Chapter 53 The ransom of three hundred thousand taels
After Chen Shaokang's stern warning, Zhao Ma and Bai He both knew the seriousness of the matter.
Zhao's mother hurriedly said, "Old Madam, Second Master, don't worry, we have always been the confidants in the old Madam's room. We know very well what should be said and what should not be said."
The old lady nodded.
Although Zhao's mother is not very smart, she is indeed loyal.
Not to mention Bai He, who grew up by her side and recently got tired of Butler Qin.
"Wait a minute," the old lady suddenly thought, "Steward Qin should also know about this."
"Bai He, go and call Butler Qin, and ask him to bring the account books..."
She wanted to look at the money in her account and think of a way to save her eldest son.
"Mother, we just received such a letter. We are not sure yet that it must be the eldest brother. Maybe it is a conspiracy to take advantage of the opportunity to bring down the people in our Chen family?" Chen Shaokang advised.
"No," the old lady shook her head, "that is undoubtedly your eldest brother's handwriting."
"Mom, handwriting can be imitated."
"Perhaps the handwriting can be imitated, but the tone cannot be imitated. The wording, sentences and tone in this letter are undoubtedly An'er's!"
Seeing her mother getting very emotional when talking about her eldest brother, it was clear that her eldest brother would push them to death if he were alive, which did not scare her mother. She still wanted to save them from the kidnappers.
Soon, Butler Qin panted and came to the old lady holding the account book.
Along the way, Bai He had quietly told Butler Qin that the uncle was not dead but had been kidnapped.
At this moment, Butler Qin's eyes were full of shock.
The old lady handed him the letter first, and then let out a long sigh.
"How much money is there in the account that can be used?"
Butler Qin, who used to get excited when he heard about money, now had to cry.
"Old madam, the rent I just collected from Zhuangzi some time ago has been used for the uncle's funeral. The business of other shops has not been good recently, and there is not much income..."
"Then where did all the money go?" Chen Shaokang asked.
"The cost of the uncle's wedding to the princess, the cost of building the Tingfeng Courtyard..." Butler Qin counted them one by one.
The more Chen Shaokang listened, the darker his face became. Was all the Chen family's money spent on his eldest brother?
For a moment, he thought, since his nominal eldest brother is dead, he might as well save the three hundred thousand taels!
Didn't he say that even Zhou Yao was unwilling to save him?
This is what he calls his own fault!
However, he was just thinking about it.
Because the eldest brother and the third brother are the mother's favorites, and she will never give up on them!
The eldest brother inherited his mother's beauty, and the third brother inherited his father's intelligence. He alone had nothing.
The old lady looked through the account book in disbelief. The more she looked at it, the more her head hurt.
At this time, she had no idea.
Subconsciously, I raised my head to ask Wen's mother for advice, but Wen's mother was not there.
Only then did she remember that Wen's mother hadn't been with her for several days. She looked at Zhao's mother dissatisfied, "What's going on with Wen's mother?"
Zhao's mother said, "Wen's mother keeps feeling unwell over and over again."
"She is a lonely old woman, but she is weaker than me, an old woman who drags a whole family..." The old lady stroked her forehead.
Seeing that the old lady had lost patience with Mother Wen, Mother Zhao felt happy.
If Wen Ma remains ill for a few more days, all her rights will be hers immediately.
Bai He glanced at Zhao Ma calmly, still discerning Zhao Ma's little thoughts.
The fact that the Zhao family's mother and daughter framed him cannot be revealed so easily.
On the surface, she obeys Zhao Ma's discipline and treats her with respect, but in fact it is just to confuse her.
Now that she knew that the uncle was not dead, Biyu's desire to crawl into bed was definitely not dead. She secretly swore that she would never let either mother or daughter get their wish.
At this time, Butler Qin said, "Old madam, should we discuss this matter with the princess?"
"no."
This time, there was no need for Chen Shaokang to refuse, the old lady just shook her head first.
"Zhou Yao just came to make trouble the day before yesterday, and the princess is already very disappointed in An'er. If she is told that An'er cheated her death under Zhou Yao's instigation, the princess will definitely leave the house."
"It's the second best thing that she's gone. What if she tells the Queen Mother about this..."
After listening to the old lady's inference, everyone had already foreseen the outcome, which was still death.
