Chapter 22: The Narrow Escape

  On the ox cart returning to town, He Huan felt more and more that something was off. At first, judging from He Baihai's demeanor, he clearly wanted to negotiate with her, but when she noticed the calligraphy on the wall, he only had one thought in mind - to hurry her away. He must have known that she would still go to extort money from Yinzi, but he didn't care.

  "What business does Third Uncle's shop do?" He Huan asked Cao Shi.

  "Previously when they divided the family property, they got a silk shop, a wine tavern, and two years ago, they opened another ready-made garment shop. It is said that all three shops are very profitable."

  "Is that all? No calligraphy and painting shops or pawnshops?" He Huan asked.

  "Your third uncle has never liked reading since he was a child, what's the point of opening a bookstore!" Cao didn't think much of it and saw that He Huan hadn't responded, so she asked again: "We clearly agreed that if you couldn't come to an agreement with your third uncle, I would make a scene in front of their door. Why did you change your mind at the last minute?"

  "You don't need to worry about this."

  When she heard this, Mrs. Cao was somewhat displeased, but thinking of the ten taels of silver in her bosom, she smiled again.

  He Huan looked out of the carriage window, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was off. Unfortunately, her memories of He Huan were too few. "Aunt Cao, you mentioned earlier that the silk shop and wine tavern had been changed to Third Uncle's name?" Seeing Aunt Cao nod, she asked again: "How did Mother agree to give these two shops to them in the first place?"

  "How would I know? At first, it was said that all the property would be divided into three parts, but what belongs to us, I haven't seen anything. I think Wei's wife wouldn't cheat the third house, it seems that our current difficulties are all caused by your uncle and aunt." Cao said this, her face couldn't help but reveal a few hints of resentment. But as soon as she thought that if it weren't for He Bai Chu, she wouldn't have been able to enter the He family's gate, she immediately became like a deflated balloon.

  Back at the He's house, He Huan couldn't shake off the image of He Bai Hai's tense expression, her heart felt like it was being clawed by a cat, so she casually grabbed a book from He Bai Xian's study and hastily went to a familiar bookstore near the He's house.

  The old boss of the bookshop, Mr. Lu, looked at the books she brought and shook his head in embarrassment.

  He Huan's face fell in disappointment. Seeing that no one around them was paying attention, she lowered her voice and said: "Uncle Lu, you're a good man, taking care of our whole family. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have made it this far."

  "Sister He, this time it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that this book of yours is really worthless..."

  "I know." Hehuan lowered his head and said in an even lower voice: "Uncle, if I had Qi Dashi's true work..."

  "Hei, sister, stop joking with me. Qi Dashi's authentic works are only ten in the whole world, each one has an owner. Looking at the entire Jiangnan region, only the Shen family has one piece. With the reputation of the Shen family in Jizhou, even if you got the authentic work, who dares to sell it and who dares to buy it?"

  He Xuan knew that Lu Da Shu had misunderstood her intention to go to the Shen's house to steal a painting, she couldn't be bothered to explain and asked him if he knew who had the other nine paintings.

  Lu Da Shu was also a fool, he liked books and paintings of ancient books since childhood. He counted the experiences of the other nine paintings one by one, and clearly stated the background of their owners.

  He Huan hastily asked: "Uncle Lu, you say, will someone steal the painting..."

  Lu Da Shu shook his head and said, "I've never heard of such a thing. However, those few paintings are too famous, if they were stolen, the owner might be afraid of counterfeit products flooding the market, so they might intentionally keep it quiet. Of course, this possibility is very small. Moreover, those owners, aren't they either high-ranking officials or wealthy merchants? Ordinary thieves wouldn't dare to target them." As he said this, his face filled with regret and he sighed, "In this lifetime, if I could see the master's true work, I would die contentedly. Unfortunately, people who have seen the real thing are few and far between, and in the market, there aren't even any decent counterfeit products."

  He Huan was more and more shocked as he listened. Thinking of another painting of a fine horse, she asked again: "Uncle Lu, what about the painting of a fine horse by Tang An? Is it also very valuable?"

  When he heard the two words "Tang An", Lu Da Shu hastily said: "He Jie Er, don't talk nonsense."

  "What's wrong?" He Huan was puzzled. Because Shen Jinglin liked music, chess, calligraphy and painting, she had studied hard to please him and roughly knew which famous painters and their styles existed in the world. However, Tang An's name she had never heard of, but the majestic horse painting on He Bo Hai's wall was extraordinary, absolutely a masterpiece.

  Lu Da Shu looked around, pulled He Huan to the corner of the counter and said in a barely audible voice: "Tang An is the former crown prince's staff officer, he's a rebel." He made a beheading gesture towards her.

