Chapter Thirty: Longing for Grandchildren

  "I know." Shen Zhongge had a severe headache.

  There are already five or six women at home, and it's still not enough to make a big fuss every day. The old lady is actually arranging another marriage for him!

  He never intended to remarry, and the reason he wanted to marry Chu Xinyi was to make her his legitimate wife, which also fulfilled his promise to marry her. As for socializing with his inner circle, Chu Xinyi's talents made her more than capable of handling such tasks. Just as he was about to express his intentions, Shen Zhong's words echoed in his ears again, and a hint of hesitation arose in his heart, "Shouldn't this matter be put off for now?"

  Seeing his gloomy face and lack of enthusiasm, the old lady waved her hand to let the people in the house retreat, and directly asked: "Has the divorce been discussed?"

  "No." Shen Zhongjie shook his head.

  "What?!" The old lady sat up straight, "......She actually disagreed?!" Remembering Zhen Shining's arrogance five years ago, her face suddenly darkened.

  If Zhen Shining uses her deadly skills, this matter will be a bit tricky.

  She Zhen Shiniang can afford to lose face, but the General's Mansion still has to save face.

  "Or else..." Seeing Shen Zhong's hesitation, the old lady was even more certain that Zhen Shiniang did not agree. She thought for a moment and then suggested, "Zhong'er, why don't you just ask His Majesty to grant permission to divorce her?"

  Nowadays, my daughter is a noble princess and my son is a renowned general with great military achievements. With such boundless blessings, I believe that as long as Shen Zhongjie speaks up, the Emperor will not necessarily continue to cling to the edict of the previous emperor.

  The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. The old lady continued to scold, "She has not given birth in five years. According to our Zhou Dynasty law, just this one point is enough for Qiang'er to divorce her!" Filial piety is the most important of all virtues, and having no children is also one of the seven reasons for a woman to be divorced.

  "It's a misunderstanding, Mother." Startled by the old lady's imposing manner, Shen Zhongge quickly regained his composure and shook his head repeatedly. "I thought she had blood deficiency and became thin as a skeleton, so I didn't mention it." It was a habit in Wutong Town to address one's mother as 'niang', which Shen Zhongge had been accustomed to since childhood, often using this term when they were alone.

  "...... She's got blood deficiency?" The old lady was also surprised, "How did she get it?"

  "I didn't ask." Shen Zhongjie told about what he had seen and heard over the past two days, "......the clothes on his body were all patched up, even more miserable than Li Guafu's life in our front yard back then." Li Guafu was Shen Zhongjie's neighbor when he was a child. Her husband was weak and sickly from a young age, and died less than a year after they got married. His family scolded her for being unlucky, drove her out, and her brothers were afraid of being affected by the bad luck, so they didn't dare to take her in. She made a living by doing needlework and mending clothes for people, and her life was extremely difficult.

  Shen Zhong was very young at that time, and every spring he could see her washing clothes for people by the icy river, with chilblains all over her rough hands, which left a deep impression on him for many years.

  Later, he passed the imperial examination and returned to Wutong Town as a top scorer. He found that the former courtyard had changed hands. After asking around, he learned that Li's widow had died three or four years ago. It was said that she fainted from hunger while cutting firewood in the mountains on a cold winter day and froze to death by the roadside.

  Zhen Shining has no mother's family to go back to. If they were to separate, would she become the second Li Widow?

  For some reason, whenever Shen Zhongjie thought of Zhen Shiniang freezing to death in the snow, his heart would inexplicably skip a beat.

  "He's being softhearted again." The old lady knew her own son best, and she sighed upon hearing this. "When does Bao'er plan on discussing this matter with her?"

  "Me..." Shen Zhongke's eyes were slightly confused, and he didn't know when it was suitable to talk.

  If Zhen Shining was a bit more overbearing and ruthless, he would have said something about divorce yesterday without hesitation. However, facing such a Zhen Shining, he really couldn't open his mouth.

  "I know, Shen Zhongge has never been willing to kick a man when he's down since he was young." Seeing him like this, the old lady sighed again, "It's just that this matter is not like others, and Shen Zhongge is no longer young. I'm hoping from the bottom of my heart that you can give me a legitimate grandson as soon as possible, so that the illegitimate child won't take over the family and be ridiculed by others." She looked at Shen Zhongge, "Shen Zhongge, don't get the wrong idea!" Her voice was gentle but unusually firm.

