Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 142 Mother
After a sumptuous dinner, Zhang Shou sent the jubilant Zhu Ying away. When he closed the courtyard door, he thought of how excited Zhu Ying was about matchmaking, and couldn't help but smile. You know, during dinner just now, he and Zhu Ying discussed and found a problem. Zhu Ying did associate with some rich girls, but... those girls were too high-class!
In other words, if it was Zhang Chen who was destined to inherit the Dukedom of Qin, then he would naturally be a good match for these daughters of famous families. As for Lu Sanlang, Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu, or even others... Sorry, their family background might be good enough, but they were not the eldest sons in the family, nor were they the respected sons. They had no fame and no background, so most of the daughters of famous families looked down on them.
Therefore, Zhu Ying, who seldom attended garden parties, tea parties, flower viewing parties, etc., has decided to take the initiative. As for those rich ladies with whom she got along well, she also planned to test the waters - after all, Lu Sanlang is now a talented little fat boy who has been praised by the emperor himself, maybe someone would like him?
The more he thought about it, the more interesting it became. Zhang Shou couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I really wonder what the reaction of those people who used to just routinely send invitations to the Duke of Zhao's mansion would be when they saw Yingying coming to attend some autumn and flower viewing party..."
"Ah Shou."
Hearing the voice, Zhang Shou turned around quickly, only to see Wu standing behind him. He quickly apologized, "Mom, it's rare to have two days off, but I left you alone at home while I went out to play with Yingying. I'm really sorry for you."
"You've grown up and have so many things to do. I don't expect you to stay at home with me all day. A real man should have ambitions for the world. But you said you were taking Yingying out to enjoy the autumn, but from what I just heard the two of you talking, it seems that this trip is not to enjoy the mountains and rivers, but to take risks and lure the snake out of its hole?"
Zhang Shou had never seen Wu look so cold and hostile, and he immediately thought to himself, "Oh no!" He was about to explain, but Wu said angrily, "Do you know how hard it is to get your life? Why are you willing to take risks again and again? If anything happens to you, how can I face... your mother?"
Wu paused, but finally said those two words. Seeing Zhang Shou's expression gradually change, she smiled bitterly and said, "If I had known that you were not just going to enjoy the autumn with Yingying, but were going to be some kind of bait, I would never have let you go! You are grown up, I can't control you anymore, there are some things, now is the time to tell you."
Seeing Wu, who was holding a lantern, reaching out to grab him without saying a word, Zhang Shou suddenly had a premonition that after Concubine Yu told him the truth about what happened that year, Wu was probably ready to tell him the part of the truth that she knew.
Sure enough, before entering the main room, Wu saw Ah Liu sending Yang Hao and Zheng Hu, who were looking around, back to their rooms. She didn't care and pulled Zhang Shou in. After crossing the threshold, she handed the lantern to Zhang Shou, then closed the door herself and bolted it. Only then did she turn around and look at the handsome young man in the dim light of the room.
Even though she had carefully examined his handsome face countless times when he was asleep, she never got tired of looking at it, and it was the same now. She even couldn't help but reach out and touch his chin and eyebrows like she did when she was a child, but in the end her hand stopped in mid-air.
"A Shou, do you know that your mother fought hard for you to be born into this world? " She paused, her voice suddenly lowered, "When you were little, many people in the village privately discussed that an ordinary woman like me could give birth to a son like you who seemed to have gathered the spirits of heaven and earth. Either your father was too outstanding, or I was too lucky."
Seeing Zhang Shou seemed a little dazed, Wu dragged her legs, which felt like they were filled with lead, step by step to the edge of the chair and sat down dejectedly: "In fact, I am not your biological mother at all, so you are not like me. I am weak and incompetent. If my wife hadn't taken me in, I would have starved to death on the street. But you inherited my wife's responsible and brave temper, so you are where you are today."
Although he had heard the story of his mother, Widow Zhang, in her last days from Concubine Yu, Zhang Shou still felt a little dazed when he heard the story from another person involved, Wu. He did not say anything, but walked forward slowly and stood silently in front of Wu. Wu did not look up, but continued to tell the story.
"Everyone calls me Widow Zhang. Of course, her surname is not Zhang. The surname is your father, Mr. Zhang. When my wife took me in, he was preparing to study for the exam. The couple lived a happy life."
"Zhang Xiucai was a very promising scholar. Although his parents had both passed away, he passed the imperial examination at the age of 18. When he passed by and saw his wife, who was in mourning and had just finished her father's funeral, holding a sickle and fighting against the clan elders who wanted her to marry someone else, he was immediately moved and finally succeeded in marrying her. They were both kind and gentle, and both were the best people."
Mrs. Wu looked up at Zhang Shou and was relieved to see that there was no emotion on his face and he was just listening to her attentively.
