Chapter 51 I'm sorry for helping you, Young Master Jiang.
Even though she had never actually lived here before, upon seeing this familiar yet unfamiliar scene, Shen Yujiao still subconsciously took a half-step back. After a moment, she took a deep breath to calm herself down and stepped into Miss Shen's boudoir.
The bedroom is similar in style to the outside, both being spacious and exquisitely decorated. From the display shelves to the dressing table, everything on them is carefully arranged. The tables, chairs, benches, and wardrobes are all made of precious wood. However, although they look luxurious, they lack a sense of life.
"It seems everything has been restored..." Shen Yujiao walked to the dressing table and sat down. Through the bronze mirror, she could clearly see the scene behind her, but from this angle...
She turned around abruptly, and realized that this was the same perspective she had glimpsed in her dream!
Following the direction in her memory, she got up and walked towards the canopy bed carved from huanghuali wood. Imitating Miss Shen's posture, she slowly leaned against the bed railing. After a while, Shen Yujiao felt her heart suddenly contract. Overwhelmed by the unexpected feeling of gratitude, she immediately stood up and looked at the bed in disbelief.
She raised her hand and pressed it against her heart, feeling each beat. She knew that the palpitation she had felt earlier was not an illusion, but when she lay back down on the bed, she no longer felt the strange sensation she had experienced.
It was as if something was missing... She tried hard to recall the scene of the fire, and suddenly opened her eyes—the letters, the letters that had set the fire on fire!
Almost instinctively, she rushed to the study based on her sixth sense. The moment her hands touched the lock, she immediately closed her eyes, trying to use her body's memory to open it.
No, not right, just a little bit more, just a tiny bit more... It's here!
With a "click," the lock loosened, and Shen Yujiao looked at the lock in her hand with surprise. Before she could push the door open, the little maid's voice came from behind her—"Young master."
Shen Yujiao was startled and quickly bent down to fiddle with the lock, then turned to look at the back door: "What's wrong?"
Perhaps it was her urgent tone that made the maidservant quickly lower her head: "His Highness and the Duke have finished their conversation in front and have sent someone to call the young master to the front hall for a meal together."
It had to be at this time... Shen Yujiao looked back at the study with some lingering affection, feeling that she could definitely find some other information here. However, she had come out with Jiang Chen today, and if he finished talking with the Duke, she would have no choice but to follow his lead.
Let's go.
When she returned to the front hall, the first thing Shen Yujiao did was to look Jiang Chen in the eye. Seeing the look in his eyes, she knew that this trip had not been in vain.
Although it was a family banquet with the Duke and Duchess of Cheng, the Shen family's entourage was quite grand. According to Cui, most of these dishes were Miss Shen's favorites. Jiang Chen naturally had no objections. He also mentioned that for the Crown Princess, the Eastern Palace had specially invited a chef from Jiangnan.
As Shen Yujiao ate, she thought to herself, "Miss Shen likes to eat things that I don't. Besides, when did the Eastern Palace hire a chef from Jiangnan?"
Throughout the meal, Duke Chengguo remained silent, and Madam Cui only occasionally instructed the maid to serve her food. Shen Yujiao ate absentmindedly, her mind preoccupied with the study she hadn't had time to enter. It wasn't until she left Duke Chengguo's residence that she came to her senses.
What did you and the Duke of Cheng discuss today?
When the matter was brought up, Jiang Chen's face became serious: "This Zhu Tong not only had a trick up his sleeve here, but he even made a move against the Duke of Cheng's mansion before we arrived."
"Of the eighteen guilds in Jiangnan, the Shen family accounts for more than half. The Shen family's rule is that the eldest son of the main branch inherits the title, the second son becomes the clan leader, and the third son takes charge of the guild. In Miss Shen's generation, because the Duke of Cheng only has one brother, the one who takes charge of the guild is adopted from the clan by the old Duke of Cheng."
