Chapter 54: The Intentions of the Clan Elders

Yu Yuanzheng was momentarily dumbfounded.
Smashing the basin?
What on earth did that mean?
Ah, right. Smashing the basin was an important folk custom in ancient funerals—a clay urn used for burning paper money was shattered when the coffin was lifted.
This ritual usually took place before the funeral procession, and the basin was traditionally smashed by the eldest son. In the absence of an eldest son, the duty fell to the eldest grandson.
This old man was clearly worried that Shangguan Ziqi would leave no heirs to carry on his lineage.
However, Yu Yuanzheng remained silent, merely listening to see what else he had to say.
"We can discuss this matter another time. Ziqi is still a long way from death," the Prince said, his displeasure showing.
Was this man practically cursing his son to an early grave?
"As you yourself said just now, the imperial physicians have already pronounced their verdict—the likelihood of him waking up is exceedingly slim. It is best to plan ahead while there is still time.
If an heir is adopted into his lineage sooner rather than later, while he is still alive, they can at least build some emotional bond.
If you wait until the crisis is upon you before adopting, the child will simply inherit forty percent of the estate without a shred of genuine affection," the elderly clan patriarch, Patriarch Hong, advised earnestly.
"Since it is rare for everyone to gather today, I have brought along all the eligible children from the various branches of the family. Let Ziqi's wife choose one that catches her eye, and we can open the ancestral hall this very week to finalize the adoption," Patriarch Hong continued.
Oh, Yu Yuanzheng understood now. They wanted her to raise someone else's child. To put it nicely, it was to smash the basin for Shangguan Ziqi; to put it bluntly, they had their eyes on the forty percent of the estate the Prince had mentioned.
Charity begins at home, and they intended to keep the wealth within the clan by restricting the choice of heirs strictly to their own kin.
"We will discuss this matter later," the Prince still refused to relent.
He remembered every single word Qingfeng and Mingyue had reported to him the other day. There was a distinct possibility that his son might yet wake up. If they went through with an adoption now, reversing it later would not be as simple as just saying a few words.
"Your Highness, this is no trivial matter," Patriarch Hong persisted, unwilling to give up.
"Clan Elder Hong, the eldest young lord might wake up any day now. For the time being, I have no wish to adopt a child under my name," Yu Yuanzheng declared, stepping forward voluntarily to make her stance clear, as she certainly had no habit of raising other people's children.
Firstly, she had never raised a child in her life. If she chose one too young, she wouldn't know how to care for it; if she chose an older one, they would already remember their own birth parents, making them impossible to win over.
In her past life, she had read too many stories of adopted children, and very few truly treated their adoptive parents as family—unless they were completely oblivious to their own origins.
Yet which of these children didn't have living, breathing parents? They had all come here driven solely by the desire to inherit the estate.
"Ziqi's wife, you are still young and do not understand many things. When you grow old and are left all alone, you won't even have a single blood relative to pour you a cup of tea. In the end, you won't even be able to enter the underworld in peace," Clan Grandmother Hong urged with an expression of feigned benevolence.
Yu Yuanzheng glanced over the ten children. Every single one of them looked bright and alert, born into affluent families that never had to worry about food or clothing. Why on earth were they so eager to have their children adopted out?
She simply could not fathom it.
Was the Prince's Estate really that remarkable?
Little did Yu Yuanzheng know just how vast the wealth of the Prince's Estate truly was.
Wealth and status are enough to stir anyone's heart.
Furthermore, the Prince's Estate held a hereditary iron-cap peerage, and Shangguan Ziqi was the legitimate son born to the Primary Consort.
Once adopted into the Prince's Estate, the child would become the closest cousin to the future heir, ensuring a boundless and brilliant future.
"Forgive me, Clan Grandmother Hong, but in this matter, I follow the wishes of my father-in-law and mother-in-law," Yu Yuanzheng said, putting on a shy expression.
She was still an unmarried maiden in name, after all; when discussing adopting children, shouldn't she put on a show of bashfulness?
At this moment, her physical vessel was only sixteen years old—even younger than Yu Zhaoyang by a year.
"Child, you must think of your own future! Being a widow is already a great injustice to you; you simply must have a child under your name to provide for your old age," Clan Grandmother Hong exhorted persuasively.
"Elder Sister-in-law, you really should choose a child to adopt under your name. Otherwise, you will be terribly lonely in the future. If you have a child playing around you, your days will be much easier to bear," Yu Zhaoyang also chimed in with a smile.
