Chapter 173: 173 Regret

Chapter 173: 173 Regret

Chapter 173 173 Regret

Seeing that her eldest daughter's complexion and spirit were obviously improving, Mrs. Mu Guogong was completely relieved.

An hour ago, the eldest daughter was vomiting blood. Mrs. Mu Guogong was really panicked at that time. She sent people to invite all the famous doctors in the capital, and also ordered people to use the post from the Duke's mansion to invite the imperial doctor. As a result, Grandma Chen said It's better to go find Chu Qianchen.

Mrs. Mu Guogong just thought that Shen would want to see Chu Qianchen, so she left it to Nanny Chen to invite someone. She didn't expect that Chu Qianchen's medical skills were so extraordinary at such a young age!

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Mrs. Mu Guogong would not have believed that a little girl without hair extensions could have better medical skills than a gray-haired imperial physician.

This girl is really amazing!

The ancestors of the Shen family also had some amazing talents. The great-uncle of the current Duke Mu had a photographic memory and won the top prize at the age of eighteen. He was a prodigy who won three prizes in a row; and the deceased father of Duke Mu was particularly good at it. He was a capable judge in solving cases, and even the slightest clue could not escape his eyes. He was also a capable minister in the court when he was still alive...

Thinking about it, Mrs. Mu Guogong looked at Chu Qianchen with a little more kindness in her eyes. She hesitated to speak, and her eyes were extremely complicated.

Mrs. Shen sat up with the help of Granny Chen, leaning on a large pillow behind her back, still staring at Chu Qianchen.

Shen wanted to say something, but Chu Qianchen held her hand down, "Mother, do you have something to tell me? Let's talk after you take the medicine."

In Shen's current state, it's really not appropriate to get too excited.

Mrs. Mu Guogong looked at Shen and felt complicated. She knew that her daughter was going to have a long talk with Chu Qianchen, so she lowered her head and said to Chu Yunmu: "Brother Mu, it's getting late. You have to go to class tomorrow. Go back to your room and rest first." Well, here are me and your second sister."

Chu Yunmu looked at Mrs. Mu Guogong, then at Shen and Chu Qianchen. He felt that they were hiding something from him and were deliberately trying to get rid of him.

At this time, Chu Qianchen asked: "Brother Mu, do you still want to go to the military camp with your brother-in-law in the future?"

Chu Yunmu's eyes suddenly lit up and he nodded.

Chu Qianchen said again: "Then go to bed."

Chu Yunmu felt that he was threatened by his sister, and he should be unyielding. However, when he met his sister's eyes, he became gray and touched his nose.

"Then I'll wait until mother drinks the medicine before leaving?" Chu Yunmu raised her head to discuss with Chu Qianchen.

Seeing the happy faces of the siblings, Mrs. Mu Guogong felt even more emotional, warmly and astringently. Hey, could this be fate!

Chu Yunmu stayed by Shen's couch and exchanged greetings. Sometimes he poured tea and water, and sometimes he wiped her sweat. He was so busy that he served Shen exceptionally well.

After about a while of burning incense, Dongmei came in carrying a tray with a steaming bowl of medicine on it.

After watching Mrs. Shen drink the medicine, Chu Yunmu thoughtfully gave her a candied fruit to eat and warned: "Mom, you need to have a good rest."

"Grandma, don't go to bed too late."

"Second sister, I'm leaving then."

Chu Yunmu looked after everyone and finally walked away, looking back three times.

Mrs. Mu Guogong's face straightened up, and she ordered her personal nanny: "Go and invite that monk who knows the guest."

The nanny obeyed the order and retreated.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn.

Shen was still staring at Chu Qianchen, her eyes slightly moist, and she held one of Chu Qianchen's hands tightly, as if there was a voice in her heart screaming at the top of her lungs.

She managed to calm down, her chest still heaving slightly, and she got to the point in a hoarse voice: "Fourteen years ago, I went with your father and the whole family to my hometown in Yuzhou to attend the funeral of your cousin-in-law. At that time, I was eight months pregnant and suddenly started to , can only be produced in Daheiji Temple.”

"Because of the premature birth, it was very difficult to give birth to this baby..."

"After I gave birth to a baby girl, I fainted from my strength. Grandma Chen was worried about me, so she ran to a nearby village to find a doctor for me. When I woke up again, it was already a day and a night later."

Shen's voice was very weak and slow, and when she mentioned certain places, she became very emotional, almost choking, and crystal tears stained her eyelashes.

She, who was usually shrewd and courageous, looked so fragile at this moment.

In the past fourteen years, she had never doubted what happened in the short half-day when Nanny Chen left. Until recently, more and more things aroused her suspicion...

