I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 581 Meeting the Old Lady (Thanks to the leader 'Feng Junzi Haoran')

Shen Ling was eventually pulled away by Jiang Nan, and the group quickly walked away and disappeared outside the corridor.

Everyone rested for a night, and the next day they saw the chief steward Lai Changrong coming to the gate with a respectful look: "Young Master, the old lady invites you to come over."

Zhang Chen had already dressed, still wearing the neat coarse linen clothes, and had not changed into the luxurious silk provided by the Shen family. Even though it was just coarse linen clothes, it looked quite impressive when worn by Zhang Chen.

"My dear cousin, all the masters and mistresses are already waiting at the old lady's place." The steward said respectfully.

Hearing this, Zhang Chen nodded and said, "Please lead the way, Chief Steward."

The group walked towards the old lady in the distance. As they walked through the long corridor, Zhang Chen moved his ears and noticed that Zhang's breathing was a little hurried, so he turned his head and smiled at Zhang. When Zhang saw Zhang Chen's smile, for some reason, the heavy stone on her heart suddenly fell to the ground, and the tension disappeared at this moment. She held the hands of the two children and her steps began to become steady.

When they arrived at the largest house in the backyard, the chief steward Lai Changrong went in to report, and soon came out to invite Zhang Chen and his family in. After Zhang Chen and his family entered the house, they saw that the house was already full of people. Sitting in the center was an old lady with silver hair, who looked a little plump but full of energy.

"This is the old lady." Lai Changrong introduced Zhang Chen's family.

Zhang Chen and the others immediately knelt down and kowtowed upon hearing this: "Greetings, Grandma!"

"Madam, this is the young lady's eldest son, named Zhang Chen." The chief steward Lai Changrong pointed at Zhang Chen.

He pointed to Zhang Taowei who was standing nearby and said, "This is Zhang Taowei, the daughter of the young lady. This is Zhang, the second wife of the uncle. This is Zhang's son."

The old lady's eyes were already filled with tears, and she said to Zhang Chen, "Good boy, get up quickly!"

Then he walked down personally, helped Zhang Chen and his group up, and held Zhang Tao in his arms and teased him.

Zhang Chen looked at the old lady's expression at this time, which was sincere, and then he took the time to look at the people in the hall. He saw Shen Ling, who was dressed in red and looked gloomy, and Jiang Nan, who was sitting in the corner eating melon seeds, and the sisters-in-law, all of whom were beautiful women. There were also five middle-aged men with dignified faces and luxurious clothes.

At this time, the old lady held Zhang Tao and sat back in her seat. She told Zhang Chen and his family to take their seats and asked about the situation in the north. After talking for a long time, the old lady said to Zhang Chen and his party, "Since you have come here, treat this place as your own home. I will ask people to prepare all the food and drinks for you. You will never be short of anything."

At this point, the old lady turned to Zhang Chen and said, "I see that you are not young anymore, so choose a time to get married to Shen Ling."

"Grandma, I don't agree!"

As soon as the old lady finished speaking, she heard a voice of objection and saw Shen Ling jumping out.

The old lady frowned when she heard this: "It was decided by our parents and the matchmaker. How can you object to it?"

"Old lady, you love me the most. If you ask me to marry this country bumpkin, you might as well kill me with a sword. You just wait to collect my body." Shen Ling stiffened his neck, his eyes full of stubbornness.

"Crack~"

The old lady looked very old, but she was actually very strong. She stood up and slapped Shen Ling in the face, leaving a clear palm mark on her face. Her delicate face turned red in an instant.

At this time, Shen Ling's eyes were filled with tears, and she looked at the old lady in disbelief: "You...you hit me? You hit me for a little country bumpkin?"

After saying this, he suddenly turned around and rushed out. The maids and servants in the room shouted and chased after him. In an instant, half of the room was empty.

"Mom, this matter needs further consideration." At this moment, the older middle-aged man stood up and said with a frown.

Zhang Chen looked at this person. This person was the head of the Shen family and Zhang Chen's uncle: Shen Zhen. This person was also Shen Ling's father. The old lady's eyes flashed with a terrifying light when she heard this: "What are you talking about?"

Shen Zhen shuddered and quickly knelt on the ground: "Mother, Ling'er and Zhang Gaoqiu, the son of the Zhang family, have already secretly decided to spend their lives together. If you force this marriage to continue, wouldn't that separate the destined couple? It would be difficult for us to explain to the direct descendants of the Zhang family in Kyoto when the time comes."

"What? When did it happen?" The old lady was stunned when she heard this.

At this time, Shen Zhen smiled bitterly and said, "Before, my brother-in-law's family was exiled to the north and deprived of their status as the direct descendants of the Zhang family. I thought that they would die in the north and would never come back, so the marriage had to be abandoned. Later, Zhang Gaoqiu, the second son of the Zhang family, arrived. I thought that we could continue the friendship between the two families and renew the friendship between the Zhang and Shen families. The friendship of several generations cannot be broken in our generation, so I took the initiative to match the two children privately..."

