Chapter 81: Does An An, your dearest, know that you are her father? ...

Shen Lianxiu collected her thoughts and asked Shen Wuyu again, "Have you not discussed any marriage proposals in the past few years?"

When Shen Wuyu came back, she listened to Chen's words and returned to the Chengguo Mansion, so Chen would definitely find someone else for her to marry. Shen Lianxiu thought she would listen to Chen, but Shen Wuyu did stay at home all the time.

"I used up all my energy telling that lie, but it still didn't work out." Shen Wuyu's face didn't show any sadness, just disappointment. "Why would I marry someone? Mother has always wanted to arrange a marriage for me, but I just don't want to. I just want to stay with the little tree like this forever."

"Have you ever thought about... going to see King Hui again?" Chen Lianxiu asked tentatively.

"He was the one who left me first, so why would I go looking for him again?" Shen Wuyu said, then suddenly glanced at Shen Lianxiu, leaned over and asked her quietly, "Didn't you also look for a brother-in-law?"

Shen Lianxiu then realized that Shen Wuyu was teasing her, and she was so anxious that she hit Shen Wuyu lightly.

This time, both of them laughed.

Just like when I was a kid.

Shen Wuyu hugged Shen Lianxiu from the side and said, "Sister, I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"

Chen Lianxiu turned her head away without saying anything, but she was still holding him.

"Sister, I was wrong. I will apologize to you and my brother-in-law."

"Why apologize to him?" Shen Lianxiu finally said angrily, "If I don't forgive you, I'll kick you out later."

Shen Wuyu's eyes gradually widened, and then began to fill with tears, and she hugged Shen Lianxiu and cried.

This time, Shen Lianxiu's nose also felt a little sour.

When Shen Wuyu finished crying again, she sat up straight and asked Shen Lianxiu, "Can you tell me more about the woman you mentioned to me last time?"

Shen Lianxiu knew that she was talking about Pei Ruoyan, so she sighed and began to tell Shen Wuyu about Pei Ruoyan's experience in detail.

Finally, Chen Lianxiu continued, "Before or after you, there are countless women like this. Pei Ruoyan is just a little special. She looks like you, so she has won more favor from him. But don't think that this is a sign that King Hui is still obsessed with you. We don't need to know what he is thinking. We just need to know that he is a bad man. The favor of a bad man is worthless, understand?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Wuyu gritted her teeth and said, "Of course I won't. He deceived me in order to avenge my brother-in-law and caused me so much harm. Now, it's because of his rebellion that the people are living in misery and my parents have died. I hate him so much!"

Just as she finished speaking, the little tree over there fell down. Shen Wuyu quickly stood up and was about to rush over to help him, but Shen Lianxiu held his hand and said, "Let him stand up by himself." She also told the maid not to help him either.

Xiao Shu rubbed his eyes. After a long time, he still didn't wait for Shen Wuyu. He saw An An looking at him strangely. Finally, he probably felt embarrassed and slowly got up from the ground.

Shen Wuyu breathed a sigh of relief, and then the two sisters looked at each other and laughed.

***

Because Shen Wuyu was here to stay, although Shen Lianxiu and Zhou Linjin had already made the decision, Shen Lianxiu still went to talk to Yang and Zhou Yishao. The two agreed without saying anything, but because of Shen Wuyu's past, they still had some grudges against her.

In addition, no one knew that Shen Wuyu had a son before, so now it was naturally impossible to hide it. Yang and Zhou Yishao discussed it and found out that Shen Wuyu originally wanted Zhou Linjin to be the adoptive father of her son, and their faces became even uglier. Shen Wuyu was also smart and knew that others might not like her, so she stayed in Zhuoxinzhai with Shen Lianxiu and did not go out, so as not to embarrass everyone.

About three or four days later, one night, Shen Lianxiu had just finished dinner with Shen Wuyu when she heard Zhou Linjin calling her from outside.

Shen Lianxiu had no choice but to go out.

Zhou Linjin pulled her to a secluded spot under the corridor and said to her, "We have the whereabouts of Shen Ji and Chen."

Shen Lianxiu glanced towards the house and said, "Let's go in and talk."

Zhou Linjin stood still: "Let's talk about it here. It will be the same if you go and talk to her later."

In the past few days, Yang and Zhou Yishao brought up the old matter again because of Shen Wuyu, especially Zhou Yishao said a few words to him. In addition, Zhou Linjin felt that he had to avoid suspicion with Shen Wuyu now, so he tried not to see her if possible. Even if Shen Lianxiu asked him to go in and talk, he didn't want to go in.

"Their bodies have been found. They were not far from the capital, heading towards Shouzhou. That gang of bandits was also taking advantage of the chaos to rob. They weren't very powerful before, so they've been wiped out. Fortunately, the weather has been cool recently, otherwise they would have been badly rotten." Zhou Linjin said, "It's hard to find out where they are in Shouzhou, but your sister is probably not lying."

After hearing this, Shen Lianxiu was silent for a while and asked, "How did you deal with it?"

Zhou Linjin understood that she was asking about Shen Ji and Chen, so he said, "Buried them on the mountain. A wooden tablet was erected as a monument. The location is also remembered. We'll talk about it later."

