20demayo Chapter 1298 The only relative they wanted to acknowledge was Shen Zheng.
Chapter 1298 The only relative they wanted to acknowledge was Shen Zheng.
When Shen Zheng was a little kid, she dreamed of recognizing her relatives.
The walls of the orphanage were so high that she couldn't get out, so she longed for a couple to cross the gate, kneel down in front of her hand, and say to her, "We are your mom and dad."
This longing reached its peak when she was cornered and made to smear mud by other children in the orphanage.
But no one came.
She hasn't even met her adoptive parents, let alone her parents.
When she was about six or seven years old, she became intelligent.
It's not really about gaining wisdom, it's about recognizing reality.
Family, if you don't have them, you don't have them.
She looked at the gate of the welfare home every day, hoping but it would never come.
After she went to university, the dean told her that three or four of the children in her class had found their families.
He even asked her, "Xiaozheng, don't you want to find your family?"
In the director's opinion, Shen Zheng was very smart, almost the smartest child she had ever taken care of since the orphanage was established.
While other children were still playing cat's cradle and jump rope, Shen Zheng was already helping with chores in the yard. She could collect a small red flower for each chore, ten small red flowers could be exchanged for a pencil, and thirty small red flowers could be exchanged for an exercise book used by older children.
A smart and sensible child like Shen Zheng will definitely not be disliked by her family after she is reunited with them.
But what the dean was unwilling to admit was...
Children who lack a childhood will more or less have some psychological problems.
For example, Shen Zheng at that time no longer longed for family affection, and even harbored a secret resentment towards her parents, whose whereabouts were unknown.
I resent that they never showed up, and I also resent that I was foolish enough to wait countless sunsets in front of that peeling paint door.
What no one knew was that after arriving in the Great Zhou, she had secretly felt a sense of joy.
I'm secretly pleased that she can finally let go of the resentment and bitterness of the past, and even more so that she can, as Shen Zheng, spend her days with the "family" she has chosen, enjoying the simple pleasures of life together.
But today, this secret joy and hard-won peace have been shattered by the Meng family.
She asked Shen Zheng in her heart: Do you want to acknowledge your family?
No one answered.
Shen Zheng had long since died in the chilly spring river.
"Second sister!"
The man from the Meng family jumped out of the carriage and caught up with Shen Zheng's carriage, interrupting Shen Zheng's chaotic thoughts.
He chased after the carriage, speaking rapidly: "I know this is very sudden for you, but we did not come without reason, nor are we here to maliciously claim kinship. We hope you can give us a chance to explain. Back then, my father..."
Just as he was about to reminisce about the past, the carriage curtain was suddenly pulled open.
The person who pulled back the carriage curtain was not Shen Zheng, but Xu Yunyan.
"Enough." Xu Yunyan looked down at the man: "Recounting old stories in public, aren't you being a little too hasty? Have you really considered Lord Shen's feelings?"
Upon hearing this, the man froze, and in a moment of distraction, he fell several steps off the carriage.
After regaining his senses, he picked up the pace again and caught up.
"We were too hasty, it was our fault..." He gripped the corner of the carriage curtain tightly, trying to catch a glimpse of the figure that had just flashed by through the gap: "But, we really meant no harm, young master, we hope you can show us the way, what should we do, Second Sister... no, Lord Shen, only Lord Shen would be willing to see us?"
"It's getting dark, we need to get back to the prefectural city as soon as possible."
Xu Yunyan seemed to say nothing, yet he also seemed to have said everything.
The man immediately nodded: "Okay, okay, then we'll go with you."
Having said that, he didn't stop, his words more urgent than his steps: "Young master, please help me deliver a message to Second... Lord Shen. What happened back then wasn't my father's intention. Now that my father has passed away, I hope Lord Shen can give us a chance to explain and make amends, and not blame my father..."
Inside the carriage, Shen Zheng's eyes trembled slightly, and her fingertips unconsciously curled together.
The original owner's biological father, whom she had never met, has already passed away?
Although she wasn't the original owner, a strange and inexplicable feeling still stirred within her.
Yu Shizhang's brows furrowed even more, and after a long while he spoke: "Their identities are still unknown, Shen Zheng, don't let these words disturb your mind."
Shen Zheng nodded without speaking. He then said in a deep voice, "From the bottom of my heart, I hope you can reunite with your family, but all of this has a condition."
"Prerequisites?" Shen Zheng looked up at him.
“The relative they want to acknowledge must be Shen Zheng.” He stared intently at Shen Zheng, his gaze deep, as if he could see into her soul through her eyes. “It must be the Shen Zheng who was once a helpless and lonely orphan, not the powerful and famous fourth-rank assistant official Shen Zheng.”
Is this premise excessive?
Not excessive.
It's just a test of human nature.
It is human nature to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
To outsiders, however, "orphan Shen Zheng" and "Lord Shen, the Assistant Minister of the Six Ministries" are two completely unrelated people.
Thinking of this, Yu Shizhang raised his hand to lift the car curtain and looked at the convoy behind him.
He wanted to see if the Meng family was real or fake, and which Shen Zheng the Meng family wanted to acknowledge as their second daughter.
“If they have wicked intentions…” Yu Shizhang’s gaze gradually turned piercing: “I will make sure they never leave alive.”
......
The night was cool at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), and the plaque of the Shen Mansion was particularly clear under the lamplight.
The carriages stopped one by one. Before Shen Zheng could get out of the carriage, the man from the Meng family had already come to the side of the carriage again.
He stood at the edge of the lamplight, his figure tall and slender. When he spoke again, the previous urgency was gone, replaced by a hint of restraint: "Lord Shen... it's getting late. You have to go to the yamen tomorrow, so you should go back to your residence and rest. I... I'll take my younger brother and sister to an inn to stay at. We'll wait for you at the yamen gate when you finish your duties at dusk tomorrow, is that alright?"
Inside the carriage, Xu Yunyan looked towards Shen Zheng upon hearing the sound.
Shen Zheng pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Just as Xu Yunyan was about to leave the carriage to deliver a message, he saw Yu Shizhang lift the curtain and walk out before him.
After stepping off the car onto a small stool, Yu Shizhang used the firelight to examine the man in front of him.
To his surprise, upon closer inspection, the man's eyebrows and eyes... were indeed six or seven parts similar to Shen Zheng's.
A thought struck him, and he asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is Meng Huailin," the man bowed. "May I ask who you are...?"
"Yu Shizhang." Yu Shizhang deliberately gave his full name.
Meng Huailin's reaction was exactly as he had imagined—first he was startled, then he bowed even more deeply: "I am blind and did not recognize you, Lord. Please forgive me."
Yu Shizhang accepted the greeting without changing his expression, and then asked, "Besides you, who else from the Meng family came this time?"
Meng Huailin immediately looked at the carriage behind him and said respectfully, "Reporting to Your Excellency, my younger sister Meng Zhu and younger brother Meng Huaishi have come with me this time."
As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Zhu got off the carriage and walked towards them, but Meng Huaishi, whom Meng Huailin had mentioned, was still nowhere to be seen.
Yu Shizhang frowned, his eyes filled with displeasure: "Not a single elder came? Where is your mother?"
Why send someone of the same generation to claim kinship?