APSIL -Chapter 108 A Mother-in-Law Meets Her Future Son-in-Law

Even though it wasn’t the first time they had seen Zhu Ying, when they watched the young lady leap gracefully from her horse and immediately seize Zhang Shou by the sleeve, Qiao Hu and Yang Hao still couldn’t help blushing.

Back in the village, it wasn’t as though there had been no young maidens secretly admiring their young teacher with sparkling eyes. Yet although Zhang Shou was always smiling, he somehow gave people the feeling that he existed somewhere beyond their reach. Because of that, the ones who chatted with him were always married women and mothers, while the unmarried girls could only watch from afar.

After Zhu Ying arrived, that became even more obvious.

The spirited young lady in brilliant scarlet, galloping proudly on horseback, was dazzling enough to make anyone feel inferior.

Seeing that Zhu Ying intended to drag him away without another word, Zhang Shou had no choice but to remind her helplessly, “Yingying, I’ve still got two people with me.”

Only then did Zhu Ying turn around and notice Qiao Hu and Yang Hao, who hurriedly looked away in embarrassment.

“Zhu Hong! Zhu Shi! Take Yang Hao and Qiao Hu with you!” she ordered immediately. “A-Shou, hurry! My mother finally agreed to come home today. If you don’t get there now and she leaves again, it’ll be too late!”

After repeated reminders from Zhang Shou, the young lady finally remembered that although he could ride, his horsemanship wasn’t yet good enough for a full-speed gallop.

So Zhu Ying had no choice but to endure the agonizingly slow pace of a light trot.

Even when they took the shortcut past the Grain Bridge and onto North Imperial Street, where they had to dismount and walk through North Peace Gate, she remained so anxious she could barely sit still. Only when Zhao Manor Street finally came into view did she relax a little.

When she’d left earlier, she’d specifically instructed the servants that if her mother departed, they were to draw a crying face on the wall at the street corner as a signal.

The wall was perfectly clean.

Good.

Mother must still be here.

The moment they reached the gates of the Duke of Zhao’s residence, Zhu Ying called out before even getting off her horse, “I’ve brought A-Shou! Mother’s still here, right?”

If she’d already left, Zhu Ying had already decided she would simply drag Zhang Shou to Zhaoming Temple and coax—or force—her mother back.

The gatekeepers struggled not to laugh. Seeing the equally helpless expression on Zhang Shou’s face behind her, one of them solemnly answered, “Don’t worry, Young Miss. Madam is in Lady Dowager’s Qing’an Hall. She definitely won’t leave before seeing the future son-in-law.”

“Good!”

Zhu Ying wasn’t the type to blush when teased. She immediately grabbed Zhang Shou’s reins.

“We’ll ride straight to Qing’an Hall and dismount there. Don’t keep Grandmother and Mother waiting.”

Now that they were already inside the Duke’s residence, walking instead of riding would hardly waste any time. But since Zhu Ying had decisively chosen to ride all the way in, Zhang Shou could only go along with it.

When they finally dismounted before the familiar ornamental gate, Zhang Shou glanced back and saw Zhu Hong and Zhu Shi practically lifting Qiao Hu and Yang Hao off their horses.

With no excuse left to delay, he could only follow Zhu Ying inside.

Unlike the first time he’d met the Lady Dowager completely unprepared, things were different now.

Ever since meeting Consort Yu, every time he thought about Zhu Ying’s mother—the woman who had seemingly entered the Buddhist order because of events years ago—he couldn’t shake a peculiar feeling.

Unlike Consort Yu, Zhu Ying’s mother gave off an impression of unwavering stubbornness and strength.

Following Zhu Ying into the main hall and around the screen, he noticed Madam Wu had already risen from her seat.

Remembering that the two boys had mentioned Madam Wu being summoned to the Duke’s residence early that morning along with Aunt Liu, everything suddenly became clear.

The Lady Dowager had deliberately invited Madam Wu—an old acquaintance—to receive her daughter-in-law returning from Zhaoming Temple together.

When Zhang Shou rounded the long row of chairs and finally saw the two women seated at the head of the room, his gaze immediately settled on the woman dressed in gray Buddhist robes, wearing a simple gray cap and absentmindedly turning a string of black prayer beads in her right hand.

Compared to Zhu Ying’s breathtaking beauty, this woman’s appearance seemed almost cold at first glance.

But upon closer inspection, the ramrod-straight back and slightly lifted chin revealed unmistakable traces of the same pride and strength her daughter possessed.

Her voice carried the same firm, resonant quality.

“So… you’re A-Shou?”

Collecting himself, Zhang Shou stepped forward and bowed deeply.

“Zhang Shou greets Madam.”

“Rise.”

“And don’t call me Madam.”

The woman smiled—a smile that seemed exceedingly rare.

“I was the ninth daughter in my family before marriage. My elders and relatives all called me Ninth Sister. You may call me Aunt Ninth.”

Standing beside her mother, Zhu Ying immediately began blinking furiously at Zhang Shou, silently urging him to agree.

