The small door was none other than the back door of the Shen residence, a door exclusively used by servants for purchasing goods and entering and exiting.

Shen Yanrong had walked through it more than once, otherwise, he wouldn’t have recognized it at a glance.

After arriving in Yunshan Village, they had returned to the Shen residence, but only during the day.

Those people in the Shen family were concerned about their reputation, even if they hated him to the core, wishing he would disappear from the world, they couldn’t openly do anything to him, the legitimate son of the original wife.

When they drove his family to the countryside, they also found a plausible reason for it.

But behind the scenes, especially in the dead of night, they naturally didn’t have to be so careful.

It was unknown whether this was a deliberate act of revenge by Shen Tao or someone else’s instruction.

Regardless of the reason, it didn’t matter to them now.

After taking their wife and children, they didn’t linger, nor did they pay attention to the arrogant Shen Tao. The couple, each carrying a child, walked directly towards the small door.

The small door was guarded, and Li Shan had immediately gone to call someone to open the door. Seeing them coming, the guard looked at Shen Tao. Seeing that the latter’s face was grim but he didn’t say anything, he let them in.

Shen Tao watched their backs, thinking viciously, without his guidance, these country bumpkins would be lost.

Shen Yanrong had lived in this mansion for nearly twenty years, even though he had been gone for a few years, his memories from all these years wouldn’t vanish so quickly.

He had expected that they would be left to cool their heels for a while, intending to return to his side courtyard with his wife and children, but he was stopped by Shen Tao, who claimed that the master and mistress missed him dearly and wanted to see him immediately.

In fact, as soon as their carriage entered the city, someone took a shortcut back to the Shen residence to inform them, and the master’s instructions were relayed to Shen Tao immediately.

Lu Yao rolled her eyes, their lies were unconvincing, this obvious fabrication, who would believe it?

But knowing that the Shen family had ill intentions, they couldn’t refuse.

Their hearts were filled with unease, years of experience told them that they had to assume the worst from those who clearly harbored malice, otherwise, they might be pushed into an abyss.

They quickly realized a problem: choosing to go to Yunshan Village before dusk, it was likely that Long had deliberately arranged it.

If that was the case, what did they want to do?

The more they thought about it, the more worried they became, but there was no effective solution for the time being. Seeing his wife’s furrowed brow, Shen Yanrong glanced at Shen Tao, who was leading the way, and whispered comfortingly, “Don’t worry, we’ll act accordingly.”

Overthinking was useless, they could only take things one step at a time, but no matter what, he wouldn’t be silent and submissive as he had been in the past.

Shen Tao, who was walking ahead, noticed that the people behind him had slowed down and couldn’t help but sneer, “Young Master Yan, this mansion is beautiful, but this is not the time to admire it, don’t make the master wait too long.”

Shen Yanrong didn’t even give him a glance, if it weren’t for his mother’s dowry, this mansion wouldn’t even bear his surname.

Shen Tao was met with indifference, his heart filled with displeasure, but he didn’t dare to lash out, so he quickened his pace, secretly watching the people behind him for a joke.

Humph, how long can you be proud!

The Shen residence was vast, it took more than a quarter of an hour to walk from the back door to the main courtyard in front. Lu Yao and Shen Yanrong were carrying their children, and it was night, so it took even longer.

When they reached the main courtyard, the servants who had been waiting for a long time were already impatient. Seeing the four people behind Shen Tao, they frowned and stated that only Young Master Yan was allowed to enter.

Shen Yanrong wouldn’t leave his wife and children here, the servant had no choice but to go in and report.

The three people who had been waiting in the main courtyard couldn’t help but frown when they heard the servant’s report, but they could only nod and let them in together. After all, so many days had passed, they couldn’t wait any longer.

The servant acted quickly, and within a short time, he came out to inform Shen Tao to take Shen Yanrong and the four of them inside. Shen Tao’s gaze swept over the four people, a disdainful smile playing on his lips, “Young Master Yan, let’s go inside.”

He then entered the courtyard first and went to the study of the head of the Shen family, Shen Shiren.

In the study, besides Shen Shiren, there was also his second wife, Wang Yalan, and her son, Shen Yaoming.

Shen Yaoming was twenty years old, four years younger than Shen Yanrong, but he was still unmarried.

Logically speaking, he should have married and had children at this age, but because the Shen family thought their grandson/son was handsome, talented, and capable, Wang Yalan and Wang Xiuhua, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, had been secretly looking for a good match for years, finally settling on the eldest daughter of the Minister of Personnel’s family last year. However, the girl was four years younger than Shen Yaoming, and her family loved her child and wanted to keep her for two more years, so the wedding was set for the spring of next year.

In ancient times, there was a strict hierarchy of seniority, the elder brother could not marry before the younger brother, and the younger brother could not marry or get married before the elder brother. This was one of the reasons why Shen Yanrong, who was so disliked, was able to marry early.

He was seventeen years old at the time, and he married Lu Yao, who was only fifteen. Now, he was twenty-four and she was twenty-two, already parents of two children.

Seeing them enter, Shen Shiren’s face changed again and again, finally swallowing the words he was about to say, “Look at the state you’re in! Have someone make some decent clothes for you tomorrow, so that people won’t say that our Shen family is mistreating the legitimate son of the original wife.”

He felt stifled and annoyed when he mentioned it, if it weren’t for the special circumstances, he would never want to see this face again in his life.

Wang Yalan and Shen Yaoming’s faces turned ugly when they heard the words “legitimate son of the original wife,” their eyes filled with envy and resentment, and when their gaze fell on Shen Yanrong and the others, seeing their ragged clothes, sallow faces, and the air of poverty about them, their mood instantly improved.

Humph, so what if he’s the legitimate son of the original wife? He’s living worse than a servant, and he’s still trapped in the family for life, unable to turn things around!