Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 260 Recognition of relatives
As soon as Zhou Wangshu came out of the yamen, the Marquis of Cheng'an, who was guarding there, strode over to greet him.

"Master Zhou..."

Zhou Wangshu looked at Marquis Cheng'an and said calmly, "Is there something you need, Marquis?"

"I would like to invite Lord Zhou for a drink today. Lord Zhou, please do me the honor!" Marquis Cheng'an said with a smile.

"It's probably inconvenient today."

"When would be a convenient day for you, Lord Zhou?"

“No day is convenient,” Zhou Wangshu said calmly. “My lord, although I am just a minor official, I dare not fail the Emperor’s grace. If you wish me to do something against my principles, I am afraid I cannot help you.”

Marquis Cheng'an: "..."

Zhou Wangshu walked past from the side.

When Marquis Cheng'an saw that he was about to leave, he quickly grabbed him.

"Lord Zhou, I have some private business to discuss with you, nothing to do with official duties." A mere minor official like him, expecting him to pull strings?

I initially thought this kid was quite clever, but now he seems a bit old-fashioned, which is a bit troublesome.

He remembered that Jing'er wasn't this dull when she was little. How did she become like this when she grew up? He could only say that growing up in the countryside limited her perspective.

"Then there's even less to talk about. I'm not familiar with Marquis Cheng'an, and we have no private matters to discuss."

"Lord Zhou, what are your impressions of your own background?" Marquis Cheng'an asked.

“I was severely injured and lost my memory. I don’t know where I came from. I only have memories of being rescued from the water. Marquis Cheng’an said he wanted to talk to me about private matters. Does he know my background and my identity?”

"Let's find a place to talk this over. Lord Zhou, this way please."

Zhou Wangshu hesitated for a moment, then followed Marquis Cheng'an.

The colleagues who came out of the yamen watched the two leave and discussed what private matters the two were talking about.

"That young master of the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion has truly disgraced himself. Instead of dealing with the mess at home, how does the Cheng'an Marquis have time to concern himself with Lord Zhou's background?"

"It's not..."

The men were all seasoned veterans of the officialdom. After exchanging a few words, they realized something was amiss and their expressions turned gossipy.

Do you want to know?

"Lord Wang, where do you think Marquis Cheng'an will invite Lord Zhou for a banquet?"

"The place needs to be quiet so that it's convenient to discuss business, and the only quiet place like that is Zhang's Tavern."

"Let's go. I'd like to invite all my colleagues to Zhang's Tavern for a drink."

Zhang's Tavern. Zhou Wangshu poured a cup of wine for Marquis Cheng'an and said, "My lord, tell me, do you know my background?"

Marquis Cheng'an took out a jade pendant and looked at Zhou Wangshu expectantly: "Do you recognize this?"

Zhou Wangshu took it, stroked it tenderly, and said, "This is mine, how did it end up in the Marquis's hands?"

"Please forgive me, Lord Zhou. Last time you accidentally dropped it, I picked it up to return it to you, but I found that this jade pendant looked familiar. I kept it with me to investigate, and I can confirm that this jade pendant is the same one that my wife gave to my son."

"What does Your Excellency mean?"

“I once had an eldest son, the child of my first wife. Even at a young age, he showed intelligence and courage. He was a child I was proud of and wanted to rely on. Unfortunately, fate was unkind, and he had an accident. I thought he was dead because the child in the water was wearing the same clothes as him and had been soaking for several days. His body was swollen, and I couldn't see his face. I could only identify him by his clothes.”

"Why does Your Excellency think I am that child?"

"Just because of this jade pendant!"

"I have no memory of it. I don't know how this jade pendant ended up in my hands. Maybe I picked it up from someone else."

Marquis Cheng'an: "..."

He thought that Zhou Wangshu would be eager to return to the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion and acknowledge him as his father after hearing the news, but he was unmoved and even tried his best to prove that he was not the child.

The title of Marquis of Cheng'an held no appeal for him?

Or is it that now that he is the son-in-law of the Grand General of the Nation, he looks down on the Marquis of Cheng'an's family?
If that's the case, then he's ridiculously stupid. How many years can the Grand General of the Nation live, and how long can he protect him? The title of Marquis of Cheng'an is hereditary; as long as they don't commit the heinous crime of confiscation of property and extermination of the clan, their family can continue to thrive.

"My lord, if there is no other evidence, I shall take my leave now."

