The Eldest Daughter's Scheme for Dominating the World

Chapter Eleven Support and Assist

As soon as Situ Jianren mentioned that child, Zhang Shi's eyes immediately welled up with tears.

She choked up and said, "Do you believe it now? At that time, I was six months pregnant. I just went to my sister-in-law's place and and had a cup of tea, had a cup of tea. When I came back, I had a miscarriage. You just refused to believe that it was because of that cup of tea..."

It was three or four years ago. Not long after Zhang Shi married Situ Jianren as his second wife, she became pregnant.

It was also at that time that Situ Chenlei was diagnosed as idiotic by the doctor. Therefore, Situ Jianren was overjoyed about Zhang Shi's pregnancy. He even loved her and the baby because of his love for them and took this opportunity to change the surname and name of Zhang Shi's stepdaughter, Fan Chunyun. She was added to the Situ family's genealogy and became Situ Jianren's daughter...

However, Zhang Shi had a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant, and it was a male fetus.

After that, Zhang Shi never gave birth again.

Situ Jianren let out a long sigh, sat down, and slapped the table, saying, "How could I have known that my elder brother and sister-in-law were so vicious at that time?! ——Since our parents passed away, my elder brother and sister-in-law had taken good care of our family."

Zhang Shi wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said in a low voice, "In fact, everyone in the Situ family knows about it. Master, you are the youngest son of your late parents. My elder brother and his family are from the main branch. My elder brother is the clan leader and my sister-in-law is the matriarch of the clan. Over the years, the branch of the clan leader and the matriarch has always been the most prosperous one in the clan. But our third branch, thanks to your business acumen, Master, and the support of my sister's natal family, has been faring much better than the first branch over these years."

"Are you saying that my elder brother and sister-in-law have their eyes on our family property?!" Situ Jianren's eyes were full of suspicion and surprise. "Over the years, I have also helped them a lot! I hand over so much silver to the clan every year, more than their annual income from their own business!"

"Maybe it's because you gave too much that their greed knows no bounds." Zhang Shi lowered her head, blew her nose, and said in a muffled voice, "Master, why do you believe it today?"

She had mentioned it once before, but Situ Jianren just refused to believe it. Zhang Shi couldn't bear the reputation of provoking discord among brothers, so she had to endure it. Later, she kept persuading Situ Jianren to move to the capital, thinking that only by leaving those people in the clan could they have a good life.

Situ Jianren's determination to move from Jiangnan to the capital this time was also the result of Zhang Shi's persistent persuasion over the years.

Situ Jianren slumped dejectedly in the chair and said, "Do you know what kind of people the boatmen on the boat my elder brother bought for us are?"

"What kind of people?"

"The 'Water Drifters' of Qingjiang!"

"Ah —!" Zhang Shi exclaimed and shivered all over. "The... the... the Water Drifters! Is it really them? Then last night...?"

"It was that Young Master Feng and his men who took the initiative first and eliminated these people last night. Otherwise, I'm afraid our whole family wouldn't have escaped this disaster."

If their whole family died, the family property would naturally be taken over by the clan.

The branch of the clan leader would surely get the greatest benefit.

"I, Situ Jianren, have worked hard all my life, and I almost made wedding clothes for others!" Situ Jianren hammered the table fiercely. "How cruel! I'm his own brother! When he goes to the underworld someday, isn't he afraid that our parents won't forgive him?!"

Zhang Shi got up and poured a cup of tea for Situ Jianren. While persuading him, she said, "Master, calm down..." At the same time, she thought of something and asked quietly, "Then how did Young Master Feng and his men know about this?"

"I don't know about that. I've already sent Yinxiu to try to get some information from him." Situ Jianren picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, saying indifferently.

"...Yinxiu? She's still a young girl." Zhang Shi clicked her tongue. "Is it appropriate to let her do such a big thing? Besides, Young Master Feng is a man after all..."

"It's okay. How old is Yinxiu? She hasn't reached the age of hairpinning yet, so the strict separation between men and women doesn't really apply to her. That Young Master Feng looks noble. He doesn't pay attention to others at all. He's even reluctant to talk to them. How can we get information from him? Only Yinxiu can receive some courtesy from him. " Situ Jianren put down the tea bowl and added, "Yinxiu's fiancé is the heir of the Changxing Marquis Mansion. She should also learn to be observant and know how to socialize with others. Otherwise, when she marries into the Marquis Mansion in the future, those shrewd people might sell her and she'd still be counting the money for them."

Zhang Shi sat beside Situ Jianren and asked curiously, "Master, since the Changxing Marquis Mansion is so powerful, how did our eldest daughter be so lucky as to be betrothed to the heir of the Changxing Marquis since childhood?"

