The next morning, during the morning court session, Lord Yu indeed brought up the matter.
He wrote a memorial to criticize Cao An overnight. The more he wrote, the angrier he became. In the end, he was so angry that he couldn't even sleep well. He came to court with dark circles under his eyes.
However, the emperor defeated him with just a few words.
"This assassin is carrying secrets. Cao An is only following orders. I hope you will cooperate."
Lord Yu: “…”
There were a thousand words in his mind that didn't belong to the realm of utterance, but the person in front of him was the emperor.
"My lord, I obey the order!"
With the emperor's connivance, Cao An became even more unscrupulous. Others thought he was using this incident to settle a personal grudge. For a moment, everyone was worried that Cao An would come and mess up their family.
But only Cao An himself knew that he didn't have much time left - he was just trying to save his life!
"Madam, judging by the situation, it will be our turn soon." Chun Xi and Qiu Ye seemed to be watching the fun that day, but in fact they were observing the attitude of Lord Cao.
It now seems that Lord Cao really wants to check every household. No matter who you are, you will not be of any use to him.
Madam Wen is hiding in their mansion. If she is found, the entire mansion will be in trouble!
Shen Ruoyan frowned deeply. Shengjing City was so big, Cao An certainly couldn't possibly check every household. He was probably spreading this rumor to throw the people hiding Madam Wen off balance.
But the tricky thing now was, whether it was intentional or just a coincidence, that the first people he targeted were the Yu family, and they were just searching the houses in this area. They were so close, it was very dangerous.
"First, have Madam Wen prepare. If they do find out, be careful not to show any signs of panic."
Shen Ruoyan warned Chunxi and Qiuye that they both knew the inside story and were easily affected by it.
Cao An is a man with sharp eyes. If he finds a flaw, he will definitely not let it go!
The other people in the mansion, on the other hand, didn't need any special instructions because they were completely unaware of the situation. Their most natural reactions were the best evidence, and excessive interference could easily backfire.
"Don't worry, Madam. We understand."
Chunxi and Qiuye looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes.
They were still trying to figure out what to do to make it seem more natural. The next second, they heard someone jogging in to announce that Cao An had already arrived at the door with his men.
"Greetings, Madam Changning. I am here on the orders of the Emperor to search for the assassin. I hope Madam can cooperate and grant this assistance."
Cao An brought his men to block the door. Although he spoke politely, everyone could see that if Shen Ruoyan refused, he would still bring his men in.
The reason why he was so polite was because Lu Jing was not at home, and Cao An did not want to be accused of bullying a weak woman. Now that Shen Ruoyan was the head of the family, he would naturally discuss it carefully first.
As for whether the marquis's wife agrees or not, that is her own business.
"Lord Cao is following orders, so naturally there is no reason for me not to cooperate. Chunxi, lead the way for Lord Cao."
Shen Ruoyan took a step to the side and said with a smile: “Master Cao, please.”
Her attitude surprised Cao An, but in his heart, he had a higher opinion of her. He had heard that this lady from the Shen family was weak and could be bullied, so he was particularly polite before coming to avoid giving her a chance to talk.
But now I feel that Shen Ruoyan knows how to act and is knowledgeable and tactful, and is not as bad as the rumors say.
However, there are deep pockets within these high-ranking families.
Too much curiosity is not a good thing.
Because of Shen Ruoyan's cooperation, Cao An ordered his men to be more polite, but this did not mean that he came here just for the sake of formality.
"I heard that the concubine in the mansion suddenly got pregnant the other day?" Before coming here, Cao An had already found out everything about the Changning Marquis's mansion. Only he knew the purpose of bringing it up now.
Chunxi was leading the way in front. She didn't look back when she heard the words, but continued walking forward as if she didn't hear anything.
The maids following around did not change their expressions at all. They just focused on their own work and did not listen or watch much. It was obvious that the mistress's way of managing the household was very strict.
Cao An observed silently, but Shen Ruoyan didn't care. "It's not that I'm pregnant suddenly, it's just that my body is unstable, so I'm being cautious."
There's a popular rumor that says babies are too fragile during early pregnancy, so the news has to be kept secret to prevent too many people from finding out and scaring the baby away. Therefore, many families wait until the first month is over before announcing the news.
Cao An also knew that some families attached great importance to these things. Anyway, the news released by the Marquis' Mansion to the outside world could be consistent with what Shen Ruoyan said.
He smiled and said nothing more. There had been a lot of controversy about the child in the concubine's belly, but it had nothing to do with him.
There's no need for him to cause trouble here.
"Please cooperate, Madam. We need to search every courtyard and every corner. If any of the women are unable to come, please gather them together to prevent our men from being careless and causing trouble for you."
In this mansion, the Marquis was away, and the remaining masters were all women. Even Cao An had to be more careful and do his best to be more appropriate.
He was a eunuch, so it didn't matter. But for these elite soldiers who came to search, it was not so easy to say.
Shen Ruoyan understood what he meant. This Cao An was quite meticulous.
It’s a pity that I followed the wrong person.
"Don't worry, sir. We've already sent them packing." Before Cao An brought his men in, Qiu Ye had already brought all the women in the mansion to one place. The old lady was old and didn't like to be bothered. When she heard that it was just a eunuch coming, she was even more lazy to pay attention.
So I went to the Buddhist temple to find some peace and quiet.
Although Cao An asked the elite soldiers to stay away, he asked Shen Ruoyan to take him to the women's place - he wanted to capture women, so how could he not go!
"Sir Cao, could this assassin be a woman? We searched so carefully, how serious a crime did she commit?" No matter how calm Shen Ruoyan appeared, he still revealed a flaw.
Cao An thought to himself, women are indeed women. After such a short while, she couldn't help but ask questions.
"In reply to my lady, this involves confidential information, and I have nothing to say." He called himself a servant, but his tone was more powerful than that of the master. After all, he was a favorite of the emperor, so he could just pretend to be so, but how could he keep being subservient outside?
A hint of worry flashed across Shen Ruoyan's face, and he grasped the disappointment and anger just right.
Cao An pretended not to see it, but in his heart, he felt that the wife of the Marquis of Changning was nothing special.
"Yes, everyone is here, you can check it yourself."
After Shen Ruoyan brought Cao An to the place, she seemed too lazy to be perfunctory. As soon as she entered the door, someone brought a chair over. After Shen Ruoyan sat down, she never lifted her butt.
Fortunately, Cao An didn't care. He glanced sharply at everyone present, then asked calmly:
"Excuse me, Madam, are all the women in the mansion here?"
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