Chapter 3 On our wedding night, you aborted my child, and then went to sea to do business?
The door slammed shut with a bang.
Upon hearing Zhang's words, Lu Zhaoruo slumped to the ground, pressing her hand to her abdomen. The bitter, fishy taste of that bowl of abortion medicine seemed to rise on her tongue again...
In her past life, the reason she endured thirty years of hardship and served the Shen family like a slave was twofold: first, her deep love for Shen Rongzhi, and second, her sense of indebtedness...
Zhang called her "unclean," which was a direct attack on that old wound...
Her father was a schoolteacher who ran a private school.
Shen Rongzhi was her father's student. The two studied together since childhood and had an extraordinary bond.
The Shen family was originally a merchant family, but it gradually declined by the time of Shen Rongzhi's father. By the time it was passed down to Shen Rongzhi, the family business had already declined.
When the two children were only eight years old, their father brought betrothal gifts to their home and arranged this marriage between them.
From then on, Shen Rongzhi studied at the Lu family's private school from the age of eight. Not only did he eat and live at the Lu family's house, but she also secretly gave him the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. When the Shen family was in dire straits, she also used her own savings to help them out.
When Lu Zhaoruo turned fifteen and came of age, Shen Rongzhi was not yet twenty. According to custom, a man can only have his coming-of-age ceremony and marry a new wife at the age of twenty. However, the two families had already arranged a marriage, so she had to wait for three years.
Finally, when Shen Rongzhi turned eighteen, the two families chose an auspicious date, and the wedding ceremony was to be held three months later.
But then, disaster struck—
She went to Jingci Temple outside the city to pray for Shen Rongzhi's parents and offer incense, but was kidnapped by bandits.
Before the bandits could touch her, she was defiled by another masked man. The man gave her the jade pendant he always carried and promised, "My lady, wait for me. Once I have finished my business, I will return and marry you in style."
She wanted to kill him, so how could she marry him?
She threw away the jade pendant and fled back.
But rumors were already rampant throughout the city, and the spittle could drown a person.
When she broke down, Shen Rongzhi gently comforted her, "Zhaoruo, I don't care about these things, the engagement remains unchanged."
She felt ashamed and unworthy of him, so she gritted her teeth and took the initiative to dissolve the marriage. She locked herself in her room for three months and decided never to marry again.
On the day of the engagement, Shen Rongzhi still arrived at the Lu family with a bridal sedan chair and music. He said affectionately outside the door, "I will marry no one but you in this life!"
A bittersweet feeling welled up inside her, yet it was also tinged with warmth. Her reputation was as important as a mountain, but he regarded it as nothing and insisted on marrying her.
What woman in the world wouldn't be moved by a man like this?
From that moment on, she was certain in her heart that he was the only one she could entrust her life to.
Unfortunately, she was already pregnant at that time.
That night, she sat alone on the wedding bed in her wedding dress. Zhang brought her a bowl of dark medicine and said, "If you want to be a daughter-in-law of the Shen family, you'd better get rid of this bastard."
She couldn't bear to part with it, after all, it was a life, but she also felt sorry for Shen Rongzhi and hated the man who had humiliated her that night. In the end, she held the bowl and gritted her teeth to drink it down.
The blood flowed like a basin, and the pain was so intense that I almost died.
For the next thirty years, she lived as if she owed the Shen family her life, working tirelessly and devotedly...
Outside the door, Shen Rongzhi shouted, "Zhao Ruo, I'm so sorry..."
She endured the abdominal pain and forced herself to open the door.
He was supposed to be dressed in his wedding attire and lift his veil when he came in, but instead he changed into a casual cotton robe and knelt on the ground.
His usually gentle and refined face was now filled with pain: "We've sold everything we could at home, and this wedding dress was even borrowed... Two hours ago, the imperial court suddenly lifted the sea ban, and the last ship from Jizhou Port left at dawn. The next time the sea is open... I'm afraid we'll have to wait three years!"
Lu Zhaoruo's voice trembled: "So you mean... you're leaving on our wedding night?"
Shen Rongzhi's eyes were red-rimmed, and he nodded heavily.
Lu Zhaoruo then asked, "Where did you get the permit to go to sea?"
Shen Rongzhi lowered his voice: "Just now... I was drinking with the third son of the Wu family, and he gave it to me."
After saying that, her voice suddenly rose: "If we can bring back camphor and pearls from this trip to Beiyi, we can make at least twenty times the profit. When we redeem our ancestral property, we will definitely let you wear gold and silver and become a glorious matriarch of the Shen family!"
