The wealth the Qin family had accumulated over generations — even the Emperor coveted it, let alone the household of a mere secretariat official.
Old Madam Qin's brothers had been bringing up the adoption matter for years. Later, after she turned them down too many times, they stopped, afraid of annoying her. But in the past two years, seeing her eldest son and his fulang dote so much on Guaizai, and watching them give away both people and shops, her brothers grew anxious. Now they sent letters every few days, their words all circling the same point: a child without blood ties is hard to raise as one's own; better to let a relative benefit than an outsider, since the child would call her "Grandma" anyway.
Old Madam Qin's guess was right—when she sent Feng momo back to the capital, the Secretariat household got wind of it and immediately grew frantic.
Old Madam Qin's maiden family name was Shen. Her eldest legitimate brother, Shen Gang, was the head of the Shen family. His daughter was the current Empress, and the Eldest Prince was her son—barring accidents, he would be the Crown Prince. With the Shen family being a centuries-old great house, their power ran deep.
The Shen family had many descendants. Shen Gang also had three cousins, and now it was the second cousin who was eyeing the Qin family like a hawk, bustling about trying to push his grandson into the Qin line.
Guaizai looked like Meng Ruqing, so it wasn't strange that Qin Hengxuan favored him out of affection for his fulang. But what bothered Second Master Shen was that no matter how many letters he sent to Old Madam Qin, she made every excuse to refuse.
Especially when Fang Zichen was still in the capital, the Qin family would send things to the capital every few days—several large chests at a time. He had no idea what was inside, and couldn't find out. But he'd heard that Fang Zichen had found the chests too bulky and sold them off, making several hundred taels of silver.
Second Master Shen couldn't care less about a few hundred taels, but if a dozen chests sold for that much, the materials and craftsmanship must have been exquisite. If just the chests were worth that, what of the contents inside?
The Qin family's wealth meant they would never send cheap goods.
They had so many children in the family, yet in past years he'd never seen the Qin family send gifts so frequently.
Had they taken a liking to that boy?
Second Master Shen grew restless and went to Shen Gang, asking him to put in a good word.
After all, they were siblings — if Old Madam Qin wouldn’t listen to him, surely she’d listen to her own eldest brother?
His intentions were plain for all to see. Shen Gang naturally refused to be that go-between. The Qin family's property was theirs to give to whomever they wished—or to no one at all. No one else had any say.
Still, with Second Master Shen's constant nagging, Shen Gang did start paying close attention to Guaizai and Fang Zichen. He couldn't say what was wrong with him, but he often saw this father-and-son pair haggling with steamed bun sellers, sometimes from early morning all the way to noon, leaving the vendors speechless. They'd beam with joy if they saved a single copper coin, then instead of going home, they'd crouch in the cold wind at the street corner to eat their buns, only heading back after they'd finished. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with them.
He'd also tried talking to Fang Zichen a few times, but after that, he never dared to strike up a conversation again.
Fang Zichen had a truly infuriating tongue—the things he said could make one's blood boil. Yet strangely, they always sounded so reasonable that there was never a single word to argue back. Shen Gang was getting on in years and wanted to live a few more, so he gave up.
Later, he took to hiding whenever he saw Fang Zichen from afar. Seeing that the Emperor valued him and that the Left Chancellor frequently visited the Fang household, Shen Gang returned and warned Second Master Shen not to stir up any trouble.
Everyone who made a name for themselves in the capital was sharp as a mirror. If this matter escalated, it would only bring shame upon their family.
After being rebuked and dispatching men to look into things, Second Master Shen realized Fang Zichen was not to be trifled with and ultimately stopped making trouble.
Old General Qin knew what she was about to bring up—the matter of adopting a child. He'd seen the child's portrait: around three or four years old, looking quiet and gentle.
The Shen side figured the child was young enough to raise and bond with. But Qin Hengxuan had seen the portrait and said there was no rush.
Old Madam Qin understood that as a polite refusal. At first she'd indulged Qin Hengxuan's reluctance, believing that she and Old General Qin were still healthy enough to live another ten or twenty years and stay by their children's side.
But now the Chao Kingdom had attacked. On the battlefield, swords and arrows had no eyes. No matter how formidable Old General Qin had been in his youth, he couldn't defy age forever. The last time he led troops out, she hadn't slept a single night, turning countless thoughts over in her mind.
"Hengxuan doesn't seem to like the idea," Old General Qin said. "Let's leave it to him. If we force him to take the child in and he feels resentful, it would be bad—and unfair to the child too. You know our eldest son, he's filial and kind-hearted. If we truly persuaded him, he'd obey. Even if he didn't like it, once he took the child in, he'd treat him well and never stint on food or clothing. But he wouldn't be truly close. And though children are small, they're sensitive—they can tell who likes them and who doesn't. Raised that way, they'd probably never grow close to Hengxuan and the others either."
"Then what do we do?" Old Madam Qin's eyes brimmed with tears, her heart twisting like a knife. "We two don't matter—we're fated to go first. But what about the three children? Having a child in the house would at least bring some warmth. It's not that I'm afraid they'll have no one to serve them in old age—raising children isn't about that. I just want them to have something to care for, something to look forward to. After all these years, the only child he's ever taken a liking to is Guaizai. But can they really just take that child away from his own family?"
Old General Qin thought for a moment, pressed his lips together, and said flatly: "I hear Guaizai has two younger brothers now?"
"Mm!" Old Madam Qin shot him an exasperated look. "Didn't we already talk about this? You forgot again?"
"Didn't forget — they're still twins, right?" The Qin family was on the verge of dying out, and that man had two in one go. Old General Qin's heart was sour, and his tone was petulant: "That Fang fellow—I bet his family must have had two ancestral graves struck by lightning."
Old Madam Qin: "..."
Old General Qin sat down on the edge of the bed and asked, "Wife, tell me—he already has three children. That's plenty. What do you think—if we asked him for one, would he give one to us?"
Three—was that a lot?
For the Qin family, three was a lot—after all, they couldn't even manage to have one, no matter how hard they tried. They'd be satisfied with just one and wouldn't dare wish for more. But for other families? Three wasn't much at all—it was too few! In any great household, wasn't there a whole swarm of legitimate and illegitimate sons? Get drunk enough, and a man wouldn't even be able to keep track of how many children he had.
"I heard that Young Fang is pretty greedy for money. What if we sent over a few chests of gold bars and traded them for one of his kids—would he go for it?" Old General Qin asked again.
It wasn't just Qin Hengxuan and Meng Ruqing who had taken a liking to Guaizai—Old General Qin himself was also fond of the little boy to the point of obsession. Guaizai was lively and adorable, with a natural build for martial arts—a good seedling. Last time, he'd taught Guaizai to practice with the spear all day, and the boy's comprehension had genuinely astonished him. He wasn't squeamish about blood either, and his mind was sharp. If Guaizai had been born into the Qin family, the Qin family would have had an heir to carry on their legacy.
He thought about Guaizai every single day.
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