After a long while, the old lady sighed, then stood up and walked to Shen Zhixiu.
He bent down and helped his youngest son up. "This is not your fault. It's God's will."
What Shen Zhao did was to seek death, and Shen Zhiheng rushed out because of his father's heart. It can only be said that it was the Shen family's failure to educate their children that allowed Shen Zhao to cause such a disaster.
Through the cracks in the window lattice, she could still see the bonsai that Chen Zhao had sent her today. The old lady's heart was broken. They had been sitting together, talking and laughing, at noon, and now they were separated forever.
The mother and son sat down, choking with sobs, and discussed what to do about the funeral. The old lady had the same idea as Shen Zhixiu: the funeral should be held, but it should still be kept low-key.
Thinking of the dwindling number of members in the eldest house, the old lady sighed deeply, "Who will take charge of the eldest house in the future? There are still two unmarried children. Besides, someone needs to take care of the eldest house's assets."
Besides Shen Yue, the eldest son of the family now also has the third young master, Shen Xi, who is sixteen years old and studying at the academy. Furthermore, the fifth young master, Shen Cheng, is nine years old and was previously raised by the maids. Later, Shen Zhiheng handed over the affairs of the courtyard to Xiangdong, who then took care of them.
Shen Xi's biological mother is still alive, but Shen Cheng's biological mother passed away early.
Logically speaking, Li Chaoyun is the legitimate granddaughter-in-law of the eldest son of the family, and it is her responsibility to take charge of the affairs of the eldest son of the family.
But firstly, Li Chaoyun was of noble status and had no children.
The old lady thought that if the Li family wanted her to remarry, the Shen family should not stop her.
Furthermore, Shen Zhao’s death was directly related to the crown prince, and Li Chaoyun was also involved in a lot of things.
With this in mind, they didn't want her to manage the eldest son's property. The Shen family could support her, but they couldn't raise a troublemaker.
However, Shen Zhixiu remembered that before going to the farm today, Shen Zhiheng went to the study in the west courtyard to find him.
At that time, the brothers were chatting, and Shen Zhiheng mentioned the affairs of the eldest house. He jokingly said that if he was gone, Xiangdong would continue to manage the eldest house's descendants and property.
He also said that it was not good to have no name or status, and if Chen was gone, Xiangdong could be his second wife.
At the time, Shen Zhixiu thought he was just in poor health, which was why he said such depressing words. He even planned to come back from outside the city and have Mr. Zhou take a good look at him, so that he wouldn't have to worry about it all day.
But now it seems that his elder brother was not just daydreaming, but was entrusting him with his affairs after his death.
Did he already know at that time that he would die in Zhuangzi?
Shen Zhixiu was conflicted about whether he should tell his mother what his elder brother had said.
Before he could think of what to say, Su Qingyu knocked on the door outside, "Third Master, my eldest brother left a letter before he died."
Shen Zhixiu was stunned, then walked out with the old lady. The one who came over with the letter was the second master Shen Zhishu.
The family sat down in the banquet room, and Shen Zhishu handed the letter in his hand to the old lady.
"Mother, this was found under my eldest brother's pillow by someone down there."
The old lady opened the letter and recognized Shen Zhiheng's handwriting at a glance. Her eyes were instantly blinded by tears.
Su Qingyu sat beside the old lady, whispering comfort to her and wiping the tears from her face.
I also saw the contents of the letter.
This letter can be considered as Shen Zhiheng's suicide note.
The higher-ups had instructed that after his death, Xiangdong would be in full charge of the First House's affairs. If Chen also died, they hoped the old lady would grant Xiangdong the title of second wife. The fifth young master, Shen Cheng, would be registered under Xiangdong's name and considered the legitimate son of the First House.
Several people took turns reading the letter, and then looked at each other, wondering why Shen Zhiheng would leave such a suicide note.
