Chapter 18: No Tomorrow

  Sheng Siyan lowered her eyes and thought to herself: A school like this? I'd rather not attend...

  She propped her head up with her hand, staring blankly ahead as if deep in thought, actually racking her brains on how to drop out of school.

  Miss walked in with a smile and said: "Mrs. Zheng is a kind-hearted person, it's because of her kindness and good intentions that you girls have the opportunity to go to school."

  The students in the classroom nodded one after another, showing their agreement.

  The female teacher looked at everyone with satisfaction and said, "I have some good news to share with you all. Zheng Dàniáng (Zheng's wife) is bringing her daughter to Wujiacun outside the city for a short stay. To show her support for Rongyu Girls' School, she has even offered to send her own biological daughter, Wu Dàjiě (Wu's elder sister), to our school for a half-year trial study!"

  "Ah! Miss Wu! Is it really the Miss Wu who has a pair of phoenix eyes and an aura of a saint?" Cow Siye beside her suddenly exclaimed excitedly.

  The lady nodded slowly and smiled: "Exactly."

  The classroom was in an uproar, even the most reserved girls couldn't help but join in with Niu Xiaoye, slapping their palms on their desks to express their heartfelt joy.

  Sheng Siyan looked at it with a puzzled expression and leaned over to ask Niu Xiaoye, "What's going on? What is this 'Chong Tong' thing?"

  "Are you really that clueless?" Niu Xiaoye expressed her surprise. But when Sheng Siyan asked her what it actually was, she didn't understand either, and scratched her head with all her might, saying: "I heard my older brother say that Zheng Dainai, also known as Zheng Erniang's sister, married the young master of the wealthy Wu family, and gave birth to a daughter. When she was first born, she was both blind and stupid, and the Wu family was very dissatisfied. Only Zheng Dainai didn't give up, and spent a year using her medical skills to cure her daughter. On the day her daughter opened her eyes, Old Master Wu personally said it was 'Chóng Tóng zhī xiàng', there's no way it could be wrong."

  "How can it be so powerful?" Sheng Siyan raised her eyebrows high, "I'd like to see it for myself." She was quite curious about the Reiki Tama, with two pupils in one eye, that's a deformity... how did it become sacred?

  Sheng Siyan felt that this Great Xia Dynasty was truly a strange place...

  Niu Xiaoye had attended a girls' school in Wangjiacun for some time and was also familiar with the situation in Wangjiacun. She knew that Sheng Siyan used to be blind too, and was cured by her mother, so she said: "Siyan, your mother is very capable. Your eyes were also cured by her. What a pity you are not a Rebirthed."

  Sheng Siyan:囧. She doesn't want that kind of deformed eye with two pupils in one eyeball, it can scare people to death at midnight...

  "Niu Xiaoye, you're talking nonsense again. Double pupils aren't that easy to come by! Do you think it's like picking a cabbage? In the Great Xia Dynasty of over a thousand years, only one person with double pupils has appeared, and that was Wu Dajie." The girl next to her gave Niu Xiaoye a displeased glance.

  "It's nothing, it's nothing. That thing is too precious, it's not something that ordinary people like us are lucky enough to get." Sheng Siyan said with a smile, pushing Cao Xiaoye's arm and winking her right eye, "Xiaoye you think too highly of me, I'm very happy!"

  Niu Xiaoye's anger turned into joy, and she leaned her head against Sheng Siyan's, vividly telling her all about the Wu family's affairs.

  The four big families in the Great Xia Dynasty were in a superior position, and ordinary people would not know the true situation inside those deep mansions, unless someone deliberately leaked it out to let others know.

  ……

  In Wujiacun, not far from Wangjiacun, Zheng Suhui was directing the servants to sweep the house, arrange the furniture, and prepare things for her daughter who would start school tomorrow.

  On the main road outside Wujiazhuang, a black horse came galloping, and it was Wu Changge, the young master of the Wu family, riding a fast horse with an anxious face from Beijing.

  He went out to deal with things for two days, and when he came back, he found that Zheng Suheng had moved to the villa outside the city with his children. He was so angry that his face turned green, and he didn't care about his concubine Zhang Niang's impending childbirth, hastily riding a horse to chase after them.

