Chapter 115: The Little Ancestor of the Rite Minister’s House
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
Minister Fang stood in shock, grappling with Lu Chao Chao’s words. “One who is about to die?” Was his beloved wife truly beyond saving? A profound sadness engulfed him, and tears streamed down his face.
“Wishing for death,” Chao Chao said vaguely, but Minister Fang understood.
“Thirty years ago, when our eldest daughter was three, my wife took her to see the lanterns, and she got lost. Since then, my wife has harbored a deep sorrow and never conceived again.” Minister Fang, a man of deep affection and loyalty, never remarried or took a concubine.
“I adopted a son and registered him under my name. My grandson, from whom you borrowed money, is actually my adopted son’s child.” Minister Fang seemed to lose all his spirit at once, leading Chao Chao into the inner courtyard.
In the inner courtyard, the servants were tense, sensing that the old lady’s life was quickly slipping away. The strong smell of medicine and the aura of impending death filled the room, creating a dense feeling of sorrow.
Lu Chao Chao saw a young woman kneeling by the bed, simply dressed without any jewelry, seemingly afraid it might scratch the old lady. She held a copper basin, personally cleaning the old lady’s waste, her expression showing no resentment.
“This is my daughter-in-law, Zhu Yan. She originally fled from the North, and my wife, being kind-hearted, saved her during the disaster relief.” Over the years, Zhu Yan was grateful for the old lady’s kindness and served her with great devotion, the old lady becoming closer to her than to her adopted son.
“Mother still refuses to eat,” the young woman said, her voice choked with emotion, her eyes red. The old lady had not taken a drop of water for three days.
“You’re back?” The old woman’s voice was weak. She raised a hand, which Minister Fang immediately held.
“Thirty years as husband and wife, you know my heart. Do not force me to stay.” The old lady’s voice trembled with emotion. “For you, I have held on for decades, but I can’t hold on anymore. I am tired…” The curtain lifted, revealing the old woman’s deeply lined face and cloudy eyes, looking into the distance as if waiting for something.
“Old woman, you are all I have left.” The once authoritative old Rite Minister wept like a child. Their daughter was gone, and now his old wife was leaving him too.
“It’s my fault, all my fault. I did not watch over our daughter well… The Fang family line will end here.” The old lady cried out. An adopted son is, after all, still an adopted son. The bloodline of the Fang family was about to end. The old lady’s heart was heavy, the stress from her worries making her ill, and she never conceived again after their daughter went missing. Minister Fang was unwilling to take a concubine, and now the Fang family was facing extinction.
Lu Chao Chao, however, was looking at the young woman who was silently shedding tears by the bed. “Wah, I think I found your daughter,” Lu Chao Chao said slowly.
The crying stopped abruptly, and Minister Fang quickly looked up at her.
“If you can find my daughter, you will be the ancestor of my house!” Minister Fang took a deep breath. Over the years, he had already had someone impersonate their daughter just to keep the old lady going. But the old lady always sensed something was wrong.
Lu Chao Chao grinned. “Your daughter is right in front of you.”
“What did you say?” The old lady heard the little girl and was momentarily stunned.
“I said, your daughter has already returned home.” Lu Chao Chao placed her hands on her hips, her chin slightly raised. The old lady’s kindness and good deeds had already brought her blessings. Even Minister Fang was confused.
“Your temple is glowing with two lines, meaning children surround your knee and have already reunited.” Lu Chao Chao pointed at the old lady and then at the woman beside her.
The young woman was stunned: “Ah?” Tears were still on her face.
The old lady suddenly sat up. Having not eaten for three days, she felt dizzy. Minister Fang didn’t miss this and hurriedly supported his wife.
“You, what did you say? Say it again? In detail, reunited long ago?” The old lady’s voice was urgent, trembling. “No, no, Zhu Yan, Zhu Yan, you say, tell me again about your origin!” The old lady wanted to get out of bed, but Zhu Yan quickly stopped her.
“Mother, please lie down.” The daughter-in-law said urgently. “I’m originally from Beiqu County, sold by my mother when I was fifteen during the famine. I later escaped and was later rescued by my husband during the disaster relief.” The young woman’s heart was in turmoil, what did the child mean by already reunited? What did it mean by mother and daughter reunited?
“Before? Do you remember anything before you were three?” The old lady had never asked this before.
Zhu Yan was slightly stunned. She indeed had no memory before she was three.
“I, I, was very ill before the age of three. When I woke up, I had severe headaches and lost all memory before I was three. But…” Zhu Yan paused. When she was young, neighbors often said she was picked up to be a little sister for her brother. But she never took it seriously. At this moment… Her heart was pounding.
“Neighbors used to joke, saying I was picked up.” As she spoke, Zhu Yan blushed. “But… I have a birthmark.” Her face turned red, the location was a bit awkward to describe.
Minister Fang suddenly sat up straight at the mention.
“On the buttocks!” The old lady’s voice was sharp as she suddenly shouted. Her eyes were burning as she looked at Zhu Yan. She felt her throat tighten, and tears fell in large drops.
“My daughter has a leaf-shaped birthmark on her buttocks, in a hidden spot, no outsider knows about it.” The old lady grabbed Zhu Yan like a madwoman, “Yan’er, would you be willing to let the midwife, the nanny, and the doctor examine you?”
“It is somewhat…” Minister Fang felt embarrassed, but the daughter-in-law agreed without hesitation.
“I am willing.” Zhu Yan knew her mother-in-law longed for her daughter, and in this lifetime, her daughter was her only wish. She prayed every first and fifteenth day of the month, hoping her mother-in-law would find her daughter. She never thought, she was that daughter.
The old lady no longer wanted to die: “Quick, bring me ginseng soup.” She sat up and called out to the nanny.
The servants cried tears of joy. The lady always instructed them to keep ginseng soup and rice porridge warm on the stove, which now came in handy. The old lady drank a bowl, then dared not drink more. The elderly have weak stomachs and need to be nourished slowly. She intends to keep this life to see her daughter!
Meanwhile, Lu Chao Chao sat on a chair, the big dog lying at her feet, while the white-haired Minister Fang paced around excitedly like a young boy. The adopted son Fang Xuan was rushing back to the mansion in the meantime.
“Father? I heard my sister was found?” The middle-aged man was also full of excitement. His parents had been looking for their daughter for over twenty years, and had been deceived in between, making them lose hope.
“Where is my sister?” Before he finished speaking. A wailing voice suddenly came from the inner room.
“My daughter, it’s my daughter!!” The old lady cried loudly, years of repression and despair released in this moment. Her good deeds and wishes were answered. The child she longed for, fate had already pushed her back to her side. She almost missed her.
The elderly Rite Minister stood dumbfounded, tears streaming down. Thud. He knelt in front of Lu Chao Chao and called out, “Little Ancestor.”
On the second day after the expulsion from the Marquis House, Chao Chao became the little ancestor of the Rite Minister’s House.