Afterwards, the old lady called Shen Zhiheng's servant to question him. Only then did she realize that he had been relying on strong medicine to survive for the past few months and was actually terminally ill.
Even if he didn't die in the farm outside the city, he wouldn't have much time left.
Afterwards, the old lady sent the servants out of the room, leaving only the mother and son, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law together to discuss the matter.
No one had any objection, saying that since it was the eldest brother's last wish, they should obey it.
Although Xiangdong's status was not high, when he took a successor wife after his death, it was different from when she was alive, so she did not need to have a high status.
Afterwards, they discussed tomorrow's affairs and did not disperse until night.
After returning to the West Courtyard, Shen Zhixiu was in a bad mood. It was inevitable that he was sad that his biological brother had passed away.
After lying in bed, Shen Zhixiu suddenly said, "I always feel that something is wrong. Why did Big Brother suddenly become so ill? Why would he rather write a suicide note than see a doctor?"
Su Qingyu's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Xiangdong did something to Shen Zhiheng?
She could see that Xiangdong would not give up, but she didn't ask and pretended not to know.
Su Qingyu recalled Shen Zhiheng's condition these days and became more and more certain that Xiangdong must have done something.
But she didn't dare tell Shen Zhixiu. Based on her understanding of Shen Zhixiu, if she told him, Xiangdong would have no chance of survival.
From Xiangdong's perspective, she didn't think there was anything wrong with what Xiangdong did.
Women always have a better understanding of women's situations.
*
At midnight, Li Yunzhou heard that Li Jingchuan was still in the study, so he went there with his lunch box.
He didn't even knock, just pushed the door open and walked in.
"Father, why haven't you rested yet? These are the snacks I brought back from the palace. Please have some."
As he spoke, he brought out the snacks in front of the desk.
Li Jingchuan only took one look at the rose fire cake and knew it was made by Princess Yongjia.
He asked in a cold voice, "Did you take this out from the palace? Are you trying to fool me? Wasn't this made by your mother?"
Li Yunzhou sat down opposite him and said, "This was indeed made by my mother. She sent someone to the palace after it was finished. I was with the emperor at the time."
"My mother also sent a message to the emperor, saying that Sister Yongning has passed away, and I will take care of my brother on her behalf."
"The Emperor was very moved at the time and said that these were the pastries my mother was best at when she was alive. He also said that it was only after my mother died that my mother learned to make them."
Li Yunzhou spoke in a casual tone, as if he was casually telling Li Jingchuan about interesting things in the palace.
He just kept staring at Li Jingchuan while he was speaking. Seeing him go from shock to confusion, Li Yunzhou knew that there must be something wrong.
If what the emperor said is true, then Princess Yongjia is lying. Why would she lie?
"You go back first, and leave the snacks here." Li Jingchuan said lightly.
Li Yunzhou achieved his goal and without staying any longer, he got up and went back to his yard to rest.
Li Jingchuan, on the other hand, stared at the three plates of snacks for half an hour, and finally stayed in the study.
The next day, before dawn, Su Qingyu and Shen Zhixiu got up and went to the mourning hall. They slept for less than two hours that night.
The bodies of Shen Zhiheng and his family of three had just been brought back to the mansion. The younger generations of the Shen family were all kneeling in the mourning hall.
After breakfast, close relatives arrived one after another to pay their respects. Brothers Shen Zhixiu and Shen Zhishu were entertaining guests in the outer courtyard, and many colleagues from the court had come today.
Yang entertained her female relatives in the inner house, while Su Qingyu was busy taking care of the trivial matters in the mansion.
She had just finished instructing the kitchen staff that the entire household would be on a vegetarian diet for the next few days, and the meals served to guests would also be entirely vegetarian.
On the way back from the kitchen, Li Chaoyun stopped him.
Li Chaoyun was dressed in mourning clothes, without any makeup, and her eyes were red.
"Uncle and Auntie are really good at this. They almost wiped out the eldest branch of the Shen family."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
