Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"Poof! Cough cough cough..." Shen Chengliu spat out a mouthful of tea and then started coughing violently.

Although he tried his best to turn his head, a few drops still sprayed on Shen Chengwu who was sitting next to him.

Shen Chengwu wiped his sleeves with a handkerchief in disgust and moved in the opposite direction of Shen Chengliu.

Shen Chengliu also knew that he was in the wrong and kept apologizing to Shen Chengwu.

"Mom, Xiaojiu is still young. It's not nice to say these things in front of him."

Mrs. Shen Er finally understood why Shen Chengliu reacted so strongly when he heard her speak.

"You little bastard, what are you thinking about all day? Your grandmother thinks maids are more attentive than servants, so she only chooses girls from good families. Put away those frivolous thoughts of yours."

Shen Chengliu stiffened his neck and said, "Why not send it to the mansion? Mother, you don't know that Qingshan and the others are careless and can't compare to the sisters Pearl and Jade."

Madam Shen Er was about to twist Shen Chengliu's arm, "You still want Pearl and Jade to serve you? I think you are really tough."

"Mom, I don't need a maid to serve me." Shen Chengwu quickly added another knife.

Shen Chengliu kept muttering “ah…ah…” for a long time, but in the end he couldn’t utter any words of rebuttal.

"Don't even think about it. The Shen family doesn't have the rule of letting maids serve the young master." Mrs. Shen II ruthlessly interrupted Shen Chengliu's fantasy.

Shen Chengliu asked in confusion, "Why? I see other families have maids to serve them, but why is there no such rule in our family? Has it always been like this?"

"Your father's generation had maids to take care of their daily needs. Later... An Ning, I'll have someone send that little girl to your courtyard tomorrow."

Mrs. Shen Er obviously had some concerns and did not finish her words.

Shen Chuning quickly explained, "Second Aunt, it's not for my room. I have other uses for it."

"Okay then. I won't ask you what you're going to do specifically. Just don't do anything that hurts yourself."

Shen Chuning thanked Mrs. Shen Er, said that the embroiderer would come to measure the clothes in the afternoon, and then stood up to say goodbye.

Mrs. Shen Er was worried about Shen Chuning going back alone, so she asked her two sons to send her off.

……

"Fifth brother, your clothes are dirty, don't you want to go back and change?"

On the way back to Ningfengzhai, Shen Chuning spoke.

She had something else to trouble Shen Chengliu with, but she didn't want Shen Chengwu to know.

"No, that's no problem."

"I don't know who was disgusted with the look just now." Shen Chuning muttered softly.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, I just said that Sixth Brother's saliva on you has affected your elegant image."

"Cough cough." Shen Chengliu coughed twice unnaturally, thinking that this matter had finally been put behind him, how could Xiaojiu bring it up again.

"Tell me, what do you want to ask your sixth brother?" Shen Chengwu looked as if he understood.

"There's nothing I can ask of you, Sixth Brother. No, no, Fifth Brother, don't think too much about it."

"You think your sixth brother can help you keep the secret." Shen Chengwu said without forgetting to glance at Shen Chengliu.

Shen Chuning also looked at Shen Chengliu, thinking that Sixth Brother would not be able to last even a cup of tea under Fifth Brother's control.

He made up his mind, stamped his feet and said, "I want to find someone to follow my father, but I don't have anyone at the moment."

"Xiaojiu, you're crazy! I won't let you follow Uncle San. If my dad finds out, it won't be as simple as just peeling my skin off. No way."

Shen Chengliu shook his head as he spoke, and took small steps away from Shen Chuning.

"reason."

Just as Shen Chuning was about to continue persuading Shen Chengliu, she heard these two words from Shen Chengwu. Sometimes she really suspected that her fifth brother was the reincarnation of a mute.

"I'm going to buy jewelry at noon today, so I have to ask my father for some silver, but my father only gave me twenty taels of silver. Only twenty taels, not even enough for a pair of earrings." Shen Chuning stretched out two fingers and said exaggeratedly.

"You told me you were short of silver earlier, Sixth Brother will give it to you." Shen Chengliu said, flipping through his purse and counting the bills one by one. "One thousand, two thousand, three thousand... Sixth Brother has a total of 3,794 taels. This is the money Sixth Brother has saved with great difficulty to get married. I'll give you 3,700 taels."

"Forget it, I'll give you 3,750 taels. Spend it. Sixth Brother doesn't have any more."

Shen Chuning opened her mouth in surprise.

"Sixth brother, do you carry all your belongings with you every day? What if you lose them?"

"You can only keep it with you so that it won't be taken away by villains." Shen Chengliu stuffed the banknotes into Shen Chuning's hand while glaring at Shen Chengwu.

"Put it away quickly. If Sixth Brother looks at it for even a second longer, he'll be heartbroken."

Shen Chuning pushed the banknote back and said with a smile, "Thank you, Sixth Brother. I have money, but I think it's strange that my father only gave me twenty taels of silver."

"Third Uncle won't go gambling, right? It would be terrible if Grandfather knew about this."

After Shen Chengliu finished speaking, he looked around furtively and whispered, "Don't worry, Xiaojiu, Sixth Brother will help you persuade Third Uncle."

Shen Chuning held her forehead and thought that if she had known earlier, she would not have looked for Shen Chengliu.

"Sixth brother, can you follow me quietly? I don't want my father to know about this." Shen Chuning discussed.

Shen Chengliu patted his chest and said, "Hey, you should have told me earlier. Don't worry, I'll leave this to Sixth Brother. I promise to investigate Third Uncle's whereabouts thoroughly for you."

Shen Chuning nodded and gave Shen Chengliu a thumbs up, "I still have to rely on Sixth Brother."

Shen Chengliu saw that the corners of his mouth were almost cracked to the back of his ears, revealing his white teeth.

Shen Chuning thought, no matter how many bad people were hiding in this mansion, at least her family members were treating her sincerely now.

"Xiao Liu, didn't mother say that she would give Xiao Jiu a few maids? Go to mother and get the indenture contract." Shen Chengwu suddenly said.

"Mom asked me to send Xiaojiu back, so Qingshan can go."

"You go get it yourself, I'll take Xiaojiu there."

Qingshan: "Sixth Young Master just said that I am useless and want a little maid to serve me. I won't go."

Qingshan thought to himself, how could he, a silly young master, not understand that the fifth young master wanted to get rid of him on purpose?

"Hey, you kid still holds a grudge, wait and see how I'll deal with you when I get back."

After Shen Chengliu finished speaking, he took Qingshan and walked towards the second room, laughing.

"Fifth brother, I can go back by myself. I'm at home and Birui is with me, so I won't get lost." Shen Chuning said casually. She really didn't want to be alone with Shen Chengwu, for fear that he would notice something.

Shen Chengwu: "Birui, go back first. I'll have a few words with your young lady and will send her back later."

Birui didn't dare to move and stood there waiting for Shen Chuning's instructions.

In the end, Shen Chuning couldn't withstand the pressure of Shen Chengwu's eyes and let Birui go back first.

"If I remember correctly, all your jewelry is from Wanbaoxuan, so you don't need Uncle San to pay for it."