Chapter 65, Decisions
After reading the letter, Mrs. Shi waved away all the servants, and stayed alone in the house for most of the day without eating lunch. She didn't get up until mid-afternoon to go to Yiwenyuan where Shi Zhengkun lived.
Yi Wen Yuan.
Seeing the old lady coming, Zeng Yuwei, Shi Zhengkun's regular wife, was surprised.
Her mother-in-law never came to her daughter-in-law's yard easily.
"Mother, why are you here?"
When the old lady looked at Zeng Yuwei, she was slightly absent-minded.
In order to help Zhengkun marry the daughter of the Zeng family's concubine, she really gave up her face and asked her former friend, Mrs. Yong'anhou, to be a matchmaker. She even took out one-third of the dowry as a dowry, and she became this marriage.
For Zheng Kun, she really put all her heart into nurturing him and planning his future with all her heart.
But when she thought of how the Li family treated her son so harshly and made her son work for the Li family, her heart was blocked and she couldn't breathe.
Seeing that the old lady looked at her in the wrong way, Zeng Yuwei felt a little uneasy.
Her mother-in-law is very easy to get along with, she is also easy to talk and doesn't easily embarrass others, but she dare not show any disrespect.
She has heard more than one person say that her mother-in-law is a very cunning person.
"I haven't seen Zheng Kun for two days, so I want to come over and have a look."
When Zeng Yuwei heard about this, she quickly smiled and said: "Mother, forgive me, there are many things in the Hanlin Academy these days. It was dark when my husband came back. I was worried about disturbing my parents' rest, so I didn't go to pay my respects."
The old lady nodded: "Errands are important, but you can't ignore your body. You have to take good care of it in your life."
Zeng Yuwei hurriedly responded.
At that time, the old lady was walking in the yard, seeing that many plants and potted plants in the yard were personally selected and sent by someone to deliver, her chest felt as if a huge stone was pressed down, dull and dull.
"I'll go sit in Zhengkun's study."
Zeng Yuwei was stunned for a moment, seeing that the old lady was already walking towards the study, she hurriedly followed.
Shi Zhengkun's study room is very large, with one bright and two dark rooms connected. Rows of bookshelves are filled with books, and many famous paintings and ink are hung on the walls.
The Shi family was born as a general. These books were collected by several generations of the Shi family. Except for a small part that was given to Shi Zhengye, the seventh son of the descendant, all the others are in Shi Zhengkun's place.
Madam Shi didn't mess with Shi Zhengkun's things, but stood in front of the desk, flipping through the copybooks he used to practice calligraphy when he was a child.
Before Shi Zhengkun started his education, she taught him to practice calligraphy; she read to him tirelessly
Recalling these in the past, I only felt warm, but now.
When the old lady clutched her throbbing chest, she felt very uncomfortable.
She thought that if the Li family had treated her son well, even if the child was wrongly held, she would not be so uncomfortable, painful, and deeply remorseful and guilty.
Mrs. Shi stayed in Shi Zhengkun's study until dark before leaving. Zeng Yuwei personally sent him back to Yixiang Hall. When she returned to Yiwen Academy, she saw Shi Zhengkun who had just returned.
"Sir, you are back."
Shi Zhengkun looked at his wife: "What's wrong?"
Zeng Yuwei: "Mother came over in the afternoon and has been waiting for you in the study. I just sent it back."
Shi Zhengkun showed surprise: "What's the matter, mother?"
Zeng Yuwei shook her head: "I guess I miss you. These days you come back so late every day. My mother didn't see you, so I don't miss you. I was in your study in the afternoon, and I kept looking at the copybooks from when you were a child. "
Hearing this, Shi Zhengkun laughed immediately: "My mother taught me my calligraphy." This is something neither the elder brother nor the seventh younger brother is treated for.
"I'm going to say hello to my mother now."
Shi Zhengkun went to Yixiangyuan, but saw no one.
"Fourth Master, the old lady has already fallen asleep, she let you go about your errands with peace of mind, and come here to say hello when you are free."
Shi Zhengkun looked suspiciously at the bedroom where the lights were still on. His wife said that he had just sent his mother back, so it stands to reason that his mother should not have fallen asleep so soon.
