Before the house was raided, the maidservant of the Prime Minister's residence absconded with t

The old lady's room was brightly lit.

The wives of the Xiao family were all present, their eyes slightly red. Ayan stood at the head of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

"grandmother………

You need to get better...

The old lady on the bed was barely breathing. She raised her hand to stroke Ayan, lovingly comforting her grandson, "Ayan, don't be sad, Grandma will be alright."

You must behave well from now on.

"Grandma, I will be good."

Ayan's voice trembled with sobs as he spoke.

Tears streamed down her little face uncontrollably.

Everyone present felt heartbroken.

"Ayan, my good grandson, don't cry..."

You are a fine son of the Xiao family. No matter where you are in the future, you must be strong.

We must always remember the family precepts of the Xiao family.

The old lady's eyes were filled with reluctance and heartache, yet also with helplessness.

"Okay, Grandmother, I won't cry, I won't cry anymore."

Grandpa has remembered everything Grandma said.

Ayan raised his hand to wipe away his tears, but he couldn't stop.

Tears kept flowing uncontrollably.

"Wang Mama, has Jingzhi returned to the manor yet?"

The old lady's gaze swept over everyone, and she asked the personal maid beside her.

Jingzhi was the courtesy name of Prime Minister Xiao Wen, and that's what the old lady always called him.

Granny Wang shook her head. "Reporting to the old lady, not only has the master not returned, but the second and third masters have also not returned to the mansion."

The old lady frowned, a sense of crisis welling up in her heart as she recalled the recent situation in the mansion.

She turned to look at her second and third sons' wives, only to see that they both shook their heads, their faces showing obvious worry.

Such a situation had never occurred in the past.

Even if the eldest son, Xiao Wen, was occasionally kept behind by the emperor due to some business, it's impossible that the second son, Xiao Yang, who held a minor fifth-rank official position in the Ministry of Rites, and the third son, Xiao He, who was a sixth-rank compiler, didn't return home.

This is very abnormal.

Tao'er felt the atmosphere was extremely oppressive, and the oppressive feeling made her feel suffocated.

The old lady had four sons and one daughter, namely Xiao Wen, Xiao Yang, Xiao He, Xiao Yi, and Xiao Yu.

The three sons of the Xiao family all pursued literary studies, but the fifth son, Xiao Yi, loved martial arts and thus joined the army.

At the age of seventeen, he beheaded the enemy leader, becoming famous in one battle and a young general admired by all.

Unfortunately, fate is cruel to the talented. Less than half a year later, he died a violent death in a war, and he was not even married when he died.

The fourth daughter, Xiao Yu, married Lu Huai'an, the heir of the Marquis of Nanyang.

Xiao Wen is the eldest son of the Xiao family and the Left Prime Minister, holding a high position and great power. He is forty-two years old this year and has two sons and one daughter.

The eldest son died before he could be named.

If he survives, he'll be twenty-one.

Her daughter, Xiao Wan'er, was eighteen years old and married to a brilliant scholar who had passed the imperial examination. He was now serving as the prefect of Qingzhou, a city 500 miles from the capital, and she had gone with him.

His son is Xiao Yan, who is only five years old this year.

Because the First Lady Liu Sulan was injured giving birth to her eldest daughter, she spent many years recuperating before giving birth to Xiao Yan, a child who survived a near-death experience.

Xiao Yan was not only the eldest grandson of the Xiao family, but also the only grandson of the Xiao family.

The reason is simple: according to the Xiao family's ancestral precepts, no son of the Xiao family is allowed to take a concubine unless my wife is childless.

Therefore, the sons of the Xiao family only had one legal wife.

Since the old master was alive, the Xiao family had only one wife, and not even a maid who knew anything about sex.

It has to be said that being a daughter-in-law of the Xiao family is a very lucky thing.

Strangely, all of the wives in the Xiao family gave birth to daughters.

The second wife, Lin Jinxiu, gave birth to two daughters, but the eldest daughter died at the age of three.

