The room was very quiet, with a lamp lit in the southeast corner.
With a lamp like a bean, Su Xiaoqi listened intently the whole time.
Shen Yun's voice seemed very calm, devoid of any emotion.
But as she listened, she felt an unusual sense of oppression and discomfort.
She could feel Shen Yun's sadness and inner turmoil.
Without interrupting rashly, she slowly leaned into Shen Yun's embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her ear against his chest.
Listening to his fervent heartbeat, she gently stroked his chest with her left hand, making soft, small circles.
Su Xiaoqi's tenderness affected Shen Yun.
His restless and agitated emotions gradually calmed under the movement of her slender hand.
He let out a long sigh, turned his head to lightly kiss Su Xiaoqi between her brows, then rolled over and held her.
"Wife!"
"Husband!"
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
During this time, Shen Yun took a sip of the warm tea Su Xiaoqi handed him.
As the water moistened his throat, his mind became clearer.
After moistening his throat, he looked at Su Xiaoqi, seeing expectation in her clear eyes.
She was waiting for his decision.
Shen Yun continued:
"The Prince of Ning's manor seeks a favor from me this time, not only asking me to protect the manor but also to continue their lineage..."
Before he finished speaking, Su Xiaoqi anxiously interjected, "What..."
After speaking, she realized she might have been too agitated.
She lowered her head, pouted, and said unhappily, "The Prince of Ning's manor isn't without sons."
Having said that, she suddenly remembered and chuckled.
Shen Yun saw her mischievous smile and knew she was recalling the incident with Shen Fu at Gan Quan Temple.
"The heir to the Prince of Ning's manor has been incapacitated." His reproductive organs were crippled by Chai Zilin, a former admirer of Ziling, at a small wooden house at the foot of Gan Quan Temple.
From then on, he was unable to perform his marital duties.
Shen Fu had kept this matter strictly secret.
It wasn't until the Princess of Ning wanted to arrange a marriage for him and select a wife for the heir that he tearfully confessed.
The Prince of Ning had only married one wife, the Princess of Ning.
She had borne him one son and two daughters.
Therefore, the Prince of Ning's manor only had one son.
And that son had been incapacitated!
Moreover, although he frequented brothels and indulged in women, he had not managed to father any offspring.
It was easy to imagine the blow this dealt to the Prince of Ning's manor.
It was precisely because of this that the old Prince thought of him.
Coupled with the fact that after the new emperor ascended the throne, Shen Yun, as a great contributor, saw his promotions soar at an incredible pace.
He enjoyed even more favor than during the previous emperor's reign.
The Prince of Ning's manor became even more determined to acknowledge him.
"The Prince of Ning's manor was so glorious. Before the Prince of Ning's heir was incapacitated, why didn't they come to acknowledge husband?
When we were living in poverty in Zhao Family Village, why didn't they come to acknowledge husband?"
Su Xiaoqi felt indignant on Shen Yun's behalf.
Heaven had approached Shen Yun without any hesitation, indicating that it had always known Shen Yun's identity.
It was only a matter of whether it wanted to acknowledge him.
In the past, the Prince of Ning's manor was illustrious, and the Prince of Ning's heir was perfectly fine. They did not need Shen Yun.
So, regardless of how he lived, the Prince of Ning's manor paid no attention to him.
Shen Yun shook his head and smiled, "They didn't ignore me either!"
He told Su Xiaoqi that the reason he had developed a problem of splitting headaches whenever he took an exam was that he had been poisoned.
And this poison likely originated from the Prince of Ning's manor.
It was just uncertain whose idea it was.
Furthermore, the ambush they encountered on their way to the capital, near Gan Quan Temple, was also orchestrated by the Prince of Ning's manor.
However, it was a pity that they had hired martial arts assassins who were solely driven by money and fearless of death.
Thus, even though some of the captured assassins were tortured severely,
They still did not divulge any useful information.
This was also why Shen Yun had not confronted the Prince of Ning's manor.
But he had his suspicions.
Especially as he grew closer to Ji Chenggang of the Imperial Guard,
He had, with their help, uncovered more secrets of the Prince of Ning's manor.
He found that the current Prince of Ning, Shen Zhongwen, had stayed in the Bashu region for a long time.
At that time, everyone speculated that he intended to give up his claim to the princely title.
But unexpectedly, after a few years, when most people in the capital had forgotten him, he returned.
He was even granted a marriage by the Emperor, directly marrying a county princess of the imperial family.
Then he produced a pair of twins, and a year later, another daughter. With both sons and daughters, three children in two years, he was the envy of all.
If the Prince of Ning had no connection to them,
Speaking of it, Su Xiaoqi would praise him for his good fortune.
But now, she only felt it was melodramatic.
Because Shen Zhongwen's missing years in the capital were spent with her mother-in-law, Madam Zhao.
They also had a son and a daughter together.
Then one day, they suddenly disappeared, leaving without a word.
Leaving Madam Zhao, a woman, with a son and a daughter.
The hardships she endured, Su Xiaoqi dared not even imagine.
In any case, the once decent middle-class family collapsed when Shen Zhongwen, the pillar of support, disappeared.
Madam Zhao, alone, raised her two children.
She had to sell their house in Mianzhou City and, with the remaining silver, return to Zhao Family Village to seek refuge from her maternal family.
With her exquisite embroidery skills, she raised her two children.
A fleeting moment of sorrow crossed Shen Yun's eyes.
It was clear he also remembered those days without a father.
He said, "The first time I learned he was alive, and living so well.
I wished he were just a memorial tablet in our home."
Wishing he were dead!
Su Xiaoqi completely understood Shen Yun's sentiment.
Because she felt the same way.
Even more intensely than Shen Yun.
As a woman, she understood Madam Zhao's hardships back then even better.
Even in the modern era, a good era like that, a woman raising two children still struggled immensely.
Let alone Madam Zhao in this era.
She not only had to bear physical fatigue and exhaustion.
But also had to endure heartbreak and spiritual pain.
She had it harder than anyone.
But remarkably, Madam Zhao raised Shen Yun and Shen Mingzhu, her son and daughter, very well.
And although she was prone to tears,
She was fundamentally an optimistic person.
There was no trace of life's hardships on her.
She could always see the best side of any situation.
Her disposition was gentle, never hurried or impatient.
She seemed frail, but was actually resilient.
Su Xiaoqi thought that even if the sky fell, she would still be able to hold it up.
This was likely what attracted Shen Zhongwen to her and married her in the first place.
After all, she was such a good person.
"Then, are you going to acknowledge him?" Su Xiaoqi's voice held a hesitation and tremor that even she herself did not notice.
Shen Yun shook his head, "When our family needed them, they did not appear.
Now, they are no longer needed, why should he appear."
Su Xiaoqi understood him, raised her head to kiss his chin, wrapped her arms around him, and fell asleep on his arm.
Shen Yun, not yet aware, was still asking her:
"Wife, what do you think?"
After waiting for a while and hearing no response from Su Xiaoqi, he lowered his head to look.
He saw that Su Xiaoqi had already fallen asleep.
She was nestled tightly against his body, like a child who had not grown up.
Her sleeping face was innocent.
"Wife, I will never let you suffer the same grievances as my mother!"