Grandma Chen's eyes were also red, and she was filled with regret: If she hadn't walked away and left my wife alone, this wouldn't have happened...

Chu Qianchen listened silently and moved his fingers slightly twice.

Many of the things Shen is talking about now are things she doesn't know.

After having a suspicion in his heart, Chu Qianchen also asked Hu Huo to inquire with the old man in the house. He knew that Aunt Jiang had given birth to him in his hometown, and that Shen had given birth to his first child on the way to his hometown.

Chu Qianchen was silent, his eyes trembling slightly.

Mrs. Mu Guogong tightly clutched the string of Buddhist beads in her hand, with blue veins bulging on the back of her hands, and thought deeply: The timing of her daughter's premature birth was too deliberate and too coincidental.

If she had been in the capital at that time, my daughter might have realized something was wrong, but she was halfway there, in an unfamiliar environment, and there were folk rumors that "seven are alive and eight are not alive". In the chaos, the third It is impossible for a daughter who has given birth to find such "deliberateness".

As Shen narrated, Grandma Chen recalled the past again, feeling as if she was being grabbed.

During this period of time, she was also recalling the past more than ten years ago over and over again, and regretting over and over again that she was too rash.

Grandma Chen took two deep breaths, straightened her thoughts, and said, "That day was really chaotic."

"Back then, after giving birth at Daping Temple, my wife suffered a heavy haemorrhage and fainted. The servant was worried, so she followed a young master from the temple to the nearby Wangjia Village and found a Wenpo who knew medical skills."

"The slave was only away for half a day, about two hours. When the slave returned to Daping Temple, the lady was still in a coma, but a doctor had already looked at her and said that the lady was fine..."

"The slave also heard that the baby girl was bruised all over because of suffocation of amniotic fluid, and her life was on the line. Daping Temple was in the suburbs, and the doctor could not arrive for a while. The Marquis heard that the abbot of the temple was good at qihuang, so he took the baby girl there He was brought back to the abbot’s house the next day, with no accidents.”

"At that time, too many things happened in just one day, and it was too confusing. The slave didn't think much about it. She just thought that Madam was a lucky person. Although the birth of this baby was difficult, mother and daughter were still safe. ”

As she spoke, Grandma Chen's voice became increasingly difficult, and her voice seemed to be squeezed out from the bottom of her throat.

Duke Mu did not leave, but listened outside the screen with his fists clenched tightly. His old but not cloudy eyes were as deep as the abyss, and his body was as stiff as a stone sculpture.

Mrs. Mu Guogong pursed her lips tightly and dug her nails deeply into her palms.

The air was so heavy that it was suffocating.

After that, Mrs. Shen continued what Grandma Chen said: "I was in a coma for a whole day and a night. I don't know anything about what happened during that time. Everything I know is from what others told me. They said that I was exhausted due to blood deficiency, so I fainted, and that the baby girl was in critical condition for a time, but fortunately she was safe...

"When I woke up, the baby was sleeping on the small bed next to me. She was very thin, even thinner than ordinary premature babies. She didn't even weigh five pounds."

To this day, Shen still remembers that scene clearly, as if it was engraved in her heart.

That was the first time she saw her child. The little baby slept peacefully, so petite and weak, like tender petals, she didn't even dare to hold it.

Shen stopped again, her chest rising and falling slightly, and she tried hard to calm down her emotions.

It was obviously a hot summer day, but there was a bone-chilling chill in the room.

Mrs. Mu Guogong couldn't help but look at Chu Qianchen.

Chu Qianchen was sitting on a stool next to Shen's couch, with an elegant posture, a calm demeanor, and a kind of Yue Zhiyuan Ting's calmness.

This girl is so calm.

Mrs. Mu Guogong suddenly had a thought in her mind.

This girl is a smart person. It is impossible for her not to understand what her daughter and Grandma Chen are talking about...

so…

Had Chu Qianchen long been suspicious of her life experience?

Did she already guess that they had been investigating for more than ten years? She also saw why her daughter was so angry today...

This kid is so smart!

Mrs. Mu Guogong looked at Chu Qianchen with eyes that were both loving and heart-wrenching, as well as filled with emotions such as pity and joy.

She calmed down and then said: "The abbot of Daping Temple passed away eight years ago. It was just a small temple, and there were not many monks from fourteen years ago..."

Moreover, the birth of a child involves female relatives, and not many monks would appear in Shen's courtyard at that time.

"The people we sent to Daping Temple found a Zhike monk from that year. They just arrived in the capital today."