Thinking of the boy next to his father when he came here just now, Shi Zhengkun felt relieved. It should be because his father came back, and his mother wanted to talk to him, so that's why he didn't have time to see him.
After thinking it over, Shi Zhengkun smiled and left.
At the same time, in the bedroom, Mrs. Shi and Mrs. Shi were respectively sitting on the kang by the window, one was looking at Shi Zhengkun's going farther and farther through the window, and the other was holding a letter and panting violently.
"how so?!"
Master Shi and Mrs. Shi had similar reactions, they both found it hard to accept that the child was wrongly held.
What both of them couldn't accept the most was the harsh treatment of Li Changsen by the Li family.
"At the age of thirteen, he took the place of his father as a soldier. Did the Li family already know that their son was not their own?"
The voice of the old man trembled a little.
When his wife gave birth, he stayed outside the ruined temple. He couldn't bear it, so he put the wife of the military household into the temple, and asked the family's maids and mother-in-law to help deliver the baby.
If the child is held responsible for being held wrong, then he is the culprit!
"That woman is a deliberately swapped child!"
Shi the old lady said affirmatively: "But I can't figure it out, how did she do it? Even if I pass out, there are still maids and mother-in-law."
The old lady Shi was angry and angry: "You gave birth to the child in the middle of the night. The maid and the woman were first frightened by Beiyan's raid on Rongcheng, and then they traveled dozens of miles to help you deliver the child. They must have fallen asleep because of exhaustion. Only then did I give the woman a chance to drop her bag."
Shi was so uncomfortable that the old lady closed her eyes, and opened them after a while: "I have to bring the child back."
The old master Shi nodded in agreement: "It's natural, the blood of the Shi family can't be left outside."
After saying this, the two fell silent again.
After a while, the old man Shi broke the silence first: "What about Zhengkun?"
In addition to feelings, there is also the painstaking efforts and resources that Shijia put on Shi Zhengkun.
It can be said that, except for the eldest son Shi Zhengmao, Shi Zhengkun received more resources from the Shi family than the other children.
These are things that can hardly be said to be let go.
Mrs. Shi's face was very tangled: "Although it is not Zheng Kun's fault, but when I think that all this is caused by his biological parents, and our child has suffered so much in the Li family, I feel very blocked. No, I don't know how to face him when I see him."
The old lady Shi sighed, his mood at the moment is so complicated, he blamed himself a little more than the old lady Shi.
"If I had known, I shouldn't have let her go into the temple to give birth with you."
Just when the old couple was sad and had a headache, the servant girl stood outside the curtain and announced in a low voice: "Old Master, Old Madam, the Eldest Master and Eldest Madam are here."
The old lady didn't want to see anyone at the moment, so she waved her hand to signal the maid to let the eldest son and daughter-in-law leave.
But the old lady Shi said: "Let them come in." Seeing that the old lady looked over, she said, "This matter must be known to the eldest and the eldest couple, after all, the Shi family will be supported by them in the future, and their ideas must also be listened to." .”
Shi Zhengmao and Mrs. Shi entered the bedroom with worried faces.
Seeing that Mrs. Shi and Mrs. Shi had unusually ugly faces, Shi Zhengmao asked anxiously: "Father, mother, but something happened to the Jiang family?"
When the old lady knew that her eldest daughter-in-law had misunderstood her gaffe in the morning, she immediately said, "Nothing happened to the Jiang family."
Shi Zhengmao was confused, and looked at his father and mother who looked shocked: "Then who are you?"
Grandpa Shi looked at Mrs. Shi, and handed the letter in his hand to Zhengmao Shi: "You can read it yourself?"
Then Mrs. Shi saw that her husband was like her mother-in-law, with expressions of shock and disbelief, and she suddenly became curious.
"What happened?"
After Shi Zhengmao read the letter, he shook his head again and again with a look of disbelief, and looked at Mrs. Shi and Mrs. Shi asking for confirmation. After getting confirmation from their eyes, he handed the letter to Mrs. Shi in a daze.
Shi Da Furen was already aroused curiosity, she took the letter and read it, then her eyes widened, and her mouth opened because of too much surprise: "How could this happen?!"
The fourth brother, Shi Zhengkun, was not her husband's biological brother, but the son of a military household in the border!
Oh my god, the **** thing that only appears in story books actually happened in their house!
