Chapter 91: Auspicious Childbearer, Auspicious Husband, and a Suitable Home

Of course, General Huo here refers to Huo Zhenyue's grandfather.

If General Huo wanted to kill these night watchmen, he didn't kill them back then because he was afraid of attracting the attention of the government. Besides, he was far away on the front line, and many things were difficult to do.

So why kill him now? Huo Zhenyue has been dead for twenty years; any secrets he might have kept are buried with him.

Furthermore, who could help General Huo kill? With powerful families forming their own factions and military generals becoming increasingly rare, the second hypothesis is clearly untenable.

If we continue to deduce from the first assumption, it could be that Emperor Chang's forces, or the imperial court forces, killed these night watchmen, which would meet the conditions for committing the crime.

After all, several people had died in succession right under the emperor's nose, and the government couldn't find anything out. It seemed like there was some collusion among officials.

If the mastermind behind this is the imperial court, what kind of affairs could these night watchmen possibly witness?

Su Zhenzhen couldn't think of anything for a moment, and even the viewers in the live chat couldn't stay awake and went to sleep.

There was no other way; it would be dawn in just a few hours, so Su Zhenzhen simply took Chang Yuan to his house.

Of course, they still used the method of bypassing the Great Firewall.

As soon as they approached the bedroom, the snoring was deafening. It's a mystery how Aunt Ge could tolerate sleeping with two men who snore so loudly.

"Wait until dawn, then we'll take care of your funeral and bury you properly. We have limited resources right now, so we need to find out more clues to find out who killed you."

Chang Yuan, on the contrary, had a good attitude and said it was okay. Perhaps because he was a little bored, he even started talking to Su Zhenzhen about his childhood.

“When I was little, my dad often said, ‘Of all things, only studying is noble.’ He would take all the money the family had to pay for his studies. My grandma both loved and hated him. She would scold him for not doing his proper job, but in her heart she would hope that he could pass the imperial examination and come back to be an official, so that the whole family could rise to prominence.”

Su Zhenzhen was also a little bored, or more accurately, she was a little unsure of what to do next. She had absolutely no clue what to do, and clues couldn't just appear out of thin air, so she simply started chatting with Chang Yuan.

"Where is your biological mother? Why did she marry your father? According to you, your family shouldn't have been very wealthy back then."

Speaking of his biological mother, Chang Yuan became excited. "You don't know, my mother was a renowned lady in the area. My maternal grandfather was also a scholar, but unfortunately, the family couldn't afford to let him continue his studies. My mother was his only child, and to ensure that his talents wouldn't be lost, he taught her to read and write from a young age. It was precisely because of this that my mother fell for my father, a scholar. She felt that she couldn't have a proper conversation with others, but only my father could exchange poems with her. She also often urged me to study hard and improve myself. To supplement the family income, she often set up a stall in the alley to sell embroidery. Because her handkerchiefs were full of poems and songs, they attracted a lot of scholars, and the neighbors jokingly called her 'Poetry Lady'."

After hearing this, Su Zhenzhen had a question in her mind: "So your father just studies? He doesn't do any housework, and your mother sells handkerchiefs to supplement the family income?"

“My grandma does all the housework. Both my grandma and my mother say that studying requires you to get rid of all distractions, so they don’t let my dad or me get involved.”

Su Zhenzhen was speechless, but she could understand it. It was the way of thinking in ancient times: obey your father at home, obey your husband after marriage, and obey your son after your husband's death.

Chang Yuan seemed to notice the slight disdain in Su Zhenzhen's eyes, and quickly explained, "My father and I also said we wanted to help, but my grandmother and mother wouldn't allow it. They said we should study hard and hire eighteen servants to serve them when we become high-ranking officials in the future."

Su Zhenzhen laughed, "Your family seems quite certain that you and your father will both pass the imperial examinations and become high-ranking officials."

The joke in his words was quite obvious, but Chang Yuan replied with a serious expression, "When my mother was selling handkerchiefs at a stall, a fortune teller said that she had an extremely noble destiny, that she would bring good fortune to her husband and children, and that whoever married her would surely be a good wife and mother."

Su Zhenzhen was laughing so hard she couldn't live anymore. "Lucky for husband and children, a good wife and mother"? You already said he was a fortune teller, so he's just saying nice things.

Wait a minute, a flash of inspiration struck Su Zhenzhen, and she immediately thought of a crucial piece of information.

"Has your mother always had her stall in this alley?"

“No,” Chang Yuan said calmly. “To put it nicely, this alley is inhabited by scholars, but to put it bluntly, it’s not a wealthy or noble family. At first, the scholars would buy a couple of handkerchiefs as a token of their appreciation, and the neighbors would support each other, which was enough. But these things can’t be eaten, so my mother went to Zhuque Street to sell them. That’s where wealthy families live, and that’s where she met that fortune teller.”

Su Zhenzhen immediately pressed on, "Why did your mother die?"

Asking someone how their parents died is somewhat impolite.

Chang Yuan frowned slightly, but considering that Su Zhenzhen's identity was indeed extraordinary, he decided to tell the truth.

“It’s not far from my alley to Zhuque Street, but my mother is reluctant to spend money on transportation, so she walks every morning and evening. Sometimes when she’s running out of time, she finds a job as a kitchen helper in a restaurant and sleeps in the kitchen at night. The doctor said she got sick from overwork and depression.”

Overwork is one thing, but illness caused by accumulated stress is another. Su Zhenzhen couldn't help but think of the so-called imperial strategist who said that a noblewoman would give birth to a benevolent ruler for all time.

Changyuan's mother was selling handkerchiefs on Zhuque Street, a place where powerful and wealthy people gathered, and also the closest place to the palace.

The fortune teller said that she would bring good fortune to her husband and children and would be a good wife and mother. This news easily reached the ears of Emperor Chang.

Faced with a dynasty on the verge of collapse, could this supreme ruler of all people truly remain unmoved?

Not to mention, Changyuan's mother sometimes stayed out overnight. As for whether she slept in the kitchen of a restaurant or on the imperial bed in the palace, who could say for sure?

Perhaps her firm belief that her husband and son would achieve academic success was not because of the fortune teller, but because of the promise made by someone in power.

For example, if you give me a son, I guarantee your husband will pass the imperial examination with flying colors.

Of course, these are all just speculations. Even if Su Zhenzhen saw it with her own eyes, she couldn't speak ill of his birth mother in front of her son, even though Chang Yuan had a set of advanced values.

"After your birth mother passed away, did anything else happen in your family?" Su Zhenzhen skillfully changed the subject, afraid that she might blurt out all her guesses.

“What do you mean by ‘other things’? Without my mother’s help to support the family, my father couldn’t afford to go to school anymore. My grandmother felt that life couldn’t go on like this, so she arranged for my father to get another wife. Life continued peacefully like this after that. Then my grandmother reached old age and passed away peacefully, and my father died in depression.”