Li Yunzhou was wiping the corners of her eyes, and paused when he heard this.
He knew that Shen Yue was discussing marriage, and he came today to tell her that Song Hongshen was a good candidate.
But when he met Shen Yue's burning gaze, his words got stuck in his throat.
When Li Yunzhou thought about the possibility that Shen Yue might marry Song Hongshen, have children, and no longer have any relationship with him, he felt that there was no hope or interest in the rest of his life.
Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, Shen Yue's eyes changed from full of hope to gradually dimming with disappointment.
Li Yunzhou only felt a dull pain in his heart, and all the things he had taken into consideration before were thrown out of his mind at this moment.
He took a step forward, leaned over and hugged Shen Yue, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"After the teacher finishes dealing with the Rong family, I will go and ask him for marriage."
Shen Yue was hugged by him, and her whole body froze in his arms.
What did he say? Propose marriage?
Then I heard Li Yunzhou continue: "I don't have any parents, so I can only ask the teacher for marriage myself. Please don't despise me."
Shen Yue shook her head, biting her lower lip tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. The words "no relatives" made her eyes sore.
Li Yunzhou lowered his head and kissed her forehead, choking with sobs as he said, "If I return safely from the Northern Frontier, I will definitely marry you in style."
If he couldn't come back, he would just pretend that Shen Yue had never been married. He would tell the teacher that there was no need to publicize this matter.
He still felt sorry for Shen Yue because she had to wait for him for a year or two.
"You're going to the Northern Frontier?"
Shen Yue broke free from his arms and looked up at her in surprise.
Li Yunzhou forced a consoling smile and said, "This matter is still in the planning stage. Don't tell anyone else."
Then he coaxed her softly, "I'll take you to the West Courtyard first. You wait there for Master's Wife to come back. As for the rest, I'll talk to the teacher."
Shen Yue didn't ask any more questions, but nodded solemnly and called Qiu Tong in.
Qiu Tong had already changed into clean clothes, and brought in another set of clothes for Shen Yue, and helped her to comb her hair and put on makeup again.
Li Yunzhou sent Shen Yue to the west courtyard before quietly leaving the Shen family. Shen Yue sat in the banquet room waiting for Su Qingyu, feeling extremely worried.
At this time, in the hall of the outer courtyard of the Shen family, Shen Zhiheng and Shen Zhishu were discussing Shen Wu's funeral with the Rong family.
Su Qingyu did not participate in this matter. As soon as she came in, she began to order the servants to serve tea and snacks. She then stood up and prepared to pour tea for several people herself.
Seeing this, Li Chaoyun hurriedly took it. She was the youngest in the room, and if she asked Su Qingyu to pour tea, it would mean that she did not know etiquette.
Su Qingyu did not refuse and sat down with peace of mind waiting for Li Chaoyun to serve her.
Yang sat next to Su Qingyu and whispered, "This happened too suddenly. You just got married, so don't go to the Rong family to handle the funeral. Stay away from the eldest lady's body. If she gets pregnant, it would be bad if something happened to you."
Su Qingyu nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. I will be careful."
The two were chatting with their heads down when they heard Shen Zhiheng and Princess Rong start arguing again.
When Princess Rong heard Shen Zhiheng mention the adoption, she thought for a moment and said, "The concubines of the two bastards are still alive. I don't think it's necessary to adopt them under the name of the Crown Prince's Consort. The Crown Prince's Consort has two daughters, and it's not like they don't have younger generations to offer sacrifices to."
It was a common practice in the capital to adopt a concubine's son into the wife's name when the wife died without a legitimate son.
But Princess Rong had her own plans. Once Chen Wu died, her niece would be the official consort. A child born would be the Rong family's legitimate son and the heir to the crown prince. If the concubine's son were adopted under Chen Wu's name, wouldn't that create a legitimate eldest son?
So after much thought, she decided not to adopt a bastard son to Chen Wu.
Shen Zhiheng didn't expect that the Rong family would not agree to such a small request.
His face was livid as he said, "You, the Rong family, are going too far. This is a common practice in the capital, and it's also for my daughter to have a family line to continue in the future."
Princess Rong curled her lips. "Beijing's custom? Who made that rule? We in the Rong family don't have such rules. If you don't like it, you can hold your own funeral."
Rong Huai immediately grabbed her and said, "Mother, be careful with your words."
"Is this what the Rong family means?" Rong Huai had just finished speaking when he heard a man's cold and sharp voice coming from outside the door.
Immediately afterwards, Shen Zhixiu walked in from outside.
"Since this is what the Rong family means, then please have Prince Rong write the divorce agreement."
"Our Shen family will take care of our daughter's funeral and adopt a descendant from a side branch to carry on her family line."
Rong Huai's heart skipped a beat. Divorce after death, this wasn't just divorce but enmity, even mortal enmity.
He hurriedly stood up and saluted Shen Zhixiu, "Third Uncle, calm down. That's not what my mother meant. I've already made up my mind about the adoption. I'll adopt the eldest son under Wu'er's name."
Princess Rongjun had previously acted rudely towards Shen Zhiheng, but she didn't dare to use the same attitude towards Shen Zhixiu. So when Shen Zhixiu came in, she tactfully shut up.
Shen Zhixiu sat down next to Shen Zhishu and continued to discuss the following matters with the Rong family. After he came in, the subsequent discussions went very smoothly.
Soon, Rong Huai got up and took Princess Rong back to the Rong family. The two families agreed to come back in the afternoon to pick up Chen Wu's body, and go back to set up the mourning hall first.
After the Rong family members left, the three Shen brothers discussed the follow-up matters. After that, Shen Zhiheng and Shen Zhishu left, while Yang went to prepare the items for the second branch to commemorate Shen Wu.
Li Chaoyun had left at some point, leaving only Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu in the hall.
"Come on, accompany me to Orchid Garden to see Chen Wu."
Shen Zhixiu took Su Qingyu's hand and walked towards the Orchid Garden. He had been in the cabinet handling official business since the court session today, and he didn't expect such a big thing to happen in the mansion.
Su Qingyu looked around and saw that only a few confidants were following the two men.
Then he whispered, "Third Master, there is another hidden story behind today's events."
She told Shen Zhixiu everything about how Chen Wu and Rong Huai plotted against Chen Yue today, how she accidentally ran into them, and how Rong Huai killed Chen Wu.
After she finished speaking, Su Qingyu explained, "I was concerned about Shen Yue's reputation, so I had to suppress this matter. I can't let Shen Yue suffer from rumors just to seek justice for Shen Wu."
Regardless of how close their relationship was, Chen Wu was not worthy of her seeking justice.
She even secretly felt that Chen Wu's death was retribution. Even if she hadn't been killed by Rong Huai by mistake, she would not have let her go.
She didn't even dare to think about what would have happened to Shen Yue if she hadn't gone to Lanyuan today.
Shen Zhixiu stopped and looked stern when he heard this.
"You're right. Let's do this first. As for Rong Huai, I won't let him off so easily."
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