"I told you that my family had a weaving workshop, but that was actually a lie. When I was at home, I did learn embroidery, but that was because my family was so poor that I would be beaten and starved if I didn't work. If I hadn't worked hard to learn embroidery, I would have been sold by my parents. But even if my embroidery skills could support my family, after the snowstorm, our house collapsed and I was the only one who survived."
"My wife was kind enough to take me in, so naturally I tried my best to repay her. I can do all the housework and cooking. I also learned how to weave, sew, and dye from my wife. My wife relied on that embroidery workshop, working hard to earn money to support this family and prepare your father, Mr. Zhang, for the exam. When my wife found out that she was pregnant with you, she and Mr. Zhang agreed that no matter whether the baby was a boy or a girl, they would name it Ah Shou."
"But no one expected that Mr. Zhang would catch a cold while preparing for the exam, and was delayed by a quack doctor, so he died within half a month. The neighbors said that my wife had a hard fate and would bring bad luck to her relatives, but she didn't cry or make a fuss. She said that crying and being sad would be bad for the fetus, and she would be sorry for her husband who always loved and protected her. However, no matter whether it was her husband's family or her own family who came to make trouble, she would not give in."
"I really didn't expect that when she left me at home to embroider a wedding dress that someone else had customized at a high price, and went to the temple to pray for the child to be born, she would encounter such a huge mess. When she came back with the two wives covered in blood, I was almost shocked. And what I couldn't expect was that three people were going to give birth one after another, and the midwife was drunk."
At this point, Mrs. Wu was already shaking violently all over and could hardly continue.
Through her words, Zhang Shou gradually carved out the image of a tough and kind mother in his mind. He squatted down and put his hands on Wu's knees. The next moment, Wu suddenly looked up at him, then stretched out her hands and hugged him tightly.
"Ah Shou, my wife desperately urged that drunken midwife to operate on her, and only then was you finally born safely! You don't know how chaotic it was at that time. The two wives both gave birth to daughters, but because the midwife was confused, she couldn't even tell who gave birth to who. When the people from the Zhaoguo Mansion came, they were almost mad with anger!"
Hearing Wu repeatedly saying that there were only two wives, Zhang Shou had a vague guess that Wu might not know the identity of Concubine Yu. But when Wu actually told him that after Jiu Niang and Concubine Yu gave birth to a daughter, it was difficult to tell whose was whose, he could not help but be stunned.
This means that between Princess Zhu Ying and Princess Yongping, no one can be sure which one is the royal princess and which one is the daughter of the duke?
No wonder the lady hinted to him that the so-called engagement was not set in stone. One party was him, and the other party could be Zhu Ying or Princess Yongping. Zhu Ying and Princess Yongping had disliked each other since childhood. Could it be that this was a bad fate? Or was it that Princess Yongping, who was obviously more thoughtful, noticed this secret and was hostile to Zhu Ying?
He shook his head, temporarily stopping himself from continuing to think, slowly stood up, and said softly: "Mom, if it's uncomfortable to talk about these old things, then don't say it for now."
Wu was slightly startled, then smiled bitterly and said, "I've already said that my wife is your biological mother. I'm just a helpless maid taken in by the Zhang family. I'm just an outsider who watched you grow up in her place. Why do you still call me mother?"
Seeing that Zhang Shou didn't say anything, she couldn't help but bury her face in her hands with tears streaming down her face.
"After Yingying went to the village, I kept asking myself, if I hadn't had a change of mind back then, I would have always wondered if the Duke of Zhao's Mansion would have doubted my daughter's background and wanted to take her away. Maybe I could have let you grow up in the Duke of Zhao's Mansion. If I hadn't found that you were getting sicker and sicker as you studied, and hadn't driven away the enlightenment teacher in a rage, people from the Duke of Zhao's Mansion wouldn't have stopped coming..."
"If Yingying hadn't recognized your goodness the first time she saw you, wouldn't you have been kept in the countryside all this time? But I was really scared, so I tried my best to tell the people in the village that if they saw you going out, they must stop you and send you back. I was afraid that my wife had tried her best to keep her most precious son, but he was lost right under my nose..."
"Mom, don't say any more. What happened in the past is in the past."
Zhang Shou interrupted Wu's self-pitying words in a deep voice, and then said word by word: "The grace of giving birth is naturally as heavy as a mountain, but the grace of raising me should not be forgotten either. Mother, I will go to worship my mother during the winter solstice this year. Do you remember what I said when you were worshipping your ancestors? I will try my best to live a wonderful life, and live up to the flesh and blood and life she gave me, and live up to this life."
Wu looked at Zhang Shou in disbelief. Seeing his clear eyes looking at her, his tone was firm and unquestionable. She was finally convinced that Zhang Shou had known her life experience when he returned to the village from the capital last time. But at that time, he still treated her the same as before and still kept saying that he recognized her as his mother! She tightly held Zhang Shou's hand and lowered her head and cried.
As for a son like this, my mother's spirit in heaven will always be watching over him and will not let him come to any harm!