After a pause, Mrs. Mu Guogong carefully looked at Chu Qianchen's expression, and then said: "That Zhike monk said that your father went to the abbot back then and brought out a baby..."

"Later, he occasionally heard the abbot say sadly that he hoped the child would have a long life..."

After finishing speaking, Mrs. Mu Guogong's expression became more and more cautious, her eyes still fixed on Chu Qianchen.

On Wanshou Festival, when she saw Chu Qianchen for the first time, she had the same feeling as when she saw her eldest daughter when she was young.

It's not that Chu Qianchen's appearance is much like his eldest daughter's, they just have 80% or 90% similarity in their phoenix eyes, but their stature and temperament are very similar, making Mrs. Mu Guogong feel familiar for an instant.

In fact, up to now, the fact that the two children were exchanged is just their speculation, and there is no more concrete evidence. However, judging from various clues, it is 80-90% certain that this matter cannot be wrong.

This was not the first time that Mrs. Shen heard what Zhi Ke Monk said. When she heard what her mother said again, she felt that burning and tormenting feeling in her heart, and there was another dull pain in her chest. .

This pain was also shown on her appearance. She raised her hands to cover her chest, her brows furrowed, and her face showed pain.

"Ah Zhi!" Mrs. Mu Guogong was worried, fearing that her daughter would be so angry that she would vomit blood again.

Outside the screen, Duke Mu heard his old wife's call and was worried about his daughter. He no longer cared about the rules and etiquette, so he bypassed the screen and rushed in.

Chu Qianchen was sitting next to Shen. She moved faster, took out a sachet from her sleeve pocket and put it under Shen's nose.

"Mother, listen to me, breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth."

"Breathe in, breathe out."

Chu Qianchen used words in a calm tone to guide Shen and increase her breathing. At the same time, she massaged several acupuncture points on her hands and motioned to Amber to rub Shen's back.

Her unhurried voice had a soothing power, making Shen gradually calm down.

Soon, Shen took a breath, but her face was still slightly pale.

"Sister Chen," Mrs. Shen took Chu Qianchen's warm bare hand and held it tightly, "do you still remember what your second aunt said?"

Her hands were cold, her voice was slightly trembling, and her hands were trembling slightly.

"Remember." Chu Qianchen nodded, with a cold light in his eyes.

Mrs. Liu said that fourteen years ago, Mrs. Xu saw Chu Lingxiao carrying a swaddling baby into Aunt Jiang's delivery room.

Shen held Chu Qianchen's hand tighter, her eyes seemed to be burning with two clusters of flames, and her expression became even more excited.

She adjusted her breathing according to Chu Qianchen's instructions just now, and said slowly but firmly:

"You, you are not the child of Jiang Minshan, nor are you the child of an outsider, you are the child of me!"

She is her daughter!

These days, this sentence has been hidden in Shen's heart, until now she can finally say it.

She was certain that Chu Qianchen was her daughter!

Shen's voice was hoarse and choked with excitement, and her heart was beating violently in her chest.

Bang bang bang!

Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. "..." Amber on the side was dumbfounded, stunned, and her mind went blank.

Chu Qianchen's eyes met those of Shen next to her.

Compared to Shen, her expression and eyes were very calm, or should I say calm.

She has wisdom beyond her years, and her gaze is as deep as a pool of water, so deep that it seems to **** people in.

"Mother," Chu Qianchen asked, "Did the guest monk only see it from a distance back then?"

"Yes." Shen responded.

She thought Chu Qianchen didn't believe it, so he pulled her to the couch and sat down, describing her delicate and soft facial features with his eyes, journeying and lingeringly.

"Do you remember that the housekeeper, Aunt Yu, and the wet nurse you used to serve around you are gone?" Mrs. Shen asked again.

Chu Qianchen nodded, and his fingers holding the handkerchief tightened suddenly.

Mrs. Shen said: "Your wet nurse died of illness. Grandma Yu was originally alive and well, but last month when I asked people to investigate her, she was hit by a flower pot while walking on the road. She died strangely.

These two people had served Aunt Jiang in her hometown in Yuzhou and stayed with her for many years, and were later rewarded to Chu Qianchen.

Mrs. Shen kept staring at Chu Qianchen's face with burning eyes.

Her fingers were weak, but she still held Chu Qianchen's hand firmly.

For this period of time, this incident has been lingering in Shen's mind.

At first, she just suspected that Chu Qianchen's life experience was suspicious, and she suspected that Aunt Jiang was not Chu Qianchen's biological mother, so she began to investigate the matter. When she found out that Aunt Yu was suddenly killed, she vaguely realized that Chu Qianchen I'm afraid there is really a problem with Chen's life experience, and the problem is so big that some people want to kill him and silence him.