“Your appearance is also evidence,” said Marquis Cheng’an. “You look remarkably like your mother.”

Zhou Wangshu sighed softly: "My lord, I know you've been through too many upsetting things lately and are desperate to get out of that vicious cycle. But please calm down a bit and don't overthink things. Without more evidence, I can't accept a stranger as my father. In fact, even if you prove you're my biological father, I don't plan to go back to the Cheng'an Marquis's residence."

"Why?" Marquis Cheng'an did not understand.

“If you truly cared about having such a son, how could you not recognize whether the deceased was your biological son? This shows you don’t understand your son at all. Since he’s someone you don’t care about, how much sincerity do you have for him? What would I do if I went back?”

"Now that you've entered the court as an official, you should know how busy your daily duties are. I, a man, can't possibly be confined to the inner quarters all day, managing the women and children there, can I? Of course I care about my child, but I have indeed neglected him somewhat. I've already sent someone to bring back your wet nurse. There's no one who knows you better than your wet nurse, and then we'll be able to prove whether you are my Jing'er or not."

"Then let's get her first. My lord, you shouldn't have too high hopes, lest you be disappointed."

Zhou Wangshu stood up and said, "I'll be going now. Please enjoy your meal, my lord."

Marquis Cheng'an frowned as he watched Zhou Wangshu stride away. "Any smart person would accept this marriage without any evidence and happily go back to inherit the family title. Is this kid an idiot?"

The adults next door listened to the entire play and were all shocked.

"Do you think Lord Zhou will return to the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence?" "If he truly is the eldest son of the Marquis of Cheng'an, he should return to inherit the title! That son born to the second wife is a good-for-nothing, making the entire Marquis of Cheng'an's residence a laughingstock. Now, even the servants of the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence are ashamed to go out, afraid of being pointed at and gossiped about, let alone the masters of the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence. There are several collateral branches of the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence, and those people have also been implicated, and are very dissatisfied with the direct line of the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence!"

"However, even without the title of Marquis of Cheng'an, Lord Zhou has the powerful General Protector of the Nation as his backer, so his future won't be too bad."

"It was a title that should have been inherited by him in the first place, so why not take it? Besides, there's no conflict between a title and a promotion."

“That makes sense. The title of Marquis of Cheng’an has been passed down for three generations, and by their generation, it has lost its glory. Simply inheriting their title is useless; they must make themselves valuable. As Lord Wang said, a title is acceptable, but an official position can also be promoted!”

Zhou Wangshu returned to the mansion of the Grand General of the Nation. As soon as he entered, he asked the steward if he had seen his wife.

The butler said with a smile, "The young lady's sworn sister and cousin have arrived. The young ladies are accompanying the general's wife for a skincare and beauty treatment. The general came back and saw that the lady had someone to accompany her and didn't need him, so he took a few trusted generals to train. He won't be back for dinner today."

“My father-in-law has someone to keep him company, but I have no one to keep me company, sigh…” Zhou Wangshu looked pitiful.

"If Lord Zhou finds it boring, we can practice archery with you," several guards said from the side.

The guards in the General of the Nation's mansion were all retired soldiers. These men were trusted confidants promoted by Su Rende. Because they were injured, they could not bear the difficulty of the tasks in the military camp and did not want to be idle, so they were arranged to work as guards in the mansion.

Despite their injuries, these people are still tigers, even if they're toothless. They're more than capable of dealing with skilled opponents.

Zhou Wangshu also wanted to improve himself, and since he was free anyway, he decided to play with them for a while.

Several hours later, the guards were full of admiration for Zhou Wangshu.

"Young master, you really have never served in the army?"

Zhou Wangshu fired his last arrow, but instead of hitting the bullseye, it struck a bird in the air.

“I never served in the army, but I secretly practiced martial arts to improve my health,” Zhou Wangshu said. “In the past few years, our lives were very difficult. At first, there were no men in the family, and Yaoguang and the others were always bullied. Later, they bought me, but because I was young and weak, they were still bullied. So I secretly practiced martial arts to make myself stronger, and that’s how I got the good body I have now.”

"Madam and Miss have truly suffered a lot. However, our General has not been idle either; he has amnesia, and it's not that he's deliberately not going back."

"Don't worry, my mother-in-law has already forgiven him. We younger generation can only admire his dedication to the country and its people, how could we blame him?"

Zhou Wangshu thought that Su Yaoguang should be almost done, so he hurried to the backyard.