The second daughter, Xiao Mingyue, is thirteen years old this year and has not yet reached marriageable age.

She's reached the age where she could be getting married, but unfortunately...

The third wife, Li Nanyu, gave birth to a son and a daughter, but her eldest son fell into a lotus pond while playing at the age of five and drowned.

He currently has only one daughter, Xiao Qingyu, who is eleven years old.

Right now, they were all looking at their grandmother with worried and fearful expressions.

They were very close to the old lady, and Tao'er could tell that they were genuinely worried about her health.

Tao'er couldn't help but worry about their young age, wondering if they could endure the hardships of exile!

"Wang Mama, go and summon Steward Zhou immediately."

Upon hearing Wang Mama's words, the old lady's face turned pale, and she immediately pondered before giving instructions.

Granny Wang responded and quickly ran out.

Tao'er, who was standing to the side, saw that the old lady's expression had obviously changed and wondered if the old lady had guessed something.

None of the men in the household have returned. Could it be that the palace has already begun to make trouble, but the news hasn't reached the mansion yet, and the emperor's decree hasn't arrived.

Before long, Granny Wang brought Steward Zhou. The reason she arrived so quickly was that Granny Wang had encountered Steward Zhou on the way.

Butler Zhou said breathlessly, "Madam, First Madam, Second Madam, Third Madam, something terrible has happened!"

"Butler Zhou, what happened?"

The old lady and the three ladies asked at the same time. "The Prime Minister's students have reported that the Prime Minister, the Second Master, and the Third Master have all been imprisoned in the Imperial Prison."

Butler Zhou took a deep breath and continued.

The old lady's expression froze for a moment, then she asked, "Did that person say why His Majesty punished him?"

"The man didn't say why, he just told me to tell the old lady to make plans as soon as possible."

The three ladies swayed precariously, but fortunately, maids supported them so they did not faint. The eldest lady, in particular, looked to be in very poor condition.

Tao'er knew that they were probably going to raid the house, otherwise they wouldn't have risked their lives to deliver the message and even said to make plans early.

"Steward Zhou, go to the Prime Minister's study and burn all the letters and documents in his room."

Tao'er secretly gave the old lady a thumbs up in her heart; she was eliminating potential dangers.

Even if doing so doesn't make much difference.

After all, if the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die!

"Wang Mama, take the storeroom key and go to the storeroom to get some silver and some jewelry."

The old lady suppressed her grief and gave her instructions in an orderly manner.

As expected of the old lady, she was able to make arrangements efficiently even in such a situation. She truly deserves to be called a female general who followed the old master into battle back then. She is brave, resourceful, and calm in the face of adversity.

Unfortunately, old injuries have left him physically unable to cope.

The ladies and young women, however, were weak and indecisive.

"Sulan, Jinxiu, Nanyu, you should all dismiss the maids and nannies in your respective rooms!"

Give them more money.

The three ladies were sobbing and their legs were weak, so they couldn't move.

"Stop crying! I'm not dead yet!"

"This is not the time to cry, there's no time, you all need to get on with it."

Seeing the old lady's anger, the three ladies wiped away their tears and were helped away by their maids.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, most of the servants in the mansion had been dismissed.

Only Steward Zhou, Granny Wang, and she remained. Granny Wang came over carrying a large wooden box.

Butler Zhou also returned after finishing his business.

"Granny Wang, Steward Zhou, you have served the Xiao family for many years and made great contributions. Take this money and go home to live with your families!"

The Xiao family mansion is now...

The old lady couldn't continue speaking and gestured for the two men to take the silver and leave.

Steward Zhou and Granny Wang were extremely reluctant to part with them, but they knew that staying any longer would be of no use, so they could only kneel down to express their gratitude and leave with heavy hearts.

Now she was the only one left in the house, and she wondered if the old lady would also give her money and let her leave.

If that's really the case, what should she do?

But it wasn't like that in the dream. Could it be that the dream was wrong?