Shen Zhen's voice was full of helplessness.

Who would have thought that Zhang Chen could actually walk out of the North alive?
The old man Zhang Kecheng is dead. Who can bring Zhang Chen out?
Hearing Shen Zhen's words, the old lady took a long breath, looked at Shen Zhen meaningfully, and then scolded him sternly: "Look at what you do every day, it's so stupid! How can a woman be betrothed to two husbands?"

Shen Zhen knelt on the ground and apologized to Zhang Chen: "Nephew, this is all my fault. Don't blame your cousin or the old lady. Blame me. This is all my fault. You should direct all your anger at me."

Zhang Chen looked Shen Zhen up and down, and quickly bent down to help him up. "Uncle, what you said is serious. It's not your fault. Who would have thought that I would come out of the North alive? Since my cousin is engaged, that's fine. I can only say that my cousin and I are not destined to be together. It's fate, so I won't force it. But my father said before he died that my mother left some things in the Shen family as a betrothal gift. You just need to return the betrothal gift to me, and the matter will be over!"

"This..." Shen Zhen was speechless for a moment after hearing Zhang Chen's words, and hesitantly didn't know what to do.

The old lady beside him also twitched her eyebrows, and then looked at Shen Zhen: "You evil creature, why don't you say anything? Give me an answer quickly."

Shen Zhen looked a little embarrassed at this time: "It's too early to talk about returning the betrothal gift. It's not settled yet. I'll go back and persuade that girl. Maybe she'll change her mind. If she insists on doing it her own way, it won't be too late to talk about returning the betrothal gift then."

Wang Xifeng, who was standing by, saw the clues and stood up quickly, laughing and said, "That's right. Since ancient times, it has always been the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. How can we break the marriage that was arranged when the eldest girl was at home? If we tear up the agreement casually, won't it make the widow sad? Let's persuade the girl again. If she doesn't listen, we can choose an outstanding girl from the clan to compensate the eldest nephew. In this way, we are still a family, still a family, isn't it beautiful?"

Wang Xifeng was a very smart person. She came up with a trick in a blink of an eye and directly selected someone from the clan to replace Shen Ling. With such a clear mind, she was worthy of being a woman who could control the entire Shen family's treasury.

Shen Zhen was overjoyed when he heard this: "Yes, that's the truth! This way we can have the best of both worlds."

He turned his head and looked at Zhang Chen: "Nephew, don't you think this makes sense? If Shen Ling doesn't like you, our Shen family has other daughters. You can choose one when the time comes."

Zhang Chen glanced at Shen Zhen, but he didn't want to give the other party this face. He was not a fool. From meeting Shen Qiu on the Shen family's ship to Shen Zhen at this time, looking at the attitudes of both parties, he was afraid that something unexpected must have happened to the legacy left by his mother.

"Uncle, there is no need to say anything. If I am to marry, I will marry Miss Shen Ling in accordance with my parents' will. If this marriage cannot be completed and the young ladies of the Shen family look down on me, I will not be a bad person and will not make things difficult for the young ladies of the Shen family. You only need to return the betrothal gifts that my mother left behind to me, and the marriage will be called off." Although Zhang Chen's voice was soft, it was full of power.

"This..." Shen Zhen was held there and didn't know what to say for a moment.

At this time, the old lady spoke up to break the stagnant atmosphere: "The marriage contract should be postponed for now. The two children are still young. It won't be too late to bring it up after three to five years. Let the two children get to know each other. Maybe Shen Ling will notice Zhang Chen's goodness and change her mind."

Even with Zhang Chen's temperament, his face trembled when he heard this, but facing his elders, he couldn't open his mouth to contradict them.

What did the old lady think of Zhang Chen with these words? When did he become a commodity, and he actually asked the woman to pick and choose? How arrogant was he, Zhang Chen, that he actually asked people to pick and choose like a commodity?
Zhang Chen took a deep breath and did not refute the old lady's words. However, Zhang Shi, who was standing by, could not help it. She felt that the other party was bullying Zhang Chen because of his young age and that Zhang Chen was easy to bully. So even in the face of power, she still stood up with a trembling voice and said, "Old lady, this is not right. How can a woman be married to two husbands? This kind of thing is unheard of. If it gets out, it will definitely ruin the Shen family's reputation! Although my Zhang family has fallen and was exiled to the north to become criminals, we cannot suffer such humiliation."

After Zhang's words fell, the old lady's face turned a little grim, and Shen Zhen's face turned even more livid. However, since they were in the wrong, they could not get angry, lest it get out and reach the ears of the Zhang family in Kyoto, causing dissatisfaction.

"We are not discussing here to find a proper solution. There is absolutely no intention of humiliating anyone. I also know that my nephew has been wronged in this matter. I did something wrong and I am a bastard, but now that things have come to this, we can only seek a balance." Shen Zhen smiled bitterly and bowed to apologize.

PS: Thanks to the leader 'Feng Junzi Haoran', I will add five more chapters for him later.

(End of this chapter)