He naturally complied.

“Yes, Aunt Ninth.”

The simple words “Aunt Ninth” instantly transformed her expression.

The faint gloom lingering between her brows vanished without a trace.

At that moment, the brightness of her spirit merged seamlessly with Zhu Ying’s brilliance until mother and daughter seemed almost identical.

Naturally, Zhu Ying immediately complained in a spoiled tone, “Mother! You hardly ever talk this much when you see me. You’re playing favorites!”

Aunt Ninth paused before gently patting her daughter’s hand.

“I’m afraid that if I talked to you too much… I’d want to come home.”

“I’m afraid that if I missed all of you too much… I’d end up yielding to your father.”

She spoke openly of “all of you.”

Seeing Madam Wu secretly wiping away tears, her voice unconsciously grew louder.

“Your father always worries over nothing. If A-Shou had been raised in our Zhu family, I would have treated him exactly the same as Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and you. I would never have allowed idle gossip to wound him.”

“He only cared about educating Eldest Brother while neglecting Second Brother. What gives him the right to assume others couldn’t raise children better than he could?”

“And what nonsense was this about raising A-Shou in the countryside, carefully selecting teachers for him until he grew into an upright young man, and then deciding whether to marry him to you or Mingyue afterward?”

“Utter foolishness!”

“If a child doesn’t grow up before your eyes, how can you know what sort of person he’ll become?”

“If those words were merely excuses, then they lacked all sincerity.”

“And if they were genuine…”

“Then they were irresponsible toward you girls and toward A-Shou alike!”

Zhang Shou suddenly realized that Zhu Ying’s earlier claim—that beating her father up might actually reconcile her parents—perhaps wasn’t so absurd after all.

This Lady of Zhao possessed almost exactly the same personality as her daughter.

She simply said whatever was on her mind.

The next moment confirmed it.

“Mother.”

“I failed in my duties as a daughter-in-law all these years, yet you never urged Yingying’s father to divorce this stubborn wife of his. For that, I’m grateful.”

“But I still have to say this.”

“You should have argued with him back then.”

Faced with such an incredibly stubborn daughter-in-law, the Lady Dowager couldn’t help recalling how, after Aunt Ninth had entered the household as her son’s second wife, the two of them had frequently quarreled over trivial matters.

But sixteen years had passed.

Now, seeing her daughter-in-law’s old temper flare up again, she no longer became angry so easily.

After all, it was precisely because Aunt Ninth, Consort Yu, and the widowed Madam Zhang had all risked their lives together that Zhu Ying, Zhang Shou, and Princess Yongping had been born safely.

She sighed softly.

“You’re right.”

“I made a mistake back then and failed to persuade him strongly enough.”

“Fortunately, Heaven was kind.”

“A-Shou not only possesses outstanding appearance and character, but exceptional talent as well.”

“He and Yingying truly are a match made in heaven.”

At least there wasn’t yet another version of his birth story.

Zhang Shou had only just relaxed when the conversation abruptly leaped to the subject of “a match made in heaven.”

Caught completely off guard, he instinctively wanted to change the topic.

But at that moment…

He suddenly felt Aunt Ninth’s sharp gaze lock firmly onto him like an arrow.

“A-Shou is indeed more handsome than all those imperial princes and noble young masters in the capital.”

“With Grand Tutor Ge overseeing his studies, I have nothing to criticize regarding his scholarship.”

“But…”

“I heard from your mother that you’ve only just begun learning horseback riding.”

“And you know nothing of martial arts.”

“That won’t do.”

“A real man should excel in both literature and arms.”

Before she finished speaking, Madam Wu jumped to her feet in alarm.

“Madam… A-Shou has been frail since childhood…”

“That’s precisely why he needs to train!” Aunt Ninth interrupted sharply, her brows rising in anger.

“You’re far too indulgent!”

“A doting mother ruins her son.”

“Didn’t bandits invade your village recently? And weren’t there assassins too?”

“This time A-Shou escaped unharmed.”

“What about next time?”

“If Consort Yu and I hadn’t known martial arts…”

“And if Madam Zhang hadn’t fought with everything she had…”

“How could any of us have escaped alive?”

She then looked directly at Zhang Shou, her eyes blazing with conviction.

“And besides…”

“A-Shou…”

“You wouldn’t want your wife chasing you around and beating you whenever you quarrel in the future, would you?”

In that instant, Zhu Ying’s face turned crimson like the evening sunset.

Unable to hold it in any longer…

Zhang Shou burst into laughter.

He might possess the face of a refined scholar, but after three years of hiking mountain paths every day in the countryside, he was hardly as frail as he appeared.

He had also kept up the self-defense techniques he’d learned in his previous life.

Truthfully, he wholeheartedly agreed with Aunt Ninth’s suggestion.

After all, what he knew couldn’t compare with true masters of swords, spears, bows, and every other weapon of this age.

But…

That final reason she gave for encouraging him to practice martial arts…

Could it be that this was actually an accurate reflection of how the Duke of Zhao and his wife had lived together in the past?