After a sumptuous dinner, he sent Zhu Ying away who was in high spirits. When Zhang Shou closed the courtyard door, he couldn't help but smile when he thought of Zhu Ying's interest in matchmaking just now. You know, during dinner just now,
After discussing with Zhu Ying, he discovered a problem. Zhu Ying did interact with some rich ladies on weekdays, but... those girls were too high-level!
In other words, if Zhang Chen is destined to inherit the title of Duke of Qin, then he will be a natural match for these famous daughters, and whether it is Lu Sanlang, Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu or even others...I'm sorry, their family backgrounds may still be
It's enough, but they are not the eldest sons in the family, nor are they the most respected sons. They have no fame or family background, and most of the wealthy ladies look down on them.
Therefore, Zhu Ying, who rarely attends garden parties, tea parties, flower viewing, etc., has decided to take the initiative. As for those wealthy ladies who she gets along well with, she also plans to go and find out more about them - after all, Lu Sanlang is now
Maybe some people will like this talented little fat guy who was praised by the emperor himself?
The more he thought about it, the more interesting he became. Zhang Shou couldn't help but murmur to himself: "I really don't know what those people who used to just send messages to Zhao Guogong's house routinely did when they saw Yingying coming to attend some autumn flower appreciation party.
What’s the reaction…”
"Ah Shou."
Hearing the sound, Zhang Shou quickly turned around, only to see Wu standing behind him. He quickly said apologetically: "Mom, it's rare to take two days off from bathing, so I left you alone at home while I went out to play with Yingying.
Sorry, I'm really sorry for you."
"You have grown up and have so many things to do. I don't expect you to stay at home with me all day long. A man should have his ambitions in the world. But you said you were taking Yingying out to enjoy the autumn.
But I just heard you two talking. This trip was not to go sightseeing, but to take risks and lure snakes out of their holes?"
Zhang Shou had never seen Mrs. Wu with such a cold face, and he immediately screamed inwardly. He was about to explain, but Mrs. Wu said angrily: "Do you know how hard it is for you to get this life, why are you willing to give it up?"
Taking risks again and again? If something happens to you, what kind of face do you want me to face...your mother?"
Mrs. Wu paused for a moment, then finally said those two words. Seeing Zhang Shou's expression gradually changing, she smiled bitterly and said: "If I had known earlier that you were not just going to enjoy the autumn with Yingying, but
Are you using it as bait? I will never let you out! You are old and I can’t control you. There are some things and now is the time to tell you."
Seeing Mrs. Wu holding the lantern, she stretched out her hand to hold him involuntarily. Zhang Shou suddenly had a hunch. After Concubine Yu told him the truth about what happened back then, Mrs. Wu was probably ready to tell him too.
That part of the truth she knew.
Sure enough, before entering the main room, Mrs. Wu saw Ah Liu driving Yang Hao and Zheng Hu back to the room with their heads hanging out. She didn't care and directly pulled Zhang Shou through the door. After crossing the threshold, she put the hand in her hand
The lantern was handed to Zhang Shou, and then he closed the door himself and unlatched the door. Then he turned around and looked directly at the handsome young man under the dim light in the room.
Even though she didn't know how many times she had carefully looked at his handsome face when he was sleeping, she just couldn't get enough of it, and it was the same now. She even couldn't help but want to reach out, just like she did when she was a child.
He touched his chin and eyebrows, but in the end his hand still stopped in mid-air.
"Ah Shou, do you know? It's your mother's hard work that allowed you to be born in this world." She paused and her voice suddenly dropped, "When you were young, many people in the village had private discussions about it.
, to say that an ordinary woman like me can give birth to a son like you who seems to be the most beautiful person in the world, either your father is too outstanding, or I am very lucky."
Seeing that Zhang Shou seemed to be in a daze, Mrs. Wu dragged her legs, which were like lead at the moment, to the edge of the chair step by step, and sat down slumped: "Actually, I am not your biological mother at all, so you are not like
I. I am weak and incompetent. If I hadn’t been taken in by my wife, I would have starved to death on the roadside. But you inherited my lady’s temperament of being responsible and daring to fight, and that’s why we are where we are today.”
Although he had already heard the story of his mother, Widow Zhang's final days, from Concubine Yu, Zhang Shou still felt a little dazed when he actually heard Wu, another person involved, mention it. He didn't say anything, but spoke slowly.
He slowly stepped forward and stood silently in front of Wu. Wu did not raise his head and just continued to talk to himself.
"Outsiders call my wife Widow Zhang. Of course her surname is not Zhang. Her surname is Zhang, your father Zhang Xiucai. When my wife took me in, he was preparing to study and take the exam. The couple lived a happy life."
"Zhang Xiucai was a promising scholar. His parents were both dead, but he was admitted as a scholar at the age of eighteen. When he saw a lady wearing sackcloth and mourning in mourning while passing by, the lady who had just finished her father's funeral threw herself with a sickle and tried to get her married.
When she met an elder of the clan, he was immediately attracted to her, and finally succeeded in marrying her back. One of them is kind, the other is kind, and they are both the best and good people."
