Upon hearing that guests had arrived, Zhang and Wenrou originally wanted to leave, but Shen Jiaojiao asked them to stay and see what was going on.
The three sat in the hall, and soon Chunhua led in an elderly lady with a full head of white hair, followed by two young men and women.
Although the old lady was of advanced age, she looked to be in good health and quite agile. She wore a brown silk dress with subtle patterns, very understated.
Upon entering the estate, he immediately spotted Shen Jiaojiao sitting at the front and bowed to her, saying, "Madam Wu, the wife of the Marquis of Cheng'en, along with her grandchildren, pays respects to Her Highness the Crown Princess!"
Madam Wu performed a half-bow, while her two grandsons behind her performed a full bow.
Shen Jiaojiao quickly told the three of them to get up and sit down. She was also puzzled, wondering why they had come to see her for no reason.
"I wonder what brings you here today, Madam?" I asked directly, not wanting to guess.
Wu, who had just sat down, stood up again, this time bowing deeply. Startled, Shen Jiaojiao quickly rose and helped the old lady up.
"Madam, please speak freely. Jiaojiao dares not accept such a grand gift from you!"
Wenrou quickly came over to help the old lady sit down.
Madam Wu glanced at Shen Jiaojiao and knew that she was a good person who spoke and acted with great restraint, so she decided to speak.
She fumbled in her bosom for a while, then suddenly pulled out a get-out-of-jail-free card and handed it over.
Shen Jiaojiao was startled. She had only ever seen such things on TV before, and this was the first time she had ever seen one in real life.
"Madam, what do you mean by this? I can't make this decision myself. If all else fails, perhaps I should take you to the palace!"
This usually involves a get-out-of-jail-free card, which would be a serious matter like beheading. Shen Jiaojiao felt that this matter was a bit tricky.
Madam Wu sat calmly, let out a sigh of relief, and said, "Your Highness, there's no need to be nervous. We have to go into the palace. Let me explain slowly."
Shen Jiaojiao sat down and listened to her talk.
It turns out that the Marquis Chengen of the Wu family can be traced back to an earlier generation of Marquis, namely Wu's husband, Zheng Ming.
The Zheng family was originally just an ordinary merchant family. Later, Zheng Ming saved the emperor and died protecting him from an arrow.
So the emperor at the time gave him a pardon, a life for a life.
He also bestowed upon his family the honor of Marquis Cheng'en. However, the Zheng family's foundation was already unstable. After Zheng Ming died, he left behind two sons. The younger son died early, and in the end, there was only one eldest son named Zheng Donghai.
Zheng Donghai is the biological father of his two grandsons. He is not good at business, but he likes to study. Unfortunately, he is not good at it and has failed the exams for many years.
Although he lacked ability, he picked up a whole bunch of the bad habits of a poor, pedantic scholar.
This time, her son Zheng Donghai encountered bandits on his way back from a poetry gathering. Then, a classmate and friend named Zhou Ran stepped forward and took the knife for him.
In the end, his classmate bled to death, asking Zheng Donghai to take good care of his son and daughter before he died.
Shen Jiaojiao was also confused when she heard this. Wasn't this a simple case of saving someone and repaying a debt of gratitude?
"Madam, it seems like we don't need a gold medal here, do we?"
Madam Wu sighed deeply, somewhat saddened: "If it were just helping to take care of the two children, that would be fine! The main problem is that my foolish son actually wants to marry my granddaughter to Zhou Ran's son, and then wants my grandson to marry Zhou Ran's daughter!"
"Huh? Is there something wrong with this?" Shen Jiaojiao asked curiously.
Although the idea is to repay a life-saving debt with one's body, this kind of approach was still common in ancient times.
This time, tears streamed down Wu's face. She was both angry and furious: "If the other party's character were even remotely decent, I would let it go."
“I’ve personally inquired about it. Zhou Ming is 19 years old this week. At such a young age, he’s indulging in all sorts of vices! He has no land at home and spends all his time messing around outside. My Xue’er has been raised by me with great care since she was little. How can she marry such a person!”
Mrs. Wu held her granddaughter's hand, quite angry.
"As for Zhou Xuan, she's 17 and doesn't know anything. My family isn't the kind of people who care about looks. Zhou Xuan's behavior is really displeasing to me. She was already engaged to a man from the same village, but when she found out that the player Zheng Xuan was already a scholar, she immediately broke off the engagement and came to my house to refuse to leave!"
"Now, our family is only good-sounding in name. To be honest, we're only slightly better off than ordinary families. After all, my unfilial son doesn't know how to do business and spends all the capital we left over from before every day."
It seems neither of them is a good match.
"Madam, haven't you considered giving them some money to settle things?" Upon hearing this, Shen Jiaojiao knew that this person was clearly not a good person and that she definitely couldn't marry him.
However, she didn't realize that she was being too naive; Madam Wu was far more ruthless than that.
"Your Highness, my family only has four people in total. To be honest, this token is of no use to me!"
“I plan to use this plaque to exchange for an imperial edict. Since my son Zheng Donghai was saved by Zhou Ran, and the other party’s children have no father because of him, he should repay the debt of gratitude!”
“Since that’s the case, I think it’s better to let him become the new father of the Zhou family’s children. I’ll pretend I don’t have this son, and my two children and grandchildren will be registered under the name of my youngest son who died young.”
"Anyway, I raised my two grandsons from a young age, and they can still live together now, so there's not much difference. We just need to separate Zheng Donghai from them."
Upon hearing this, Shen Jiaojiao was stunned. So, the other party didn't have a father, and sending a father over would repay the favor.
That's brilliant logic!
Zhang and Wenrou looked at the old lady with great admiration.
Having just gone through an unhappy marriage, Zhang wholeheartedly agreed with the old lady's words.
She liked the old lady too much; Zheng Donghai didn't sound like a good person at all.
Why should my child have to repay the debt I owe? And such a piece of trash at that! He doesn't care at all about the hardships my child will suffer in the future!
It's good to separate him from the family. That family doesn't look like any good people. The Emperor should issue an edict to prevent them from getting involved later!
"Your Highness, I think Old Madam Wu's approach is excellent!" Madam Zhang chimed in, praising her actions.
She has a daughter of her own, and putting herself in his shoes, she wouldn't want to marry her daughter to someone like that either.
After a moment of contemplation, Shen Jiaojiao asked the two people behind Wu Shi, "I want to ask you two, do you both agree with your grandmother's proposal? To register you all under the name of your deceased second uncle, and then separate your father from him."
Zheng Xuan and Zheng Xue came out and bowed.
"Your Highness, before the decision was made, Grandmother had already asked for our opinions, and we both agreed."
“If my father wants to repay his debt of gratitude, let him do it himself. My mother passed away early, and my sister and I were both raised by our grandmother.”
“My father never fulfilled any of his responsibilities as a father. It doesn’t matter whether he has a father or not.”
Seeing that the two people's expressions didn't seem fake, I decided to go find the Emperor.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
