As soon as Shen Qiyin left, Xianglan immediately followed him eagerly.
Seeing this, Ren Dong instinctively tried to get up, but Li Zhenzhu pressed her back down.
She said gruffly, "Eat your food!"
As she spoke, she added some more porridge to Honeysuckle's bowl: "They've both eaten, so they can go about their business. You didn't come home all night yesterday, so you must not have slept well. Now you're not even eating properly. When you get old, illness will come knocking on your door."
"Hurry up, finish eating and go rest."
Honeysuckle was scolded by her, but instead of being unhappy, she felt a warm feeling in her heart.
She stuffed the last small piece of bun in her hand into her mouth, her gaze following Li Zhenzhu's figure back and forth. After a moment, she suddenly said, "Madam, you look just like a mother."
Upon hearing this, Li Zhenzhu frowned.
What kind of talk is that?
Shouldn't it be "like my mother"? Why is it "like a mother"?
She rubbed and wiped herself in the room, talking to Ren Dong in a disjointed manner, and asked, "Is your mother like me?"
"I don't know." Honeysuckle shook her head, her tone somewhat indifferent: "I don't have a mother."
"You silly child, talking nonsense!" Li Zhenzhu laughed. "If you didn't have a mother, where did you come from?"
“I have never seen my mother since I was born. Everyone in the village says that she ran away with someone.”
Her father was already in poor health, and after this incident, he fell seriously ill and soon passed away.
So she was raised by her grandmother from a young age.
She had two good days while her grandmother was alive.
After she passed away, no one took care of her anymore.
Although her second uncle's family was there, it was better if they weren't. When she was little, they let her fend for herself, but when she grew a little older, they remembered her and sold her for a few taels of silver.
She fled to the capital.
They endured countless hardships and wandered the road. If they hadn't met their elder sister, they would have frozen and starved to death that very day.
Upon hearing Ren Dong recount her background, Li Zhenzhu showed no outward expression, but she secretly remembered Ren Dong's favorite foods, thinking that she would feed her until she was plump and healthy in the future.
After breakfast, Li Zhenzhu urged Rendong to catch up on her sleep.
She appeared to have returned to the Begonia Courtyard, but then immediately climbed over the wall and went straight to the General's Mansion.
She only overheard a bit in the morning and wasn't sure if the adults were really going to take action against the people from the General's Mansion. However, she still needed to see for herself whether those so-called ladies and misses had actually spoken disrespectfully to her older sister.
Shen Qiyin was naturally unaware that before she could even subdue Xiao Yan, Ren Dong had already appeared.
After she and Xianglan left, they came directly to the General's Mansion, afraid that they would miss the person at Qiying Pavilion and waste their time.
Fortunately, Xiao Yan was not there.
Huo Chenzhou, however, asked in confusion, "Why has the village head arrived so early today?"
"Oh..." Shen Qiyin lied calmly, "Our treatment has entered the second stage. We are more energetic in the morning, and the effects of acupuncture and herbal baths are better."
While administering acupuncture to Huo Chenzhou, she subtly asked, "Why haven't I seen the young mistress today?"
Huo Chenzhou's expression changed slightly when Su Mengdie was mentioned.
He lowered his eyes and replied, "She went to the temple to worship Buddha."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qiyin's heart sank.
If Xiao Yan were to make a move halfway there, Su Mengdie would surely die!
It wasn't that she pitied the other person, but she didn't want someone else to bear the karmic debt of killing because of her, whether that person was Xiao Yan or Ren Dong.
When something happens, she takes matters into her own hands.
Just as Shen Qiyin was about to ask Huo Fanshuang about her situation, she suddenly heard a commotion outside.
The servant at the door said urgently, "Young master, someone has broken into the manor..."
Before she could finish speaking, the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. It was Ren Dong who had tied two people up with rope and led them in.
Behind her followed a group of guards from the general's mansion.
She entered the mansion without being notified. They naturally wanted to arrest her after they found out, but they were hesitant to act rashly because of the clothes she was wearing and they were afraid of offending the Thousand Eagle Guards.
Therefore, he followed her all the way to the eldest son's courtyard, waiting for him to make a decision.
Huo Chenzhou didn't know Ren Dong, and was inevitably puzzled upon first meeting her.
However, Shen Qiyin and Xianglan both showed the same surprise on their faces.
"Honeysuckle!" Shen Qiyin instinctively stood up to greet her: "Why are you here?"
As she spoke, her gaze couldn't help but fall on the two people she was holding hands with.
One of them looked somewhat familiar to her.
He was someone close to Su Mengdie.
When Shen Qiyin first came to the General's Mansion, Huo Wanqing took her along to invite Su Mengdie to Huo Chenzhou's place. The latter did not come, but sent a maid named "Ying'er" instead. This was Shen Qiyin.
As for Ren Dong, the moment she met Shen Qiyin, she immediately changed her tune, becoming incredibly obedient: "I came to check on my elder sister, in case someone bullies you."
After saying that, she cupped her hands to Huo Chenzhou and apologized, "It was wrong of me to trespass into the General's Mansion, but I was afraid that since I came openly, I would not be able to see the true attitude of the people in this mansion towards my sister."
"I saw these two people acting suspiciously in a courtyard, secretly moving something. They were talking about drugging someone and mentioned Miss Wanqing, so I tied them up."
Under normal circumstances, honeysuckle would not rashly interfere in other people's family affairs.
However, Huo Wanqing had a close relationship with her elder sister, and since this matter involved her, she naturally could not stand idly by.
Compared to Ren Dong's secret intrusion into the General's Mansion, Huo Chenzhou was clearly more concerned about Huo Wanqing's safety, so he immediately interrogated Ying'er and the others.
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