A Husband and Wife's Midnight Talk on Adoption

Late into the night, the candles still burned in Wei Mingde's room in the Main Courtyard.

Outside the window, the night watchman's clapper sounded now and then, each knock grating on the nerves.

Wei Mingde sat on the edge of the bed without a word.

He had barely spoken on the entire journey back from the Feng Residence.

Even after entering the room, he had simply sat there like a wooden statue.

Cui Shi sat at the dressing table, removing her hairpins and jewelry before the bronze mirror.

As she took them off, she stole glances at Wei Mingde's expression in the mirror.

Off came a gold pin, then a jade pin; with each piece, she sneaked another look.

But Wei Mingde remained the same, his brows tightly knitted and his gaze vacant.

The sight left Cui Shi's heart tossing and turning.

Ever since they returned from the Feng Residence, she had sensed something was wrong.

Wei Mingde's face was as dark as though someone owed him eight hundred taels of silver.

Whatever she asked, he answered with only a grunt-or not at all.

Wei Mingde could keep silent, but she still had to play the dutiful wife.

So Cui Shi set down the hairpin in her hand and turned around. "Husband, do say something!

"You're making my heart pound like a drum with fright."

Wei Mingde did not respond.

Cui Shi's eyes shifted, and she smiled again. "Did Lord Feng agree to your request? He seemed quite courteous toward you. Surely there won't be a problem?"

Wei Mingde still said nothing.

Instead, her words drew his gaze to his youngest son, Wei Shoucheng, beside him on the bed.

The little boy had not yet been carried back to his own room. Dressed in a thin sleeping robe and tucked beneath a brocade quilt, he was already sleeping soundly.

Cui Shi followed his gaze, and her heart gave a sudden lurch.

She showed nothing on her face, however, and smiled even more brightly.

Rising, she walked to the bedside and tucked the quilt around Shoucheng as she said with a smile,

"You keep looking at Shoucheng. Could Lord Feng have noticed how bright our Cheng'er is and decided to take him as a disciple?"

The more she spoke, the more plausible it seemed, and her eyes lit up. "Before Lord Feng entered the Grand Secretariat, he was the top scholar!

"If he's willing to take Cheng'er, then Cheng'er's future... oh my, it would be extraordinary!

"Perhaps our branch of the family will produce a top scholar someday!"

Cui Shi walked back to the dressing table, chattering away, her face blooming with smiles,

as though she could already see Wei Shoucheng wearing a top scholar's robes, parading through the streets on a magnificent horse and securing an imperial title for her.

Watching her retreating figure, Wei Mingde suddenly spoke, as though moved by some unseen impulse.

"What do you think of having Shoucheng adopted into my elder brother's line?"

At his words, Cui Shi's hand froze around a hairpin.

With a clang, the bronze hairpin struck the dressing case, then rolled onto the floor with a crisp clatter.

Immediately afterward, Cui Shi whirled around. Every trace of her smile vanished, replaced by an expression Wei Mingde had never seen before.

"Wei Mingde, what did you say?!"

Wei Mingde froze.

Throughout their years of marriage, Cui Shi had always been gentle, accommodating, and understanding with him.

She spoke softly, handled everything thoughtfully, and never lost her temper or threw a tantrum.

But now...

"Say that again!" Cui Shi rushed up to him, her eyes red and her voice trembling.

"Tell me-who are you having Cheng'er adopted by?!"

Startled by her fury, Wei Mingde hurriedly stood. "I-I was only mentioning it in passing..."

"Mentioning it in passing?!" Cui Shi's voice grew shriller. "Of all the things you could mention, you chose my Cheng'er?!"

As she spoke, her tears began to fall.

They were not feigned. They were real.

After all these years in the Wei Family, she had long since seen things clearly.

Wei Shouzheng was the son of his former wife, Lu Shi.

After the incident in the Ancestral Hall, she had understood that the boy had no place in his heart for her, his stepmother.

He was perfectly polite before outsiders, but once their backs were turned, he treated her as though she did not exist.

If he rose to power someday, would he remember even a scrap of kindness from her?

As for Wei Nisheng, there was even less to say.

He dared point a sword at his own father. What could she possibly mean to him?

Only Wei Shoucheng.

Only her own son was her sole support in this Wei Family!

And now Wei Mingde wanted to have Shoucheng adopted away?

What would she have left?!

"Wei Mingde, I'm telling you-don't even dream of it! Bury that thought!"

Cui Shi sobbed and shouted, tears streaming uncontrollably. Tears and mucus smeared her face, stripping away all her usual dignity.

"Cheng'er is my life! If you want to have him adopted away, you might as well kill me first! Go on! Kill me!"

Her crying gave Wei Mingde a headache, and he hurried forward to soothe her. "Enough, enough! I only mentioned it in passing. Don't be like this..."

"You can't even mention it!" Cui Shi flung his hand away with startling strength. "Mention that Sinful Son! Mention Shouzheng! Why must you mention my Cheng'er?!"

Her retort left Wei Mingde speechless. He sighed and said quietly,

"Do you think I want this? It was Lord Feng's idea!"

Cui Shi froze.

"Lord Feng? What does Lord Feng mean?"

Wei Mingde recounted everything that had happened at the Feng Residence that day.

After hearing him out, Cui Shi's expression changed several times.

"So Lord Feng means... someone must be adopted into the eldest branch?"

Wei Mingde nodded.

"Then what are you thinking?"

