Chapter 027: Past Events
"Mom, I'm not a child anymore. You can tell me anything."
Shen Yichen looked at his mother with a very formal and serious tone.
It would be very difficult for a single mother like Shen to raise a child in modern times, let alone in ancient times like the Ming Dynasty.
He is no longer the Shen Yichen who had no ambitions and only knew how to play and waste his time. It is time for him to take on the responsibilities of a son and a man.
When Shen faced Shen Yichen's sincere eyes, she felt mixed emotions. After more than ten years of hard work, today she finally saw her son grow up like an adult.
But there are some things that Shen doesn't know whether she should involve her son.
After a long silence and hesitation, Shen bent down and opened the red lacquered wooden box.
As soon as the box was opened, a silver light refracted into Shen Yichen's pupils. Because the upper layer of the wooden box was neatly stacked with a layer of silver ingots, and the purity was very high, it was not surprising that they were produced by the big money bureau.
In addition, under the silver ingot, one could vaguely see some cloth stacked up. Shen Yichen was not sure what material it was made of, but it looked like it should be worth a lot of money.
Shen Yichen had been in the Ming Dynasty for some time, and had a general understanding of the prices of commodities in that era. If this wooden box was placed in an ordinary family of three, it could almost guarantee that they would have no worries about food and clothing for at least ten years.
Who would make such a big move and what is his purpose?
"Chen'er, you must be wondering who sent this box of things now."
"Um."
Shen Yichen nodded.
Shen only smiled bitterly, and then said, "It was given by Madam Lin, the stepmother of the master."
Zhu Ji's mother, Lin?
A childhood memory suddenly emerged in Shen Yichen's mind. After he and his mother left the Chengguo Mansion, he heard that Zhu Yong's original wife, Wang, had died of illness, and later the concubine Lin was promoted to the main wife and second wife.
But why would Mrs. Lin send such a generous gift? Didn’t she target me and my mother in every way in the past?
"Mother, what does Madam Lin want to do?"
If someone shows kindness without any reason, he is either a traitor or a thief. The same applies to this kind of generous gift that is suddenly delivered to the door. At the family dinner at the Duke of Cheng's mansion yesterday, Zhu Ji was still full of hostility and challenged him everywhere. It was even more impossible for his mother to send him a gift.
Facing Shen Yichen's question, Shen opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end, the words did not come out, but shook her head helplessly.
"It's about me, isn't it?"
Shen Yichen keenly realized that this matter might be related to himself, otherwise he had lived in this courtyard for so many years in peace. But the situation changed after he met Zhu Ji yesterday. How could it be such a coincidence?
"Chen'er, just focus on your studies. These things are all the grudges of the previous generation and have nothing to do with you."
"Then what are the grievances of the previous generation?"
Shen Yichen had asked this once before, but his mother didn't answer, so he didn't want to ask further. But this time, he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Listening to Shen Yichen's questioning, Shen was in great pain. She didn't want her son to be affected by this. But some things were already in front of her, and they couldn't be hidden by avoiding and concealing them.
"Mrs. Lin sent these things because she wanted you to drop out of the government school."
I see.
Hearing his mother's answer, Shen Yichen sneered. His previous doubts were instantly explained. It seemed that he had been too conspicuous at the family dinner yesterday, and he was also kept by Chengguogong Zhu Yong for a conversation, which had begun to threaten the status of some people.
However, Shen Yichen was somewhat impressed by Mrs. Lin's methods. A woman who never showed up in public could act so quickly, leaving no hidden dangers for herself.
"Chen'er, did you do something in the private school? Why did Madam Lin suddenly want you to drop out?"
Shen Yichen was not the only one who had doubts. Shen was also filled with surprise and confusion about receiving the "generous gift" from Mrs. Lin today.
Shen Yichen has been studying in the private school of Duke Chengguo's mansion for nearly ten years. Why did they ask him to drop out today, not earlier or later?
"Maybe it's because the Duke praised me a few words, so I have a glimmer of hope of being included in the family tree."
"Really?"
Hearing this, Shen was delighted, and her previous sorrow was gone. Her biggest wish in life was to have her son recognized by Zhu Yong, but the reality was getting further and further away.
I didn’t expect that Shen Yichen had already won the praise of the Duke while studying at the private school!
"Yes, but I only said a few words briefly. It has nothing to do with entering the family tree."
Shen Yichen saw his mother's excitement and quickly changed the story. Just saying that there was a little hope was enough. If Shen knew that he had rejected Yinjian, who knows what would happen in his excitement.
"That's enough. At least it's a good start. The master still cares about you."
"Maybe."
Shen Yichen did not have the heart to expose Shen's fantasy. After all, as a woman, she was thinking about the father-son relationship, while Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong cared about the clan family.
"Mother, what happened back then? Why is Madam Lin so afraid of us?"
Although Shen Yichen admired Mrs. Lin's good methods, seriously speaking, this reaction was a bit too much.
After all, Mrs. Lin was no longer the concubine she once was, but the Duke's principal wife. Not to mention that he hadn't even started to enter the family tree, even if he entered the family tree and became a concubine, it would be difficult for him to pose much of a threat to her.
