Jiang Qi looked at Shen Zhixiu and saw him nod slightly, then he led his men back out of the gate.
Shen Zhixiu only brought Wenzhu, and Su Qingyu brought Feicui, and they entered the yard together.
Wenzhu looks calm, but in fact he is concentrating and observing the situation around him.
This farm has three courtyards, and Chen lives in the main house of the third courtyard.
As they entered, Su Qingyu carefully examined the expressions of the maids. Two of them looked visibly nervous, their eyes wandering. It looked as if they had been bribed or threatened.
If they win today, these people can still have a chance to survive. But if Shen Zhao wins, these people will probably die.
At this point, Su Qingyu calmed down. No matter who won, the entanglement with Shen Zhao in past and present lives could be resolved today.
A maid pushed open the door of the main room, and Su Qingyu followed behind Shen Zhiheng and others.
When they entered the room and saw the scene in front of them, they all froze and took a deep breath.
Chen was lying flat on the bed. There was no flesh left on her face. Only a wrinkled face and skin covering the bones was left.
She had a head of white hair, very little left. If you said she was over a hundred years old, I'm afraid people would believe it.
She doesn't look like a human now, more like... a person without any energy or blood.
Yet, she was still breathing heavily, one breath after another, her chest rising and falling violently.
Su Qingyu's stomach felt like it was churning, and the smell in the room made her internal organs restless.
Shen Zhixiu glanced at the person on the bed calmly and asked the maid beside him, "Sister-in-law is like this, can she still send a message to me and my wife?"
The old woman glanced away guiltily, not daring to look at Shen Zhixiu.
He said, "The eldest lady is sometimes well and sometimes not. She was getting better before. But before the gentlemen and ladies came, she suddenly became unwell again."
Shen Zhao stepped forward and looked at Chen, hatred welling up in his heart. His mother looked like she was poisoned, not like she was sick and aging normally.
He turned to look at Shen Zhixiu, "Uncle, why don't you go to the side room and have a cup of tea? I want to accompany my mother with my father."
Shen Zhixiu gave Shen Zhao a meaningful look and said, "That's fine."
He didn't want Su Qingyu to stay here, so he followed the servant to the side room.
After leaving the main house, they were supposed to cross the courtyard to the wing rooms, but Shen Zhixiu took Su Qingyu's hand and walked under the corridor.
He was outside and Su Qingyu was inside.
In the main room, Shen Zhao motioned Shen Zhiheng to sit down and poured him tea personally.
While pouring tea, he turned his head to look out the window and saw Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu walking in the corridor. His heart tightened. Their corridor was blocked by the pillars, so it would be difficult for someone hiding in the dark to take action.
But it doesn’t matter, there is still a chance.
He retracted his gaze and asked Shen Zhiheng in a low voice, "Father, can't you see? Mother was poisoned. It must have been done by Third Uncle, right?"
Shen Zhiheng snorted coldly, "That's her own fault. She dared to harm your grandfather. Sparing her life is already a mercy from the Shen family."
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhao suddenly laughed twice, stood beside Chen's bed, pointed at the person on the bed and said, "Mercy? Father said this is mercy?"
"They might as well just kill my mother and give her a quick death."
There was a strong smell in the room, and Shen Zhiheng coughed a few times again.
Then he said, "So what do you want? When your grandmother and your third uncle threatened to have him caned to death, it was you and the princess who pleaded for mercy."
"Do you really think that your grandmother and Third Uncle can swallow this and let her enjoy her old age?"
"Don't even mention that they can't swallow it. Even I find it hard to let go of the hatred."
The expression on Shen Zhao's face froze slightly, "Back then, father had predicted this day?"
Shen Zhiheng raised his eyes and looked at Shen Zhao, "You just said that your third uncle is dead and you can hold up the Shen family. Let's not talk about anything else, just talking about your mother. You only think that you are a son and you have to plead for your mother. But you never thought about what to do next?"
"I believe you're asking for mercy out of filial piety, but the princess is probably asking for mercy because she's worried you'll observe three years of mourning and stay away from the court."
"Have you thought of all this?"
Shen Zhao looked dazed. He really didn't seem to have thought that much. When Li Chaoyun knelt down to plead for mercy, he was very moved. He felt that they were one and the same, and Li Chaoyun's filial piety towards his mother was the same as his.
But when he heard what his father said, Shen Zhao felt that it seemed to be what his father said.
Shen Zhiheng looked at him and sighed, "Do you still think you can achieve the same success as your third uncle in the court?"
"It's not that I look down on you, father. There are countless people in the court, both civil and military, who have achieved top marks in the imperial examinations, and there are countless children from aristocratic families. But why did your third uncle become the cabinet minister and a close minister to the emperor at such a young age?"
"These things are not as simple as you think. Why do you think the Crown Prince uses you so highly? It's to compete with your Third Uncle. Otherwise, with your talent, it would be difficult for you to even enter the House of Imperial Households."
Shen Zhiheng had wanted to tell Shen Zhao these things for a long time. Ever since Li Chaoyun said that the eldest son should support Shen Zhao, he had wanted to tell Shen Zhao everything. But every time, before he could finish a few words, the father and son would part ways unhappily.
In addition, his health had been deteriorating over the past six months, and he paid less attention to Shen Zhao.
But he never expected that Shen Zhao would want his third uncle's life.
Shen Zhiheng now felt nothing but regret. It was his poor parenting, his lack of discipline for his wife, and his selfishness that had led the Shen family's eldest son to this state. He was ashamed to face his ancestors.
Shen Zhao held his breath in his chest. Shen Hong had said these words before.
In his heart, he admitted that his father was right, but he was unwilling to admit that he was inferior to others.
Shen Zhiheng wanted to get up and leave, "Let's go back. If you can't bear to see your mother suffer, I will give her a quick death."
Seeing this, Shen Zhao suddenly took a bundle of ropes from behind a door and immediately tied Shen Zhiheng with it.
Shen Zhiheng was shocked, "You evil son, what are you going to do?"
Shen Zhao picked up the cotton handkerchief and stuffed it into Shen Zhiheng's mouth. After tying him up, he walked around to him and knelt on the ground.
"Father, calm down. This matter has been resolved and I cannot regret it."
"Father, please bear with the grievance for now. Once your son has dealt with the matters outside, I will accompany you back home."
After that, Shen Zhao kowtowed three times, then stood up and left.
Shen Zhiheng's eyes widened and his chest heaved, but he could only watch him leave.
In the wing room, when Shen Zhao pushed the door open, Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu were sitting at the table drinking tea, and Wen Zhu was standing behind Shen Zhixiu.
Shen Zhao stepped forward and bowed. "Uncle and Aunt, my father is wiping my mother's body and talking to her. My mother is not very clear-headed at the moment, and I'm afraid she can't talk to Uncle and Aunt."
"How about this, I'll take Uncle and Auntie outside to catch the bus. It's getting late, you should go back and get some rest."
What he had to do was to lure Shen Zhixiu, Su Qingyu and Wen Zhu into the yard, and then the people hiding in the dark would take action.
Thousands of arrows were fired at once, and it was too late for the people outside to rescue.
Shen Zhixiu sat on the stool without moving, and did not drink the tea in his hand.
"Where are those firearms hidden? If they are not kept properly, they can easily hurt someone by mistake. Aren't you afraid of hurting my sister-in-law?"
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