After the Guangfulou incident, no rumors about Su Zhilan had spread. It seemed that everyone present was still wary of the Song family and Song Hongshen.
It is still a long way to go before Su Zhilan gets married. The most important thing right now is the marriage of Su Yuanzhou and Shen Yue.
It is said that the Su family is also renovating the old house. Even if Su Yuanzhou just goes back to pay homage to his ancestors, it will be a great honor for the Su family.
That morning, Su Qingyu was looking over the dowry list that the third house had sent to Shen Yue. Chun Tao suddenly came in and reported, "Madam, someone from the Li family has come. They said they've brought something for the princess."
"From what I've seen, there are quite a lot of gifts. There are more than a dozen servants carrying the things."
Su Qingyu was still debating whether to give Shen Yue another 20% of the makeup, but she was also worried that if the third room gave too much, it would be embarrassing for the second room. After thinking it over, she decided to give Shen Yue some banknotes in private so as not to alert others.
After hearing Chuntao's words, she said casually: "The things should be handed over in the outer courtyard. No one from the Li family is allowed to enter the inner courtyard."
Chuntao replied yes and went downstairs to pass on the message.
At this moment, in the outer courtyard of the Shen family, Li Chaoyun's maid Danju was leading people to collect things.
The servants carried the things down from the car and handed the gift list to Danju, who led people to count them.
After all, this was a matter within the princess's chambers, so it wasn't appropriate for others to get too close. He simply followed the Third Madam's instructions and guarded the gates to the inner and outer courtyards.
Seeing that most of the things had been delivered, Changsheng, the servant from the Li family, suddenly ran to Danju, holding his stomach and said, "Miss, my stomach hurts so much, I need to go to the toilet."
Danju didn't even raise his eyelids, just waved his hand casually, and Changsheng ran to the side.
This scene naturally did not attract the attention of others.
Soon, the gifts sent by the Li family to Li Chaoyun were delivered. The leading steward and the Li family servants filed out, and Danju also returned to the inner courtyard.
In the main courtyard of the Shen family's main house, the fifth young master, Shen Cheng, was playing with a katydid in a cage. For the past two months, Shen Cheng's favorite thing had been katydids. Every day after his lessons with the mansion's teacher, he would start playing with them.
At first, Xiangdong was afraid that he would lose his ambition due to playing around, so he kept a tight rein on him. But later, seeing that he never neglected his studies even when he was playing around, he relaxed his control.
After all, they were not biological mother and son, and Chen Cheng was not young anymore, so he stayed in the outer courtyard at night. But when he had nothing to do during the day, he was in the main courtyard, and he ate three meals a day with Xiangdong.
At this moment, Chen Cheng was concentrating on feeding the katydids under the tree, and he didn't even notice An Lu, the servant who served him, coming from outside.
An Lu squatted beside Shen Cheng and whispered, "Master, I just passed by the outer courtyard and found a katydid that was completely emerald green. I didn't dare to catch it without permission, so I quickly came back to report to you."
Ordinary katydids are grass green or dark green, which is not surprising. However, emerald green katydids are rare, and if they are emerald green all over, as An Lu said, they are even rarer.
When Chen Cheng heard this, he immediately became alert. "Where is it? Let's go now."
An Lu smiled apologetically and said, "It's in the abandoned Wanxiang Hall at the easternmost end of the outer courtyard."
Maybe it was because he was nervous, but An Lu clenched his hands together under his sleeves and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his face.
Chen Cheng knew that the courtyard was where the men from the outer courtyard used to go to the theater. After the old man passed away, it became deserted.
After Chen Cheng stood up, he went to greet Xiang Dong again, and then followed An Lu to the outer courtyard.
Wanxiang Hall is a remote courtyard in the outer yard, and not many people come here usually.
The master and servant arrived outside the yard. An Lu pushed open the half-closed gate and walked in first. He then gestured to Shen Cheng to look at his feet, saying that the katydid was in the weeds in the backyard.
Chen Cheng asked casually, "This place is so remote, how come you passed by?"
Anlubang Chen Cheng looked at the road under his feet and replied, "I'm not just passing by. I saw that the young master couldn't find a suitable katydid, so I thought of going out to look for one."
Chen Cheng smiled and said, "Anlu, you are amazing. If you catch that katydid later, I will reward you handsomely."
For a moment, An Lu stretched out his hand, wanting to grab Chen Cheng and take him away from Wanxiang Hall.
When An Lu was about to touch Chen Cheng with his hand, he remembered something and retracted his hand.
The two of them passed through the hall and went into the back. But just as they reached the backyard, a man suddenly jumped out from the side, holding a stick in his hand, and hit Shen Cheng directly on the back of the neck.
Before Shen Cheng could understand what was happening, he fell to the ground.
An Lu was terrified. He squatted on the ground and reached out to feel Chen Cheng's breath. After confirming that he was fine, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The one who did it was Changsheng, a servant of the Li family. To be more precise, he was just a street thug. Chen Ping had spent money to find him, so even if something went wrong, it would have nothing to do with the Li family.
Changsheng took Chen Cheng to an empty room nearby and tied him up casually with a rope. He didn't take him seriously because he was just a kid who hadn't even grown all his hair yet.
Then, Changsheng asked Anlu, "Do you have to go and report the news? Do you know what to say?"
Changsheng was a thug who roamed the streets, his eyes fierce when he spoke. An Lu shrank back in fear, "I know, just say that the fifth young master was injured, and ask Madam Xiang to come and see."
"Remember, find a way to let her come by herself, don't bring anyone else." Changsheng said viciously again.
An Lu nodded and said, "I understand."
He trotted out of Wanxiang Hall and walked towards the inner courtyard.
Outside the main house owner's yard, An Lu hesitated for a long time before going in.
Ding Chan, the head maid, stopped An Lu and asked, "Why are you entering and leaving the Madam's courtyard so freely when you are not following the Fifth Young Master?"
An Lu pretended to be out of breath and said anxiously, "Please inform the young lady that I have something urgent to see the lady about. It's about the fifth young master."
Since the matter involved the Fifth Young Master, Ding Chan did not dare to stop them. She went in to inform Xiang Dong and then took An Lu to the nearby flower hall.
An Lu knelt on the ground as soon as he entered the room, "Madam, please forgive me. I failed to take good care of the Fifth Young Master and caused him to be injured."
When Xiangdong heard that Chen Cheng was injured, she immediately couldn't sit still anymore and stood up and walked out, "Where is he? Where is he injured?"
An Lu immediately said, "Madam, don't worry. The Fifth Young Master only suffered a minor injury. He's throwing a tantrum again and won't let me tell anyone. He said he's a man now and it would be embarrassing if others knew he fell."
"I coaxed him for a long time before he agreed to let Madam go and take a look. He also instructed her not to bring anyone else with her."
Thinking of Chen Cheng's awkward personality at this age, Xiangdong did not doubt An Lu's words.
"Take me there." After giving An Lu the order, he said to the maids beside him, "Don't follow me."
Ding Chan was worried and stepped forward and said, "Madam, I will go with you. I will stand further away so that the Fifth Young Master won't see me."
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