The entire Marquis's mansion regrets it? Too late, their little one has become the darling of t

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Jinzhu's expression immediately changed.

"Five days ago, it was the day the Third Master was supposed to report for duty, but he still hadn't returned," the servant blurted out, recounting the events.

"Lord He sent someone to inquire about this matter, and the old Marquis hurriedly sent someone to deliver a message to you."

“We must have missed the waterway we took. My husband may have met with some mishap!” Shen Jinzhu’s face turned deathly pale.

My husband is very dedicated to his work; there's no way he'd delay returning to the government office to report back.

Even if something delayed him, he would write back to tell them.

Upon hearing this, Shen Youxian realized the seriousness of the situation and hurriedly comforted his sister.

"Nothing might have happened. Maybe it was just a delay due to official business. Don't scare yourself. Take the children back inside. I'll go and find out more from the government office."

"Okay, Second Brother, I'll do whatever you say." Shen Jinzhu held back her tears.

She must not panic at this moment.

If she panics, the children will be even more frightened.

"Mother, Father will be alright, right?" Yu Ziying, who was usually lively, couldn't smile anymore, her eyes filled with panic.

"Yes. Your father is fine. Like your second uncle said, he was probably delayed by official business and won't be back for a while." Shen Jinzhu smiled and patted her son's head, calmly directing the servants to move the luggage.

Yu Ningyao was also very anxious.

She hurriedly urged the system in her mind to get to work.

[System, please check if something happened to my father?]

The system did not disappoint her and responded to her quickly.

Your father has indeed had an accident.

Upon hearing this, Yu Ningyao's heart leaped into her throat.

No way, could it be that she changed her choice, which affected Yu Kangjing's fate?

She remembered that in the experiences the system gave her in her previous life, Yu Kangjing died of old age.

[However, there is no immediate danger to his life.] The system continued to update.

Yu Ningyao: ...

Her chubby little fists clenched tightly.

[Next time, could you please finish your sentence in one go?]

Hearing her furious voice, the system responded somewhat aggrievedly.

I haven't finished investigating yet.

When Yu Kangjing went to Huzhou Prefecture, he encountered a couple. The man was originally the caretaker of the granary in Qinghe County, under Huzhou Prefecture. He discovered that the granary was completely empty and, fearing punishment, fled with his wife and children.

Yu Kangjing kept this matter in mind; the place he was going to was Qinghe County.

After receiving the official document, he secretly investigated and discovered that the matter was indeed true. The magistrate of Qinghe County had resold the grain for personal gain.

He then informed Shi Qing, the prefect of Huzhou Prefecture, of the matter.

[Shi Qing and he were from the same school, both students of Lushan Academy. Therefore, he trusted him greatly.]

Upon learning of this, Shi Qing immediately dispatched troops to arrest the magistrate of Qinghe County.

After capturing the magistrate of Qinghe County, Shi Qing held a victory banquet to thank Yu Kangjing.

When toasting, Yu Kangjing, remembering the Shen brothers' plight, became wary of the wine. He secretly tested it with a silver needle and discovered it was indeed poisoned.

He immediately realized that Shi Qing wanted him dead.

He's in cahoots with the magistrate of Qinghe County!

So he pretended to drink the wine, feigning death from poisoning, and had Shi Qingren dispose of him as a corpse.

[Just as they were digging a hole to bury him, he rose from the dead and ran away.]

[Shi Qing is currently sending people everywhere to search for his whereabouts, and there are guards at every intersection on the road back to the capital, so Yu Kangjing is currently in hiding and cannot return for the time being.]

Hearing that her father was out of danger, Yu Ningyao breathed a sigh of relief.

It's unknown whether he can escape the corrupt official's pursuit and successfully return to the capital.

Seeing her mother's furrowed brows, she reached out and gently smoothed them out.

"Mom, don't worry."

"Father is surely safe and sound."

Shen Jinzhu's heart melted when she heard her daughter's sweet, childlike voice comforting her.

She picked up her daughter and kissed her forehead.

“Our darling is a lucky star, and what the lucky star says is definitely right.”

“Yes! Little lucky star, that’s right!” Yu Ningyao nodded emphatically and echoed.

Upon hearing this, Shen Jinzhu finally smiled.

Not long after, Shen Youxian returned.

He recounted what he had found out.

"Little sister, I asked around, and they said they've already sent someone to Huzhou to find your husband. We should get a reply in a few days, so don't worry."

“Okay, Second Brother.” Shen Jinzhu nodded.

"I won't go back yet. I'll stay here with you a little longer," Shen Youxian said with a smile. "You're not going to send your second brother away, are you?"

He was afraid that if something happened to his brother-in-law, his sister wouldn't be able to handle it.

As the older brother, he absolutely had to be there.

"Of course not. Second Brother, you can stay in the capital for as long as you want." Shen Jinzhu nodded emphatically.

At this time, having my second brother around would be the best thing.

At least she can feel a little more at ease.

"I'll write back to Hangzhou Prefecture right now and ask my father and the others to contact the Chamber of Commerce in Huzhou Prefecture to see if they can help me find my brother-in-law," Shen Youxian suggested.

"Okay." Shen Jinzhu nodded quickly.

She wanted to do as much as she could, otherwise she would feel very uneasy.

She took her second brother with her to pay respects to her parents-in-law and mentioned that her second brother wanted to stay.

As soon as Yu Ningyao saw them, she sweetly called them "Grandpa" and "Grandma" and brought them a lot of gifts to coax them.

Unexpectedly, the two of them had stern faces and looked unhappy.

Yu Ningyao had no idea what had happened.

Seriously? Just one month away and the old folks' goodwill is gone again?

These two old folks are really hard to please.

"If it weren't for the third son accompanying you back to your parents' home, how could you have disappeared? How dare you bring your family to see us?" The old lady had nowhere else to vent her anger, so she took it out on Shen Jinzhu.

Shen Jinzhu turned pale upon hearing this.

Shen Youxian couldn't stand it any longer and stood up to defend his sister: "Madam, what you're saying is wrong. My brother-in-law disappeared on his way to work. What does that have to do with my sister?"

The old lady knew she was being unreasonable.

But the thought of her third son possibly getting into trouble made her unhappy, and she could only blame it on her daughter-in-law.

If the third child gets into trouble, someone has to take responsibility.

"How can it have nothing to do with her? If she hadn't gone to the Shen family and had gone directly to Huzhou Prefecture, she would have returned long ago. How could she have disappeared?" The old lady scolded with a stern face.

“Shen, you shouldn’t have let your third son accompany you back to your parents’ home.”

Shen Jinzhu pursed her lips, unable to refute.

She was also filled with regret.

If her husband hadn't gone back with her, would she not have disappeared?

Yu Ningyao couldn't listen anymore.

This old woman is getting more and more outrageous.

She was still trying to please her so that she would treat them, mother and daughter, better.

Now she finally saw her true colors.

As long as their interests were not involved, the old Marquis and his wife viewed the mother and daughter as if they were pets.

When they're in a good mood, they'll praise you and give you a nice look; when they're in a bad mood, everything is their fault.

"Don't blame mother!"

"It's not Mother's fault!"

Yu Ningyao's voice was firm and resounding.

"Grandma is angry, Grandma is so embarrassed~"

"You brat, what do you know!" The old lady's face immediately turned ugly.

She never expected that a little girl would dare to expose her in public.