The grand mansion was deserted. Shen Yuan and Xiao Ling entered the mansion without any hindrance. They didn't even see a maid along the way, which made Shen Yuan even more uneasy.
She rushed anxiously to Liu's courtyard, but was stopped at the gate.
"Sister, I am the granddaughter of the midwife invited by Madam Liu. I have met Madam Liu several times. Please inform her that I have urgent business with Madam Liu!"
Shen Yuan curtsied to the two head maids blocking the courtyard gate.
The maid glanced at Shen Yuan, her eyes full of arrogance: "There are plenty of people who want to see our Madam. Do I have to announce everyone who comes? Ha, she really thinks she's something special!"
On her previous visits to Madam Liu's courtyard, the maids who greeted her were always extremely friendly. But today, these two maids were not only unfamiliar faces, but they also deliberately prevented her from seeing Madam Liu—this was highly unusual!
Shen Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Is Sister Cui'er inside? Could you please call her for me? She knows me."
"He's not here! You'd better leave now!"
Shen Yuan persisted, "Then where is my nanny? You mean Liu the midwife in the manor? Where is she now?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's still fast asleep in some room!" The maid rolled her eyes, chuckled, and turned to close the courtyard gate.
Shen Yuan raised her hand to push against the courtyard door and shouted loudly inside, "Madam Liu! Grandma! Are you inside?"
As soon as Shen Yuan finished speaking, a woman's painful wail echoed from inside the room.
It sounds like... the sound of a woman giving birth!
Shen Yuan grew up by Liu Mama's side and was exposed to childbirth from a young age, so she quickly realized that Madam Liu was probably about to give birth.
Hearing the wails from inside the house, the maid blocking the courtyard gate changed her expression and hurriedly shooed Shen Yuan away: "What are you shouting for? Is our master's mansion a place where poor scum like you can make a scene? Get out of here right now, or we'll call people to beat you out!"
Shen Yuan wasn't afraid at all. She grabbed one of the maids' hands, pinned her against the door, and demanded, "I'll only ask you one thing: is my grandmother inside?"
"Yes? Of course he is! He's inside!" the maidservant hurriedly replied.
Shen Yuan shook off the maid's hand and rushed into the courtyard, shouting, "I want to see my grandmother!"
You can't go in!
Suddenly, a group of people rushed out of the courtyard and surrounded Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan stood there, looking at the people blocking her way. Almost none of these maids and servants were from Madam Liu's courtyard; they were all unfamiliar faces, and Shen Yuan had never seen them in Madam Liu's courtyard before.
She was certain that something was strange about this courtyard, and that Madam Liu and Granny Liu must have run into trouble!
Shen Yuan turned to look at Xiao Ling and gave him a look.
Xiao Ling turned and left.
Seeing that the man who had been standing behind Shen Yuan had run away, the maids and servants rushed forward without restraint, trying to grab Shen Yuan and detain her.
Shen Yuan knew she was no match for these people, so she didn't put up much resistance.
Seeing that she was unusually docile, those people assumed that Shen Yuan was afraid and did not deliberately beat her. They simply tied her arms behind her back and had people watch.
The two maids who had been blocking the door cursed Shen Yuan a few times, and after venting their anger, they went inside to ask the people inside how to deal with Shen Yuan.
A short while later, the two maids pushed open the door and came out again.
Behind them were two people Shen Yuan knew all too well: Chu Chunhua and Chu Qiuyue.
Upon seeing the two of them appear in Madam Liu's courtyard, Shen Yuan's eyes darkened. Aunt Zhao finally couldn't restrain herself from making a move against the child in Madam Liu's womb!
She deliberately instructed Madam Liu to settle Liu Mama in her own courtyard in order to guard against Aunt Zhao.
Despite all our precautions, we still couldn't stop her!
The servants guarding Shen Yuan saw Chu Chunhua and Chu Qiuyue come out and hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "Qiuyue, what did Madam say? Did she throw her out of the backyard, or...?"
The servant who was speaking wiped his neck.
The meaning was clear: they wanted to kill him to silence him.
Shen Yuan's heart skipped a beat, but she wasn't too surprised. Someone who dared to run a brothel that trafficked children and forced women into prostitution must have used many underhanded tricks in the inner quarters and was more ruthless than others.
Aunt Zhao wanted to kill her to silence her, which was exactly what she expected.
After all, if she wasn't killed, she would definitely expose Aunt Zhao's control of Madam Liu's courtyard today. Aunt Zhao had obviously thought of this as well.
Chu Qiuyue stood on the steps in front of Shen Yuan, looking down at her with a smile on her lips: "Sister Yuan, why are you tied up?"
A few days ago, I heard that she spent a thousand taels to buy a pharmacy, so I immediately went to her and tried every means to please her. Now that I see her in such a sorry state, I'm coming to kick her while she's down.
Shen Yuan found Chu Qiuyue laughable from the bottom of her heart. At such a young age, she was scheming and plotting, like a clown.
Seeing that Shen Yuan ignored her, Chu Qiuyue walked down the steps, approached her, and smiled: "Oh, why isn't Sister Yuan saying anything? Weren't you very fierce before? You would steal my things and even hit me. Why aren't you scared today?"
Shen Yuan's expression was indifferent, as if she didn't take Chu Qiuyue seriously at all.
This made Chu Qiuyue even angrier.
"Why are you talking so much nonsense to her? Auntie said to throw her into the dry well in the backyard to keep her grandma company. Hurry up and throw her in!" Chu Chunhua urged impatiently.
Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan suddenly stood up: "You threw my grandmother into the well?"
"That's right! She's been in there for almost two hours, she's probably frozen to death by now!" Chu Qiuyue covered her mouth and laughed. Seeing the hatred in Shen Yuan's eyes, she became even more smug. "Guards! Give her a good slap! Smash her face until it's smashed, then throw her into the well..."
Chu Qiuyue was smiling when she suddenly stopped talking.
She looked down in horror and saw a short, sharp dagger held against her neck. The blade was pressed tightly against her skin, as if it could sever the thickest blood vessel in her neck at any moment, causing her to bleed and die instantly.
Chu Qiuyue's hair stood on end. Her face was deathly pale as she stared at the dagger in Shen Yuan's hand and pleaded, "Don't...don't kill me, Sister Yuan. We've known each other for so many years. You've watched me grow up. Please, don't kill me."
The person who was just swaggering and domineering is now shrinking back like a quail.
Shen Yuan found it laughable. She snorted, grabbed Chu Qiuyue's arm, held the dagger to her, and took a few more steps forward.
The people in the courtyard immediately stepped back.
Shen Yuan was hiding a knife on her person!
They were careless, thinking that tying up Shen Yuan would solve everything. Little did they know that she was carrying a dagger that could cut the ropes and use Chu Qiuyue to coerce them.
Shen Yuan's dagger was hidden in her sleeve, and there was still blood on the blade, which had been stained at Zuichunlou a few hours earlier.
She held a dagger to Chu Qiuyue's neck and threatened, "If you don't hand over my grandmother today, I'll slit your throat and let you bleed to death!"
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