Xuan Zhuyi and his party of six have been in the Shang Mansion for three days. In the past three days, neither Xuan Zhuyi nor Yu Cihe have ever taken half a step out of the Shang Mansion, and even Shang Ling has been explicitly forbidden to leave. The main entrance of the Shang Mansion is absolutely impossible to get out, whether it is day or night, as long as there is the slightest movement, it will definitely be discovered. And since the last time they met, in the past seven days, the six people have not seen Shen Fan again, so they don't know if Shen Fan is still in the Shang Mansion or not. Finally, on the night of the eighth day, the six of them regathered in Xuan Zhuyi's room to discuss countermeasures.

Shang Ling's face was full of guilt, and he expressed 10,000 points of apology and regret in a thousand words.

"I'm sorry, Ah Xuan, Senior Sister Zhixi, Senior Sister Gong, Senior Sister Ruolin, and Yu Cihe. My father-in-law is Shen Fan, it's me Shang Ling who is sorry for you, and I'm here to compensate for you. As he spoke, Shang Ling knelt down in front of everyone, Xuan Zhuyi and a few people hurriedly helped him up, and Yu Cihe sat by the window not far away, looking up at the moon, observing the movements in the courtyard, and not caring about Shang Ling's affairs here.

Xuan Zhuyi comforted Shang Ling and said, "Shang Ling! Don't do that, we know you didn't mean to. ”

"Ah Xuan" Shang Ling grabbed Xuan Zhuyi and said, "It's really that I'm sorry for you, and I really didn't expect my stepfather to be at home." I thought he would always be by the emperor's side, after all, I rarely saw him when I was at home, so I really ......"

Mu Zhixi interrupted Shang Lingdao: "But, why didn't you want to tell us that your stepfather was Shen Fan before?" You said, we can do everything we can! ”

Shang Ling calmed down and explained, "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you before. Senior Sister Zhixi, you and Senior Sister Gong are sisters, and your father-in-law is a eunuch in the current dynasty. You also said a long time ago that you hate Shen Fan very much, not only you, but also Ah Xuan and Senior Sister Ruolin. If I tell you that I am the son of Shen Fan, the eunuch you hate the most, you will inevitably think that I may be sent by my father-in-law to spy on you. Although I have done a lot of things wrong, and I have a lot of things to be sorry for you, I will still choose not to tell you about this matter if I could give me a chance to choose again. What's more......" Shang Ling looked at Yu Ci He, who was sitting by the window, and said, "What's more, Yu Ci He is still the person next to Princess Su'an, she has been doing things for Princess Su'an and King Nanyang from beginning to end, but Shen Fan is a person from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and these two parties have been opposing from the beginning." I...... I don't dare to say it, I'm afraid that after I say it, I'm afraid that I won't even have to be a friend. ”

Mu Zhixi also stopped talking, she looked at Mu Jinggong, and both of them understood that Shang Ling was actually very tired. Xuan Zhuyi patted Shang Ling's shoulder and said, "Shang Ling, we all know that you also have something unspeakable. ”

Yu Tzu Hyuk suddenly spoke: "When did I, Yu Tzu Hyuk, have such an honor that Lord Shen's only son will not be able to tell the truth of the matter because he is willing to be friends with me. It seems that I also have some responsibility for today's events, and I, Yu Tzu-hyuk, will not compensate you. ”

"Yu Tzu-hyuk! That was not what I meant! Shang Ling walked in front of Yu Cihe in two steps, "Yu Cihe, you...... I'm sorry for you, but it's a little too hurtful for you to say it now, isn't it? ”

"Hurt?" Yu Cihe looked back at him and said, "You and I are opposites, I am the princess and the person of the king of Nanyang, as long as the princess gives an order, I swear to death to help the king of Nanyang sit in that position." Shen Fan, do you know what kind of identity Shen Fan is with me? He supports the person a princess hates the most, and he is a wreck. And Shen Fan, I don't need to say it, you should also know what kind of person he is. And now, you are his son, do you think the two of us will not meet each other in battle? Therefore, early injury is better than late injury, and early fracture is better than late break. ”

Shang Ling was speechless for a while, and he himself knew that what Yu Cihe said was reasonable, and the two of them would meet each other sooner or later.

"Shang Ling?" Yu Tzu He came down from the window and stood in front of Shang Ling and asked, "I want to ask you a question. ”

"You say."

"If Shen Fan is Nie Qishan, will you still serve him?"

Shang Ling had already thought about this question a long time ago. A long time ago, he suspected that Shen Fan might actually be Nie Qishan, or maybe it was really Shen Fan who killed his biological parents. However, Shen Fan has also raised him for more than 20 years, although he knows that Shen Fan has helped His Royal Highness the Crown Prince do a lot of things, and he also knows what outsiders say about Shen Fan, but in front of Shen Fan, he has always pretended to be stupid and indifferent. In fact, Shen Fan also knew that Shang Ling was pretending to be stupid, but he never exposed Shang Ling, and he never forced him to do anything bad for himself. A large part of these things were told to him by Uncle Liu. Shang Ling suddenly remembered that Uncle Liu had such a conversation with him. Uncle Liu once told Shang Ling when he was about ten years old: "Master, don't look at him in the court, those people outside also have a derogatory evaluation of him. However, he is really good to Childe. ”

Shang Ling: "But, Uncle Liu? Father, is he a bad person? Could he be nice to me because he wants me to do something for him? ”

Uncle Liu smiled and said, "Childe, people outside will always have the ideas of outsiders, and everyone's thoughts are different. Sir, did he persecute Childe, did you do anything? ”

