Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 49: I thought you wouldn’t kill that child?

Xue Lingyao looked at her mother with concern, but finally walked out of the main room with her brother under the intimidation of her father's eyes.

When Mrs. Xue Wang saw her husband being so cold, her heart started beating wildly.

After finally calming down, she heard her husband say, "Shujun, you and I have been married for twenty years, and we have been stranded here for several years now. Is there anything you want to hide from me?"

Wang's heart was surging, and she couldn't hold back her tears. She choked and said, "Why do you say that, my husband? What can I hide from you?"

Xue Song lowered his eyes and whispered, "I remember that fourteen years ago when you were pregnant with twins and about to give birth, I was not there. Your wet nurse said that you went to a farm outside the city. I want to know what happened when you gave birth on the farm?"

Wang Shujun's lips trembled and she couldn't utter a word.

Xue Song sighed and stared into his wife's eyes: "Shujun, now that things have come to this, is there any need for you to keep it secret? I am not a harsh person, and I treat you kindly. Don't you deserve to know the truth?"

Wang Shujun shed tears silently and shook her head desperately.

Xue Song hugged his wife and whispered to comfort her: "Don't be afraid. Even if you secretly exchanged a daughter for a child, I wouldn't blame you. It's just that you have been hiding it like this, which makes me very sad."

Wang Shujun suddenly sobbed and hugged her husband and cried loudly: "I'm sorry, husband, I was bewildered for a moment. At that time, I was so afraid that I would be scolded by my mother-in-law for not being able to give birth to a son. Wuwuwuwu, husband, I am a sinner."

Xue Song patted his wife's back gently, his eyes becoming increasingly cold.

"What about your other daughter? Where did you send her?" he asked softly.

Wang Shujun sobbed and said, "I don't know either. The wet nurse did it. Maybe they gave it to the farmers to raise."

"Which farmer? Could it be the Shen family?" Xue Song asked in a persuasive manner.

The Shen family was a Central Plains family that migrated to the northwest thirteen years ago. Their ancestral home happened to be near the capital. Later, after Shen Ang returned from serving in the military for several years, he was recommended to be a pavilion official.

Thirteen years ago, perhaps Xue Song's daughter was taken to the northwest by Shen Ang and his wife, and by chance, the two families met again.

Wang Shujun shook her head: "No."

She didn't dare tell her husband that the wet nurse had buried the child that night, so how could the child be adopted by the Shen family?
But she didn't dare to lie and say that the Shen family's child was her daughter.

She was afraid that her husband would go to the Shen family to cause trouble again, which would then really put her family in trouble.

"No?" Xue Song frowned, pushed his wife away, and stared at her coldly: "Are you sure?"

Wang Shujun avoided his gaze and responded softly.

Xue Song felt cold all over and stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

He suddenly stopped beside his wife and asked coldly, "Shujun, you guys wouldn't have killed the child, right?" Otherwise, why would she insist that the child from the Shen family was not hers?
It’s because the girl from the Shen family looks so much like Lingyao that anyone who sees them would think they are twin sisters.

Wang Shujun trembled all over and looked away, not daring to meet her husband's fierce eyes.

Seeing his wife like this, Xue Song knew what was going on. He sighed in his heart and walked out of the house.

When he arrived outside the yard, he saw his son Xue Yi brushing the horse's coat with a brush. He didn't know who he learned that diligence from.

"Yier, have you read the law that your father showed you?" Xue Song walked up to his son and touched his head with mixed feelings.

Xue Yi quickly said, "I have read it, but there are still a few things I don't understand. I would like to ask my father for advice someday when he is free."

"What do you mean by asking for advice or not? Why are you so distant when talking to your father?" Xue Song patted his son and said softly, "Go and get the book. I won't be going back to Quanzhi tonight, so I have time to test you."

"Yes!" Xue Yi smiled and immediately ran into the house to get a book.

Xue Song stood there thinking for a while, then walked into his son's room.

There was a small low table at the door of the cottage, on which were placed a few wooden tablets with some words written on them. Looking closely, they were quite neat, and must have been the son's practice works.

There were also several scrolls of bamboo slips, which were books on laws and the Book of Poetry that he had copied from Quanzhi. His son usually studied these copies. Xue Song sat down at the low table and looked around the room.

This is the house that the wife chose for her son. It is a small room without windows. It is very dark in the room. You can vaguely see a thin and worn quilt on the narrow wooden couch.

But now it is already the beginning of winter, and frost begins to fall in the mornings and evenings, but his wife has not yet prepared thick bedding for Yi'er.

Xue Song suppressed his anger and opened the bamboo slips, ready to test his son on what he had learned.

Xue Yi happily spread the wooden tablets out to his father and carefully pointed out the parts he didn't understand.

At this time, Xue Lingyao came over and wanted to talk to her father about the gossip of the Shen family, but seeing that he was only busy testing his younger brother and didn't pay much attention to her, she had to go back to find her mother.

"Mom, the Shen family is too much! They're still making trouble after a day or two!"

Xue Lingyao sat down next to her mother, frowned and complained: "Why did you give money to his family? One thousand coins is enough for us to buy several pieces of cloth."

Wang Shujun sat on the mat with a dazed look on her face, as if she hadn't heard what her daughter said.

Xue Lingyao shook her mother's arm: "Mom, what's wrong with you? Why don't you speak?"

Wang Shujun slowly turned her head to look at her daughter, tears streaming down her face.

She had a feeling that her husband must be tired of her.
Early the next morning, Xue Song rode out on horseback, ready to return to Quanzhi.

When he reached the door of Shen's house, he subconsciously looked towards the yard.

There were many neighbors in the Shen family's yard, and they walked out carrying loads of wooden frames.

Xue Song was curious and couldn't help asking, "What did you pick?"

"Tofu!" a neighbor answered cheerfully.

"Tofu?" Xue Song was puzzled: "What is it used for?"

"It's food, and it tastes delicious." The neighbor said with a smile, "Mr. Xue, do you want to buy some to try? It's only four cents a piece."

Xue Song felt his pockets but didn't find any money. He could only shake his head regretfully: "I didn't bring any money."

"It's okay, you can take it and try it first." The neighbor smiled politely.

Xue Song also smiled: "Okay, give me one piece and I can ask my wife for the money later at my house."

"That's fine." The neighbor put down his burden, picked up a piece of tofu from the side and handed it to him: "Please take it. This thing is fragile."

Xue Song took the white and tender tofu and felt it was warm and steaming. He could smell a faint bean fragrance when he brought it closer.

He took a sip and found it soft, sticky and fragrant, with a unique flavor.

So he held the reins in one hand, held the tofu in the other, and walked slowly while eating.

When I passed by a few neighbors carrying loads on their shoulders, I saw that they were all carrying steaming tofu boxes, and then they dispersed to different places at the fork in the road.

Xue Song turned his head to look at the Shen family and sighed in his heart.

He was sure that the girl named Shen Zhao must be his daughter, but it was a pity that he could not recognize her for the time being.

Maybe I should have a good talk with Shen Ang. Even if Shen Zhao doesn't return to the Xue family, I have to find out how they adopted the girl in the first place?

Looking at the gray sky, Xue Song couldn't help but wrap his sheepskin coat tightly and drove his horse away into the distance.

Quanzhi has been quite busy recently, and it’s rare for me to go home. Alas, I don’t know when I’ll have time to go to the Shen family for a detailed discussion?

(End of this chapter)