Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2760 The Language of Flowers

"Although I have never met this Empress Dowager, I can tell from the descriptions given by Young Master Xiao and my uncle that she is by no means a kind person."

“Yes.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “I heard that he comes from a small family and values ​​his status very much. Moreover, he is very determined and has a deep obsession with his son becoming the Prince of Liao.”

“That’s right.” Third Grandfather looked at the two of them and smiled, “You know very well!”

“So, Uncle, your actions could be considered a bit like bullying others.” Shen Cha looked at the Third Grandfather with great curiosity. “What is the Empress Dowager’s reaction? Given her personality, she will probably confront you.”

"Not necessarily." Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment. "My martial uncle is always kind and gentle to outsiders, and he doesn't have a temper. But if someone like that gets angry, he can be quite scary. Most people can't handle him, right?"

"It was quite intimidating; I scared him off immediately." The Third Grandfather beckoned to Chu Han, offering him the seat of honor. "Come on, sit here."

Chu Han strolled over and sat down next to the Third Grandfather, looked at Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao, and took the ginger soup that Xue Mu handed over.

"You've been chatting with me all afternoon and you're still not done?" He sniffed the ginger soup and looked at Xue Mu with disdain. "Is ginger free in Jiaping Pass? How much ginger is in this bowl of soup? Just smelling it is enough to warm you up."

"Reporting to Your Excellency, I just made it a little stronger than usual. It's still chilly outside, and we've been out for too long. We should have some to avoid catching a cold." Xue Mu smiled at Chu Han, pointed to the two empty bowls on the table, and said, "The General and Lord Jin have already finished their drinks, you..."

Xue Mu didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood his unspoken meaning: if Chu Han didn't finish his drink, he was no better than the two young girls.

Chu Han was outmaneuvered and sighed helplessly. He could only pinch his nose and finish the bowl of spicy and pungent ginger soup.

Shen Cha watched him finish drinking, and thoughtfully handed him the candied fruit beside her. Seeing him grab several candied fruits and stuff them into his mouth, she couldn't help but turn her head and secretly laugh twice.

Shen Haolin did not have dinner with them. Earlier, he had arranged to meet Xue Ruitian, Bai Meng, Ying Bao, and Ying Jun at the camp. So, after saying goodbye to Chu Han and Third Grandfather, he was about to leave.

Shen Cha stood up and accompanied Shen Haolin as they left, saying she wanted to see him off and check on the kitchen.

When Song Yaojia and Xia Chen saw that Shen Haolin wasn't eating there, they suggested leaving with him, leaving Shen Jiu and Xia Jiu to accompany Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao. For some reason, their intuition told them that if they left, Shen Cha and the others might hear more news.

"Where did this idea come from?" Shen Cha linked arms with Shen Haolin, glancing at Song Yaojia and Xia Chen walking beside them. "Do Brother Yaojia and Seventh Brother both think this way?"

“Yes!” Xia Chen nodded. “We’ve thought about the same thing.”

"why?"

“We observed them all afternoon and found that both Grand Uncle and Young Master Xiao seemed to be hiding something. They probably didn't elaborate because we were there. Especially regarding Mian and that raccoon dog plan, Grand Uncle didn't go into much detail.” Song Yaojia looked at Shen Haolin, “Didn't your uncle tell you about those things either?”

"No." Shen Haolin shook his head. "You haven't heard of it either? Why?" "I don't know, so we need to ask Little Tea Sister to help us find out." Song Yaojia looked at Shen Cha with a smile. "Little Tea Sister is beautiful and kind-hearted, she definitely won't refuse, right?"

"Brother Yaojia, you've always used the same trick whenever you ask me for a favor since we were little. Don't you want to try something different?"

"Isn't this the kind of thing Little Tea Sister falls for? If I change my approach and you don't like it, then what's the point of changing it?" Song Yaojia exchanged glances with Xia Chen and Shen Haolin. "If you don't object, I'll take that as your agreement!"

“I can’t refute it either!” Shen Cha sighed. “It’s the same as what you think. Whenever we try to ask about some details, our great-uncle just glosses over it. This is very strange.”

“Something’s more than just off!” Xia Chen thought for a moment and said, “Every time we’re about to skip over him, he looks at us first, as if he cares about us being there. In that case, let’s leave first and put their minds at ease. You can investigate and tell us what you’ve found out.”

"It seems that your great-uncle had the same idea," Shen Cha said, spreading his hands. "He didn't stop you when you wanted to leave, did he?"

"That's what teamwork is all about!"

Before they could exchange more than a few words, they arrived at the side gate connecting the Duke's Mansion and the Marquis's Mansion. Shen Cha watched Shen Haolin, Song Yaojia, and Xia Chen pass through the moon gate and enter the Duke's Mansion before leading Meilin toward the Marquis's Mansion's kitchen.

“Eldest brother, I also think that what the Duke, the Crown Prince, and the Prince said makes sense. It seems that Young Master Chu has been trying his best to hide something.”

“The Shi family is run by women. The head of the family who proposed the raccoon dog plan back then should be the legendary Madam Shi.” Shen Cha sneered and said, “My great-uncle is quite concerned about this and doesn’t want my brothers to hear it, so he doesn’t say anything.”

“Madam Shi.” Merlin thought for a moment, then turned to look at Shen Cha. “It sounds familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it before.”

"You're too old to know, she's been dead for years."

“Boss, we’re actually about the same age, I think I’m even half a year older than you!” Merlin thought for a while, but after a lot of effort, she still couldn’t remember. She shook her head at Shen Cha, “I still can’t remember.”

"Have you ever seen the Huayuji signboard in Jiangnan?" Shen Cha smiled at Mei Lin. "The real owner behind Huayuji is Madam Shi."

"The Language of Flowers?" Merlin muttered a few times before suddenly realizing, "It's that shop that makes clothes, jewelry, and cosmetics for girls of different ages, right?"

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “However, the current owner of Huayuji is the Qin family. My master’s family took over Huayuji because the Shi family’s property was confiscated, which is a good fit for their original business.”

"I heard that everything in this shop is very expensive. It seems that even an ordinary hairpin costs one tael of silver." Merlin reached out and touched the hairpin in his hair. "This one was a gift from you, Boss. It feels like it suits me perfectly."

“This hairpin of yours is made of pear wood. My mother made it by hand. Each girl in our family has one.” Shen Cha smiled. “A hairpin that cost one tael of silver was a thing of the past. Since the Qin family took over, it hasn’t been that expensive.” She sighed softly. “What Huayu Shop is really famous for is not its fabrics, jewelry, etc., but the fact that every now and then, a girl will disappear from the shop out of thin air.”