Old Mrs. Shen frowned and looked at Shen Yunyao and said, "How unbecoming is it to yell?"
Shen Yunyao looked like she had seen a ghost, took a few steps back, pointed at Chunlan and said: "You, you are..."
However, Chunlan smiled at Shen Yunyao, knelt down and saluted, "Slave Chunlan has met the second girl. Doesn't the second girl remember you?"
"You, why are you here?"
Shen Yunyao was completely confused. Of course she remembered Chunlan.
Chunlan is the needlework girl in Xu's room. She is good at showing off her work. She has many purses, fan covers and handkerchiefs, all made by Chunlan.
But Chunlan was obviously given to Xu Yihao by the Xu family. She should have been beaten to death by the Xu family long ago. How could she appear in the Shen family's old house?
"Second girl, this servant is the maid in the old lady's room, and the deed of sale is also in the old lady's hands. Isn't it normal to return to the old lady to do things now?"
After hearing this, Shen Yunyao's face turned even paler.
She knew how Chunlan was put on Xu Yihao's carriage. Now that people appear in the old house, does it mean that the old lady knows all the things Xu did?
Shen Yunyao subconsciously raised her eyes and looked at Mrs. Shen.
But there was nothing Mrs. Shen could see through.
But from Shen Yunyao's expression, Mrs. Shen had already understood that Mrs. Xu must be the one at fault in this matter.
Thinking of the several large unidentified expenditures that Chunlan copied from the account books, which totaled nearly ten thousand taels of silver in a year, Mrs. Shen couldn't help but tremble in her heart.
Although Shen Zhonglei is the prefect, Mrs. Shen is well aware of her annual salary and gray income.
Even if you add in the income from the shop, the village and the land, all of them will add up to nearly ten thousand taels of silver throughout the year.
Every year, the family's expenses and favors are shared, and the Boxing and New Year gifts are given to both families, which is also a big expense.
But Xu could get nearly ten thousand taels just by removing money from his books. Where did the money come from?
What she was most worried about was whether Mrs. Xu would use the name of the prefect's wife to make money.
But no matter how worried she was, Mrs. Shen didn't show it at all on the surface and had dinner with the four sisters.
Shen Yunyao did not have such a temperament. After seeing Chunlan, she became confused. She also had no appetite for dinner and ate a few mouthfuls as if to cope with the situation.
After dinner, I was left to talk to Mrs. Shen again.
Shen Yunyao was restless and had no idea what others were talking about.
Several times it was her turn to talk, and Heyu had to remind her from behind before she suddenly came back to her senses.
When Mrs. Shen said she was tired and asked the children to go back to rest, Shen Yunyao didn't waste a moment and hurried back to the room across the courtyard.
As soon as she entered the room, she shouted: "Mother Liu, Mother Liu!"
"Girl, what's wrong? What happened?"
Aunt Liu is in the room cleaning up Shen Yunyao's personal belongings, which cannot be left to others.
Hearing Shen Yunyao's slightly changed voice, he hurriedly dropped the things in his hands and ran out.
She looked at Shen Yunyao up and down first, and then she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was injured.
But Shen Yunyao grabbed Nanny Liu's hand and said in a trembling voice: "Nanny, wasn't Chunlan given to her cousin by her mother?"
"Yes, why did the girl think of Chunlan?" After saying this, Grandma Liu suddenly thought of Chunlan's origin, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat, "Could it be that the old lady asked about Chunlan?"
"No!" Shen Yunyao swallowed, trying to relieve her nervousness and said, "I, I just went to the old lady's place to eat, guess who I saw?"
"Did you see Aunt Jiang?" Aunt Liu guessed, but Aunt Jiang was combing the old lady's hair, so she shouldn't be in the house when eating.
"Who is Aunt Jiang?" Shen Yunyao was confused, "I just saw Chunlan!"
"I'm afraid you've seen it wrong, girl!" Aunt Liu didn't believe it at all.
She knew very well that Chunlan was drugged by Hanqiao and sent to Xu Yihao's carriage.
Even if Chunlan was lucky and was not beaten to death by the Xu family after that incident, she should be in the Xu family now, how could she be in the Shen family's old house.
"I really saw it. If you don't believe me, ask Heyu. She saluted me and talked to me with a smile!"
Shen Yunyao had goosebumps all over her body and felt waves of cold air coming down her back.
When He Yu saw Nanny Liu looking at her, he immediately nodded, proving that what Shen Yunyao said was true.
But seeing Shen Yunyao so scared, she guessed: "Could it be that they are similar, or maybe her family is a pair of twins?"
Aunt Liu was Shen Yunyao's wet nurse and had stayed in the Shen family's old house for many years. Naturally, she knew that Aunt Jiang only had a daughter, Chunlan, and not even sisters, let alone twins.
"What's the old lady's attitude?" Grandma Liu pulled Shen Yunyao into the room, poured her a cup of hot tea, and asked in a low voice.
Shen Yunyao shook her head and said: "The old lady didn't say anything, her expression didn't even change, and I didn't dare to ask any more questions."
"Girl, please don't mess up. Even if Chunlan has the ability, she can escape back to her old house. But after all, she was broken by her young cousin. This is not a glorious thing. How can she go around telling people about it? Not successful?
"Since the old lady didn't say anything, we don't need to panic. Let's wait and see for a while."
Under the comfort of Aunt Liu, Shen Yunyao managed to calm down and let the maid help her wash and change clothes.
But when she was lying alone in a strange room and on a strange bed at night, she couldn't help but curl up and tears fell on the pillow in strings.
Early the next morning, Mingyu came over to wake Shen Yunyao up. When he saw her red and swollen eyes, he couldn't help but take a breath.
She quickly made a cold handkerchief to put on Shen Yunyao's eyes, and at the same time called someone to invite Nanny Liu to come over.
"Mommy, I have to go and pay my respects to the old lady on time today. The girl's eyes are so swollen that it won't go away for a while. What should I do?"
The two of them worked hard, but to no avail.
In the end, Shen Yunyao had to go to the main house to greet Mrs. Shen with a pair of red and swollen eyes.
When Mrs. Shen San saw this, she said with a distressed expression: "Oh, Yun Yao must be homesick, her eyes are swollen from crying when she looks at Poor Jian'er."
Mrs. Shen, who was sitting at the top of the table, her face darkened when she heard this.
Mrs. Dong hurriedly said: "Brother and sister, look at what you said, Yongzhou Mansion is home, isn't our place home? Yunyao also grew up in the old house as a child. Now that she returns to the old lady, she can truly I’m back home!”
"Yes, yes, look at my mouth, I really can't speak." Mrs. Shen San raised her hand and patted the corner of her mouth, looking like she was playing tricks.
Shen Yunyao lowered her head and said nothing, directly missing Mrs. Shen's sharp eyes as she looked at her.