When she heard that Chu Qianchen was given to Aunt Jiang by Chu Lingxiao, her suspicions rose to the highest point, and a terrible guess began to emerge in her mind: Could her daughter have been exchanged? !

From the moment this idea came to her mind, it became a problem on her mind.

Even she herself didn't know whether she hoped this thing was true or false. No matter day or night, she was thinking about it, suffering day and night.

Gradually, I became frustrated.

In fact, even before Zhi Ke Seng arrived in Beijing, Shen had already felt that this was most likely the case. What Zhi Ke Seng said today only further verified her guess.

Then, the anger that had been held in her heart for a long time suddenly burst out.

Only then would she become so angry that she vomited blood.

At this moment, Shen's mood was too complex to be described in words.

She wanted to hold Chu Qianchen in her arms, wanted to tell her a lot, said she was sorry, said she had been so stupid these years, and said she would make it up to her in the future...

But when the words came to her lips, she felt that the words she wanted to say were so weak. This child had lived too hard in the past ten years.

Shen's eyes were red again, with a layer of hazy tears in her eyes. She held back the tears.

Mrs. Mu Guogong felt extremely distressed when she saw her daughter like this.

She wanted to say something, but Duke Mu held her down and motioned for her to let her daughter do it herself. After all, this is their mother and daughter's matter. There are some things that outsiders can't help with, and some things have to be said by the daughter herself. The daughter's knot cannot be untied, and the granddaughter may not be able to let go.

Duke Mu also felt uncomfortable, so he took his old wife and sat down next to him.

Mrs. Shen took a few more deep breaths before speaking again, her voice hoarse, and asked a series of questions: "Sister Chen, do you remember that Aunt Jiang has refused to let you get close to me and Brother Mu all these years?" ?”

"Do you remember that Aunt Jiang always wanted you to live in Zhuangzi on the outskirts, away from the Hou Mansion?"

"Do you still remember that in the past few years, whenever you wanted to leave the house or have a big banquet, Aunt Jiang would become unwell and use various reasons to keep you with her and not allow you to see outsiders?"

"besides…"

Mrs. Shen stared deeply into Chu Qianchen's phoenix eyes and said hard, "Aunt Jiang doesn't even like you getting close to Brother Yi, right?"

As she spoke, Shen couldn't help but think of Chu Qianchen when she was young.

At that time, the little girl had two curly hair, her delicate face was like a white porcelain doll, Yuxue was cute, she had a well-behaved temperament, she always spoke slowly, softly, and was very obedient and sensible.

Seeing how well-behaved this child was, she wanted to get closer to him. Moreover, Chu Qianchen and Chu Qianhuang were the same age, so they could play and study together. However, during that period, Jiang Minshan fell ill and cried to Chu Lingxiao. He acted as if he wanted to **** the child from her.

Later, when Chu Qianchen hid when he saw her, she knew that it was Aunt Jiang who told her not to get close to her.

She never liked forcing others to make things difficult for her, so she became cold-hearted towards Chu Qianchen.

Looking back now, this was simply Jiang Minshan's guilty conscience. She was afraid that she would find out if she had been with Chu Qianchen for a long time, so she didn't want them to get too close.

Jiang Minshan wanted to raise Chu Qianchen crookedly and **** him, and wanted the child to be isolated and helpless in the Hou Mansion!

Thinking about it, Shen's heart began to throb again, and her heart felt like a knife.

Her daughter should have been a treasure that she held in the palm of her hand and cared for. She should have enjoyed the pampering of her family. She should have lived a high-spirited and carefree life, instead of living such a humble and difficult life.

Mrs. Shen hated Chu Lingxiao, hated Aunt Jiang, and hated herself.

As a mother, she should have protected her daughter, but she failed to do so.

This kind of guilt and regret made Shen so uneasy that she almost didn't dare to touch Chu Qianchen.

She was afraid that her daughter would hate her.

The words Shen said were like countless needles piercing the hearts of Duke Mu and his wife.

The two elders both felt uncomfortable and looked extremely ugly. However, now that it has happened, it is too late to regret it.

Chu Qianchen remained silent, his hand holding the handkerchief tightened, his eyes deep, as if he was thinking.

Her silence made Ms. Shen even more tormented. Ms. Shen called out cautiously: "Sister Chen..."

Everyone's eyes fell on Chu Qianchen, including Nanny Chen and Hu Hu.

"Mother," Chu Qianchen looked at Shen's clear eyes and said in a steady tone, "are you saying that after I was born, my father took me away and replaced me with Aunt Jiang?"

"I was actually not born by Aunt Jiang, but by my mother, right?"

