Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

The night was so thick it seemed impossible to break through.

The candlelight in the study flickered, bursting into a single flame.

Chu Jinglan sat in the armchair, the account book in his hand already crumpled from being crumpled.

Even if the numbers on the screen were crystal clear, he couldn't decipher a single word.

All I could think about was that scene from the daytime.

The glaring crimson sachet at Chu Sikong's waist.

And there were those two mandarin ducks lying with their necks intertwined.

That was Jiang Yining's cooking.

He would never admit to being wrong about this.

Now, however, the needle and thread are hanging around the younger brother's waist.

Even the interaction between the two at the dinner table, such as handing each other water, feeding each other, and wiping each other's mouths.

That kind of familiarity that no third person can get in.

"Smack."

Chu Jinglan slammed the account book down on the table.

It felt like a damp wad of cotton was stuck in my chest, making me feel suffocated.

He stood up and pushed open the door.

Outside the corridor, a cold wind, mixed with the dampness of the remaining rain, rushed towards us.

The night watchman leaned against a pillar and dozed off, his head nodding off.

Chu Jinglan stepped into the darkness without alerting anyone.

He needs some fresh air.

Before I knew it, my footsteps had led me to the back garden.

It's very close to the main courtyard and not far from Chu Sikong's west wing.

In the stillness of the night, only the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard.

Chu Jinglan walked behind the artificial hill, about to light a cigarette to calm his mind.

A hushed voice drifted into my ears on the wind.

They were two old servants responsible for emptying chamber pots.

They huddled in the sheltered spot by the artificial hill, slacking off while gossiping.

"What kind of situation is this? The general was risking his life at the front, and when he came back, good heavens, the woman next to him had become his sister-in-law."

"Shh! Keep your voice down! But the second young master really can't be without his wife. I heard from the night watchman that even in the heavy rain yesterday, the second young master was still sneaking into the ancestral hall..."

"Tsk tsk, even in a place like the ancestral hall... Our lady is quite capable. Not only has she won over the second young master, but even General Bai, who comes here often, looks at her with such adoration."

"If I were a general, looking at this room full of wild men waiting to cuckold me, I'd probably be so angry I'd vomit blood."

The old servant who spoke first became anxious, his voice suddenly rose for a moment, then he quickly lowered it again.

"How can you just say things like that?"

"What can't be said? Is this still a secret in our household?"

"When the news of the general's death in battle came back, the old lady cried so much that she fainted several times. The second young master was blind and sickly, and it seemed that the Chu family line was about to end."

"If it weren't for the old lady's insistence and pleading with the madam to 'continue the family line,' the Chu family's prestige would have long since crumbled!"

Chu Jinglan felt as if something had hit him hard on the top of his head.

Concurrent ancestral worship.

These two words were like a red-hot branding iron, directly burning his eardrums.

Although the laws of the Great Chu were strict, in folk clans, if the eldest son had no descendants and died in battle, there was indeed a custom that the second son would inherit both sons' lines in order to continue the family line.

That is, one woman serving two husbands.

Nominally she was the eldest sister-in-law, but in reality she was also the second son's wife.

The first child born goes to the eldest son's wife, and the second child goes to the second son's wife.

Chu Jinglan's fingers scratched bloodstains into the rough stone wall.

The pain of a broken nail is nothing compared to the absurd agony in my heart.

No wonder Jiang Yining was so cold to him; Chu Sikong dared to make those inappropriate intimate gestures in front of him.

No wonder everyone in the manor looked at him with a strange expression.

It turns out that when he fought a bloody battle and barely escaped with his life, trying to crawl home...

His mother, his brother, and his wife.

She had already carried him on her back and formed another complete family in this home.

Then what is he?

A superfluous, wandering ghost?

The conversation behind the artificial hill continued, each sentence like a knife.

"Moreover, I think the second young master and his wife are truly in love."

"You didn't see it. A few days ago, the second young master was seriously ill, and the madam stayed by his bedside without taking off her clothes, feeding him medicine and wiping his body. She was incredibly attentive."

"Tsk tsk, it's only because the general was kept in the dark that he thought the lady was living a life of widowhood."

"He even got angry with his wife over the account books and made her kneel in the ancestral hall."

"If you ask me, the lady is also wronged."

"Wasn't all that money meant for the second young master's medical treatment and to maintain appearances for the family?"

"What did Madam not use in the household for everything that the Grand Secretary and General Bai sent?"

enough.

Chu Jinglan couldn't listen anymore.

He suddenly turned around, his figure like a furious lion, and charged out of the darkness.