Who goes out to sea to do business on their wedding night?
Lu Zhaoruo was definitely unwilling, her eyes filled with tears: "Husband, can I not go?"
Shen Shangzhi lowered his head: "Over the years, people have ridiculed me for relying on women for a living. I really can't swallow this insult!"
He suddenly looked up, tears welling in his eyes. "I only ask that you grant me this once, my wife. I swear I will return in glory. When that time comes, the shop will be thriving, and you will only need to manage the accounts. No one will dare to look down on us anymore. I, Shen Rongzhi, will definitely make sure you live a good life with my own abilities!"
Lu Zhaoruo clutched her cramping lower abdomen, her voice hoarse: "Are you really going now?"
"We have to leave!"
He answered decisively.
She stared at the crumpled sea permit he had clutched on the snow, swallowed a bitter taste in her mouth, and said, "Go."
Shen Rongzhi bowed and kowtowed, his head covered in blood: "Thank you, my wife. I beg you to fulfill my filial duty and take good care of my parents and elder sister."
He looked up, his gentle, jade-like face stained with mottled blood, his clear voice tinged with bloodlust: "I, Shen Rongzhi, swear to the heavens that I will never betray Lu Zhaoruo in this life!"
After saying that, he left without looking back.
Lu Zhaoruo's fingers gripped the door frame so tightly that she finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed onto the cold ground...
“Zhao Ruo”.
Suddenly, his final cry rang out amidst the wind and snow: "Wait for me to come back."
But this wait lasted a full thirty years...
Lu Zhaoruo thought to herself, he disregarded the shame of his ancestors and the opposition of his parents. He had always valued his reputation more than his life, yet he was willing to carry her into the family despite the gossip of the whole city. How could she not treat him with all her heart?
Looking back now, she realizes that she had only been married for three years when he brought his child with his mistress back for her to raise.
So in his second year at sea, he had an affair with another woman, completely disregarding the fact that he had a wife waiting for him at home.
The reason he married me was simply because he saw that I felt guilty and was willing to guard the house and serve my parents-in-law. To put it bluntly, he wanted to marry me to be a loyal and lowly maid.
Does it hurt?
It hurts like being pricked with needles.
The bond we shared growing up together meant nothing to him.
He said he "didn't mind" and showed affection, but it was all an act.
She saw him as someone she could rely on, but in the end, he only left her in the Shen residence, making her serve the Shen family diligently while being subjected to their cold words and abuse, while he went outside to marry, have children, and live a carefree life...
"Meow……"
A cat's meow pulled her back to reality.
It's Abao.
She looked around the room and suddenly remembered that every winter, Abao would always rush to crawl into her quilt and warm the cold bed.
She lifted the covers, and sure enough, Abao was curled up inside, still asleep.
On the third day of her marriage in her previous life, she found this dying kitten outside the courtyard gate. At that time, it was so thin that it was just a skeleton, and its cries were as weak as a mosquito's buzz.
She softened and took him home, naming him Abao.
Her eyes instantly filled with tears; in this life, A Bao was by her side.
Before she could pick up Abao, Abao jumped into her arms first, its fluffy little head trying to burrow into her neck, making "meow meow" sounds one after another, its tail tip wagging like a little windmill.
She hugged Abao tightly, feeling Abao's body temperature, and only then did she truly feel that she had been reborn.
After holding him for a while, she put Abao down, reached for the bronze mirror on the table, and saw that although she was still young and her eyes were bright, she couldn't hide the weariness on her face, her pale complexion, dark circles under her eyes, and her colorless lips...
The body beneath her clothes was extremely thin.
Fortunately, it can be raised back to health.
Remembering how she had suffered from illness and aged prematurely in her past life because of those ungrateful Shen family members, she stroked her face and said, "In this life, I will never give a single penny to the Shen family again!"
She needs to get enough sleep, eat well, and smile every day; she has to treat herself like a human being!
She picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote a 'Petition for Separation'.
After finishing writing, she lay down on her familiar bed and began to drift off to sleep.
In my dream, snow was falling heavily.
She saw a general clad in gilded fish-scale armor, his knees sinking into the thick snow, inching towards her, one step at a time, kneeling as he went…
She asked, "Who are you?"
The person stopped upon hearing the sound, looked up, and their eyes were filled with unbearable regret and pain.
She couldn't see his face clearly either.
"Mother..."
Suddenly, a very soft "Mother" entered my ears.
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