"Ah, it's not because of our Situ family. They took a fancy to the Shen family, Yinxiu's mother's natal family. Don't forget that Yinxiu's grandfather is now the Grand Chancellor, the head of the five prime ministers in the Dongyuan Kingdom. He's truly second only to the emperor! ——Although the Changxing Marquis Mansion looks superior to us, it can't hold its head high in front of the Shen family." Situ Jianren thought of his deceased wife, Shen Shi, and changed the subject somewhat uneasily. "Well, after we enter the capital, remember to take Yinxiu, Xiaolei, and Anxiang to visit the Shen family more often. If we can maintain a good relationship with the Shen family, Anxiang can also rise in status and find a good husband's family in the future."

"Alright!" Zhang Shi quickly agreed and said, "I understand this principle. There aren't many people left in my natal family. If Anxiang can recognize the Shen family as her maternal relatives, it would be a great thing. I'm just afraid that they won't think highly of her and won't recognize her..."

Although Situ Anxiang had changed her surname and been added to the Situ family's genealogy, she had no connection with Shen Shi at all.

Situ Jianren beckoned for Zhang Shi to come to him, leaned close to her ear and said, "So remember to let Anxiang stay with Yinxiu and Xiaolei more often. Yinxiu is as gentle, kind, amiable, and magnanimous as her mother. Once she takes a liking to someone, she'll treat them with all her heart. At that time, Anxiang will get a lot of benefits!"

"Don't say that." Zhang Shi said hastily, "Even if Yinxiu didn't have this powerful maternal family, she is still your eldest legitimate daughter and Anxiang's elder sister. Both emotionally and rationally, Anxiang should respect her. Moreover, she never puts on airs and has never looked down on Anxiang. She has always been very kind to Anxiang. When we were in Jiangnan before, the children from other branches of the Situ family threw stones at Anxiang, and it was Yinxiu who stood up for her. The relationship between the two sisters is better than you think. Thinking from her perspective, I've always taken good care of the two children left by my sister with all my heart. ——Don't say such things in front of Yinxiu. It will make the child feel sad."

"Of course I know that. Do I need you to remind me?" Situ Jianren hugged Zhang Shi and smiled, rubbing his face against hers. "Anxiang has taken my surname and is also my daughter. I will definitely make proper arrangements for her future."

...

Situ Yinxiu returned to her cabin, soothed Situ Chenlei who was in a state of panic again. She touched his forehead and was relieved to find that he didn't have a fever. She gave instructions to Xiaotao and Xiaoxing, "Take good care of Xiaolei. I'm going out for a while. If there's anything, come to the dining cabin to find me."

Xiaotao and Xiaoxing quickly bowed and agreed.

Situ Anxiang also said, "Sister, I will watch over Xiaolei."

"Okay. Thank you, sister." Situ Yinxiu smiled and nodded. "When the cook brings breakfast, please feed Xiaolei for me."

Situ Anxiang quickly nodded and watched Situ Yinxiu leave the cabin with Caiqin and Caisang.

Taking the opportunity of inviting Zheng Hao to have breakfast, Situ Yinxiu met him again in the dining cabin where they had dinner last night.

"Miss Situ, what's the matter with you looking for me so early? I'm so sleepy. I didn't sleep well last night." Zheng Hao yawned and lay on the table listlessly.

Situ Yinxiu coughed and said, "Young Master Feng, you don't look very nice in this state."

"Ah?" Zheng Hao quickly sat up straight, ran his fingers through his hair, and wished he could find a mirror to look at himself.

"Well, you look much better now." Situ Yinxiu held back her laughter and asked, "By the way, Young Master Feng, how did you find out that those people were up to no good last night? We didn't notice any signs of it before."

Zheng Hao had already prepared an answer to the question Situ Yinxiu asked. Since he was certain this was a question anyone would surely pose. They suddenly boarded someone else's boat in the dead of night and immediately got rid of all the boatmen, oarsmen, and boatwomen on the boat at once. It would be odd if others weren't suspicious!

Zheng Hao feigned astonishment and said, "You were really careless, weren't you? Didn't you carefully look into their backgrounds when you hired these people?"

Situ Yinxiu cursed this guy in her heart for being so slippery. Instead of answering the question properly, he slyly threw it back... But fortunately, Situ Yinxiu was quite familiar with this way of conversing. So before Zheng Hao could start joking around, she smiled and brought the topic back, "It's just that we didn't notice any problems at that time. If we had seen the problems and still hired them, wouldn't we be fools?!"

In fact, Situ Yinxiu didn't know how these people had been hired either. In her previous life, until they entered the capital, she didn't know much about the affairs of their family in Jiangnan. After entering the capital, she was familiar with the affairs of the Situ Mansion there. She really had no idea about the ins and outs of the large boat they bought in Jiangnan and the people on it.

Zheng Hao laughed and prevaricated, "Then your judgment is really poor! To be honest with you, my family wields some influence in the Southern Zheng Kingdom, and the people around me are all very capable. Especially this time, we were first attacked by water bandits and robbed by them. We just managed to escape with our lives, so we were extremely vigilant. We couldn't just get out of the tiger's den and then fall into the wolf's lair, right? So after we got on the boat, several of my capable subordinates first went to patrol the lower deck. As a result, it was quite a discovery. They found that all these people had martial arts skills!"