Mrs. Shen was stunned for a moment and thought about it for a while, then realized that she had just said that Chu Qianchen was not the child of Jiang Minshan but her own child, but she had forgotten to mention that she and Chu Qianhuang were exchanged for each other.

"Yes!" Mrs. Shen nodded repeatedly and said in a deep voice, "Fourteen years ago, after I gave birth to the child in Daping Temple, your father secretly took you away and took you to your hometown, Sister Huang...Chu Qianhuang She was born to Jiang Minshan!”

At first, Shen's tone was quite controlled, but later on, her emotions became more excited and high, her body trembled uncontrollably, and her voice was almost roaring.

At this time, Mrs. Shen thought back to the doubts about Chu Qianhuang and figured out all the things that she had been unable to figure out.

I see.

No wonder Chu Qianhuang tried every means to enter the palace!

No wonder many of Chu Qianhuang’s behaviors in the past six months cannot be explained at all!

No wonder Chu Qianhuang suddenly seemed like a different person...

These doubts can be deduced to an obvious result -

"Chu Qianhuang also knows the truth!"

Shen came to the conclusion with certainty.

Her words were the final word, which made the expressions of Mu Guogong and his wife, Aunt Chen and others change again, and there was a bitterness in their hearts.

These years of dedication and getting along are not fake. No matter what Chu Qianhuang’s real life experience is, Mu Guogong and his wife have loved her as their own granddaughter over the years, so how could they just let her go?

Shen closed her eyes with difficulty, as if she had been poured a bucket of ice water, and her heart was as cold as ice.

It finally dawned on her.

The reason behind all the unreasonable things couldn't be simpler. Because Chu Qianhuang recently knew her own life experience, she didn't trust herself, so she wanted to make her own future, so she would do it again and again. Disobey yourself.

"Crack!"

Mrs. Mu Guogong couldn't suppress the anger in her heart and slapped her palm heavily on the coffee table next to her.

She was filled with anger and hatred, and she gnashed her teeth and cursed: "Chu Lingxiao is really nothing, he is capable of such despicable things."

"Our Shen family treats the Chu family with the utmost benevolence and justice!"

"My eldest daughter was promised to them, but he actually pretended to be his concubine. He has deliberately humiliated my granddaughter over the years!"

The more Mrs. Mu Guogong thought about it, the angrier she became, and the more she cursed, the angrier she became.

If Chu Lingxiao was in front of her now, she would have already greeted him with a slap. No, this mere slap would not be enough to vent the hatred in her heart!

For fourteen years, their wonderful granddaughter of the Shen family has been treated as a concubine and trampled like dust by Aunt Jiang, but they know nothing about it and instead treat a concubine like a treasure.

Madam Mu Guogong's heart surged with hatred, like a volcano about to erupt.

It's like you provide help in times of need, but the other party is not only ungrateful, but also repays you with the greatest malice.

This is not a marriage between two families, it is simply a feud!

Mrs. Mu Guogong didn't know until today that the human heart could be so despicable. Her chest also began to hurt, as if thousands of needles were piercing her heart.

She raised her hand to cover her heart, her cheeks turned blue, she was breathing slightly, and the veins in her neck appeared and disappeared.

When Mrs. Shen saw this, she was frightened and said hurriedly: "Mom, you have a heart problem, don't get too excited."

"Mother, I'm here."

Chu Qianchen left these words and walked quickly towards Mrs. Mu Guogong, checked her pulse, and gave her a heart-protecting pill.

Having just seen Chu Qianchen's medical skills, Mrs. Mu Guogong would not have the slightest doubt about her. She almost followed every command and action, and was very obedient.

Soon, Mrs. Mu Guogong's mood stabilized.

Chu Qianchen looked at Duke Mu who was sitting next to Mrs. Mu Guogong again, thinking that his face looked much better than Mrs. Mu's, but after all, he was getting older, with veins protruding from his forehead, and his face was a little gloomy.

Chu Qianchen stretched out his hand and said matter-of-factly: "Give me your hand."

Without waiting for Duke Mu's reaction, Mrs. Mu Guogong couldn't wait to push his wrist in the direction of Chu Qianchen.

Chu Qianchen took Mu Guogong's pulse, then ordered Hu Hui to take a sachet from the medicine box and handed it to him, "Wear it these days."

Duke Mu took the sachet, put it to the tip of his nose and sniffed it. He suddenly felt that his chest felt much more relaxed, and he felt like he was suddenly enlightened.

After dealing with the two elders, Chu Qianchen looked at Shen again and asked seriously: "Mother, can I go see that Zhike monk?"

(End of chapter)