Wu looked up at Zhang Shou and saw that there was no emotion or anger on his face, and he was just listening to her words attentively. She felt very relieved.
"I told you that I had a weaving workshop at home, but that was actually a lie. When I was at home, I learned embroidery, but that was because my family was too poor. If I didn't work, I would be beaten and starved. If I hadn't
I worked hard to learn embroidery, but my biological parents sold it to me a long time ago. But even if my embroidery skills could support the family, after the snow disaster, the house collapsed and I was the only one left alive."
"My wife was kind enough to take me in, so naturally I tried my best to repay you. I can do housework and cooking, and I also learned darning, seaming, and dyeing from her. She relied on her embroidery workshop, working hard every stitch.
I worked hard to make money to support this family and prepare for your father, Zhang Xiucai, to take the exam. When I found out that I was pregnant with you, I made an agreement with Zhang Xiucai that both men and women would be named A Shou."
"But no one expected that Zhang Xiucai contracted a cold while preparing for the exam, and was delayed by quack doctors. He passed away in just half a month. The neighbors said that the mother-in-law was too tough to kill her, but she didn't cry or make trouble. She said she was heartbroken.
Tears are not good for the fetus in her belly, and she is even more sorry for her husband who has always loved and protected her. However, no matter whether it was her husband's family or her mother's family, she would not give in."
"I really didn't expect that she would leave me to embroider a wedding dress customized by someone else at a high price, and when she went to the temple to pray for the child who was about to be born, she would encounter such a huge mess. When she took those two
When the lady came back covered in blood, I was almost petrified. What I didn't expect was that the three of them were going into labor one after another, but the woman was very drunk."
At this point, Wu was shaking violently all over and could hardly speak any more.
Through her words, Zhang Shou gradually carved out the image of a tough and kind-hearted mother in his heart. He knelt down and put his hands on Wu's knees. The next moment, Wu suddenly looked up at him, and then stretched out his arms.
He reached out and hugged him tightly.
"Ah Shou, my wife desperately urged the drunk Wen Po to operate a knife on her body, and then you were finally born safely! You don't know how chaotic it was at that time. The two ladies gave birth to daughters.
But because Wen Po was so confused that she couldn't even tell who had given birth to whom. When the people from Zhao Guogong's palace came to find her, she almost went crazy with anger!"
Hearing that Mrs. Wu only said they were two ladies, Zhang Shou had a vague guess that Mrs. Wu didn't know the identity of Concubine Yu. But when Mrs. Wu actually told him that after Jiuniang and Concubine Yu gave birth to a daughter,
, it was difficult to tell who was who, and he couldn't help but be stunned.
This means that between 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 Madam Tai had hinted to him that the so-called marriage contract was not written in stone. One party was him, and the other party could be Zhu Ying or Princess Yongping. Zhu Ying and Princess Yongping have disliked each other since they were children.
, is it possible that this is an innate bad fate? Or maybe Princess Yongping, who is obviously more delicate, has noticed this hidden secret, so she is hostile to Zhu Ying?
He shook his head, temporarily stopped himself from continuing to think, slowly stood up straight, and said softly: "Mom, if it's hard to talk about these old things, then you shouldn't talk about them yet."
Wu was startled for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "I have already said that my wife is your biological mother. I am just a helpless maid taken in by the Zhang family. I am just a substitute for her to watch you grow up.
I’m just an outsider, and you still call me mother?”
Seeing that Zhang Shou didn't speak, she burst into tears and couldn't help but bury her face in her hands.
"After Yingying went to the village, I kept asking myself, if it hadn't been for my misunderstanding at that time, I always thought that the Zhao Guogong Palace would think that my daughter's life experience was doubtful and want to take away the son, maybe you could grow up in the Zhao Guogong Palace.
If I hadn’t discovered that you were getting sicker and weaker as you read, and drove Mr. Enlightenment away angrily, I wouldn’t have stopped the people from Zhao Guogong’s residence..."
"If Yingying hadn't noticed your kindness the first time she met you, wouldn't it be that you have been delayed by me in vain since you have been growing up in the countryside? But I was really afraid, so I tried my best to tell the people in the village that if I found out
When you go out, I must stop you and send you back. I'm afraid that my wife's most precious son, who fought hard to keep her, will be lost under my nose..."
"Mom, don't talk anymore, the past is in the past."
Zhang Shou solemnly interrupted Wu's words that sounded like self-pity, and then said word by word: "Giving kindness is naturally as important as a mountain, but raising kindness is also unforgettable. Mom, I will go to pay homage to you during the winter solstice this year.
Mother. Do you still remember what I said when you paid homage to 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 him looking at her with clear eyes and a firm and unquestionable tone, she was finally convinced that Zhang Shou already knew his life experience when he returned to the village from the capital last time.
At that time, he still treated her as before, and he still kept saying that he was his mother! She squeezed Zhang Shou's hand tightly, lowered her head and burst into tears.
Such a son, the wife's spirit in heaven will definitely watch over him at all times and not let him be harmed in the slightest!