Hearing this, Grandma Zhu, whose eyelids were about to close, lifted them again and said to Shen Miao, "Miao'er, go and get the white porcelain bottle from the third box beside my bed!"
Although Shen Miao didn't know what Grandma Zhu wanted her to get, she obediently went as told.
After she brought the small porcelain bottle and wanted to hand it to Grandma Zhu, the latter didn't take it. Instead, the trusted nanny beside her took it. Then Grandma Zhu instructed, "It's still early. The medicine's effect has just started. Wait until midnight to light it. In less than half a moment, they'll fall into a deep sleep. Remember, light it after midnight."
The trusted nanny took the order and carefully put away the white porcelain bottle.
As for the contents of the porcelain bottle and Grandma Zhu's words, Shen Miao was very interested, but she didn't know what was in the white porcelain bottle.
Seeing Shen Miao's curious look, Grandma Zhu thought that since she would enter the deep and complex backyard of a prince's mansion in the future, she would inevitably come into contact with some things. And it was time for her to learn some strategies and tricks of the women in the backyard.
"Miao'er, do you know what was in that white porcelain bottle just now?"
Hearing this, Shen Miao gently shook her head. Although she had long guessed that it might be something to deal with Shen Li, she was waiting for Grandma Zhu to explain what was inside.
"What's in it is all sleeping pills. But don't underestimate these things. They are colorless and odorless. When blown out through a special pipe, just a piece the size of a fingernail can knock out five or six strong men without arousing anyone's suspicion!"
"Grandma, this thing is so powerful!"
Although Shen Miao thought that they were just some sleeping pills that could be bought with some silver and didn't deserve her grandma's proud look, she still praised with a naive look on her face.
Hearing this, Grandma Zhu nodded with satisfaction.
There were still nearly two hours until midnight. Grandma Zhu was old and couldn't resist the drowsiness. She had already gone to bed. Shen and Shen Miao also trusted Grandma Zhu's plan. After Grandma Zhu fell asleep, they went back to their rooms to rest.
Tonight seemed the same as every other night in the capital, but the moonlight was unusually dim, and it was pitch - black everywhere.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, a place far away suddenly lit up. At first, it was just a few scattered sparks, but soon it turned into a towering inferno.
Someone shouted, "There's a fire!" Then, people kept running out of their houses and looking in the direction of the light.
"No! No! There's a fire in the South Courtyard! Put out the fire! Put out the fire!" The servants in the Shen Mansion were startled by the fire and then realized that the courtyard was on fire.
Throughout the night, pages, maids, and servants kept bringing buckets of water to put out the fire.
Shen heard the noisy shouts in the courtyard but didn't care. She just thought that Grandma Zhu's plan was in action.
But when a maid came to knock on the door and said that the fire was approaching their area.
Shen asked the maid to quickly tie her cloak while asking uncertainly, "Why is the fire coming this way? We live in the East Courtyard. How could the fire reach here?"
The nanny was also extremely anxious. But since she didn't know the plan of Shen and Grandma Zhu, she was just worried about Shen's safety. "The fire started from the North Garden. The wind is quite strong tonight. The fire is fanned by the wind and can't be put out. It's about to reach here. Second Lady, you'd better go out to take shelter quickly!"
Shen was puzzled but still let the nanny support her out of the door. When she got out, she saw that there was a sea of fire from the south to the east. It looked extremely menacing.
Shen felt a little uneasy. "Where's Miao'er? Has she been woken up?"
"Reporting to the Lady, someone has been sent to wake her up. Please rest assured, Lady. You'd better go to the West Courtyard first to take shelter. The fire is really big."
Shen nodded and then went to the West Courtyard where Shen Feng's family lived to wait. Naturally, everyone in the family had been woken up. She saw her father and mother sitting on the upper seats with gloomy faces.
Shen Feng's family was also sitting beside them, looking shocked and worried. Even the children of the eldest branch were there. She looked around but didn't see Shen Miao.
"Where's Miao'er? Why hasn't Miao'er come yet?" Shen's uneasiness increased, and she raised her voice and asked.
"Don't worry, Lady. Someone has been sent to call the young lady. I think she's on her way now and will arrive soon. Please wait a while, Lady!"
Although Shen heard what the nanny said, she still felt restless and kept pacing back and forth in the room. Half a cup of tea's time had passed, but there was still no sign of Shen Miao.
"No! My Miao'er!" Shen became more and more anxious. She said to Grandma Zhu, "Mother, why hasn't Miao'er come yet? Send a few more people to call her!"
Before Grandma Zhu could say anything, Liang, who was sitting on the seat and had a headache from Shen's pacing, impatiently said first, "Sister, look. There's no one available now. All the servants in the family have gone to put out the fire. They don't have the time for anything else!"
Shen was indignant. Liang, who usually had a kind face towards her, was talking to her like this now. But she knew that this wasn't the time to care about this. She directly grabbed the nanny's arm and strode out of the door, "No one available? I'll go and find Miao'er myself!"
"Guixiang, Guizhi, you two go with her and have a look!" Grandma Zhu, who had been sitting on the upper seat, finally spoke and asked her two maids to go with Shen.
Shen took these three people and rushed to Shen Miao's residence without delay. Shen Miao also lived in the East Courtyard, in the yard next to Grandma Zhu's.
When the four of them arrived, the fire had already reached the East Courtyard. Although the maids and servants were pouring buckets of water on it, it didn't have any effect at all. The fire was still raging.
"Miao'er! Miao'er! There's a fire. Wake up quickly!" Shen anxiously slapped on Shen Miao's door, looking at the fire that had already reached the next room.
"Miao'er! Miao'er!"
Shen slapped for a long time but didn't hear any response from inside. The door was bolted from the inside and couldn't be opened.
"You three, use all your strength to break the door down!" Shen said to the three servants who had come with her.
The three of them obeyed and rammed the door with their bodies. But Guixiang and Guizhi were both favored maids in front of Grandma Zhu. They had never done any hard work on weekdays and were more delicate than ordinary young ladies. They didn't have much strength at all. After ramming the door several times in a row, the door didn't even move an inch.
Even though the nanny gritted her teeth and exerted all her strength, she still couldn't break the door down.
Shen was extremely anxious and couldn't help shouting, "Miao'er! Miao'er! Are you still inside? Miao'er!"
"Lady! This won't work at all! We can't break the door down. I'll go and call a few strong pages over!"
Shen didn't answer her but just slapped the door again and again.
On the other side, the nanny who had just left ran out quickly, trying to grab a few pages to break the door down. But these pages were all busy running to pour water. They didn't care what she said and just ran outside.