  He knew Zheng Su Yan's temperament well, always gentle and calm. Even if she was really annoyed, she would never speak ill of others, not even a single word in retaliation. She would only quietly slip away, hiding alone in an empty place to nurse her sorrow. But when facing people, she still wore an expression as if nothing had happened, like Mount Tai crumbling without changing its appearance, with the demeanor of a great general.

  Zheng Suxin was most heartbroken in the year Wu Juanjuan was born. At that time, she would often hide under the carved wooden bed and stay there quietly by herself for a while.

  But this time, she hid in a villa outside the city!

  This distance is much farther than the carved flower floor cover in their home.

  It can also be imagined how heartbroken she was.

  Thinking of this, Wu Changge's heart also felt uncomfortable.

  He wronged her. The three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the worst. Su Yan had not given birth to any more children since Yuan Er was born. His mother was eager to hold a grandson and with his father's tacit consent, she had been urging him to take Zhang Shi, a distant niece from Wu Lao Furen's family, as a concubine since last year. It is said that Wu Lao Furen had specifically returned to her maiden home to inspect the girl. The girl was well-bred and looked like a good match.

  Wu Changge was worried that Zheng Suhui would be sad, and he refused to do so. It wasn't until the beginning of this year that Zheng Suhui took the initiative to help him with the matter of taking a concubine, forcing him to take Zhang as his concubine.

  He had no choice but to spend one night with Zhang's wife, and that was it, mission accomplished.

  Madam Zhang indeed did not disappoint, she is a good breeder, just like Wu Changge in the same room once, immediately became pregnant. Now she has been pregnant for ten months and will give birth soon.

  At this time, Su Xian unexpectedly moved out of the city to live, in her heart, was she also very concerned about Zhang Shi? However, this concubine, he originally did not want to take in, although his parents urged him, but if Su Xian did not nod, he absolutely would not agree to let her enter the house.

  Wu Changge sighed inwardly as he dismounted his horse in front of Wu Family Village.

  One little fellow came and led the horse away, another went to call at the door.

  The gatekeeper heard that Mr. Wu had arrived and hurried over to kowtow, then went to the second gate to announce that Mr. Wu had come.

  Zheng Suxin heard that Wu Changge had arrived in the inner courtyard, smiled faintly, changed into a slightly more festive outfit, and came out to see him.

  Wu Changge took a step forward, holding her hand and said in a low voice: "Su Xian, let's go back."

  "I just arrived." Zheng Suhui scolded, "I've been working hard for several years, can't I even take a rest? Father and mother have agreed, but you're not willing to? You always say that you care about me the most, how come you don't even let me rest for two days?"

  "Hmm, are you really tired?" Wu Changge asked with a hint of doubt, his slender eyes slanted to look at Zheng Suhui, his eyebrows like distant mountains, his temples like knife-cut hair, and his complexion like spring dawn. He truly lived up to the reputation of being the number one handsome man in the Great Xia Dynasty.

  Zheng Suxin was startled by Wu Changge, and after a long time, he nodded: "Indeed, I'm tired. Besides, Zhangshi is about to give birth, and I've taken care of her for ten months at home. It's time for me to retire." After finishing speaking, she raised an eyebrow, glanced at Wu Changge, then quickly turned her head away, her shoulders slightly shaking. This remark was both dignified and slightly resentful, making Wu Changge feel a mix of emotions: heartache, warmth, and a hint of bitterness, all surging up in his heart at once.

  He silently walked over, hugged Zheng Suhui from behind, and rested his chin on her shoulder, saying in a low voice: "...... I will never betray you."

  Zheng Suxin thought of the pregnant concubine at home, with a hint of sarcasm and a slight curl of her lip, "......I believe you."

  Reminder to everyone: when reading new books, don't forget to vote. Even if you're saving up chapters, come and vote once a day. Look at my serious face. ←_←

  In addition, "the greatest of the three unfilial acts is to have no posterity" comes from Mencius·Lilou Shang. The annotation of "no posterity is the greatest" in Thirteen Classics Notes says: "There are three kinds of unfilial piety in etiquette, namely, flattering and following one's own intentions, trapping relatives in unrighteousness, which is the first unfilial act; family poverty and old age, not being an official, which is the second unfilial act; not marrying and having no children, cutting off the ancestral sacrifices, which is the third unfilial act. Among the three, having no posterity is the greatest."

  ……