Because Zhu Yong also had a firstborn son Zhu Yi, his hereditary priority was greater than that of the secondborn son. As for his mother Shen, she was born as a maid and had never been favored by Duke Cheng, and she could not affect Mrs. Lin's status.
Come to think of it, there must be other factors to reasonably explain Mrs. Lin's overreaction.
"Chen'er, didn't you ask me a few days ago why we left Duke Cheng's Mansion?"
"Um."
Shen Yichen nodded, he didn't get an answer that day.
"Because when Mother was in the mansion, she saw something she shouldn't have seen."
Having said that, Shen sighed heavily and then recounted the old stories.
The original wife of Duke Cheng, Zhu Yong, had been childless for many years after marrying into the Duke Cheng's mansion. In ancient times, the three unfilial acts were considered unfilial, and the worst was to have no offspring. If a wife could not give birth to a child, she would be considered guilty of one of the "seven reasons for divorce", not to mention that Zhu Yong was a hereditary duke, and there was a huge family fortune and title waiting for his children to inherit.
As a result, the relationship between the couple gradually became strained, and Duke Chengguo took in several concubines, including Zhu Ji's mother, Lin.
After Lin entered the Duke of Chengguo's mansion, she was favored by Zhu Yong because of her beauty and skills. Later, she began to take charge of the inner court of the mansion, in fact challenging Wang's position as the legal wife.
Under such circumstances, Wang became anxious and angry, her body became thinner and thinner, and she was no longer able to compete with the young and beautiful Lin.
However, the situation soon changed. When Wang was over 30 and no one was optimistic about her future, she suddenly became pregnant. After ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a son, who was later the eldest son of Duke Cheng, Zhu Yi.
He thought he could rely on his eldest son to regain control of the inner court, but it turned out that misfortunes often bring blessings, and blessings often bring misfortunes.
Wang's age would have been considered an advanced maternal age in ancient times. After giving birth to her eldest son Zhu Yi, her health deteriorated and she was bedridden for years. The entire Chengguo Mansion was completely controlled by Lin, who once favored concubines over wives.
Later, Lin became pregnant with the illegitimate son Zhu Ji. During her pregnancy, Duke Cheng Zhu Yong cheated on her and fell in love with the maid Shen, and thus the current Shen Yichen was born.
It was precisely because of this that Lin regarded his mother Shen as a "competitor" and from then on became full of hostility towards both mother and son, excluding and suppressing them everywhere.
But no matter what, the Chengguogong Mansion was still there, and no matter how much Lin controlled the inner court, she was just a concubine. So, apart from being blocked from being included in the family tree, Shen Yichen was still treated like a concubine and could live and study normally in the mansion.
The turning point of all this came on the night when Shen Yichen and his mother left the mansion!
His legal wife, Wang, was bedridden and her health was deteriorating. Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong was promoted to the Prince's Grand Tutor and was in charge of the Beijing camp. He rarely returned to his residence in Nanjing. The entire Duke Chengguo Mansion was under the control of the Lin family.
That night, Wang was seriously ill and coughed violently. She kept calling for the maid to find a doctor, but no one answered after she called for half an hour.
At that time, mother Shen happened to be passing by the courtyard. She was puzzled when she heard Wang's shouting but no one responded. Logically, the maids should always be waiting by the bed, and such a situation should not happen.
With doubts and respect for the principal wife, mother Shen planned to go into the courtyard to help, but unexpectedly she saw Lin standing at the door.
Lin's face was gloomy and he turned a deaf ear to Wang's cries in the house. As time went by, Wang's voice became smaller and smaller, just like the passing of life.
Seeing this scene, Shen was terrified. She wanted to leave in a panic, but she accidentally kicked the flower pot at the gate. When she looked up at the door, she met Lin's fierce gaze.
Although his mother, Shen, was born as a maid, she lived in a large mansion and had a basic sense of crisis. So she ran away and took Shen Yichen away from the mansion overnight, and came to live in this other courtyard at the end of the alley, and made it clear that she would not return to the mansion.
It could be because Lin was afraid of a lose-lose situation, or it could be because her mother Shen gave in and Shen Yichen was unbearable and posed no threat to her. If she continued to pursue the matter, she might end up making things worse and arouse the Duke's suspicion.
So over the years, Shen and Shen Yichen, the mother and son, lived in this small courtyard, which was considered a safe haven, until today's "generous gift" from Lin broke the silence.
"Chen'er, mother didn't want you to get involved, but now you have grown up. If there are some things that cannot be avoided, you should face them."
After talking about these old stories, Shen's tone became firm, unlike the weak and gentle appearance she had in the past.
"Mom, I understand."
"I will ask someone to send these things back. You continue to study hard in the private school of the Duke's Mansion. I have no other wishes in this life. I just hope that you will have a bright future. One day you can stand in front of the Duke with dignity and let him see that his son has become a talent!"
Shen's expression and words at this moment perfectly illustrate these eight words: Women are weak by nature, but they become strong when they become mothers!
