Inside the room, Concubine Su was still talking to Shen Zhang.
"Mother, Father came this morning!" Shen Zhang stared at a spot on the quilt and said.
Hearing this, Concubine Su heaved a sigh of relief. "It's good that he came! It's good that he came! This shows that he still cares about you as his son!"
"Humph!" Hearing this, Shen Zhang sneered. "Now he remembers that I'm his son! Is he afraid of having no heir?"
"Zhang'er! Don't say such things!" Concubine Su said seriously to Shen Zhang with a straight face. "No matter what, he's your father for life! What happened back then is already in the past! You should forget about those things as soon as possible!"
"Is it really in the past? But why do I still remember clearly how he grabbed my neck and called me a little bastard. " As he said, he touched his neck. "I still remember that suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe. I could tell that he really wanted to kill me at that time."
"Now, I'm still alive and well. If he wants to regard me as his son again, I'll say I don't have such a father!"
"Zhang'er!" Concubine Su burst into tears, choking and shaking her head. She looked at Shen Zhang disapprovingly. "What happened back then... it's all my fault! It's all my fault! I failed to protect you well!"
"Mother! It's not my fault! Nor is it yours! The ones at fault are Shen Wanqiu and Shen Junming! It's the entire Shen Family!"
Looking at Shen Zhang with a ferocious face, Concubine Su tightly held his hand and pleaded, "No no no! Zhang'er! Mother is begging you! Don't go against your father! He's been in the officialdom for so many years. You can't touch him! Mother doesn't expect you to make a name for yourself and bring glory to the ancestors. Mother only hopes that you can live a stable and peaceful life!"
"Mother!" Shen Zhang looked at her disapprovingly. "Mother, do you think that if we don't take action, Shen Wanqiu will let us go? Anyway, we're already on the opposite side. Instead of waiting to be beaten passively, we'd better make plans earlier."
"Zhang'er! The Shen Mansion is now a big dyeing vat. The eldest young lady and the Shen clan are incompatible with each other. Why should we get involved in this mess?" Concubine Su looked at Shen Zhang's stubborn face and still couldn't help persuading him.
"Mother! Do you think that we can stay out of it just by saying we won't participate? Since we returned to the Shen Mansion, we've been deeply involved and can't get out!"
After Shen Zhang said this, Concubine Su stopped talking and silently wiped the tears off her face. Because she also knew in her heart that what Shen Zhang said was right. They couldn't get out.
"Zhang'er, then in your opinion now! Who will have the upper hand, the eldest young lady or the Shen clan?"
"Mother! Why don't you understand even now? No matter who wins or loses, we can no longer be in the same category as the Shen clan. We don't have the right to choose anymore."
Shen Zhang's words were straightforward and crisp, but every word was the truth. Concubine Su couldn't refute or argue.
"It's good this way! We don't have to waste our energy being hypocritical with the Shen clan anymore!"
Shen Zhang then continued, "Mother, don't hesitate anymore. I think Sister Li'er is not a simple person. If we want to stand with her, we should express our stance as soon as possible. If we wait too long, it will mean something else!"
Concubine Su nodded, also thinking about this question in her heart.
These days, Shen Li and Han Yue had been investigating the matter of that black cloth. But as they traced it all the way, among those who had bought the black cloth, except that their investigation of the Lianyun Opera Troupe was suddenly interrupted, and when they went there again afterwards, there was nothing suspicious.
The clue about the black - clothed men from Panhu Stockade had also been cut off.
On this day, Shen Li stood in front of the window, looking at the increasingly scorching sun in the sky above the courtyard. Her anxiety grew deeper.
Now, the situation had become a dead end again. As days passed, there was still no progress in the matter.
"Han Yue, go to Panhu Stockade with me again tonight!"
A dark and windy night was more suitable for hiding one's figure. Two shadowy figures like ghosts quietly slipped out of the city gate and flew towards Panhu Stockade.
With the experience from last time, Shen Li and Han Yue easily passed through the first - layer defense of Panhu Stockade and carefully explored inside the stockade.
Comparing with her memory, Shen Li came to the room where she had noticed something strange last time.
Last time when she passed by the door of this room, she felt that the soil under her feet was a bit sticky and even stuck to the sole of her shoe, not as dry as the soil under her feet on normal days. So she grabbed a handful and took it back.
Sure enough, when she got back, she found that the soil she had brought back was damp. And there had been no rain near the capital in those days. So she guessed that the soil might have just been dug out from underground.
But why would there be soil just dug out from underground in front of a room?
Shen Li guessed that most likely they were digging a tunnel or a secret chamber.
Shen Li led Han Yue and went far enough to reach that room, but they didn't get close. Instead, they crouched on the roof of a room in the dark.
Sure enough, they saw that there were already two men holding torches standing in front of the original room, and from time to time, a cart would be pushed out from inside the room.
Just then, two men each pushed a cart and came out of the room.
One of the guards standing at the door tilted his head and glanced at them. "Come back quickly!"
"Yes!" The man pushing the cart in the back immediately replied and then quickly followed the man in front.
Seeing this, Shen Li knew that her guess was probably correct. It seemed that this Panhu Stockade was really out of the ordinary.
Not only was it heavily guarded and its actions were mysterious, but now they were even secretly doing something as labor - consuming as digging a tunnel. God knows what dark secrets were hidden inside this Panhu Stockade.
"Let's go. Follow them! See where they're going?" Shen Li lowered her voice and said to Han Yue beside her.
Han Yue just softly replied "Um" and then followed Shen Li.
After getting far away from those sentry posts, the man pushing the cart slowly relaxed his body.
"Li San, do you think why the boss still asks us to work at night these days? It's already tiring enough to dig the tunnel during the day!" The man in front said to the one behind him.
The man named Li Da also sighed. "Alas! How can we guess what's on the boss's mind? Not just you, but I've also been really tired these days! I fall asleep as soon as I lie down every day."
"Me too! Alas! I just hope such days will end soon."
Hearing this, the man named Li San encouraged him. "It'll be soon! It'll be soon! Don't worry, Wang Li. I heard from someone today that the tunnel will be dug through soon! It won't be long!"
The man named Wang Li also replied, "That's good! After I get paid, I must go to Wanchun Tower in the capital to relax! I'll order three or four pretty girls and enjoy myself."
"Hahaha! Um!"