"This Fifth Master Shen is quite capable. He has doubled the Shen family's assets in just a few years since he took charge of the guild. Zhu Tong wanted to make a fuss about this, but he was blocked by Fifth Master Shen every time he tried to attack the Shen family. Last night, the Shen family discovered that someone had secretly broken into the accounting room, but they escaped unscathed because the Shen family's account books were well hidden."
Shen Yujiao frowned slightly. "So, according to you, this matter has nothing to do with the Shen family?"
Jiang Chen recalled the expression on the Duke of Cheng's face when he spoke to him. He was solemn and serious, and although his tone was stiff, he was speaking frankly and honestly. This reminded him of his father. Such a person had his own bottom line in his actions.
"Whether the Shen family is innocent or not depends on their sincerity. Today, I reached an agreement with the Duke of Cheng: the Shen family will find the switched account books of the Jiangnan Provincial Administration Commission for us, and we will bear all the power and consequences of the Shen family's actions."
Therefore, if the Shen family can find the real account books for them, it would be a win-win situation.
"Alright, since you're willing to trust the Shen family this once, it's not impossible. After all, we don't have any of our own people in Jiangnan. Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. Letting the Shen family fight Zhu Tong is one way..."
Shen Yujiao paused for a moment, then continued, "Today I found a locked study in Miss Shen's courtyard, but unfortunately I was called out before I could open it. Jiang Chen, I would like to go to the Duke of Cheng's mansion again."
What's in there?
“I guess there might be some letters left by Miss Shen back then, or something else,” she raised her hand to her heart, “I think she took me there.”
“You’re getting more and more mysterious,” Jiang Chen frowned. “Going again isn’t out of the question. Once the accounts are settled, we can go again.”
"good."
As he spoke, Jiang Chen thought of something else. "You should go back to the manor today. I need to take a few guards to investigate the He family's past."
"When did you and General He become so close?" Shen Yujiao looked at Jiang Chen with some suspicion.
"It's just a win-win situation. He promised me some things, so naturally I have to repay him in kind." Jiang Chen patted Shen Yujiao's shoulder, then lifted the sedan curtain and got out of the carriage.
Thinking that if she went back to the villa alone, she would have to go to find Mu Jin again. She was still too concerned about that study... As Shen Yujiao was thinking, she noticed that the carriage had suddenly stopped halfway. She knocked on the carriage wall and asked, "What happened?"
"Reporting to you, young master, a fight has broken out at the restaurant ahead, and there are too many onlookers, so our carriage can't get around it."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yujiao lifted the sedan curtain and saw that there were indeed people gathered in circles in front of her. She did not want to get involved in such matters in Jiangnan, so she planned to tell the driver to take a longer route. However, just as she was about to lower the sedan curtain, she spotted a familiar figure in the group. She looked closely and realized that it was indeed the young boy who had spoken up for Jiang Chen that night.
"Wait!" Shen Yujiao sat in the carriage and looked around for a while. She saw that the waiters in the restaurant were trying to gang up on her. Remembering that night when he spoke up for Jiang Chen, Shen Yujiao hesitated for a moment, then got off the carriage.
"I told you not to dine and dash! I told you not to dine and dash, but you didn't even bother to find out what kind of place Chunjianglou is, daring to dine and dash here!"
"I already told you, I'm rich! It's just that I wasn't paying attention and someone stole my purse. You wouldn't come with me to get the money, and you even beat me up in broad daylight! Don't you have any respect for the law?!"
"The law? You don't pay for your meal, what law are you talking about here?"
Hearing the argument raging on both sides, and seeing that the waiters were about to fight again, Shen Yujiao finally squeezed from the outside to the center of the crowd. She stepped forward and waved her hand to smooth things over, saying, "Don't argue, don't argue. My brother here is usually very careless. He didn't mean to withhold your money for the meal. Shopkeeper, how much is it in total?"
The shopkeeper stepped out from behind a group of employees. Seeing her exquisite pale yellow brocade robe, he felt he had seen her somewhere before, though he couldn't quite place it. However, he knew she was not someone to be trifled with, and was probably a noblewoman from some prominent family in Jiangnan. Therefore, when he spoke again, his tone softened considerably.