  "My daughter said so too. I'll go and talk it over with her in two days." For some reason, after making this decision, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

  Shaking his head vigorously, Shen Zhongge smiled at his mother and tentatively asked, "Mother, after the divorce, I don't plan on finding another one either. How about we just pick one from among the concubines?" Seeing the old lady's face sink, he explained, "You've also seen it, but with five women, the backyard is in chaos, making it impossible to scold or hit anyone. If there were one more, I'm afraid..."

  "That's unfair!" The old lady's voice suddenly rose high, "With the same identity as a concubine, why was she alone favored like that?!"

  Shen Zhong's mother was very filial, although she disagreed with remarriage in her heart, but seeing the old lady get angry, she didn't dare to say anything more and quickly shut her mouth.

  After a long while, the old lady advised earnestly again, “……The reason why your aunts will make trouble is that none of them are willing to obey others. In the future, when Gu'er gets married and has a legitimate wife status, as long as you don't favor concubines over wives, they won't dare to cause any more trouble.”

  "Mother..."

  "Wait, I disagree with you taking a concubine," the old lady interrupted Shen Zhongxiang. "It's not that I don't want you to have one, but these women are all of such low status, it's not suitable for our family. It's fine if they're just concubines, but as wives, absolutely not." She looked at Shen Zhongxiang with a deep meaning in her eyes. "Although you've become a general, this is all thanks to Xianger's efforts, and in the end, he's still someone without a solid foundation... If we can form a good alliance through marriage, our Shen family will be able to stand firm in the capital from now on..." The old lady, originally a peasant woman, didn't understand these intricacies of power balance, but she had learned them today at the Anqing Hou Mansion.

  Chen Zhong's face turned red, "Yi'er is also from an official family background."

  The old lady snorted, "A fifth-grade Tongzhengsi, how can it be compared to a Xiang'er!" Chu Xinyi's father was an official in the Tongzhengsi, "She is now just a concubine, and I heard that her brother is waving the flag of a general's younger brother-in-law outside, causing trouble everywhere. If she were to be promoted to the main wife, who knows what would happen?"

  These words also reached Shen Zhong's ears, and he frowned, "I'll let Yi'er persuade him." He forced a smile, "When Yi'er married me, I was only a sixth-grade official. To say the least, at that time, I was still above her social status."

  This is also true.

  The old lady's momentum went down.

  At first, Chu Xinyi was married down, no matter how much she disliked her, Old Lady Shen couldn't deny this point. Because Zhen Shiniang's father was guilty and feared that Shen Zhongge would be implicated, under the guidance of a superior person, Old Lady Shen hastily brought in Chu Xinyi with the ceremony of a legitimate wife, indirectly making it clear where Shen Zhongge stood. After the event, to contain the Chu family, she also proposed letting Chu Xinyi take charge of the provisions in the Zhuangyuan Mansion.

  It's easy to invite the gods, but hard to send them away. The original Zhū Xīnyí had taken over the mansion of the top scorer, and after all these years, it was still a bit difficult to get rid of her.

  The house was eerily silent.

  Seeing Shen Zhong's gloomy expression, the old lady also felt a bit discouraged. However, Anqing Hou's words echoed in her ears again, "Let Zhongshi go to Guozijian to borrow books for two years, and then find a real job in Hanlinyuan. With General Shen's reputation, he will become prominent in a few years..." Thinking of this, the old lady gritted her teeth fiercely.

  In any case, for her young son's future, she must bring about this marriage!

  "Xiang er......" After a long time of deliberation, the old lady finally broke the silence.

  Shen Zhong's disagreement with remarrying mainly stems from his desire to promote Chu Xinyi. It seems that she needs to tell him about some things Chu Xinyi has done behind his back over the years.

  "Ah!" The old lady was thinking about how to say it, but Shen Zhongge had already changed the subject. "I bought donkey hide gelatin for Mother, did she see it?" He also said, "...the Jianji Donkey Hide Gelatin in Wutong Town is a rare commodity, outsiders all say it's better than what's sold at Taiyi Hospital, I went twice before I could buy some."

  When Shen Zhongge changed the subject, the old lady sighed and scolded with a smile, "...... again harming Silver, my body is still strong, who needs this?" Her eyes narrowed slightly, "In our youth, when I worked in the fields with your father, all the young wives within several miles couldn't keep up with me..." As she mentioned her youthful years, a layer of radiance instantly appeared on the old lady's eyes.

  Seeing the old lady no longer bothering him, Shen Zhongjie's mood relaxed a lot. He picked up his tea and sipped it mouthful by mouthful, smiling as he listened to a story he had already heard hundreds of times.

  It's a bit late, I didn't start typing until after 7 o'clock.