Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 180 Do you have evidence?
Shen Zhui spoke louder and louder, and tears streamed down his face like a spring.

The boy, who was almost sixteen, cried like a child, wiping his tears with the back of his hand, but it did nothing to stop them.

Shen Bo's face was ashen, and his hands, hanging at his sides, were clenched into fists.

Several of his trusted confidants, who had followed him for many years, came in upon hearing the noise. After looking at the situation inside, they offered to take Shen Zhui away.

These people were all loyal followers who had gone through thick and thin with Shen Bo. Normally, both Shen Zhui and Shen Qingzhou had to treat them with respect. But at this moment, Shen Zhui was like a stubborn ox and refused to comply.

Shen Bo said in a deep voice, "Get down!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingzhou, who had been standing to the side with her lips pursed, turned around and walked out.

"You stay!"

Shen Bo gestured to his trusted men: "Take the Second Young Master away and lock him up!"

With him around, things became much easier. Several people worked together, twisting their arms to subdue Shen Zhui, and in less than the blink of an eye, they had him taken away.

The boy's roar faded into the distance, and as the door closed, the room gradually quieted down until it became deathly silent.

Shen Qingzhou turned around, and under the lamplight, his phoenix eyes were already bloodshot.

He tossed the whip onto the table. "Hit me if you want."

Shen Bo stared at him for a long time before stepping forward, pressing Shen Qingzhou's arm, and making him sit down in the chair.

Finally, he sat down opposite her and reached out to stroke Shen Qingzhou's hair, gently and slowly, as if caressing a child.

Shen Qingzhou sat stiffly, subconsciously turning her head away.

Shen Bo said, "Zhui'er, he is not my flesh and blood."

A cold wind squeezed in through the window, flickering the lamplight and making Shen Qingzhou sway a few times.

He stared intently at the shadow on the ground until it stopped moving, then he looked up and asked, "What did you say?"

“He is not my child,” Shen Bo said calmly. “Yu’er, you are my only child.”

Shen Qingzhou looked at him and slowly stood up.

“He was the descendant of a loyal official in the court, but he was born posthumously. Because I had some past connections with their family, after their family suffered misfortune, his mother, who was pregnant with him, fled to the Northwest with a letter from his grandfather and found me.”

"……who is he?"

Shen Bo's gaze was deep: "You should be very familiar with Yang Chengfang, the former Grand Secretary."

Shen Qingzhou gritted her teeth, her lips already pressed tightly together.

How could Yang Chengfang not know?

He promoted Yan Song to the cabinet, but Yan Song then framed him, resulting in his execution in the marketplace and the extermination of his family.

Because of the Yang family's case, countless officials were implicated. Liang Jun, who is currently still in prison, is one of them.

The Liang family was one of the less serious cases; those that were truly serious had already been beheaded under various pretexts.

Among the list of loyal officials who were framed by the Yan family that Shen Qingzhou possessed, Yang Chengfang's name was the first to appear!

When the Yang family met with misfortune, Shen Qingzhou was just old enough to remember things, and it was also the time when he and his mother were living together in the capital.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Shen Qingzhou asked in a trembling voice. "Why would you rather I misunderstand?"

Shen Bo said, "You never gave me a chance. After you came back, you didn't want to talk to me much."

Before Shen Qingzhou could respond, he continued, "Of course, that's only one reason. Secondly, and most importantly, Zhui'er's mother entrusted me with this before she passed away. She wanted him to grow up to be an ordinary person."

"They felt there was no hope of revenge and didn't want him to go and die. They just wanted him to grow up, learn military strategy from me, and become a general. "Later, I decided to adopt him myself."

“I think even if I don’t let him seek revenge, I should keep him by my side and raise him well. If the Yang family’s injustice is redressed in the future, he can be recognized as an ancestor and bring honor to the family.”

Why didn't I tell you?
"Because I have told myself that he is my other son."

Shen Qingzhou was speechless for a long time.

In his past life, there was no conflict between him and Shen Zhui. They were always strangers.

If it weren't for tonight's events, would he, like in his previous life, never have heard Shen Zhui say those words? Or heard the truth come out of Shen Bo's mouth?
"Didn't you ever consider that if you hadn't told me these things, I would never have accepted him?"

“But that’s exactly what I want,” Shen Bo said calmly. “Because you hate him, his identity is more credible, isn’t it?”

“At least half of the people in the court are watching our Shen family. He is the illegitimate son of the Shen family, and you are such an arrogant person. Your mother has suffered so much. What makes you think you can accept him?”

“If he comes back, you treat him like a brother and live in harmony with him. Isn’t that suspicious?”

"Don't tell me you can pretend. You can pretend under normal circumstances, but when it comes to a crisis, you can't keep up the act no matter what."

"Of course, almost a year has passed now, and it's almost ready to be completed."

Shen Qingzhou frowned.

Shen Bo continued, "What I want to do is raise him well, not to make you two like brothers. How close you are is actually not important."

“You are all upright people. You would not kill yourselves for no reason.”

"Tonight's situation is naturally unacceptable."

“Yu’er, I don’t force you to treat him like a younger brother, but you can at least treat him like a neighbor or an acquaintance.”

Shen Qingzhou stood up: "Do you have any evidence? How can I believe you're telling the truth?"

“I have the seals left by Grand Secretary Yang and his birth mother.” Shen Bo took out a small box from his sleeve, inside which was a yellowed document and an old seal.

Shen Qingzhou took the letter and saw that one of the letters had a small footprint and two small handprints on it. Both letters had been marked with these imprints.

Upon closer inspection, it is indeed Yang Chengfang's seal.

This cannot be faked. The archives of the Six Ministries also contain many of Yang Chengfang's past handwritings and seals.

His mind raced, he let go of all that and asked, "Are you planning to never tell him?"

Yang Bo put the letter back in the box: "If the Yang family cannot be exonerated, telling him will only harm him."

"Haven't you thought about dealing with the Yan family? The Yang family case was clearly framed by Yan Song and his son. Before the war in the Northwest, the Yan family disagreed with the Emperor and had already lost some of his favor. Now, if you raise your voice, the upright officials in the court will have a great chance of winning."

“Because I am more than just Shen Bo,” Shen Bo said deeply. “Some things can be done by someone else. I am the Emperor’s subject, and all I need to do is be loyal to the Emperor.”

Just as Shen Qingzhou had predicted.

He clenched his fist, then turned around under the light after a moment: "Now that you've told me the truth, what do you expect me to do in the future?"

"You've managed the Shen family impeccably all these years without a single mistake. You should have figured out what to do by now, shouldn't you?"

Shen Bo was much calmer now than before.

Shen Qingzhou withdrew her gaze, stood for a while, and then walked out.

The moonlight had already begun to set in the west.

The chill of dawn deepened.