"Come in quickly, no one's here right now!"
After hearing this, Shen Congxin immediately crawled into the secret cave. Looking at the familiar flowers and plants of the Shen residence, Shen Congxin suddenly felt a little sad.
She rubbed her eyes hard, knowing this was not the time to be sad; she had to find the piece of paper that could clear her name as quickly as possible.
“This way, I’ll take you there!” Shen Congxin said to Jiang Yaojie.
Shen Congxin led Jiang Yaojie towards her stepmother's room with practiced ease. Just then, a maid suddenly appeared, startling Shen Congxin and Jiang Yaojie.
Shen Congxin quickly pulled Jiang Yaojie and hid behind the artificial hill.
"Oh dear, we don't know where Miss Chen has gone. Ruoyun, do you think this matter might be related to Mo Xue?" a maid sweeping the floor asked gossipingly.
“I don’t think it’s possible. Mo Xue has been with Miss Shen since she was a child. Miss Shen would share even the smallest food with Mo Xue. I don’t think Mo Xue would do something so despicable!” another maid replied.
"That's not necessarily true. Look, Miss Shen has only been missing for a few days, and Mo Xue has already become the top-class maid in Madam Shen's room..."
"If you've finished sweeping the floor, go do something else. Aren't you afraid of gossiping behind people's backs and getting your tongues twisted? Or should I report to Madam Shen and have you sent to the woodshed? Or kicked out?" The sharp female voice broke the gossip between the two maids.
The maids turned around and saw Mo Xue standing not far from them, hands on her hips, looking arrogant. Clearly, Mo Xue had overheard their conversation.
"Sister Mo... Sister Mo Xue, I... I'm so sorry!" The two maids quickly apologized to Mo Xue and ran away from there.
Shen Congxin overheard their conversation clearly. At first, she wasn't too bothered, but when she heard the other maids talking about Mo Xue, she almost couldn't hold back her tears. She patted her chest and tried her best to calm herself down.
She glanced at Jiang Yaojie, but thankfully he was hiding behind the artificial hill, observing his surroundings and not paying attention to her.
Shen Congxin took a deep breath, patted Jiang Yaojie, pointed to the left and whispered, "This is my stepmother's room. The receipts should all be kept in here!"
Jiang Yaojie nodded and led Shen Congxin, crouching low, towards that direction.
In just over ten meters, Jiang Yaojie and Shen Congxin walked with extra caution, especially Jiang Yaojie, who was almost completely alert and aware of his surroundings.
Reaching the door, Jiang Yaojie felt somewhat tired. He secretly poked a hole in the window with his finger and looked inside, but there was no one there.
Jiang Yaojie let out a long sigh of relief and nodded to Shen Congxin. Shen Congxin gently pushed open a door, and the two of them went inside one after the other.
"I'll go look over there, you stay here and keep watch!" Shen Congxin said in a low voice.
Jiang Yaojie nodded and stood at the door, his eyes fixed on the situation outside, but he still glanced at Chen Congxin from time to time.
"Did you find it?!" This was Jiang Yaojie's first time "stealing." He was covered in sweat, his heart was pounding, and his legs were trembling slightly.
"Almost there, don't rush me!" Shen Congxin replied.
"Hmm? Why is Madam's door open?" A voice suddenly drifted into Jiang Yaojie's ears.
Jiang Yaojie's expression immediately changed, and he inwardly cried out in alarm. He quickly closed the door and began scanning everything in the room. Jiang Yaojie's gaze landed on a round stool not far away.
He strode toward the round stools, then picked one up with each hand and braced them against the door.
"Oh no, why can't I push it open? Oh no! Someone help! A thief has broken into the house!" The maid reacted quickly; she immediately started calling for help after realizing that the lady's door was stuck.
Jiang Yaojie and Shen Congxin were both startled when they heard the voice. Fortunately, Shen Congxin had already taken out the list of Wang Xiu's betrothal gifts from the box.
She shoved the paper haphazardly into her arms, opened the window not far away, and whispered to Jiang Yaojie, "Jump!"
Jiang Yaojie nodded and climbed out of the window, with Chen Congxin following closely behind.
Just as the two of them climbed out of the window, several servants carrying wooden sticks pushed open the door of the house.
Their eyes immediately fell on the window that was still swaying slightly. After exchanging a glance, they immediately ran towards the door.
Shen Congxin led Jiang Yaojie through a maze of twists and turns to the main gate. Fortunately, no one was at the gate. Shen Congxin and Jiang Yaojie pushed the gate open together and ran outside.
The servants behind them shouted warnings at the two men, telling them not to run away.
"Hey, Jiang Yaojie? And who is this?" A figure stopped the panting Jiang Yaojie and Shen Congxin.
Jiang Yaojie was terrified, and his legs almost gave way and he knelt on the ground. However, when he looked up and saw that the person was Zhao Qianyu, his heart immediately calmed down.
Jiang Yaojie wanted to explain, but glancing at the approaching servants, he said to Zhao Qianyu, "Hold them off for me! I'll treat you to spicy hot pot when we get to Pingxi County!"
Before Zhao Qianyu could react, Jiang Yaojie and Shen Congxin disappeared in a flash.
While Zhao Qianyu was still in a daze, the servants who had been chasing after Jiang Yaojie and Shen Congxin had already run over. Although Zhao Qianyu still didn't understand what was going on, he still remembered Jiang Yaojie's instructions.
He reached out and stopped the servant running in front, asking, "Why are you chasing them?"
The head servant was furious at being suddenly stopped. He glared at Zhao Qianyu and shouted, "Where did this little bastard come from? Get out of here and don't delay your grandpa from doing serious business!"
Zhao Qianyu is the son of the dignified Magistrate Zhao. He has never been insulted like this before. Even Jiang Ling has never cursed him so harshly.
His anger flared up instantly, and he shouted, "My father is Zhao Tianqi, the magistrate of Guangping County. How dare you insult me? Aren't you afraid my father will punish you?"
When the servants heard Zhao Qianyu say this, their arrogance vanished without a trace. They all knew that the common people could not fight against the officials. Although the Shen family was rich, they were still just businessmen.
Before them stood the son of the county magistrate; they wouldn't dare offend him even if they had a hundred lives.
"Young Master Zhao, I was blind and ignorant, please forgive me, but I have something to attend to right now, please make way for me!" The servant's tone and attitude underwent a complete change.
"Oh? What is it? Do you need our government's help? After all, my father is the local magistrate!" Zhao Qianyu deliberately stalled for time by talking to the servants.
"This... Young Master Zhao, I really have something to attend to, please forgive me! I will personally go to the yamen to apologize!" The servant was sweating profusely as he watched Jiang Yaojie and Shen Cong disappear into the distance, but he dared not offend Zhao Qianyu in front of him.
In the end, all he could do was say nice things, and before Zhao Qianyu could react, he continued to chase after Jiang Yaojie and Shen Congxin.
"Uncle Lu! Hurry! Let's go!" Jiang Yaojie and Shen Congxin jumped onto Uncle Lu's car, panting, and said to Uncle Lu.
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