Mrs. Shi read the letter in astonishment. At this moment, she fully understood why her mother-in-law lost her composure like that in the morning.
If she has raised other people's sons like jewels and treasures for decades, but her own son has been enslaved by others for decades, she will definitely collapse.
Shi Da Furen silently put the letter back on the kang table of her parents-in-law, looking at her father-in-law's ugly face, she felt a little sympathetic.
It must be very hard for a dignified uncle to be teased by a military couple at the border for decades.
Shi Zhengmao and Mrs. Shi didn't know what to say at the moment, they sat silently in their chairs, not daring to express their opinions casually.
Shi the old lady looked at the two of them: "Your brother has suffered so much and must be brought home."
"Pick it up, definitely have to take it back."
Shi Zhengmao returned in seconds. Although he had never met, he was related by blood after all. In his heart, he was really full of sympathy for the younger brother who was hugged wrong.
A well-behaved son of the uncle's mansion, who became the son of a military household. He could have a good life, but he could only struggle to survive at the border. When he thought of the difference between the two, Shi Zhengmao couldn't help feeling pity.
His younger brother is so pitiful and unlucky!
Shi Da Furen also nodded.
Regarding the fact that her parents-in-law's biological son was wrongly held, to be honest, she didn't have much other feelings except that it was too bizarre.
She doesn't care whether she picks it up or not.
But if her husband has expressed his opinion, she must support it.
Seeing the silence of the parents-in-law and the sympathy of the husband, Mrs. Shi hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "What should I say about Zhengkun?"
When his wife mentioned Shi Zhengkun, Shi Zhengmao thought of him: "Yes, what should Zhengkun do?"
The old lady Shi spoke up and looked at Shi Zhengmao: "Boss, what do you think?"
Shi Zhengmao thought for a while and said, "Father, mother, I agree to take Li Changsen home, but we can't ignore Zhengkun's side."
As he spoke, he looked at his parents' faces.
"Once this matter breaks out, Zhengkun will be a little embarrassed. He is currently serving in the Imperial Academy. If others know that he is not the son of the Shi family, they will probably bear a lot of rumors."
Shi's old lady frowned: "Then what do you say? Won't you take your brother back?"
When Shi Zhengmao saw that his mother was angry, he quickly shook his head: "I didn't mean that, I just thought it shouldn't be too embarrassing, although Zhengkun is not the son of the Shi family, but the Shi family has raised him for more than thirty years, not being a parent is better than having a child. "
"Besides, how much effort Zhengkun has spent on his father and mother these years, is it necessary to drive him out of the house like this? Isn't the previous efforts in vain?"
The old lady stopped talking.
Shi Da Furen looked at her parents-in-law, and said: "Actually, there is a compromise, as long as our own family knows about this, and we don't need to publicize it so that everyone doesn't know."
Shi's old lady frowned: "There must be an explanation for bringing the person back, how can outsiders not know?"
Shi Da Furen hesitated for a moment: "Li Changsen is the son of his parents, and since he was brought back, does it have to be said that Zhengkun is not his parents' son? The ones who were born, the ones who were raised since childhood, are all sons."
Hearing this, Mrs. Shi and Mrs. Shi looked at each other, but neither spoke.
Shi Zhengmao clapped his hands together: "This method is good. Whether it is Zhengkun or Li Changsen, they are both the sons of father and mother, and they are all my younger brothers. Can we just say that Li Changsen was raised outside?"
"Let's think about it again, you go back and rest."
Coming out of Yixiang Courtyard, Shi Zhengmao praised Mrs. Shi: "Madam is still smart. Zhengkun was carefully raised by the Shi family, and Li Changsen is his own. They cannot be separated at will. It is the most stupid to choose one of the two." The best way is to have both.”
Shi Da Furen smiled faintly: "I'm so smart, you think mother-in-law and father-in-law can't think of it, it's just that they are parents, and some things are hard to say."
It is almost a certainty that Li Changsen will be brought back, so why ask for their opinions?
It is nothing more than that the Shi family is reluctant to abandon Shi Zhengmao, one of them is having feelings. The most important thing is that Shi Zhengmao was cultivated by the Shi family with a lot of resources.
Hanlin bachelor, and also the son-in-law of the Zeng family, these are the things that the Shi family can't get rid of.
(end of this chapter)