Chapter 61 The War for the Title Begins
After finishing breakfast, Shen Qingtan was still worried, so he asked the court doctor to take Zhao Yi's pulse.
The court doctor said, "Second Master's health is the same as before, but he is a little weak. I will prescribe a medicinal recipe to replenish his body."
Shen Qingtan said, "Thank you for your help."
The court doctor wrote out a prescription for medicinal food and then said goodbye and left.
Shen Qingtan gave the medicinal recipe to Tingxue and asked her to deliver it to the cook.
Zhao Yi seemed to have anticipated this outcome. His expression remained gentle as always, as he instructed her, "When you return to the Marquis of Cheng'en's Mansion, bring Jiang Mu and Jiang Chao with you."
"If you leave them both to me, you will have no one to serve you." Shen Qingtan compromised: "I will take one and you keep one."
"I'm on duty in the palace and don't need anyone with me." Zhao Yi saw that she was about to say something, and said gently, "Will you listen to me this time?"
Shen Qingtan pursed her lips and agreed: "I'll let Liu Yue take care of you." After a pause, she explained: "I'm worried that there will be no one to take care of you."
Zhao Yi laughed, agreed to her words, and took Liu Yue out of the house.
Shen Qingtan took Tingxue, Jiang Mu and Jiang Chao to the Cheng'en Marquis Mansion.
On the way, Shen Qingtan asked Tingxue, "Did I get drunk and crazy last night?"
"Sister Liuyue was on guard last night. She went back to her room to sleep in the middle of the night, saying that the Second Master was taking care of you." Tingxue saw her master's nervous look and couldn't help but laugh. "You are usually very quiet when you are drunk, and you won't go crazy."
Shen Qingtan breathed a sigh of relief. If she just occupied his bed, it would be fine as long as he didn't make a fool of himself.
From then on, no matter what kind of wine it was or who persuaded her to drink it, she would not drink a drop.
The carriage slowly stopped at the gate of Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion. Jiang Mu moved the wooden ladder and placed it next to the carriage. Tingxue helped Shen Qingtan get off the carriage.
Shen Qingtan and her men were about to enter the mansion when another carriage stopped next to hers. There was a sign of the Duke's Mansion hanging on the carriage. It was obvious that it was Shen Mingzhu.
Sure enough, Shen Mingzhu got off the carriage with only Zhongxia, a maid, by her side.
The moment Shen Mingzhu saw Shen Qingtan, a beautiful smile appeared on her face: "Big sister, you are going back to your parents' home today, why didn't you ask me to come with you?"
She fought with Shen Qingtan several times and was defeated by Shen Qingtan every time.
She had summed up the past few days and realized that she suffered from the disadvantage that she was not as good as Shen Qingtan in disguise.
Although Shen Qingtan pretends to be kind and innocent on the surface, he actually does things that stab you in the back.
Then she followed suit.
Shen Qingtan saw that Shen Mingzhu had changed her attitude, which showed that she had learned to be smarter.
"Second sister, are you well?" Shen Qingtan said softly, "You have been recuperating in your room for the past two days. Second brother has been in the Marquis' Mansion for the past two days, so I didn't call you to come with me."
Shen Mingzhu was stunned for a moment and remembered one thing: her mother strictly forbade people with diseases to be around her second brother.
In my mother's heart, my second brother is the most important.
She tried to pretend not to care, but she was still a little affected.
Because she is the stepping stone for her second brother to rise to prominence.
"I'm not sick, I'm just recuperating." Shen Mingzhu suppressed the turbulent emotions in her heart and took Shen Qingtan's arm affectionately: "Big sister, let's go to the mansion first."
"Let's go." Shen Qingtan calmly put his arm in Tingxue's hand, avoiding Shen Mingzhu's hand.
Shen Mingzhu's hand fell empty, and looking at Shen Qingtan's back, her hand slowly clenched into a fist.
The group went to the front hall. Madam Shen, Marquis Cheng'en, Madam Shen, Shen Shaoheng and Shen Shaohuai had already arrived, as well as two old men wearing square scarves and cross-collared Taoist robes.
Apart from these, no one else came to the front hall.
After the two of them bowed one by one, they took their seats.
Shen Qingtan and Shen Shaoheng looked at each other. Seeing him touching his chin and smiling somewhat complacently, they knew what was going on today.
When Shen Mingzhu saw the two elegant old men, she guessed that they were the relatives mentioned in her mother's letter. They came to discuss the matter of conferring the title of Crown Prince.
When Mrs. Shen saw Shen Qingtan, she frowned slightly, especially when she saw Jiang Mu and Jiang Chao standing on her left and right, like two door gods, her eyes and brows suddenly became colder.
Mrs. Shen turned her gaze to Shen Mingzhu who was standing beside her. She was only accompanied by a maid, and she seemed somewhat lonely. One could tell from her that she was being neglected in her husband's family.
Madam Shen pressed the corners of her lips downwards, and for the first time, a thought occurred to her: was this marriage exchange right?
If Shen Mingzhu marries Zhao Yi, it doesn't matter even if Zhao Yi is a short-lived person.
They can adopt a son from the clan and train him to be the heir to the title.
The old Duke and Madam Zhao, Madam Zhao and Master Zhao, and even the nobles in the palace, would feel guilty because Zhao Yi was dying and would love Shen Mingzhu even more.
Now Shen Qingtan is marrying Zhao Yi and enjoying a good life.
"Now that everyone is here, let's get down to business," Old Madam Shen began, taking a wooden box from the maid. She then addressed the two clan members, "I've specially invited you two elders here today to fulfill a promise we made last year."
The two elders said with serious expressions, "When Ziyan passed away, Shaoheng was still young and could not inherit the title of Marquis.
You asked us to be witnesses that the title of Marquis will be inherited by the current Marquis.
When Shaoheng grows up, please make him the Crown Prince and the next heir to the title."
"We signed a written document as proof at the time, divided into three copies." Old Madam Shen opened the wooden box, took out the document and placed it on the coffee table beside her. She said calmly, "I have one copy, my family has one copy, and the Marquis has one copy."
One of the elders took out the receipt and placed it next to Madam Shen’s receipt.
"We did have this agreement back then. Our Second Branch has no intention of competing for the title, so we are willing to sign this agreement."
Madam Shen said slowly, "When my eldest brother and sister-in-law passed away, Shaoheng was still an infant. How could he inherit the title? According to the normal inheritance system, it should be our Marquis who inherits it. We don't need to sign the deed."
Madam Shen's face darkened: "Are you trying to turn your back on your promise?"
"Mother, what you said truly hurts our hearts. My eldest brother is your son, and the Marquis is also your son. We are both your flesh and blood, but you are too biased towards my eldest brother's family and turning a blind eye to the Marquis's efforts."
Mrs. Shen burst into tears as she spoke of her sorrow. "Don't you have any idea what the Marquis's mansion was like when he inherited the title? It was the Marquis who worked diligently to build this huge family business."
She choked up a sob and continued, "If Shao Heng could be as promising as my eldest brother, we would give him the title without hesitation. But he's not doing his job properly and hangs out with the playboys in the capital."
At this point, Madam Shen was very emotional: "He forced a decent woman to death last year, and it was me who came forward to settle it for him. You want us to hand over the Marquis' Mansion to such a person who is not capable of such a great responsibility. How can we be willing to do that?"
At this time, someone nearby said, "Not necessarily."
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and were all stunned.
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