Chapter 60: Second Brother, the Former Crown Prince's Orphan
Pei Mansion.
Since Old Madam Pei is ill, Shen Yunshu has been going to Chunxuan Hall more frequently these days.
This morning, when Shen Yunshu went to pay her respects to the old lady as usual, she saw that the old lady's sickly face looked even more worried. Although the old lady didn't say it, Shen Yunshu knew that she was worried about her third son.
The Dali Temple just accepted the case the day before yesterday, and it was not investigated so quickly. Shen Yunshu did not dare to tell the old lady about this matter, but the old lady knew it very well, so how could she not guess it?
The old lady was so worried these days that she couldn't eat. She was only relying on some medicine to keep her alive. She was weak and her illness naturally couldn't be cured.
If this continues, I'm afraid my body will collapse.
Shen Yunshu wanted to find someone to discuss the matter, but her eldest brother, whom she could trust, had not returned yet, so she could only go to her uncle.
After hearing this, the eldest uncle was also extremely worried. "You and Xiaoqi had accidents recently, and now the third brother is missing. I'm afraid the old lady can't bear it, so it's better not to tell her about this."
"But my niece thinks Grandma has already guessed it. She hasn't eaten much these past few days," Shen Yunshu said worriedly. "Heart disease is hard to cure. We have to find a way to reassure her first."
"So, what do you think we should do?"
"I wonder if my uncle will imitate my father-in-law's handwriting and write a letter to my grandmother, at least to comfort her and help her recover..."
"I can't imitate Third Brother's handwriting, but there's someone who can..."
"Who is it?"
"My in-laws, your father..."
Shen Yunshu hadn't seen her third sister for several days, so it was a good opportunity to go back to the Shen Mansion to see her.
Pei Huaian wanted to go with her, but Shen Yunshu didn't let him. Knowing that he hadn't been able to concentrate on his studies these days because he was worried about his father, she asked him to go to Chunxuan Hall to spend more time with his grandmother.
Shen Yunshu returned to the Shen Mansion in the afternoon. At that time, her father was still in the government office and had not returned yet, so she went to her third sister's yard to wait.
The two sisters chatted and exchanged what they had seen and heard in the past few days since they last saw each other.
Shen Yunshu said to her, "A few days ago, my aunt sent someone to ask you to go back. You didn't go back, which was quite embarrassing. So my grandmother called me over, hoping I could mediate and persuade my aunt to send the girl from the Meng family back..."
"When Madam Zhang came to invite me that day, she also said that we could talk about taking a concubine later. I knew they were all playing tricks on me. I was just a little slow-witted, but I'm not stupid..."
Shen Yunshu rubbed her sister's head: "Who said you are slow in thinking? You just don't like to use your brain."
Shen Youran propped up her chin: "Sister, there is something that has made my brain spin like smoke, but I can't figure it out..."
"What is it?"
"It's that young master who's not that bad. Sister, do you know that his eyes have been painted, and they're exactly the same as Daddy's eyes..." Shen Youran told her about the portrait and her father's recent abnormal behavior, and then expressed her own speculation, "Sister, I suspect he is Dad's illegitimate child."
"Probably... maybe not." Shen Yunshu had already raised suspicions about the young master when she accompanied her sister to the Dali Temple to assist with the investigation. While the Dali Temple officials were ostensibly tracking down the gang of criminals, they were actually more concerned about the young man. "Do you remember when we were at the Dali Temple last time, Lord Xiao asked you if you had ever been to the palace as a child? I suspect the young man is a noble from the palace who's been living away from home..."
"Someone from the palace?" Shen Youran covered her mouth in surprise and whispered, "Could it be Daddy and a certain Empress from the palace..."
"You little head!" Shen Yunshu nodded her forehead with amusement, "Don't think of anything outrageous. Daddy is not that kind of person."
"Then why did mother insist on divorcing father back then? Mother is such a good person, father must have done something to let her down."
"I have also asked my mother about this question, but she refused to say. However, it seems that my father did something that my mother could not accept..." When her parents divorced, Shen Yunshu was six years old, just at the age when she began to remember things. When her father and mother discussed taking a child away, Shen Yunshu heard those words and also heard her father apologizing to her mother.
But when she heard that her father was going to take her away, she panicked and didn't hear why her father apologized to her mother.
When dusk fell, Shen Tingyu came back from his shift and learned that his eldest daughter had also returned. He was so anxious that he did not even change his official robe and went to see his third daughter in her courtyard.
"Shu'er, why are you back too?" The eldest daughter is gentle and sensible, why is she back to her parents' home?
"Dad, don't think too much," Shen Yunshu welcomed her father in, "I came back because I want to ask you for help..."
"What's up?"
"Something might have happened to my father-in-law..."
Shen Tingyu’s expression changed.
Shen Yunshu explained the whole story to her father, then took out several letters she had sent from Quanzhou and explained her purpose: "Grandmother is so worried about this that she's fallen ill. I heard from my uncle that you can imitate my father-in-law's handwriting. Could you please help write a letter to tell Grandmother that she's safe..."
"Writing a letter is a small matter. I'm just worried that something really happened to your father-in-law." Shen Tingyu frowned, "I wrote him a letter two days ago, wanting to discuss an important matter with him. Sigh..."
Seeing her father's serious expression, Shen Yunshu asked with concern, "Dad, have you encountered any difficulties?"
