Fire Captain

Minglan was relieved when she heard the news from Tingfeng. She hurried to Old Madam Sheng and said, "Grandma, Grandma, I heard that my father..."

Unfortunately, before he could finish his words, Madam Wang’s voice could be heard from outside the door: “Mother, help! Mother, help!” Madam Wang followed closely and hurried in, crying: “Master is in trouble! The Sheng family is in trouble!”

Minglan had no choice but to swallow the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

Originally, the news that Gu Tingye brought back from Bai Ziyang to Sheng Changbai was: Although the emperor detained Lord Sheng in the palace, he also detained several other people. Lord Sheng was just a prisoner, and his crime was not punishable by death. The Sheng family could wait for news. Who knew that after Sheng Changbai passed this on to Madam Wang, Madam Wang thought of something and came to Madam Sheng in tears, asking, "Changbai heard from Marquis Gu's family that the housekeeper lost his temper and locked up several people in the palace. If this person is locked up for ten days or half a month, won't he starve to death?"

In response to Madam Wang's idea, Old Lady Sheng frowned and said, "Nonsense! Even prisoners cannot starve to death!"

I really don't know what Madam Wang was thinking. After asking Old Lady Sheng to comfort her with both soft and hard tactics, she calmed down. Later, Old Lady Sheng knew that Madam Wang had always disliked Lin Qinshuang, so she took this opportunity to remind her to keep a close eye on the household, discipline the servants, and find something for her to do so that she wouldn't worry about too many things.

In the evening, Mrs. Sheng was leaning on a recliner. Minglan was leaning against her side, tapping her legs with a jujube wood hammer. Suddenly, Mrs. Sheng asked, "What did you want to tell me before the lady came in?"

Minglan was stunned and said hesitantly: "Um...no, nothing..."

"Hmm?" Seeing the all-seeing look in Old Lady Sheng's eyes.

Minglan finally told the truth: "Mr. Bai just sent someone to tell me about my father. I thought you didn't know, so I came to deliver the letter..."

Old Madam Sheng asked, "What did the visitor say?"

Minglan recalled what Xiaotao had said and said, "He told us not to worry. The emperor was just trying to scare father. There were several other adults with him. Father was just an accomplice and would be back soon."

After hearing this, Old Lady Sheng chuckled twice and said, "He really put his heart into it..."

Minglan said: "Grandma, I'm a little scared!"

Old Lady Sheng patted the back of Minglan's hand and comforted her, "Don't be afraid. From the tone of his words, you can tell that it's not that dangerous. Your father has always been a humble official who is cautious in his words and deeds. What could he have done wrong? Even if there are some minor mistakes, it's okay for the emperor to get angry for a while, but..." Old Lady Sheng changed the subject and looked at Minglan and asked, "Have you ever thought about where this information about Mr. Bai came from?"

Minglan thought for a moment and said, "Of course it was from his elder, Minister Bai?"

Old Madam Sheng shook her head and said, "Not likely! If the information was from Minister Bai, it wouldn't be so detailed. I'm afraid it would only be a few words. But now from his tone, it seems like he got the information himself."

Minglan said puzzledly: "But for such a big matter, Second Brother has to ask for help from people everywhere. How could he possibly find out the information by himself?"

Old Madam Sheng said with certainty: "Of course it's because he is not an ordinary person!"

Minglan asked with concern: "Who is he?"

Seeing Minglan's expression, Old Lady Sheng said pointedly, "When I first met him, I knew he was not from a merchant family as he said, because he did not have the aura of wealth and silver that comes from a merchant family. Instead, he has a wild and noble aura. This must have been brought up in luxury since childhood. He is even better than that young master..."

"But..." Minglan asked in confusion: "But we didn't notice it before..."

Old Madam Sheng said, "That's because he deliberately restrained himself. If Grandma hadn't met so many people in her life, she wouldn't have been able to tell."

Minglan said in disbelief: "How...how is this possible?"

Old Madam Sheng looked at Minglan worriedly and said, "No matter what his true identity is, Bai Ziyang, this must not be his real name! Ming girl, he is too mysterious..."

Looking at the eyes of Mrs. Sheng who saw through everything, Minglan said absentmindedly: "Granddaughter understands!..."

Just as Bai Ziyang said, the emperor was only trying to scare Sheng Hong. He locked him up for a day and a night and released him the next day. However, Lord Sheng was so timid that his legs were weak when he left the palace. He was carried home in a carriage by servants. When he got home, he beat Sheng Changfeng up. If he hadn't been drunk and talking nonsense outside, and talked about the issue of establishing a crown prince, the emperor wouldn't have used him as an example to scare the monkeys.

Seeing that she was about to fall out of favor, Lin Qinshuang began to complain about Madam Wang's lending money at high interest rates, at least to find someone to share Sheng Hong's anger so that she could take her time to deal with it in the future.

As the saying goes, while the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits. In the end, Madam Wang and Lin Qinshuang both began to reflect on themselves, and the power of the Sheng family's housekeeper fell into the hands of Sheng Minglan.

Minglan got the right to be the housekeeper and moved to a new courtyard, which she named Mu Cang Zhai. When Bai Ziyang found out, he was also happy for Minglan and secretly sent someone to deliver a gift. When Xiaotao came back from shopping and saw Minglan, she quietly stuffed a box into her hand. Minglan was stunned for a moment and saw Xiaotao winking at her, so she quickly put it away. Danju lowered her eyes and pretended not to see it, but she covered for them while she was busy. The master and servant succeeded in their secret plan and couldn't help but laugh secretly, but Xiaotao and Danju laughed jokingly, while Minglan laughed shyly...

A few days later, Bai Ziyang passed by the Sheng Mansion while on business. He saw a carriage parked in front of the Sheng family's door. A gentle young man was helping a thin old lady get off the carriage. Seeing the emblem on the carriage, Bai Ziyang asked, "He family?"

Among the people accompanying him, Shang Cheng was the most knowledgeable and had a good memory. Seeing this, he rode up to Bai Ziyang and whispered, "This is Old Madam Zhuang from the He family of Baishitan. She is an expert in medicine and specializes in treating women's internal diseases. She is a close friend of Old Madam Sheng."

As soon as Bai Ziyang heard it, he knew it was about the inner house, and planned to turn his horse around and leave. But as soon as he left, Bai Ziyang felt something was wrong. Sure enough, Shang Cheng continued to say: "The young man next to her is called He Hongwen. He has studied medicine since he was young and has learned the true teachings of Madam Zhuang. He can already open a clinic and see patients. The most important thing is - he is still unmarried!"

After hearing the last sentence, Bai Ziyang glanced at Shang Cheng and said, "Next time, get to the point first!"

Shang Cheng curled his lips and said, "Yes, sir!"

When Bai Ziyang saw the grandparents and grandchildren of the He family being welcomed into the Sheng Mansion, he kicked his horse's belly and spurred it into a trot. The people behind him followed one after another. Sitting on the horse's back, Bai Ziyang remained silent. He understood that this was because Old Madam Sheng was not insecure about his identity, so He Hongwen was the husband she carefully selected for Minglan. He really couldn't compare to her in terms of proximity to him.

Halfway through the walk, Bai Ziyang made up his mind, looked up at the sky and said, "Spring is approaching, and the weather is getting warmer. Doesn't Mrs. Wu love playing polo? Isn't it time to start her family's polo club?"