Shang Ling was a little lonely and said, "No, my father-in-law doesn't talk to me much." I don't think he's been that nice to me, and he doesn't even want to pay attention to me. ”

Uncle Liu: "It's not that he doesn't want to talk to you, it's not that he doesn't want to ignore you, it's just that he doesn't know how to treat you." ”

Shang Ling continued to ask, "Uncle Liu? Do I have parents? ”

Uncle Liu: "Of course there is. ”

Shang Ling: "What about my parents?" Why should I live with my stepfather? ”

Uncle Liu: "Because Childe's parents have gone far away and can't come back, the Lord is going to live with Childe." Son? What do you think of the place we live in now? ”

Shang Ling: "It's good, it's just quiet." ”

Uncle Liu: "My lord didn't live here before, but Son, you kept crying when you came, and as soon as you listened to the slightest movement, you started crying." There's no way, the old man carried you for a while, and you didn't cry until you came to this neighborhood. So the lord later lived here. ”

Shang Ling: "Uncle Liu? You're good to me too. ”

Uncle Liu: "Childe, the master is also very good to you." Sometimes, you don't listen to what other people say, and you feel that this thing depends on the heart. As long as your heart feels that he is good to you, that's fine. ”

Shang Ling's memory suddenly flooded with this conversation, and he looked up to find that Yu Tzu Hyuk was still waiting for him to make an answer, so he just said hastily: "I don't know." ”

Yu Tzu He nodded and said, "You really don't know, since he has raised you for so many years, how can you possibly know?" Shang Ling stopped talking, and he knew that it was not time to argue about this.

Xuan Zhuyi said: "Now that this time has come, there is no point in investigating whose fault it is. Let's figure out how to get out of here, shall we? ”

Mu Jinggong: "That's true, now we are nominally guests in this merchant mansion, but in fact we are imprisoned here. ”

Shang Ling: "I haven't seen my father-in-law in the past few days, maybe he is no longer in the house, I can go and check the wind first, see if he is still there, and then we will wait for the opportunity to leave." ”

Xuan Zhuyi: "Okay! By the way, Shang Ling? You said you were going to come back and pick up something, what was it? ”

Shang Ling: "My father-in-law once gave me a box when I was very young, and he told me that this box contained things about my past, and if I wanted to open it and look at it, I could go to him. ”

Mu Zhixi: "Where is this box now?" ”

Shang Ling: "The box is in my room, but the key is in my father's place. ”

Ouyang Ruolin: "Haven't you opened it once before?" ”

Shang Ling: "No, because it was relatively small at the time, I wasn't very curious about the contents inside, and then it was always in my room, and I always wanted to put it again, anyway, it was right in front of my eyes, and then I forgot about it." ”

Mu Jinggong: "Otherwise, tonight, let's go and find out if Shen Fan is there?" If we don't have it, we can go out over the wall with the box, or Edgeworth will leave here, maybe it will be successful? ”

Shang Ling: "It's okay, I'll go get the things first." Shang Ling left Xuan Zhuyi's room, returned to his room lightly, took the box, and came to Xuan Zhuyi's room lightly. The box is not too big, it is not very heavy, and it only takes one hand to hold it. The box is green all over, and if you look closely, there are some small glowing green stones on it, and there is a keyhole the size of a little finger right on the front of the box.

Xuan Zhuyi: "This key, will your father-in-law carry it closely?" ”

Shang Ling: "I don't know about this either. ”

Mu Zhixi: "Let's go see if he's not there, maybe you can find the key if he's not there." ”

With that, Shang Ling, Xuan Zhuyi and Mu Zhixi came to Shen Fan's room. From the outside, the whole room was pitch black, and Xuan Zhuyi and Mu Zhixi stood half-squatting against the wall, just in case Shen Fan was in the room. Shang Ling straightened his clothes and knocked lightly on the door. I knocked three times, waited for a while, and knocked a few more times but there was no movement. When the three of them were about to leave, a voice suddenly came from behind them.

"Childe? Are you looking for a master? ”

Shang Ling turned his head suddenly, and saw Uncle Liu standing behind them with a lamp, smiling lovingly.

"Ahh Uncle Liu? I'm here to see my father-in-law, I've been back for so long, and I haven't had a good chat with him. My senior brother and the two of them came to my father-in-law to ask about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Why is it so late, Uncle Liu, don't you sleep yet? ”

Uncle Liu came over with the lamp and said, "I came out with the lamp to take a look, and I happened to meet my son." It's rare that the son wants to talk to the master, but it's really unfortunate, the master left the next day after he came back to see you that day. ”

"Father-in-law gone?" Shang Ling was a little surprised, "Why didn't we know when he left." ”

Uncle Liu: "My lord seems to be in a hurry, and he left at night, so you should all be still sleeping." ”

Shang Ling: "That's it, then we'll go back, Uncle Liu, you should rest early." ”

Uncle Liu: "I know, son, you should go to bed early." Shang Ling smiled, and Xuan Zhuyi, Mu Zhixi turned around and went back.

"Got something urgent?" Mu Jinggong was a little incredulous when he heard Xuan Zhuyi's words, "But why do I think he came back this time just to see us?" ”

Shang Ling: "I also think that my father-in-law's return this time seems to have been planned, otherwise it would not have been so coincidental." ”

Ouyang Ruolin: "It's been eight days, isn't Shen Fan dragging his feet?" ”

Mu Zhixi: "If it is really delaying time, then it means that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will have some actions in the near future, then if this is the case, we must leave tonight." ”

Xuan Zhuyi thought for a moment and said, "The goal of walking together is too big, and it is possible to be discovered." Now they packed up their things, and at midnight they went their separate ways, and met at the gates of the city after daybreak. ”