Su Yaoguang was lying on the recliner when she saw Zhou Wangshu coming over. She waved and said, "You've come at the right time. This mud on my body has dried. Help me peel it off quickly."

"Are you beckoning a dog?" Zhang Zhaodi couldn't stand it anymore.

Zhang Pandi laughed and said, "This is just a young couple's fun, why are you so nosy?"

"I haven't even said anything to you yet, and you're already bringing up me. I'm trying to find you a husband, and what do you do? You've taken a fancy to someone's nephew and want to find a husband for Chunni. Chunni is still young, there's no rush to find her a husband, you should take care of your own problems first."

“I just don’t feel right,” Zhang Pandi said. “At this age, they don’t even have children yet. Am I going to hold them back?”

"Second Aunt, don't worry, you're still young. I've helped you get your body in good shape over the years, so you can have children if you want to."

"I'm still young? Don't try to fool me."

"Whether or not you have children, they've never cared about this issue. Why are you so concerned? They've just taken a liking to you."

Zhou Wangshu peeled off the mud from Su Yaoguang's face and then used the clean water next to her to wash away the excess mud from her face.

"Do you have anything fun to tell me today?" Su Yaoguang looked up at him.

Yes, I'll tell you when I get back.

He didn't tell Zhang Pandi and the others that he was the eldest son of the Marquis of Cheng'an, because the fewer people who knew about what he was going to do, the better.

After dinner, the Zhang sisters continued to digest their food in the courtyard. Jiang Jing and Jia Chunni, who rarely visited the General's Mansion, strolled around the mansion.

Su Yaoguang returned to his room and heard Zhou Wangshu talk about how Marquis Cheng'an had come to see him.

Su Yaoguang was soaking in the bathtub, leaning over the edge.

Zhou Wangshu wiped her back and said the words that Marquis Cheng'an had told him.

“He thought that as long as he beckoned, I would pounce on him like a dog, acknowledge him as my father, and run back to inherit the Cheng’an Marquis’s mansion.”

"What are you going to do next?"

"Keep him hanging. He's the one eager to claim kinship now, not me. This mess at the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion needs someone to take over, and I'm the most suitable candidate. Even if I weren't his biological son, as long as there's even the slightest resemblance, he'd beg me to be. Between a rotten second son and a renowned eldest son, which should he choose? How could someone as cunning as him not know?"

"What if he gets impatient after a while and just abandons you as a pawn?"

“One month. I’ll give him one month to prove that I’m his son. If I go back to the Cheng’an Marquis’s mansion like this and tell everyone that I’m the eldest son of that mansion, they will kick me out of the Cheng’an Marquis’s mansion.”

"I won't prove it; he'll prove it himself."

The difference between him eagerly returning to the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence and him being begged to return is significant.

"Furthermore, you said you had amnesia in order to lull them into a false sense of security and lower their guard," Su Yaoguang said. "The Marquis of Cheng'an did nothing to you personally. His mistake was neglecting you and persecuting your maternal clan. However, he didn't know that you already knew all of this, so he was unguarded against you. He even harbored illusions about you, hoping that you could lead the Marquis of Cheng'an's family to great success."

“Your biggest problem right now is that Lady Cheng’an. First of all, she was the one who did what happened back then, so she’s definitely guilty and afraid that you’ll go back and take revenge on her. Secondly, she’s a mother. To her, no matter how dirty Xia Zhen is, it’s someone else’s fault, not her son’s. If you come back, her son will lose his right to inherit the title. She definitely won’t let you return to the Cheng’an Marquis’s mansion alive.”

“Yes, but I’m not one to be trifled with either,” Zhou Wangshu said. “Yaoguang, give me six months. I’ll return to the General’s Mansion after six months.”

"Wait a minute..." Su Yaoguang turned to look at him, "You're planning to storm the Marquis of Cheng'an's mansion alone, aren't you planning to take me with you?"

“I know perfectly well that place is a den of dragons and tigers, how could I let you fall into it? Just be a happy young lady of the General’s Mansion, with your father-in-law’s care and protection, no one will dare to bully you. If you come with me to the Marquis of Cheng’an’s Mansion, the evil spirits there will have designs on you.”

"Let me tell you, Zhou Wangshu, we're husband and wife. No matter what dangers lie ahead, we'll face them together. There's no reason for me to let you fight alone while I enjoy the riches and glory behind you." Su Yaoguang bit his lips. "Did you hear me?"