Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"Mom, where does Master Ziyuan come from?" Shen Chuning asked.

Mrs. Shen San fell into deep thought.

"When mother gave birth to you, she had severe bleeding. It was your grandfather who invited Han Yuanzheng from the Imperial Hospital to come and save her life. However, Han Yuanzheng diagnosed that mother would have difficulty getting pregnant again."

"After giving birth to you, mother wasn't in good health and had to take medicine all the time. When you were about five years old, she suddenly had a hemorrhage. She saw many doctors and took many medicines, but nothing worked. Your father brought Master Ziyuan back. He said his colleague's wife had also been in poor health during childbirth, and Master Ziyuan cured her. She later gave birth to a son."

"Strangely enough, after taking two doses of the medicine prepared by Master Ziyuan, my mother's hemorrhage stopped."

"Later, Master Ziyuan took up residence at the mansion. In the first few years, my mother had a few health issues. They weren't serious, just some dizziness and insomnia. The medicine prescribed by the doctor didn't work, but once she took the medicine prepared by Master Ziyuan, she recovered quickly. In the past few years, her health has been getting better and better under Master Ziyuan's care."

Shen Chuning understood. No wonder her mother trusted Master Ziyuan so much. From her perspective, Ziyuan had indeed cured many of her illnesses. However, whether these illnesses were real or artificial was unknown.

"Since Master Ziyuan is so capable and she has been in the mansion for five or six years, why hasn't my mother given birth to a son yet?" Shen Chuning asked.

Madam Shen San stammered, "Master Ziyuan said that when mother gave birth to you, you absorbed a lot of her essence and blood, and she was too depleted, so it will take longer."

Shen Chuning was so angry that she laughed, "Is this why Mom hates An Ning?"

Mrs. Shen San quickly explained, "Mother doesn't hate An Ning, it's just that sometimes I feel a little resentful when I look at you."

"Also, even though your mother suffered so much when she gave birth to you, and endured so much hardship, you're much closer to your two aunts than to your mother. Master Ziyuan said... Master Ziyuan said you're cold-hearted, a... an ungrateful person who can't be tamed. You should stay away from them."

Shen Chuning asked back, "Mom also thinks An Ning is an ungrateful person who can't be tamed?"

"I used to think so, but now think about it, people are sincere to each other. It was mother who let An Ning down first. Due to health reasons, I really didn't take good care of An Ning in the past few years. Your eldest aunt and second aunt are very good to you, and it's right for you to be close to them." Mrs. Shen San said.

"Mom, do you believe me?" Shen Chuning asked.

Mrs. Shen San quickly grabbed Shen Chuning's hand and said, "You are my daughter, so I naturally believe you."

"Then let's stop giving Master Ziyuan's medicine." Shen Chuning wanted to ask Madam Shen San to send Ziyuan out of the house, but considering the level of trust Madam Shen San had in Ziyuan now, it should be unlikely, so she could only do it slowly.

Madam Shen San had just promised Shen Chuning that she would stop giving Master Ziyuan's medicine when Birui's voice was heard outside the door, saying that the old lady's carriage had entered the city.

……

In the Shen family ancestral hall, the elders in the capital sat in two rows, with Shen Huaizhong and the eldest elder sitting at the front seats on both sides respectively.

"Huai Zhong, why did you call us old men here today?" The eldest elder of the Shen family asked Mr. Shen.

Although he is the eldest elder of the Shen family and is in charge of a number of affairs including the Shen family ancestral hall, ancestral home, and sacrificial fields, Shen Huaizhong's lineage produced a current empress dowager, so Shen Huaizhong is actually the one who has the final say in the Shen family.

Shen Huaizhong stood up and saluted everyone, "You may have heard that the third child in the family was ignorant and kept a mistress outside. Now that the child is grown up, the family has been informed. I am wondering whether this child is a member of the Shen family bloodline or should be recorded in the Shen family tree to stop the gossip."

The Shen family's eldest elder nodded and said, "Since they are the bloodline of the Shen family, they must recognize their ancestors and return to their roots."

The second elder of the Shen family snorted coldly, "You say the bloodline of the Shen family is the bloodline of the Shen family. Then any random person I picked up from somewhere can be called a descendant of the Shen family and share the Shen family's resources?"

Shen Huaizhong smiled and said, "Don't worry, elders. This child is a girl. She doesn't need to pursue a career in politics. She won't take up the Shen family's connections and resources. At most, she will only be given a dowry, and the family won't have to bear any responsibility."

Outside the Shen family ancestral hall, Shen Jingwan stared curiously at the exquisite carvings on the pillars under the corridor, which she had never seen in her previous life.

In her previous life, she was just a high school graduate who did not do well in the college entrance examination, so she could only work in a factory. Because of her poor self-control, she was no longer supervised by her parents. She worked on the assembly line during the day and stayed up late at night to browse her phone. She did not persist for a few days before she died suddenly at her workplace. Then she turned into a ghost and traveled through the body of the concubine in this fictional world.

Just now, walking all the way from the entrance, she marveled at the profound heritage of the world's aristocratic families. The house was a scene of different scenery with every step. The pearl hairpins worn by the little maids were exquisite things she had never seen before.

At the same time, she secretly sighed at her own stupidity. If she had known that the Shen family was so kind, she would have knelt at the gate on the first day she arrived and asked someone to take her back home. Why did she have to endure such a hard life for so long? Her mother was the same. If she had taken her to the Shen family earlier, would she have gone to such great lengths to escape?

"A Ning."

When Shen Chuning heard her grandfather calling her in the ancestral hall, she took Shen Jingwan into the hall.

"Greetings to all the elders." After entering the ancestral hall, Shen Chuning knelt down and saluted to the seated elders.

Shen Jingwan saw Shen Qingjiang standing in the back row, called out "Dad", and then ran over.

Shen Jingwan's eyes widened when she saw the person standing next to Shen Qingjiang. She thought her father was handsome enough, in his thirties, with a fair complexion and an elegant demeanor. She didn't expect that compared with the group of people standing here, her father couldn't even rank.

The group of people standing there, regardless of age, had different looks, but all had rare good looks and outstanding temperament. Standing there, it was quite like the annual meeting of an entertainment company in the previous life.

Shen Jingwan stared with her eyes wide open, but the elders sitting there all frowned.

"This is too rude. No child in our Shen family would behave like this." The second elder said.

This was also the first time that Shen Huaizhong met Shen Jingwan. Now that she was with Shen Qingjiang, it was obvious that they looked somewhat similar. However, Shen Qingjiang looked very similar to Old Madam Shen. Shen Huaizhong felt that this granddaughter still looked more like his old wife when she was young.

"This child has been raised outside, so it's inevitable that he doesn't know the rules. We'll just have to discipline him strictly when we get back home." Shen Huaizhong said, "Everyone has seen it. He looks just like a little Qingjiang. How could he not be a child of my Shen family?"

The second elder of the Shen family, who had just refuted, was speechless after seeing this.

Seeing that no one else said anything, Shen Huaizhong continued, "If everyone has no objection, then let's add this child to the family tree."

"It's fine to put it under the name of the third son, but there's a difference between legitimate children and illegitimate children. This child is all alone, wouldn't it be better to put it under the name of the third wife?"