For the first time, Shen Tangning felt a desire to investigate.
*
The next morning, Shen Tangning made an excuse to send Chi Yan away and went to see Chi's mother alone.
Madam Chi was choosing a location for her residence when she saw Tang Ning and quickly pulled her along to look around: "Tang Ning, you've come at the right time! Come and help me take a look, what do you think of this location?"
She wasn't unaware of the gossip outside, but life had to go on, and she had to do something to distract herself.
Shen Tangning glanced at it and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Mother, houses in this area are not cheap."
The area adjacent to Zhuque Avenue is extremely valuable, a place only princes and nobles could live in.
Madam Chi laughed, her tone quite confident: "What's the big deal? Any problem that can be solved with money isn't a problem!"
This shows that Madam Chi was indeed very wealthy.
Shen Tangning's eyes flickered slightly. Although the second branch of the family was not short of money, living in such a prosperous place and losing the protection of the Marquis's mansion was too conspicuous.
As the saying goes, "Don't flaunt your wealth, or you'll be hard-pressed to guard against a villain."
Therefore, Shen Tangning pointed to another location: "Daughter-in-law thinks this place is quite good, quiet in the middle of the city, and in a good location. The house we just saw was too noisy because it was close to the city center."
This place is considered bustling, but not particularly eye-catching; it's rather ordinary.
Madam Chi thought about it for a moment and agreed with Shen Tangning's words: "Alright, let's settle on that then!"
Shen Tangning smiled slightly and chatted with her for a while before subtly bringing up the topic: "Mother, I'm a little curious about my husband's childhood. Could you please tell me about it?"
When Madam Chi heard that she was willing to take the initiative to understand her son, how could she not agree?
She beamed with delight: "Of course! What would you like to hear?"
Shen Tangning smiled and said, "My husband must have been very mischievous when he was a child, right?"
After a moment of contemplation, Chi's mother said with a look of reminiscence, "Boys, what boy isn't mischievous? But Ayan is a child who knows his limits. I'm not bragging, but he's much less troublesome than other children, and he's also smarter than other children!"
The tutor hired to tutor him praised him more than once, saying that if Chi Yan were willing to settle down and study, he would surely become a great man in time.
However, he disliked being constrained and disliked rigid teaching methods, often coming up with some whimsical ideas that gave his teacher a headache.
Shen Tangning nodded thoughtfully, then asked casually, "When my husband was twelve years old, did anything significant happen?"
Mother Chi was taken aback, pursed her lips, and her expression darkened: "When Ayan was twelve years old, he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. That was the turning point for this child."
She sighed softly, "They say that too much intelligence can be harmful. I often wonder if I've pushed him too hard?"
Her son is a child prodigy, and Chi's mother is overjoyed!
But joy turned to sorrow, and her health deteriorated day by day. She was confined to her sickbed and it seemed that her days were numbered.
“I held Ayan’s hand and told him to study hard, but he was uncharacteristically crying and making a fuss, refusing to agree no matter what.”
Shen Tangning was taken aback, her brows furrowing: "Mother suddenly became seriously ill? Was there no warning beforehand? What did the doctor say?"
Mother Chi shook her head: "The doctor said that I overworked myself in my early years, which severely damaged my health, and I almost had a difficult childbirth when I gave birth to Ayan..."
Shen Tangning frowned, feeling that something was amiss.
She's been married into the family for so many days, and Chi's mother looks perfectly healthy; she doesn't seem to be suffering from any signs of illness.
She suddenly fell seriously ill, which didn't seem like an illness.
It's more like...poisoning.
—Author's Note—
(Facepalm) (Bitter smile) Just to clarify, this is a female-oriented novel!!! Although I don't know why some male readers have suddenly appeared, I'd still like to give you a heads-up: female-oriented novels are, of course, stories told from the female protagonist's perspective, designed to serve the female characters. Male readers, please don't be too offended. If you want a male-centric story, I suggest you go to the male-oriented section next door~
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