The constable knew that Shen Zhuo was an official of the court, so his tone was a bit more polite. "Is what the lord said true? Did the fire really start from the bed curtain? Wasn't it set on purpose by someone?"
Seeing that the constable kept looking at the kneeling old woman, Shen Zhuo was worried that he might notice something. He nodded hurriedly and replied, "There is no arsonist! I'm really sorry to have troubled you all for nothing today!"
The butler standing in the hall immediately winked and handed Shen Zhuo a bulging cyan money bag. Just from the outside, it seemed to be filled with quite a lot of silver.
Shen Zhuo took the money bag, walked up to the constable leader, grabbed his sleeve, and quietly stuffed the money bag into his sleeve.
The constable jiggled his sleeve, then said sensibly, "Since the lord has said so, we'll go back first!"
Everyone in the hall just watched these constables leave right in front of them.
Previously, Mrs. Zhu had planned to frame Shen Li for arson. She wanted to force Shen Li to confess her guilt and then send her to the government to avenge the harm Shen Li had brought to the Shen family last time. But just now, the constables were right there, and she was caught by Shen Li with evidence, so she couldn't do it.
Moreover, Shen Zhuo himself had said that last night's fire was just an accident, not arson at all. This also cut off their chance of going back on their words and framing Shen Li in the future.
The whole family in the Shen Mansion looked a bit listless. Mrs. Shen also knew better than to stay any longer. She took Shen Miao and left without even having breakfast, not even bothering to look at Shen Li from beginning to end.
When they returned to the Shen Mansion from the Shen Mansion of Mrs. Shen's natal family, it was already well into the morning.
As usual, Mrs. Shen took Shen Miao back to the East Courtyard on her own. Shen Li had been in a good mood these two days and didn't argue with her. She went back to her own courtyard.
In the West Courtyard, Jiaoyue had already prepared food and was waiting for Shen Li. Thanks to this, Shen Li had the most satisfying meal in the past two days.
In the East Courtyard, Mrs. Shen was full of anger. After last night's incident, Shen Miao didn't feel well. Mrs. Shen quickly ordered the servants to invite a doctor.
Mrs. Shen looked at her precious daughter with heartache. Now Shen Miao was sitting there listlessly, and her heart ached as if it was being cooked in a raging fire.
"Where's the master! Why haven't we seen him since we got back to the mansion?" Mrs. Shen was full of anger and now could only vent it on the maids and servants.
A little maid in her courtyard replied, "The master is in Concubine Liu's courtyard!"
"He's in her courtyard. Can't someone go and call him? Go and tell the master to come over. Say that Miao'er is sick and ask him to come and take a look!"
At this moment, Shen Junming was in Concubine Liu's room, enjoying himself to the fullest.
Today was a day off, so he didn't need to get up early. Mrs. Shen had gone back to her natal family, so he had spent the night in Concubine Liu's courtyard and even slept until late in the morning.
After waking up, he was accompanied by his beautiful concubine. She was kneading his back and legs, and he felt extremely comfortable. It even gave him the illusion that he had returned to his twenties.
So when a servant came to report that Shen Miao was not feeling well and Mrs. Shen invited him to the East Courtyard to take a look, he replied directly without going, with dissatisfaction at being disturbed from his happy life, and just sent the little maid back!
Concubine Liu nestled in Shen Junming's arms, stuffed a cherry into his mouth, and said in a soft voice, "Master, Second Miss is not feeling well. You'd better go and take a look. Otherwise, Second Madam might misunderstand and think that it's me who is stopping you from going. Then, she will surely punish me!"
Shen Junming chewed the cherry in his mouth, spat out the pit into Concubine Liu's outstretched hand, and said indifferently, "Miao'er has always been in good health. She rarely gets sick in a year. How could she suddenly get sick for no reason! Since that's the case, your mistress must not have anything important to do!"
"Don't worry. As long as your master is here, no one in this family will ever bully you!"
Concubine Liu said coyly, "Master is so kind! I trust the master's words the most!"
On the other side, when Mrs. Shen heard the little maid's report that Shen Junming had directly said he wouldn't come without even asking, she was so angry that her anger flared up. She directly flung her sleeve and strode towards Concubine Liu's courtyard.
"Second Madam!" The maids and servants in the courtyard saluted when they saw Mrs. Shen.
Mrs. Shen ignored them and walked straight towards Concubine Liu's room. Concubine Liu's two maids were quite loyal. Seeing Mrs. Shen coming in a menacing manner, they stepped forward to the door and said, "Please wait a moment, Madam. We'll go in and report to our mistress and ask her to come and pay her respects to you!"
"Get out of the way! Don't block my way!" Mrs. Shen ignored what the two maids said and was about to go inside directly.
"Madam, please wait!" The two maids exchanged a look and then both stepped forward to stand in the middle of the door, just blocking the way.
If it were in the past, these two maids would never have dared to stop Mrs. Shen. But now, it was Shen Li who was in charge of the Shen Mansion, and their deeds of sale were all in Shen Li's hands. Moreover, Concubine Liu had been very favored recently, and they had also benefited a lot from it, so they were a bit more confident.
"You two shameless sluts! How dare you stop me! Someone, drag them down and give each of them twenty lashes!"
Mrs. Shen turned around and gave orders to the more than a dozen maids and servants standing in the courtyard watching the show. But she forgot that now she didn't have the power to manage the household, and she couldn't punish these maids and servants.
The maids and servants in the courtyard looked at each other, all staring blankly, and not a single one stepped forward to pull the two maids away.
Seeing this, Mrs. Shen's anger burned even more fiercely. "Fine! You all have grown so bold. Can't I even order you around anymore?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she turned around and slapped each of the two maids. "Get out of my way!"
The two maids covered their faces resentfully but didn't stop her anymore.
Mrs. Shen then stepped into the room. She stood in the hall and looked around for a while but didn't see Shen Junming. The corner of her mouth curled into a cold smile. "Master! Your humble wife has something important to discuss with you! Master, please show yourself! Why are you hiding like this?"
Shen Junming was indeed hiding in Concubine Liu's room. Just now, he had heard the commotion caused by Mrs. Shen outside, and he knew that she was really angry.
Under Mrs. Shen's authority for more than a decade, his first reaction was to hide first to avoid the storm.
But now, Mrs. Shen had directly said in front of all the servants in the courtyard that he was hiding because he was scared. He felt ashamed, so he had no choice but to stand up.
"Cough! So it's you, Madam!" Shen Junming walked out from inside. As soon as he saw Mrs. Shen, he said enthusiastically, "I wonder if Madam has come to this small courtyard for something important?"
Mrs. Shen glanced at Shen Junming and Concubine Liu walking out of the room, snorted, and said, "Humph! No matter how important things are, they can't compare to the master's comfort and pleasure."