Shen Yu ultimately couldn't resist Zhu Laosan's persuasion and agreed to go to Dongyue with him.
Even now, Shen Yu still thinks that Dongyue is too remote, but Zhu Laosan's description is very interesting, so going there would be a good way to broaden one's horizons.
Completely unaware that he was penniless and had no acquaintances on the ship, he had no idea how he was going to survive.
It's fortunate that it was Zhu Feng and his group, otherwise this young master wouldn't even know he'd been sold out.
However, he was only naive for a few days on the ship. Once he set foot on the land of Dongyue, reality would teach him a lesson.
At this moment, the ignorant young man was lying in bed bored and thought to himself: his sister must be worried about his disappearance. He was the only male heir of the Shen family's main branch, and his sister had always doted on him. If she found out that something had happened to him, she would definitely be anxious. It was good that she was anxious, so that she would want to send him away. He shouldn't be in such a hurry to go back. He should scare her hard and make her regret it.
If his second sister finds out he's in trouble, she'll definitely go to find his older sister. When he gets back, he'll have to complain to his second sister and ask her to settle accounts with his older sister.
Meanwhile, Fang Shiyan was in a carriage with her two sons. Their destination was the Shen family's territory. They had set off the day after Shen Yu left, and they were almost there.
She gripped her eldest son's wrist nervously, a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
"Chunsheng, our lives will get better after we get through this. You must make your mother proud."
The mother and her two children were taken to the main house by Shen Ning and locked up for ten days. Although she felt that Shen Ning did not seem like a bad person, such imprisonment made her feel terrified.
Finally, just when she was about to lose her temper, Shen Ning came to see her. However, Shen Ning's attitude was somewhat cold, and his complicated gaze made people feel uneasy.
She asked, "Mrs. Fang, do you still want to marry Shen Changlin?"
Fang Shiyan hesitated for a moment, then answered seriously, "I don't want to marry him, but I chose to come to him because I had nowhere else to turn."
Fang Shiyan felt extremely distressed when she thought about why she had been forced to this point. Perhaps because Shen Ning seemed kind, she was willing to tell her what was on her mind: "Miss may look down on someone like me, but although I come from a brothel, I still want a stable home. Although life was poor after I married my husband, he treated me very well. We had a harmonious and loving relationship, and we were able to make a living by farming and weaving. But God was blind and took his life."
“We, a widow and her orphan, could have made a living, but the local thugs knew I came from a brothel, so they openly humiliated and harassed me, and secretly tried to humiliate me.”
“I was sold by my father when I was a child, and I had no choice in the matter. But now I am a respectable woman and a mother. I can’t let my son be ashamed in the future. After thinking it over, he is the only one I can turn to.”
"What I ask for is not to be the wife of the Shen family. I just want my son to have a clean identity, to be able to study, to make a name for himself, and to live an upright life."
She became increasingly emotional as she spoke, and tears streamed down her face, but her gaze remained firm and sincere; she did not utter a single lie.
Shen Ning sat there for a long time without saying a word, seemingly still undecided.
Fang Shiyan was so anxious that she knelt down before her: "Please, Miss, show me the way. I will repay your kindness even if I have to work like a cow or a horse for the rest of my life. Chunsheng and Qiusheng will also be forever grateful for your kindness."
Shen Ning was startled by her grand gesture and quickly helped her up.
"There's no need for that."
She gestured for Fang Shiyan to sit down: "I do have an idea, but it goes against human ethics and morality, so I don't really want to talk about it."
He then looked at Liu Chunsheng beside him and said, "I think you are a rough gem, but I don't like my second uncle and would never raise his son."
Shen Ning stepped back to create some distance: "I can give you a stable life, but on the condition that you can no longer be Shen Changlin's woman, and Liu Chunsheng... when you are included in the Shen family genealogy, you cannot be registered under Shen Changlin's name, and that cannot be changed for life."
Preventing Fang Shiyan from rekindling her old flame with Shen Changlin and preventing Liu Chunsheng from acknowledging his biological father is morally reprehensible anywhere.
Anyone who heard this would surely point their finger at her and curse her, and those intellectuals could drown her in their spittle.
Even though Shen Ning admired Liu Chunsheng's talent, she couldn't accept that after carefully crafting him, he would be registered under Shen Changlin's name.
So she gave the choice to the mother and son to decide for themselves.
She never helps people for no reason. If you receive a favor from her, how can you expect to get something in return?
If they were unwilling, she would naturally let them leave. In any case, whether the second wife had anything to do with her or not, she wouldn't get any benefits in the future.
Since the opportunity only came once, Fang Shiyan handed the decision over to her son.
She had received a man's wholehearted love and didn't care whether she would have another man in the future, nor did she necessarily want to stay with Shen Changlin. All she wanted to do for the rest of her life was take care of her two sons.
Liu Chunsheng clearly had no feelings for Shen Changlin. If his mother hadn't said that was his father, he wouldn't have called him that. In his heart, his father had always been that honest, simple farmer.
"I agree."
So they complied with Shen Ning's plan, and made a special trip to Shen Changlin, saying that they were going back to burn incense and pay respects to their deceased father. After burning incense, they said goodbye to the people and then boarded an inconspicuous carriage. The mother and her two children were escorted to the Shen family's old residence.
Fang Shiyan couldn't help but ask her son, "Chunsheng, when Miss Shen called you out alone, what did she say to you?"
Liu Chunsheng shook his head; he didn't know how to tell his mother.
He was called outside by the older woman, who asked him a question: "Liu Chunsheng, why do you study?"
He replied, "I study to understand principles, to pass the imperial examinations, to give my mother and younger brother a better life, and to prevent others from bullying me."
That's what he thought, and that's his answer.
Shen Ning smiled and nodded with a hint of satisfaction: "A young man should have lofty ambitions, soaring high in the vast sky. Liu Chunsheng, you have a long road ahead of you."
"I promised to send you there just to give you a chance. If you can pass my test, I can let you be recognized as a member of the clan and I can also help you in the future. But please always remember the pure heart you have at this moment. You are you, and it has nothing to do with what your surname is."
Shen Ning was never a heartless person.
As the eldest sister, loving the young, taking responsibility, and being tolerant are qualities ingrained in her. Shen Shu and Shen Yu have let her down, and she doesn't want to give anything more to anyone, but she still has a bit of a soft heart.
Fang Shiyan's unfortunate childhood does not mean she was a bad woman. During the years she married Liu's husband, she was a good wife and a good mother, and she had already been reborn.
Liu Chunsheng is a promising student and also carries the blood of the Shen family.
In their past life, they, along with their two children, died at the hands of Shen Ming. In this life, Shen Ning and her family have a sliver of hope for survival.
Change your own fate, and change theirs too.
She wanted to see where they could go in this life.
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