She happened to be seated right next to Yu Yuanzheng.
In her previous life, she had chosen the oldest of those children.
At first, she had treated the child quite well, and the boy had behaved quite sensibly in front of her.
However, as soon as Shangguan Ziqi drew his last breath, the child—prompted by the constant instigation of his biological parents—began to obey her in public while defying her in private.
He frequently smuggled the fine treasures from the household out to give to his birth parents,
and ran off to his biological family's home every other day.
Coupled with Princess Nanhua constantly flaunting her own happiness in front of her, Yu Zhaoyang had been driven to utter despair.
In the end, she completely washed her hands of the child, letting him do as he pleased. By the time she died, the boy was only thirteen years old, yet he already possessed all the hallmarks of a spoiled rake.
In this lifetime, all of this was destined to be borne by Yu Yuanzheng. Naturally, Yu Zhaoyang wanted to give things a little push.
Would Yu Yuanzheng eventually meet the same melancholy end as her past self?
At the mere thought of that scene, a nameless sense of exhilaration welled up inside her—the exhilaration of having altered her own destiny.
Regrettably, Yu Yuanzheng didn't even spare her a single glance.
"However, Clan Grandmother Hong, I once heard a story.
There was once a woman in a plight much like mine today, who adopted the grandson of a distant grand-uncle.
She toiled bitterly to raise the child, even sending him to school until he finally passed the imperial examinations to become a jinshi.
Every single day, she looked forward to the child returning to fetch her so she could live in luxury.
In the end, the child did return, but the people he came to fetch were his biological parents.
Left behind in the countryside, the adoptive mother died alone and heartbroken, and it was only the villagers who ultimately charity-buried her remains."
Yu Yuanzheng deliberately put on a pitiful expression, spinning a tale out of thin air.
"You child, where on earth did you hear such nonsense?" Clan Grandmother Hong had not expected Yu Yuanzheng to be entirely impervious to both reason and persuasion,
let alone that she would resort to insinuations that adopted children were strangers who could never truly be won over.
"If I must adopt a child, I will only adopt one who has neither parents nor living relatives—someone who is a true orphan. Only then will the child be easy to raise as my own," Yu Yuanzheng stated her conditions with absolute bluntness.
As soon as these words fell, the entire hall plunged into dead silence.
Where in the Shangguan clan could one find such an orphan to offer up for adoption?
The only reason they were willing to send their sons to the Prince's Estate for adoption was because they all harbored their own hidden agendas.
"We will discuss this matter later." The Prince cast a glance at Yu Yuanzheng and once more brushed the topic aside, unwilling to dwell on it further.
"When is 'later'? I must ask Your Highness to give us a definitive word," Patriarch Hong persisted, still unwilling to let the matter drop.
"We shall wait and see," the Prince replied, refusing to commit to a timetable.
"Very well. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and I invited all the clan elders to the estate for a gathering—let us not speak of extraneous matters.
After the meal, I shall present the patriarch with five thousand taels of silver to repair the clan school. Those among the younger generation of the clan who do not wish to pursue martial arts should apply themselves to literature.
Do not let them rest on their laurels simply because they are scions of the Shangguan clan.
I trust the elders will keep their clan members properly disciplined."
The Prince swept a majestic gaze over the gathered elders as he continued.
Every year, the Prince acted in precisely this manner.
Throughout the entire Shangguan clan, the peerage was the most supreme and hereditary honor; everyone else had to carve out their own futures through hard work.
Even so, the Prince's Estate still served as a protective umbrella for them.
With a Prince's Estate that stood unshaken, they carried immense prestige whenever they stepped outside, and they rarely suffered bullying. That alone was the greatest privilege of all.
With the two senior dowagers absent from the banquet, Yu Yuanzheng felt the air itself was noticeably fresher. Having not yet fully digested the midday palace banquet, she managed to eat an extra half-bowl of rice.
One by one, the clan elders departed with heavy hearts.
Yu Zhaoyang accompanied Yu Yuanzheng and the Primary Consort to see the guests out.
Yet Yu Zhaoyang's heart remained unsettled, heavy with unease.
Everything had changed.
Today, Yu Yuanzheng had not chosen an heir to adopt.
Yet in her past life, both the Prince and the Primary Consort had consented to the adoption and made her select a child on the spot.
Why?