Chapter 52: You are destined to be childless
By midnight, Qi Shihua's husband's family, seeing that she had not returned home, ordered people to go to the county magistrate's office to look for her. Gao Li, upon learning that she had not returned home, was also worried and summoned the servants in the mansion to search for her.
They searched all night, and it wasn't until dawn that they found her body floating in a river far out in the suburbs.
Upon hearing this news, Gao Li couldn't help but sigh.
The next day, Jingwu took his two younger cousins to the martial arts school.
After a few tests, Yao Tao realized that Shao Chengyang was of average talent, while Shao Chengmin was very gifted.
Just as I was about to speak, the curator opened his mouth with a beaming smile.
"Both young masters are quite talented, so I've decided to accept them both. Miss, did you bring a change of clothes today? Are you coming to the academy today, or will you go home to pack your things and come back later?"
Yao Tao's lips twitched involuntarily upon hearing this. He hadn't said he wouldn't accept it, so why was the owner of the museum so eager to please him?
Jingwu didn't hesitate and said directly, "I'll take them back to pack their clothes first, and then come back tomorrow."
Then, she immediately took out her purse, pulled out fourteen taels of silver, and handed it to the person in front of her.
"This is the apprenticeship gift and the room and board expenses for this month. Let them try it out first."
The owner immediately smiled and accepted the money, saying, "Alright, we will definitely teach the two young masters well."
Jingwu nodded and looked down at his two cousins: "Are you going to stay here for a while, or come with me to South Street?"
Shao Chengyang immediately said, "Sister, I want to go with you."
Jingwu looked to the other side: "Chengmin, what about you?"
Shao Chengmin hesitated for a moment, then said somewhat awkwardly, "Sister, I want to stay here and watch them practice martial arts."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the curator began to speak.
“Young master, please stay here. Miss, you need not worry. If you are thirsty, we have tea. If you are hungry, we have snacks. If you are tired, you can sit for a while.”
Jingwu patted the head of the person in front of him and said with a smile, "Then you can stay in the building. I'll come pick you up later."
"Okay." Shao Chengmin obediently agreed.
Jingwu turned and exchanged a few polite words with the owner, then left with Shao Chengyang.
As soon as the two left, the owner immediately turned around, smiling broadly as he ordered tea and snacks to be served.
"Young master, where do you live? Is this your older sister?"
Shao Chengmin looked at him suspiciously, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "This is my cousin."
The curator said "Oh," and then smiled and asked, "Do you have a relative with the surname Yue in your family?"
Although he knew that the Yue family's relatives would never be dressed in burlap clothes, he still asked first, just in case they were distant relatives.
Hearing this, Shao Chengmin was very puzzled. He didn't have any relatives with the surname Yue in his family. Just as he was about to speak, he connected the two questions and instantly understood: there was a person with the surname Yue, and this person with the surname Yue was probably related to his sister in some way.
Thinking of this, he decided to play dumb: "I don't know, maybe I do, maybe I don't."
Upon hearing this, the curator's lips twitched slightly; it was no different from not answering at all.
He tried asking a few more questions, but found that the person in front of him knew nothing, so he gave up. It seemed that the person really didn't know.
On the other side, Jingwu took Shao Chengyang to South Street and started setting up a stall.
She went to a pastry shop, bought some pastries, and set them aside to eat while waiting for the right person to come.
A short while later, a portly man wearing a royal blue satin dress and a white jade thumb ring on his index finger walked over.
With a beaming smile, he placed a bag of pastries and candies with a small red sticker on the table as soon as he sat down.
"Master, I have a son. Come, share in the joy."
Jingwu looked at his face with a hint of surprise, then twitched the corner of his mouth and asked, "Are you a fortune teller?"
"No, no, no, I'm not here to have my fortune told. I want you to give my son a good name." The man turned the ring on his finger, handed her his son's birth date and time, and then said with a smile, "My big, chubby son weighed eight pounds at birth. His little hands were so chubby, and his face is exactly like mine."
Someone nearby recognized the man and said to his companions, "Isn't this Master Cui Sheng? I heard that his tenth concubine gave birth to a son for him a couple of days ago, and he's been distributing porridge outside the city every day. Have you gone to get some?"
"If you go too late, it will be completely sold out."
"Oh dear, that's such a pity. The rice that Master Cui used to distribute porridge was so fragrant."
The surrounding conversation reached Jingwu's ears. Looking at the merit surrounding the person in front of her, she twitched her lips and decided to tell him the truth.
"Judging from your face, you are destined to have no children, and the birth chart on this piece of paper has no relation to you."
"What do you mean?" Upon hearing this, Cui Sheng's smile froze. He blinked and looked at the person in front of him again, asking, "Master, what do you mean?"
"The son born to your tenth concubine is not your child. He was conceived through an affair between her and her groom cousin." As Jingwu said this, he thoughtfully set up a protective barrier.
"Impossible! That chubby boy weighs a full eight pounds, and his face looks just like mine. How could he not be my son?" Cui Sheng couldn't believe it and kept saying, "Master, are you kidding me?"
Jingwu's expression was serious as he earnestly said, "I never lie, and besides, you are destined to be childless."
Cui Sheng's face fell immediately. He and his wife had been married for more than ten years, and they had given birth to daughters one after another, but they could not have a son.
So he started taking concubines, taking nine in total, before finally having a son.
Now the master tells him that this son is not his son, and that he is destined to be childless. How can he accept this?
Cui Sheng wanted to doubt the fortune-telling skills of the person in front of him, but he knew that the person in front of him had successively settled matters concerning the county magistrate and the Wei and Shen families, so he must have real skills.
Seeing his unpleasant expression, Jingwu said again, "If you don't believe me, go back now, but don't enter through the main gate. Enter through the side gate on the west side. Sneaky into your concubine's room, and you'll see the three of them enjoying each other's company."
Upon hearing this, Cui Sheng jumped up and hurriedly tried to leave, but was blocked by the barrier.
Jingwu looked at him and said, "Pay the divination fee first."
Cui Sheng then realized what was happening, took out ten coins from his pocket, and placed them in front of her.
They continued walking out without encountering any further obstacles.
He hurriedly returned home and entered through the side gate as the master had instructed.
Sure enough, outside the concubine's room, they overheard her conversation with her lover. Indeed, the son belonged to the lover.
Cui Sheng immediately jumped up and summoned his servants to seize the two men on the spot.
After beating the adulterer half to death, he threw him, along with his concubine and son, to the authorities.
After the officials gave the two men eighty strokes of the cane and imprisoned them, neither the adulterer nor the concubine survived and both died in prison.
The child was adopted by a childless farming family.
After watching Cui Sheng leave, Jing Wu slowly unwrapped his pastries and handed them to the person next to him: "Try some."
Shao Chengyang took a delicate pastry and put it in his mouth: "Sister, that son really isn't his?"
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