  As soon as she heard this, He Huan's face turned pale. Plotting against the emperor was a crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of one's family; if He Baihai were to be implicated in the rebellion, the entire He family would be dragged down with him. With a heavy heart, she returned to the He residence.

  Not long after He Huan left, a young man in a green shirt walked into the study, quietly put down a silver ingot, and asked Lu Dabo: "What did that girl just say to you?"

  Mr. Lu said that He Huan was looking for him to buy something, but the young man didn't believe it and put a silver ingot on the counter. Mr. Lu insisted that He Huan was just haggling with him, so the young man left the study.

  Mr. Lu saw him walk far away, and personally went to the He family to inform He Huan. He Huan originally thought it was Xie San following her, but after listening to Mr. Lu's description, that person was not Xie San. He Huan became even more confused, vaguely feeling that she had gotten herself into some kind of trouble, and she had no idea what was going on.

  At night, Zhang Bo told He Huan that Da Han and Lin Nuoyan did not follow He Huan's suggestion to temporarily stay in a villa near Qing Song Guan. He Huan's worries in his heart increased again, and he ordered Zhang Bo to go and inquire about Shen Jinglun's movements early the next morning.

  He Wan tossed and turned all night, and the next afternoon learned that Shen Jinglu had gone alone to Qing Song Guan to arrange for Lin Xiyin's funeral. Shen Nianxi stayed at the Shen house, taken care of by Old Lady Shen.

  He Wan's heart was burning with anxiety. Shen Jinglin was not at home, would Xie San sneak into the Shen family again? Would the second house of the Lin family take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of Lin Nuoyan, the eldest son of the first house, in order to inherit the family business smoothly?

  In a flurry, He Huan couldn't think of a better response and could only take Bai Miao hastily to the Lin's house.

  As expected, they were refused at the Lin family gate. The little servant guarding the door looked at them with disdain and slammed the big door shut in their faces with a "bang".

  Looking at the tightly closed door, He Huan sighed silently. Prohibiting anyone from the He family from setting foot in the Lin family was Lin Xiyue's arrangement. What else could she do but smile bitterly?

  "Miss, why don't you go back?" Bai Zhi softly advised.

  "How can you back down when you encounter difficulties!" He Huan said, striding to the front of the door and banging on the door knocker. "Open the door!" she shouted while pounding on the door.

  The white-faced woman saw the passersby stopping one after another, pointing and whispering to each other. She pleaded in a sorrowful voice: "Miss, why don't you just hand over the letter first? We can come back another day."

  He Huan didn't bother to reason with her and continued to knock loudly on the door. After a while, the large gate finally opened a crack, revealing a wrinkled old face. He Huan recognized her; this person was also one of her arrangements when she was Lin Xiyue, who had no redeeming qualities except for being extremely loyal to the main house.

  "Miss Bai, Madame is busy and can't see you." The old woman threw out a sentence and was about to close the door.

  He Huan stepped across the threshold with one foot and used his body to block the door, saying loudly: "I didn't say that, I want to see Aunt."

  "The second young master is also busy and can't see you." The old woman pushed He Huan away.

  "Fine, you're driving me away, don't regret it later."

  "What Miss Bai said is right, what does this old slave have to regret?"

  He Huanlang said loudly: "Originally I still wanted to give you a chance to explain, but since you are treating me like this now, I will go to the government office to accuse your second lady."

  "Do you want to file a complaint against the second young lady?" The old woman hesitated for a moment, opened the door wide, "What do you want to accuse the second young lady of?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

  "He's deliberately committing murder and injuring people with malice." He Huan said firmly.

  The old woman didn't drive He Huan away again, glared at the little servant behind the door and said loudly: "Don't you hurry to inform Second Miss?"

  Zi Xie San appeared, He Huan couldn't confirm whether the hooligan who intercepted the horse carriage that day was instructed by Lin Meng Yan or not. She also couldn't confirm whether Lin Meng Yan would let her in the door or not.

  It turned out that a thief always couldn't help but feel guilty. After a cup of tea, He Huan stood in front of Lin Mengyan.

  Something's up, the internet is experiencing a crackdown, "Yan Hui" and "Forced Marriage" might be blocked due to certain reasons. Don't worry if you haven't finished reading, it's just temporary, I estimate this will last about a month, after that they'll all come back. (Actually, the author didn't write anything explicit, right? It's all just normal married life ahahaha!)

  Regarding "He Huan", everyone can rest assured that it will not be eaten by river crabs for the time being. Because the author said that after being blocked, I couldn't log in to the background, and I don't know if I would encounter it myself, so now all the subsequent updates are scheduled. If there is another condition for additional updates, and I didn't add more, nor did I explain, it means I couldn't access the background. After the river crab storm passes, I will make up for all the additional updates.

  If you want to know the latest developments of the river crab incident in real time, you can follow my Sina Weibo, username: Nichy07, verified. You can also join QQ group: 142112353