"Who's there!"

The two old servants were terrified, and they smashed the chamber pots in their hands on the ground with a loud crash, spilling filth all over the floor.

By the faint moonlight, they could make out who it was.

That chilling aura, and those bloodshot eyes that seemed to drip blood.

"The... the Great General?!"

Their legs went weak, and they knelt on the ground with a thud, their bodies trembling like leaves.

"General, spare me! This old servant didn't say anything! I didn't say anything at all!"

Chu Jinglan stepped forward and emerged from the darkness like a ghost, crushing the hardwood broom in his hand with a "crack".

The two old servants were terrified. Before they could even see who it was, a large, iron-like hand grabbed their throats tightly.

"Who gave you permission to gossip?!"

Chu Jinglan's eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his arms bulged. He slammed the two of them against the artificial hill like he was carrying dead dogs, causing the rocks to fall in a shower.

"What is dual inheritance?"

"What do you mean by...resting in the same room?"

The old servant was being strangled so badly he could hardly breathe, his face turning a deep purplish-red, and he begged for mercy intermittently.

"General... release... your grip..."

Chu Jinglan loosened his grip.

The old servant fell to the ground, panting heavily, and scrambled backward.

"explain!"

Chu Jinglan drew his sword from his waist; a flash of cold light, and the tip of the sword was pointed directly at the old servant's throat.

"If you dare to utter even a single lie, I'll cut your tongue out right now."

The two old servants had never seen anything like this before. They were so frightened that tears streamed down their faces, and they rushed to confess.

"It was the old lady who made the decision the year the eldest young master died in battle!"

"At that time, the second young master's health was clearly failing, and the doctor said... that he needed to be married off to bring good luck."

"Furthermore, after the eldest son's family was left without any heirs, the old lady begged the madam... to inherit both sons' lines."

"Madam only agreed to save the Chu family!"

"For the past three years... the Second Young Master's health has been entirely dependent on Madam's care; the two of them... the two of them are indeed..."

The old servant dared not continue.

Because the sword was already trembling slightly.

Chu Jinglan closed his eyes.

Jiang Yining's indifferent face flashed into my mind.

Was she mocking him in the ancestral hall?

They mocked him, her legitimate husband, for acting like a fool, trying to impose any kind of female virtues or precepts on her.

But she was already another man's wife.

That man was his own younger brother.

"Except for Sikong..."

Chu Jinglan opened his eyes, his gaze filled with a deathly coldness.

"What's the deal with the Grand Secretary and General Bai you were talking about earlier?"

Since you've already been cuckolded.

He wouldn't mind asking again how many layers the hat had.

The old servant swallowed hard and spoke in a trembling voice.

"General Bai... General Bai treats the Chu residence as his own home..."

The old servant stammered, "And the Grand Secretary... often doesn't leave until late at night..."

Clang.

The longsword in his hand fell to the ground.

Chu Jinglan staggered back two steps, his back hitting the artificial hill, which hurt painfully.

What a fine matriarch of the Chu family!

It turns out that during the more than one thousand days and nights he was away...

This Chu residence has long since become someone else's haven of pleasure.

He was the only one foolishly holding a guilty heart, wanting to come back and make amends to her.

Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

"Ha ha……"

Chu Jinglan let out a strange laugh, which sounded particularly eerie in the dead of night.

The two old servants were so frightened that they didn't dare to breathe, wishing they could bury themselves in the ground.

"roll."

Chu Jinglan uttered a single word.

The two old servants were overjoyed and ran away as fast as they could, not even bothering to pick up the chamber pot on the ground.

Chu Jinglan stood alone in the darkness, letting the cold wind blow into his collar.

He bent down and picked up the sword from the ground.

The sword was cold, reflecting his distorted face.

Inside the west wing, candlelight flickered, and the zither music was tender and poignant—it was the enchanting melody of "The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate."

On the window screen, two overlapping figures were vaguely reflected, as if they were whispering or whispering sweet nothings.

That's his younger brother.

That was his... wife.

Standing outside the courtyard, listening to the zither music, Chu Jinglan felt as if his internal organs were being burned by raging fire.

All notions of brotherly love, propriety, and a sense of shame turned to ashes at this moment.

"Chu, Si, Kong!"

He squeezed out those three words through clenched teeth, and the longsword in his hand emitted a clear, resonant dragon's roar.

"Bang--!!!"

The thick courtyard gate, along with its bolt, was shattered by that hateful kick, and wood chips exploded like a rainstorm, shattering the enchanting music that filled the room.