Forcing me to raise a concubine? The mistress of the Marquisate has gone mad

The next morning, during the morning court session, Lord Yu indeed brought up the matter.

He wrote a memorial to criticize Cao An overnight. The more he wrote, the angrier he became. In the end, he was so angry that he couldn't even sleep well. He came to court with dark circles under his eyes.

However, the emperor defeated him with just a few words.

"This assassin is carrying secrets. Cao An is just following orders. I hope you will cooperate."

Lord Yu: “…”

There were a thousand incoherent words floating through his mind, but the person in front of him was the emperor.

"Sir, obey the order!"

With the emperor's connivance, Cao An became even more unscrupulous. Others thought he was using this incident to take revenge, and for a moment, everyone was worried that Cao An would come to their house and mess up their family.

But only Cao An himself knew that he didn't have much time left - he was just trying to save his life!

"Madam, judging from the situation, it will be our turn soon." Chunxi and Qiuye seemed to be watching the fun that day, but in fact they were observing the attitude of Lord Cao.

Now it seems that Lord Cao really wants to check every household. No matter who you are, you will not be able to get anything from him.

Madam Wen is hiding in their mansion. If she is found, the entire mansion will be in trouble!

Shen Ruoyan frowned. Shengjing City was so big that Cao An could not possibly check every household. He might have spread the rumor to cause the people hiding Madam Wen to lose their composure.

But the tricky thing now is that, whether it was intentional or just a coincidence, the first person to be attacked was Lord Yu's family, and now they are searching the houses in this area. They are so close, it is very dangerous.

"Let Madam Wen prepare first. If they do find out, be careful not to show any signs of panic."

Shen Ruoyan warned Chunxi and Qiuye that they both knew the inside story and their emotions were easily affected.

Cao An is a man with a sharp eye. If he finds a flaw, he will definitely not let it go!

As for the other people in the mansion, they didn't need to be warned because they were completely unaware of the situation. Their most natural reaction was the best evidence, and too much interference could easily backfire.

"Don't worry, Madam. We understand."

Chunxi and Qiuye looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes.

They wanted to discuss what to do to make it look more natural. But the next second, they heard someone jogging in to report that Cao An had brought people to the door!

"Your Highness, Madam Changning, I am here to search for the assassin on the orders of the Emperor. I hope you can cooperate and help me."

Cao An and his men blocked the door. Although he spoke politely, everyone could see that if Shen Ruoyan refused, he would still bring his men in.

The reason why he was so polite was because Lu Jing was not at home, and Cao An did not want to be accused of bullying a weak woman. Since Shen Ruoyan was the head of the family, he would naturally discuss it carefully first.

As for whether the marquis's wife agrees or not, that is her own business.

"Lord Cao is following orders, so there is no reason for me not to cooperate. Chunxi, lead the way for Lord Cao."

Shen Ruoyan took a step to the side and said with a smile, "Master Cao, please."

Cao An was a little surprised by her attitude, but in his heart, he had a high opinion of her. He had heard that this lady from the Shen family was weak and could be bullied, so he was especially polite before coming here to avoid giving people a chance to criticize her.

But now I feel that Shen Ruoyan knows how to act and is knowledgeable and tactful, and is not at all as bad as the rumors say.

However, there are deep pockets within these high-ranking families.

Too much curiosity is not a good thing.

Because of Shen Ruoyan's cooperation, Cao An ordered his men to be more polite, but this did not mean that he came here just for the sake of formality.

"I heard that the concubine in the mansion suddenly got pregnant the other day?" Before coming here, Cao An had already found out everything about the Changning Marquis's mansion. Only he knew the purpose of bringing it up at this time.

Chunxi was leading the way in front. She didn't look back when she heard the words, but just continued walking forward, as if she didn't hear anything.

The maids who followed around did not change their expressions at all. They just focused on their own work and did not listen or watch much. It was obvious that the mistress's way of managing the household was very strict.

Cao An observed silently, but Shen Ruoyan didn't care. "It's not that she's suddenly pregnant, it's just that her body is unstable, so she's being cautious."

There is a rumor among the people that the baby is too fragile when the pregnancy is just beginning, so the news must be kept secret to avoid too many people knowing about it and scaring the baby away. Therefore, many families will wait until the first month is over before announcing the news.

Cao An also knew that some families attached great importance to these things. Anyway, the news released by the Marquis' Mansion to the outside world could be consistent with Shen Ruoyan's statement.

He smiled and said nothing more. There had been a lot of criticism about the child in the concubine's belly, but it had nothing to do with him.

There's no need for him to cause trouble here.

"Please cooperate with me, Madam. We need to search every courtyard and corner. If there are any women who are not convenient, please gather them together to avoid our men from being careless and causing trouble for you."

In this mansion, the Marquis is not here, and the remaining masters are all female relatives. Even Cao An has to be more careful and do his best to be more appropriate.

He was a eunuch, so it didn't matter. But for these elite soldiers who came to search, it was not so easy to say.

Shen Ruoyan understood what he meant. This Cao An was quite thoughtful.

It’s a pity that I followed the wrong person.

"Don't worry, sir. We have already let them get away." Before Cao An brought people in, Qiu Ye had already brought all the women in the mansion to one place. The old lady was old and didn't like to make trouble. When she heard that it was only a eunuch who came, she was too lazy to pay attention.

So I went to the Buddhist temple to find some peace and quiet.

Although Cao An asked his elite soldiers to retreat, he asked Shen Ruoyan to take him to the women's side - he wanted to capture the women, so how could he not go!

"Sir Cao, could this assassin be a woman? We searched her so carefully, how serious a crime could she have committed?" No matter how calm Shen Ruoyan appeared, he still revealed a flaw.

Cao An thought to himself, women are indeed women, after such a short while, they couldn't help but start asking questions.

"In reply to my madam, this involves confidential information and I have nothing to say." He called himself a servant, but his tone was more mastery than that of his master. After all, he was a favorite of the emperor, so he could just pretend for a while. How could he stay humble and submissive outside all the time?

A hint of surprise flashed across Shen Ruoyan's face, and he grasped the disappointment and anger just right.

Cao An pretended not to see it, but in his heart, he felt that the wife of Marquis Changning was nothing special.

"Yes, everyone is here, you can check it yourself."

After Shen Ruoyan brought Cao An to the place, she seemed too lazy to deal with it. As soon as she entered the door, someone brought a chair over. After Shen Ruoyan sat down, she never lifted her butt.

Fortunately, Cao An didn't care. He glanced sharply at everyone present, and then asked calmly:

"May I ask, Madam, are all the women in the mansion here?"