Chapter 3

Before Tao Sheng arrived today, Old Madam Shen and Shen Yu had discussed this matter.

If Tao Sheng is revealed to be the real daughter, then Shen Ruojin, who has been raised in the mansion for fourteen years, will have to take a step back and be considered the adopted daughter of the marquis’s mansion. This change would completely alter her marriage prospects and future.

Family background is crucial in the capital. Shen Ruojin could have married a legitimate son or a prince from a noble family, but now she might only marry a lesser member of the family or someone of lower status.

Shen Ruojin has always been viewed as the only legitimate daughter, and the mansion has devoted resources to her development. She is motivated and aims to bring honor to her family. Now she is even well-known in the capital, with nobles praising her.

If they were to recognize Tao Sheng now and let the two girls go back to their respective homes, it would waste all the efforts the mansion has made in training Shen Ruojin over the years and would yield no reward for such a large investment.

Thus, it is crucial to maintain Ruojin’s position as the eldest daughter. At worst, the public can be told that the two are twins and that Tao Sheng was accidentally left behind during birth.

The insiders, including Mother Sang, already knew about this situation, so it would be up to Shen Yu and Old Madam Shen to decide how to proceed.

Some time ago, Ruojin fell seriously ill due to the mansion’s efforts to find Tao Sheng and almost lost her life. She was saved only with the help of two imperial doctors from the Imperial Hospital.

Now Ruojin has been invited to a poetry reading hosted by the Queen in a few days.

This gathering is held to select a concubine for the Crown Prince and a reading partner for Princess Hui’an, the Crown Prince’s eldest daughter. This event is very important for Ruojin and the marquis’s mansion, and naturally, Old Madam Shen does not want to recognize Tao Sheng at this critical time, fearing it might affect Ruojin’s mood and ruin her future.

After Madam Sang and the other insiders left, only Shen Yu, Old Madam Shen, and Madam Luo Xin knew about this matter. Old Madam Shen originally intended to keep it a secret from her three grandsons, but her daughter-in-law Luo disclosed it without hesitation.

Old Madam Shen felt helpless about her sickly daughter-in-law and had to speak with her three grandchildren to keep the news quiet until a decision about the two girls was made.

The three brothers all support Ruojin and would not say anything irresponsible. The maids who knew about this matter also kept quiet, allowing room for a resolution.

No matter what, Old Madam Shen will not allow Ruojin’s identity to be questioned. The eldest daughter of Marquis Wenyuan’s Mansion can only be the granddaughter she raised.

Tao Sheng recalled that in the original text, Old Madam Shen wanted to make her an adopted daughter or a foster daughter, so that even if she acted poorly in the capital like the concubine’s daughter that Yongchang Marquis’s Mansion later adopted, she would have less connection to the marquis’s mansion and protect the family’s reputation.

If something like this happened in any wealthy family, it would become a public topic, and the label of “poor family management” would be impossible to shake off.

Old Madam Shen highly values reputation and has high hopes for Shen Ruojin, whom she raised with great care. Shen Yu already has two daughters and three sons, so he doesn’t need Tao Sheng at all. Compared to adopting a child raised outside for many years, maintaining the family’s reputation and status is more important.

This is the main reason why Madam Shen does not want the two girls to return to their biological families.

However, Old Madam Shen also knows that putting too much pressure on the original owner could lead to problems. Since the marquis’s wife loves her daughters, she negotiated with her husband and mother-in-law. In the end, the two daughters were to be presented as “twins” born to her, with one mistakenly lost and now found.

Few secrets exist among wealthy families in Beijing, and this statement raised many hidden doubts.

Luo Xin was in the capital during her pregnancy. Because her condition was not good, imperial doctors had been in the mansion for several months. No one had ever heard of any imperial doctor diagnosing twins. Additionally, the Shen family had never announced they were looking for their daughter in more than ten years, making the sudden appearance of a daughter highly suspicious.

Some curious people even noted that Shen Ruojin didn’t look at all like the wife of the Shen family, suggesting the head of the family might have confused his daughters.

In any case, this was an explanation and response to the public, and the matter was ultimately put to rest.

Tao Sheng could understand the old lady’s little thoughts.

Although the old lady now lives in the mansion of Wenyuan Hou Shen Yu, she has more than one son, Shen Yu. According to Shen Yu’s introduction to the family just now, if counted carefully, the old lady has two sons and two daughters, and her grandchildren add up to double digits. In the eyes of the old lady, these third-generation children are probably just some data.

Shen Ruojin is the girl with the highest status in the family. She is the only legitimate daughter of Marquis Wenyuan. The old lady chose and raised her very early on. Shen Ruojin is the only granddaughter the old lady has raised since childhood among so many children, and she has been raised very well.

From an investment perspective, Shen Ruojin can be seen as a high-quality stock that the old lady carefully selected for investment, and the best long-term fund in her hands.

