As the Grand Tutor listened, he couldn't help but stroke his beard. The man opposite spoke so eloquently, he was truly captivating. Why had he never noticed him before? The Grand Tutor couldn't help but voice his inner doubts.
"This humble student has just come from the south and met your esteemed son by chance at a tavern," Cai Wei said, her words a mixture of truth and falsehood.
He didn't know if the Grand Tutor fully believed him, but he would certainly send people to investigate. After all, he was interacting a lot with his son these days. His identity would be exposed sooner or later. However, such investigations took time, at least a month. If he hurried, a month would be enough for him.
He had initially thought it would be difficult to get close to the Third Young Master, but to his surprise, that very afternoon, several young masters from the Grand Tutor's mansion were sent by the Grand Tutor to attend his lectures. It turned out that the Grand Tutor, worried in the morning, had listened outside the study where they were teaching and had nodded repeatedly. He was amazed that such a young man possessed such a broad mind, even admitting defeat to himself, the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, and deciding to have his own sons learn from him.
Upon meeting the Third Young Master of the Grand Tutor's family, he couldn't help but frown. The only unexpected person in the original host's short life was the young master he had rescued in the woods. She had assumed the Third Young Master of the Grand Tutor's family was targeting her because she had witnessed his embarrassment, or perhaps he had some unspeakable secret in that small town that he needed to silence her about. As he entered the mansion, he had prepared for the worst. To his surprise, they didn't recognize each other at all upon meeting.
He was confused. Had the county magistrate lied to him, or did the Third Young Master not recognize him, but someone around him intended to harm him? Was he simply avenging someone else? He decided to observe for a while longer.
As they interacted more, he learned that the Third Young Master had a sister. Because their mother had passed away quite early, he doted on this sister exceptionally.
The woman's directness told him that everything he had suffered was definitely related to this sister. Thus, he pulled the little maid following him and chatted about this and that, becoming intimately familiar with the situations of all the masters in the mansion.
One day, Zhu Chenxing visited Liu Zhiyi again. The moment they met, they spoke in hushed tones like young lovers. What they didn't notice was a pair of eyes staring intently at Zhu Chenxing from beyond the courtyard wall.
As he was engrossed in watching, his shoulder was suddenly patted. Wu Caiwei was startled and almost cried out. Turning his head, he met Liu Pengcheng's teasing eyes.
Wu Caiwei quickly pulled him aside and said in exasperation, "Why are you here?"
"I've been here for a while and deliberately made some noise. I can only say you were too engrossed to even notice me. Speaking of which, do you have any feelings for Second Sister?" Liu Pengcheng looked at him as if he knew everything.
"Don't talk nonsense. I heard your Second Sister is already engaged. She has a fiancé. I'm just very curious about her fiancé. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before," Wu Caiwei quickly changed the subject.
"Perhaps you have met before. I heard he grew up in the south until he was a teenager, and you also came from the south. You might have been fellow townsfolk," Liu Pengcheng, upon hearing this, found his explanation plausible and dismissed his suspicions.
"Is that so? You must tell me more about him, see if we knew each other before, so I can try to get closer."
"My status and position are higher than his. Getting closer to me is better than anything else."
"Meeting more people opens more doors. Of course, in my heart, you are absolutely number one."
"That's more like it."
...
The two began to bicker again. From his words, Wu Caiwei also learned about Zhu Xingchen's background. His birth was not glorious. His father was a fourth-rank official, unremarkable in the capital. The reason he was able to associate with the Grand Tutor's family was that the Grand Tutor's wife was related to his family. Furthermore, it was a concubine's daughter who was betrothed, a marriage arranged in the womb.
Originally, the betrothal was for Zhu Yuxuan, the eldest legitimate son of the Zhu family. However, after his mother passed away, he fell seriously ill and became extremely weak, living on medicine. Many doctors said he would not live past twenty. In the last two years, he hadn't even left his room.
Zhu Chenxing was said to be born to the current Madam Zhu. The reason he had lived outside for so many years was that, according to gossip, Lord Zhu and his cousin were childhood sweethearts. However, because the cousin's family could not provide him any assistance, their marriage was opposed by Lord Zhu's parents. Thus, he had no choice but to marry the former Madam Zhu.
Not long after the former Madam Zhu entered the household, she discovered the existence of the cousin. She was a cunning woman, who observed everything but took no action, focusing on cultivating her relationship with Lord Zhu and giving birth to Zhu Yuxuan.
Soon after, the cousin also became pregnant, and they eagerly awaited the arrival of this child. Strangely, Lord Zhu received an assignment that required him to leave the capital for half a month. Coincidentally, this was the time when the cousin was due to give birth. Plans, however, could not keep up with changes. A few days later, she slipped and fell, giving birth prematurely. On the day of the birth, Madam Zhu orchestrated a switch, replacing the baby with a cat's instead of a prince.
By the time Lord Zhu returned, it was too late. The midwife and her family had already disappeared. They suspected Madam Zhu had a hand in it, but there was no evidence. Moreover, their affair had always been kept secret from her, and Lord Zhu still relied on her family for promotion. He dared not question her openly and could only investigate her, but found nothing. The matter was dropped, but he never gave up searching for all these years.
Fifteen years passed. He thought he would never find him in this lifetime. Then, an illness took Madam Zhu's life. Lord Zhu eagerly made his cousin Madam Zhu. After what had happened, they hadn't dared to have another child for so many years. This meant that Madam Zhu had only one son in this lifetime, making his search even more urgent.
He was a scholar on his way to the capital for the imperial examinations. He accidentally saw Madam Zhu on the street and heard that she had lost a child. He voluntarily came forward with information, saying he had a relative who looked remarkably like Madam Zhu.
Lord Zhu and Madam Zhu, based on the information he provided, finally found the child. To their astonishment, the child's adoptive mother was the midwife who had disappeared all those years ago.
Upon learning that Madam Zhu had died, the midwife hastily confessed everything. It turned out that it was indeed Madam Zhu's doing. She had intended to find a peasant family and leave him there to be raised as a farmer, facing the soil and the sky. That way, even if they found him, he would be ruined. However, the midwife had more foresight. Fearing that Lord Zhu might one day search for him and hold her responsible, she used her savings of many years to send him to school. At a young age, he had already passed the Xiu Cai examination.
Zhu Chenxing was very intelligent. Although he learned of his adoptive mother's actions, she had treated him very well for all these years. Besides, even if it wasn't her, it would have been someone else. Not only did he not resent her, but he was also very grateful for her upbringing over the years.