Wei Mingde gritted his teeth. "Shouzheng is my Eldest Legitimate Son. That's impossible."

"Ni Sheng..." He paused, his voice filled with hatred he could not suppress. "That Sinful Son who threatened his father with a sword would love nothing more than to go! How could I let him have his way?!"

"Besides, Lord Feng brought this up so suddenly. I think that Sinful Son must be behind it!"

"You mean..." Cui Shi froze, then sucked in a cold breath. "That Sinful Son is using Lord Feng to force you to have him adopted away?"

"A ten-year-old child, with such a vicious mind?!"

"What else could it be?" Wei Mingde snorted. "Lord Feng hasn't concerned himself with our family's affairs for years. Why would he suddenly bring this up?

"Shoucheng is only two and a half. How would Lord Feng know he's 'suited' for adoption?"

"That Sinful Son clearly said something to Lord Feng, and now Lord Feng is using filial duty to pressure me!"

Cui Shi fell silent.

She recalled Wei Nisheng's expression when he drew his sword and killed Wang Rong,

then remembered how he had stolen the limelight amid easy conversation at the Apprenticeship Banquet, facing a hall full of guests with neither servility nor arrogance...

Such a child was indeed capable of this.

But so what? What did that have to do with her?

"So you're going to sacrifice my Cheng'er?!"

Cui Shi looked at Wei Mingde, her eyes reddening again, tears welling in them.

"Wei Mingde, put your hand on your conscience and tell me: how have I treated you all these years?

"How have I treated this family? And this is how you treat me? How you treat Cheng'er?"

Her relentless questioning irritated Wei Mingde. He flung his sleeve. "Then what do you want me to do?! Wait for Lord Feng to come here and ask in person?!"

"Don't forget, my lateral transfer and your elder brother's affairs are still in Lord Feng's hands!"

Cui Shi went quiet.

She lowered her head, her thoughts unreadable.

A long while later, when she raised her head again, her gaze had changed.

"Then have Ni Sheng adopted! That would fulfill your father's wish from back then! It was settled when he was born anyway!"

Wei Mingde faltered, then instinctively shook his head. "No! I absolutely cannot let that Sinful Son have his way!"

"Why not?" Cui Shi stared at him.

"Have you forgotten the farmland and shops Father left to the eldest branch, and the profits deposited in its treasury over ten years-nearly several thousand taels?"

"Those are tangible benefits. You'd just hand them over to that Sinful Son?"

After speaking, Wei Mingde turned his face away in embarrassment.

After all, coveting his late elder brother's property was a rather shameless thing.

Watching his expression change, Cui Shi curled her lips into a cold smile.

"Husband, you're being foolish. Lord Feng only said 'adoption.' He never said we couldn't 'take back the property,' did he?"

"You have a way?" Wei Mingde's eyes lit up, and he turned toward her.

"What way could I have?" Cui Shi sneered. "Only, don't forget that Ni Sheng is just ten. Once he's adopted away, what could he manage? Wouldn't you, his father, still have to oversee the property for him?"

"As for when he comes of age? How many years away is that? By then, whether those properties still exist will be entirely up to us, won't it?"

At those words, Wei Mingde's mind sprang to life.

He looked at Cui Shi, realizing for the first time that the woman who shared his pillow possessed such a calculating mind.

Seeing him waver, Cui Shi added more fuel to the fire. "Besides, husband, don't you think adoption alone isn't enough?"

Wei Mingde paused. "What do you mean?"

"That Sinful Son dared threaten his father with a sword! Today, he can use Lord Feng to force you into arranging his adoption. Tomorrow, he could use someone else to force you to surrender your position!"

"A menace like that will become a lurking danger sooner or later if he stays in the clan!"

"Why not, after the adoption..." She stared at Wei Mingde and enunciated every word. "Carry out Lineage Separation as well."

"Lineage Separation?" Wei Mingde sucked in a cold breath. "Wouldn't... wouldn't that be going too far?"

"Too far?" Cui Shi sneered. "He wants adoption, dignity, freedom-he even brought Lord Feng out to pressure us.

"Then we might as well grant his wish! Give him complete and utter freedom! Let him be a Wei Family all on his own!"

Truthfully, Wei Mingde was somewhat tempted by her words. After all, he truly detested Wei Nisheng.

Above all, the scene of that sword raised against his father remained vivid before his eyes.

A child like that would surely bring disaster upon the family in the future.

Besides, did he not want to rely on himself? Then let him have his wish.

Not only will I have you adopted, I'll carry out Lineage Separation and make you live on your own, you Sinful Son.

From now on, you'll be a Wei Family of your own, with no further connection to the Julu Wei.

In any case, Wei Nisheng's name did not follow the ancestral naming rules. He was already an oddity in the clan genealogy.

So carrying out Lineage Separation and severing all ties... did not seem a bad idea either.

At that thought, Wei Mingde gritted his teeth, hardened his heart, and said,

"Fine! We'll do as you say!"

Seeing Wei Mingde agree, Cui Shi instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

She did not care what Wei Nisheng thought. She only knew that if she said nothing, she would lose her own son!

Moreover, carrying out Lineage Separation and making him live independently meant that Wei Nisheng would be removed from Wei Mingde's line completely and utterly.

From then on, in Wei Mingde's line, Shouzheng would be the eldest son, and her Shoucheng would be the second.

That harbinger of disaster could go wherever he pleased.