At this time, a new stock appeared that was not favored. Once purchased, it would face some unspeakable investment risks. The old lady was asked to give up her high-quality stocks and invest everything in this new stock, but she naturally refused.

Not only did she refuse, but she also wanted to ensure the absolute safety of her high-quality stocks to gain greater profits and avoid losing all her investments over the years.

She wants to use her power in this family to keep this asset.

If it weren’t for their current conflicted relationship, Tao Sheng, who had been cheated in the stock market in her previous life, would have told the old lady that the idea of conservative financial management was correct.

As a nearly forty-year-old master of a marquisate, Shen Yu still lacks independent thinking in front of his mother. He does not have many ideas of his own regarding family matters, and all decisions depend on the old lady’s will. This is also the source of the original owner’s tragedy.

However, judging the blood relationship between close relatives purely from an economic viewpoint—considering only whether it is worth it and if it can bring greater benefits—ignores the feelings of the original owner’s biological granddaughter. This perspective is too cold-blooded.

In the original text, the Queen’s poetry meeting was delayed, and the original owner waited agonizingly for two months before she received news about her identity being announced.

The Marquis’ Mansion found the original owner, but they didn’t want to acknowledge her. They didn’t even give her a clear identity to allow her to enter the mansion early; they just wanted her sister Ruojin to be in good condition for the poetry meeting hosted by the Queen. This was undoubtedly a huge blow to the original owner, a fourteen-year-old girl.

This incident directly affected the original owner’s mindset after entering the mansion and led to behaviors like competing with Ruojin for attention and favor.

Tao Sheng was not afraid of offending everyone in the room; she addressed the problem directly.

Old Madam Shen was concerned that Ruojin would be too affected by this issue and would have to divert her energy to deal with it. This wouldn’t suit her fragile health and might cause her to miss the Empress’s poetry gathering. Therefore, she had no intention of recognizing Tao Sheng or announcing her identity to her clan and relatives in the capital, making it difficult to respond to her.

After hearing this question, Shen Yu felt it was unreasonable to let her stay without revealing her identity at this time, and he didn’t know what to say.

Tao Sheng achieved her intended effect. She slightly bowed to the two elders and strode out the door amid everyone’s astonished looks.

Fortunately, this family wasn’t so heartless that they didn’t know to send someone to hire a carriage to take her back.

Su Jia had already prepared for Tao Sheng not to come back tonight. When she saw Tao Sheng appear in front of her with a calm face, her first reaction was surprise.

She never expected that Tao Sheng would come back so early.

Su Jia took Tao Sheng’s hand and went into the house to sit down. “It’s already this late. Did they not let you stay one more night? Did they send you back in a carriage? Was this their idea or yours?”

Tao Sheng, wanting to avoid worrying her aunt, answered tactfully, “Everything in the mansion seems good, but it makes me feel uncomfortable. I feel like they are all family, but it’s not my own home. Besides, I’ve been used to my own bed since I was a child, and I can’t sleep well in a new place. Fortunately, the elders in the mansion are reasonable. They ordered someone to drive me back when they saw that I was in trouble.”

Although Tao Sheng said it lightly, Su Jia knew things were definitely not that simple.

Su Jia thought about everything Tao Sheng had gone through in just one day and realized she must be upset. It wasn’t the right time to ask too much, so she said, “They are all your elders, so they hope you are well. If you have any difficulties, don’t keep them to yourself; just tell me. Although I am insignificant and have no say in the Marquis’ Mansion, I am a generation older than you, and it is easier for me to speak as an elder than for you.”

Tao Sheng nodded and said, “Aunt, don’t worry about me. I know my limits.”

Old Madam Shen didn’t want her and Shen Ruojin to return to their respective places. She hoped nothing would happen and everything could continue peacefully.

This is also why Mrs. Shen Yuhe has been looking for her everywhere, but the old lady has remained unmoved.

But from another perspective, Tao Sheng also didn’t want to return to the mansion and continue the next plot, playing the role of cannon fodder.

With the old lady’s help, she believed she could escape the plot soon.

_

It was already past noon when Luo Xin received news that Tao Sheng had been found. By the time she hurried back to the manor from the farm where she was recuperating, the sun was already setting.

When Old Madam Shen heard that her daughter-in-law had returned, she asked someone to set up a round table for dinner together in De Shou Hall as usual.

Luo Xin had not fully recovered from her illness at this time, and the weather was cold as winter approached. The road was a bit bumpy, so she felt very tired after returning home.

Luo Xin forced herself to come to De Shou Hall, looked around the hall, and didn’t find the person she wanted to see: “Where is the child?”

Brothers Shen Ci and Shen Yue looked at each other and said nothing.

Shen Yu helped his wife take off her cloak and said, “The child was nostalgic and wanted to go back to see her family. I thought that after living abroad for so many years, she might not be able to adapt to the new life, so I let her go.”