"Since this young master says so, then let's pay the twenty-eight taels and six mace of silver. It's not that Chunjianglou is unreasonable, but if we set a precedent for this young master today, wouldn't Chunjianglou become a place where everyone can buy on credit in the future?"
Shen Yujiao didn't waste any more words with him. She reached into her purse and took out thirty taels of silver to give to him: "This will settle the payment. But my brother didn't mean it. Your shop still needs to make a living. Everyone is blocking the street, and carriages and horses can't pass. Even if he did something wrong, how can you shopkeepers lay a hand on him? I won't hide it from you, shopkeeper. If your family finds out about this, even if Chunjianglou is a big business, I'm afraid things won't be good for you."
Her attitude was gentle, and her words were impeccable, yet they carried a hidden threat within their kind words. The manager was filled with suspicion and uncertainty. Chunjiang Tower had no intention of going against the powerful families, so after hearing these words, he quickly put on a smile and bowed to the person who had just argued with them.
"Young master, our shop has been very sorry for what we did. We apologize to you and hope you will be magnanimous and not hold it against us."
"Hmph!" The young master sneered. Seeing that he seemed to be about to step forward, Shen Yujiao quickly reached out to stop him: "Alright, my brother is waiting for us to go back. Now that things are settled, let's go back together."
Since the young master had helped her, he gave Shen Yujiao face and didn't say anything more. Seeing this, the shopkeeper quickly told the accountant to give her change and handed the loose silver back to Shen Yujiao: "Young master, please take this."
Seeing that the farce had ended so quickly, the onlookers dispersed. The restaurant owner politely saw them off. Once outside the restaurant, Shen Yujiao noticed that the young master was followed by an old man and a child, both dressed in tattered clothes and not appearing to be his companions.
Seeing that Shen Yujiao was looking at the two of them, the young master said, "I met an old farmer selling vegetables on the way. He and his grandson were being bullied at their vegetable stall. I couldn't stand it, so I fought back for them. I was planning to bring them to this restaurant for a nice meal, but I didn't expect to lose my purse halfway there."
Finally, the young master scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, "Thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have been able to get them away."
Shen Yujiao looked at the child, whose clothes were ill-fitting and whose shoes were tattered. Seeing him like this, she felt really bad. She took out ten taels of silver ingots from her purse and handed them to the old farmer along with the loose silver that the shopkeeper had given her earlier.
"Let's buy the child some clothes."
The old man was simple and honest. He had almost caused the young master a great disaster today, so how could he possibly accept their money? He quickly waved his hands and refused, saying, "No, no, no, this is unacceptable..."
Seeing this, Shen Yujiao put the money directly into his hand, put her hands behind her back, and didn't give him a chance to return it: "Old man, this world is not easy, but we can't let the children suffer no matter how hard it is."
Perhaps these words touched a nerve with the old farmer, for he raised his hand to wipe his face, removing two lines of tears, and knelt down with the child to bow to the two of them: "Thank you, young master, thank you, esteemed guests."
"Absolutely not, absolutely not."
Shen Yujiao quickly helped the old farmer up and persuaded him to accept the money. After seeing him off, she turned to the young master she had met once before and said, "Your chivalrous nature hasn't changed. Aren't you afraid of getting yourself into trouble?"
"Have I seen you before?" The young master looked puzzled; he didn't remember ever seeing this person before.
"It's not important anymore. You should go back now. I should go too."
"Hey!" Shen Yujiao was about to turn around when she was grabbed by the person behind her. "Thank you for saving me today, but I have to return the money to you."
Shen Yujiao wanted to thank him for speaking up for her that night, but she couldn't say it outright. She only said, "Next time. If there's a chance, you can pay me back next time. If there's no chance, just consider it an act of charity."
"Well, that's fine then. My name is Qi Jiu. May I ask your esteemed name, brother?"
“I… my surname is Jiang, and I am the sixth child in my family. You can call me Brother Jiang.”
Shen Yujiao appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly she was silently repenting, feeling sorry for Young Master Jiang...
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