"Old madam, maybe we don't tell the princess what happened to the uncle, but how about just borrowing money from the princess?" Zhao's mother suddenly had an idea.
The old lady glanced at Zhao Ma and said, "This is a good idea."
All she had to do was think of a reasonable reason to use the money and turn it over to Su Nianyun.
Thinking of this, she wished she could go to Su Nianyun to ask for money right now, but it was too late at night.
Going to someone's house to borrow money urgently at this time will definitely arouse suspicion, so we can only wait until dawn.
Thinking about how to talk to Su Nianyun, the old lady tossed and turned in bed at night, and she fell asleep at dawn.
I didn't want to open my eyes again after falling asleep, and it would already be three o'clock in the morning.
"Mother, how are you?" Chen Shaokang and Butler Qin were waiting outside early.
"I have nothing to do. Let's go to Tingfeng Courtyard..."
The group of people went to Tingfeng Courtyard in large numbers. Chunhua said, "Old madam, the princess has entered the palace."
Zhao's mother asked doubtfully, "Didn't the princess enter the palace yesterday? Why did she enter the palace again today?"
Chunhua sighed, "The Queen Mother was in a bad mood because of the consort, so the princess went to the palace to accompany the Queen Mother..."
"I wonder if the old lady and the second master came to see the princess at this time, but what important things happened?"
"It's nothing, let's wait until the princess comes back!"
The old lady immediately turned around and left. The moment she turned around, her back became visibly stooped.
This month, she has become increasingly haggard.
While returning to the hospital, he ordered Chen Shaokang, "Kang'er, go to the uncles and uncles of the clan..."
The robbers gave them three days, and the princess was in the palace today, so it was a waste.
The old lady has been in charge of the family for so long, and she also knows how to prepare for everything.
So she asked her second son to go to several elders of the Chen family to see who might be able to provide money just in case.
Chen Shaokang walked out of the house.
However, he did not follow his mother's instructions to find those uncles in the clan, but went directly to the brothel.
His thoughts remained the same as last night. Only when his eldest brother was gone would his mother look at him for a moment. He could hold a funeral for his eldest brother sincerely, but he could not welcome him back sincerely.
As soon as he entered the brothel, the fragrance of flowers and beauties hit him, and he immediately forgot everything.
In fact, the real owner Su Nianyun did not enter the palace, but went to the medicine shop.
She had nothing special to do, she just wanted to avoid the old lady and let her worry about not being able to borrow money.
Not long after entering the back hall of the herbal medicine shop, I heard some noise outside.
Seeing that it was Xiao Han, the guard beside Xiao Changfeng, she immediately ducked and hid behind the curtain.
"Brother, where's that little medicine boy here? Why can't he be seen?"
Fugui said, "A few days ago, his family wrote a letter saying that his mother was sick and asked him to go home to take care of her illness."
"I'm here, what a coincidence?"
"Qiao?" Fugui raised his head, "Guest, are you gloating? My mother is sick, and you call me Qiao?"
"Sorry, man, that's not what I meant. Can I ask the shopkeeper here?"
"The shopkeeper also has something to do. If you have something to say, please tell me. If you need some medicine, I'm also half a doctor."
"Uh, this... okay then!" Xiao Han felt frustrated and had to leave.
The little drug boy ran out of clues. He didn't know how to investigate for a while.
It seems that we can only ask Dr. Shen.
Thinking that it was time for the imperial doctor to leave the palace at this time, he hurriedly drove a carriage to pick him up.
"Princess, who is he and why are you avoiding him?"
Nanny Liu, who had been silent all this time, was now standing behind Su Nianyun.
"The bodyguard beside Xiao Changfeng, Xiao Han!"
"Is it him?"
"Mammy knows him?"
Aunt Liu shook her head, "I don't know him, but I've heard that he is the most powerful guard around Xiao Hou."
"No wonder," Su Nianyun said, "he is very observant."
That day, she followed Dr. Shen to the carriage and walked a long way. When she turned around, she found that this man was staring at their carriage. She felt that this man was not simple.
She touched the necklace around her neck. Fortunately, Fugui had told Fugui everything in advance.
Anyone who comes to see this little medicine boy always says that he has gone home to take care of his mother!