Shen Lianxiu nodded.

In fact, for her, it didn't matter whether she knew it or not, but she still had to tell Shen Wuyu. If her body was exposed in the wilderness, Shen Wuyu would definitely not be able to bear it.

After all, they were people she had once been with, and Shen Ji was even her blood relative. Although they had severed their relationship, his death was too miserable, and she couldn't bear to see him.

Zhou Linjin's way of handling the matter was considered to be extremely benevolent, and Shen Lianxiu was very satisfied.

She was about to go inside and tell Shen Wuyu, but Zhou Linjin stopped her again.

He stepped forward, took her hand, and whispered, "Ayuan, you've been talking and laughing with your sister these past few days. Can you please forgive me as you did to her?"

Shen Lianxiu glanced at him, pulled her hand out of his, and said lightly: "She is my biological sister, who are you?"

"I..." Zhou Linjin's tone was stuck, and his voice, which was not loud to begin with, became even lower. "I am An An's father."

"An An doesn't even want to see you these days," Shen Lianxiu said with a half-smile, intending to tease her. "Does An An know that you are her father?"

"A Yuan." Zhou Linjin had no choice but to call her.

Chen Lianxiu didn't respond.

"A Yuan," Zhou Linjin called her again, "If it weren't for An An, would our lives be like this?"

"Without her, I wouldn't have come back at all."

Zhou Linjin didn't say anything for a moment.

After these days, he thought Shen Lianxiu's heart would soften a little, but he didn't expect her answer to be so direct and merciless.

He would rather she said one thing and meant another.

So Zhou Linjin still didn't give up, and said: "Ayuan, when you gave birth to Anan, wasn't it..."

"No," she interrupted Zhou Linjin before he finished speaking, "It's because I want to have a relative to accompany me, and I can also accompany her. Since I was ten years old, I haven't felt the feeling of having my loved ones around me."

After Shen Lianxiu finished speaking, he lowered his eyes.

Although these were all true, she didn't think about them often. But when Zhou Linjin asked her, she somehow had to say them out loud.

Immediately, she didn't want to stay here any longer, and without caring about Zhou Linjin, she turned around and went in.

Zhou Linjin stood there for a while, his expression gradually becoming gloomy.

***

After learning from Shen Lianxiu that her parents' remains had been found, Shen Wuyu cried bitterly again.

But because she already knew they were dead, she could accept it. She felt better after crying this time. She just remembered the burial place and waited to pay tribute or remove the bones in the future.

Shen Wuyu had mentioned to Shen Lianxiu several times that she wanted Zhou Linjin to send someone to send her back to her hometown in Shouzhou, but the current situation was chaotic. Even if she could be allowed to leave the city, it was hard to say what she would encounter along the way, so she had to give up for the time being.

Besides, Zhou Linjin has hardly been seen recently. I heard that King Hui's army is getting closer and closer to the capital, and a fierce battle is about to begin.

Chen Lianxiu was not completely idle in the Duke's Mansion. Although the Mansion had enough food, it was unpredictable how long it would take once Prince Hui's army surrounded the capital. He had to be frugal and budget carefully, after all, there were so many people in the Duke's Mansion.

Chen Lianxiu and Zhou Yishao would count the grain, oil, rice and flour in their home every day. They would go in the morning to arrange everyone's portions, and in the evening to see how much was used in the day, and then roughly estimate what was needed for the next day, so as to minimize consumption.

As for meat and vegetables, Chen Lianxiu had already had a lot of chicken, duck, and pork pickled in advance. Fortunately, the weather was gradually getting colder, so storing them was not a problem. He also bought some chickens and ducks to raise, but the city was already in a state of depression when he bought them, so there were not many. He distributed them to each courtyard to raise them and decide when to eat them.

There are enough fish and shrimps, because there are several ponds in the Duke Cheng's Mansion, which were originally stocked with fish and shrimp fry. However, they were almost never eaten before. The masters would just fish or fish for them when they remembered, and now they come in handy.

It was already late when Chen Lianxiu and Zhou Yishao finished ordering their food that day.

Although there are enough things, they are only used and not replenished, which makes me anxious.

Zhou Yishao couldn't help but ask Chen Lianxiu: "What do you think we should do if we really finish eating it?"

"The emperor is still in the palace, it's impossible..." Chen Lianxiu blinked and didn't say anything else.

"Alas," Zhou Yishao understood what she meant and sighed, "We were so busy back then. Otherwise, we should have dismissed some of the people or sent them to seek refuge in the countryside. Why keep them here with us? It's not to save on food, but if King Hui entered the city, our mansion would be doomed."

Chen Lianxiu was silent for a moment and said, "Don't think about it. Take care of the present first. Even if you leave, you may not be able to escape. Didn't my father and stepmother die on the road?"

Seeing that Zhou Yishao was tired and anxious, she asked him to go back first and stayed to estimate the share to be distributed tomorrow.

The storehouse of the Duke's Mansion looks full, but there will always be a day when it will be eaten up.

After Chen Lianxiu finished counting, he was about to go out and lock the door, but saw Zhou Linjin coming in from outside.

She hadn't seen him for several days, and was taken aback at this moment. She blurted out, "You're back."