"I can't tell you about this right now. You Ran, go get some writing materials. I'll write a letter for your sister first..."
However, before Shen Youran could tell Dan Ruo to get some writing brush and ink, she saw Dan Ruo come in and report, "Master, Miss, Miss, the doorman just came to tell us that Master Pei San is here."
Um?
Who is coming?
Master Pei? Did they hear correctly?
The two sisters were still confused, but Shen Tingyu had already put down his pen and strode out.
Shen Yunshu pulled her sister and followed.
The father walked very fast. The two sisters held hands and jogged along, following their father to the flower hall in the front yard.
It was dark at that time and glass lamps were burning in the flower hall. As soon as I approached, I saw two figures inside.
Shen Youran couldn't see clearly, he could only vaguely see one person sitting and one standing, and the standing person looked burly and strong.
As soon as Shen Tingyufang walked to the stone steps at the entrance of the flower hall, the man sitting there stood up and greeted him: “Brother Tingyu!”
"Brother Yuanzhou!" The two men in their fifties seemed very excited.
Shen Yunshu was puzzled: Hadn't they been at odds for years, only reluctantly reconciling before their wedding? When did they become so close?
"Brother Yuanzhou, I just heard from Shu'er that you've been missing for several days, and I'm worried..."
"It's a long story. I'll tell you in detail later." Pei Yuanzhou couldn't wait to pull him into the hall. "Brother Tingyu, I brought someone back with me. You definitely won't guess..."
Shen Youran walked in with her sister and saw clearly that the burly man actually looked so sturdy because he was wearing a fur half-back.
Such a familiar half-back of fur.
Shen Youran froze in place. When the man turned around, she was so shocked that she almost lost her balance: "It's you?"
He was the young leader of the bandit den, his name seemed to be Lu Ge'er.
When the other person saw her, his eyes avoided her.
The next moment, he was hugged tightly by his father.
Shen Youran heard his father's choked voice: "Son! My good son! You are really still alive..."
The two sisters looked at each other, and Shen Youran couldn't help but ask Master Pei: "Uncle San, does my father really have an illegitimate child?"
"What illegitimate child?" Pei Yuanzhou laughed, "He is your second brother."
"How is that possible?" Although she had rarely seen her second brother, she still remembered what he looked like. "My second brother doesn't look like him."
She and her second brother are twins, a boy and a girl, but for some reason, other twins always look similar, but she and her second brother don't look alike at all.
But she never doubted it. After all, they came out of their mother's womb together, so it couldn't be wrong.
I didn't expect that a second brother would show up today, and he's a bandit.
Shen Youran couldn’t accept it: “What the hell is going on?”
After the two elders calmed down, they dismissed the servants in the courtyard, closed the door of the flower hall, and then explained to the three children with serious expressions.
"This matter began thirteen years ago when His Majesty deposed the Crown Prince..."
Thirteen years ago, Shen Tingyu was still a member of the Ministry of Revenue, and Pei Yuanzhou had not given up literature to go into business. They were both staff members of the former crown prince.
The former prince's wet nurse was bribed and fabricated false accusations against him, falsely accusing him of treason. In the face of numerous witnesses and evidence, the prince was unable to defend himself and was deposed from the throne by His Majesty, demoted to the King of Qi, and imprisoned in an imperial estate outside the capital.
Fortunately, before the former prince fell into the quagmire, he used his last few bits of strength to pull Shen Tingyu and Pei Yuanzhou out, saving them and preventing them from being implicated.
Half a year later, a fire broke out at the imperial farm, and the deposed prince and his wife, along with everyone else at the farm, were all burned to death...
"A group of assassins set the fire first and then killed people," Shen Tingyu recalled the events of that year, his face filled with grief. "When I led my men to the scene, we only had time to rescue the Crown Prince's four-year-old son and hid him in our own farm. Changyu and Youran were also there at the time. When the assassins came, they mistakenly captured Changyu, who was also four years old..."
No wonder, no wonder that in Shen Youran's memory, her second brother, who had always been a good playmate, suddenly fell ill and refused to see anyone when he was four years old. Later, he was sent to Quanzhou by his father for "treatment."
"So, the second brother who is studying in Quanzhou is actually the orphan of the former crown prince?"
"No," Shen Yunshu answered her, "the one studying in Quanzhou is not the former crown prince's orphan."
When Shen Yunshu heard her father talk about the fire, her heart sank, remembering that Pei Huaian had been frightened by the fire and had nightmares for several days.
Then she remembered that when she wanted to betroth her third sister to Pei Huaian, her father disagreed and blurted out a sentence.
My father said that my third sister...is not worthy of Pei Huaian.
But at that time, no matter their family background, appearance or personality, the two of them were clearly a perfect match. She really couldn't find any reason why her third sister was not worthy of Pei Huaian...
Thinking further, the grandfather who was confused before said that his youngest grandson liked to eat pomegranates, but Pei Huaian said that he didn't like to eat that thing at all.
She had also heard Pei Huaian tell her an interesting story. He said that the reason he came back late on the wedding night was because he was taken away by his grandfather to study. His grandfather had once been a teacher to the crown prince...
Shen Yunshu looked at Mr. Pei San, her voice trembling slightly: "The one studying in Quanzhou is not my second brother, but your son..."
Pei Yuanzhou nodded.
"And the Seventh Young Master of the Pei Mansion is the true orphan of the former Crown Prince..."
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