Song Xizhi's death!
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