After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety
Chapter 736 - 726: Unanimous Recognition, Shen Family Ancestral Hall

Chapter 736: Chapter 726: Unanimous Recognition, Shen Family Ancestral Hall

Sitting there, one naturally couldn’t just drink tea.

However, the Shen Family had people in politics and business, and the third aunt of the Shen Family was quite famous in the arts circle for playing the pipa. With that, the family was involved in quite a bit, yet they had no members in the entertainment industry.

Since it was the first meeting and they didn’t know each other, at first, they really didn’t know what topic to talk about while drinking tea.

It was Shen Qingzhou who cleverly brought up the topic, asking about the plot twists in "Empress Yuanzhao" that he was following with his fiancée, which finally got everyone talking.

Like the second uncle and aunt of the Shen Family, even when they had free time, they mostly watched some current affairs news on TV, having no time to catch up on any dramas.

If it weren’t for the fact that the main actors in "Empress Yuanzhao" were their nephew and his wife, they wouldn’t have had the interest to watch it.

This finally helped everyone find an angle to cut into the conversation.

As they chatted, and discussed the plot of "Empress Yuanzhao" thoroughly, the content naturally extended to other aspects.

Unknowingly, they had already finished a pot of tea.

Second Uncle Shen held the empty teapot, his arm pausing mid-air.

These days, besides his wife and a few friends of similar status, it had been a long time since he’d chatted so comfortably and enjoyably on a first meeting.

No matter what topic arose, they could connect on it, which naturally led them to talk more enthusiastically.

Seeing the tea was finished, Shen Yunqing held Jiang Lingxi’s hand and stood up, "I’ll take Xixi out for a walk."

"Go ahead, but it’s still cold outside, don’t stay out too long and catch a chill."

Once Jiang Lingxi and Shen Yunqing left arm in arm, Shen Qingzhou and Shen Huchen quickly found an excuse to slip away too.

It was fine when the elder cousins were there holding up the fort, but now both of them were gone, and the pressure instantly skyrocketed!

Second Uncle Shen brewed another pot of tea, "Our niece-in-law is really good!"

Second Aunt Shen glanced sideways at her husband, "Not just good, I’d say extremely outstanding. She’s a match for Yunqing, no wonder they caught each other’s eye."

Hearing his usually picky wife’s high praise, Second Uncle Shen raised his eyebrows. Thinking about the niece-in-law’s performance earlier, he couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Third Uncle Shen also looked relieved, "This should set our elder brother and sister-in-law’s minds at ease."

The big nephew now had someone he could rely on, and he finally wouldn’t be all alone anymore.

After all, the nephew was too outstanding and strong-willed, so even if they, as uncles, wanted to worry about his lifelong matters, they really couldn’t decide what kind of girl to introduce to him.

The four of them exchanged a glance, sipped their tea with a smile.

This way, it’s really good, really good!

*

The Shen Family’s old house was indeed quite large, but because it was relatively ancient and needed protection, it couldn’t be extensively renovated, which meant that although the Shen family members would occasionally come back to stay, they generally didn’t reside here permanently.

The courtyard they had stayed in earlier still had some signs of life, but as they moved back to the later courtyards, even though they were usually well-maintained and recently adorned with festive decorations for the season, they couldn’t help but feel somewhat desolate.

The two of them walked all the way to the courtyard where the Shen Family’s ancestral hall was located.

Shen Yunqing pushed open the doors of the ancestral hall, and Jiang Lingxi took her eyes off the plaque above the door, looking inside.

The candle-shaped lights illuminated the space, and the two walked in side by side, all the way to the lineup of memorial tablets.

Jiang Lingxi looked at the two tablets closest to her, reaching out to strike a match to light a candle beside them.

Shen Yunqing was momentarily stunned, but then silently fetched the incense placed to the side.

As the incense burned with a faint smoke in the candlelight, Jiang Lingxi accepted it.

Shen Yunqing couldn’t help but take a deep look at Her Majesty, who was standing properly in front of the tablets with the lit incense, then looked at the tablets, and took a deep breath, "Mom and Dad, I’ve brought Her Majesty to see you."

Jiang Lingxi heard him switch back to the formal address, "Why don’t you call me Xixi?"

"Before they passed away, they already knew I wasn’t their original son."

Jiang Lingxi paused her actions for the ancestral rites.

"How did they find out?"

"The original Shen Yunqing suffered a trauma too great for his age, causing severe brain damage, and after being diagnosed as a vegetative state, I woke up in this body. Not long after I woke up, they noticed something was off and subtly tested me. Once I realized this, I proactively told them about my true origin."

"And then they..."

"After a period of calm acceptance, they distanced themselves from me purposefully, so we would both feel more comfortable. I’m really grateful they handled it that way."

After all, the real him had long passed the age where he needed parental care and protection.

Being accepted was a profound gratitude, being respected was another profound gratitude.

So he was willing to call the parents of this body "Mom and Dad". There was no need for any concealment.

Jiang Lingxi inserted the incense into the censer; at this moment, like Shen Yunqing, regardless of the past life, she was now just a junior!

After offering the incense, the two moved to the adjacent room.

In an instant, they could see a large table with a locked rosewood box placed upright in the room.

Shen Yunqing used his clan leader key to unlock it, taking out the Shen Family genealogy, along with a set of calligraphy tools.

Jiang Lingxi sat at the table and flipped through the genealogy. When she saw that not only were the names of the Shen men recorded, but also the Shen daughters, and even adopted boys and girls from those without children were noted, she found this genealogy particularly pleasing.

She remembered discussing with Lu Zhengzheng and Fang Yao a few days ago about what she was doing over the New Year. When it came to ancestor worship, it turned out that Lu Zhengzheng and Fang Yao agreed that such things had nothing to do with girls like them because their family genealogy didn’t even include their names. The explanation was simply that girls would eventually marry off to become someone else’s wife.

She had frowned while listening, and after searching on her phone, discovered that there were many such examples, which dampened her mood.

Shen Yunqing ground the ink beside her, dipped a brush in the ink, and handed it over.

Jiang Lingxi flipped to the page of this generation’s Shen family head and seriously wrote her name in the blank space next to Shen Yunqing.

After finishing, she put down the brush and met with the particularly bright eyes in front of her.

"It’s a pity I can’t write your name on my Jiang Family’s genealogy."

Back when she was in power, she presided over the revision of the Jiang family genealogy, including the names of all the Jiang daughters before her, even those who died young.

But next to the name Jiang Yuanzhao was always empty, only a chosen heir listed below it.

And now, that genealogy had probably long since turned to ashes under the erosion of time.

*

After coming out of the ancestral hall and returning to the front courtyard, Shen Chuyue and Tu Susu had already arrived.

Jiang Lingxi saw them and handed over the remaining two red envelopes from her pocket, "New Year’s money."

"Shen Qingzhou was just bragging to us," they said happily, accepting them, "Thanks, cousin-in-law!"

"Why are you standing in the courtyard?"

Hearing the commotion, Shen Qingzhou and Shen Huchen came out from the side room, "You two really took your time wandering around."

Shen Yunqing: "We went to the ancestral hall."

All four of them nodded with understanding.

"There are some people in the main hall who came to pay respects to my dad and third uncle," seeing Jiang Lingxi glance towards the hall, Shen Qingzhou quickly explained, then suggested, "Why don’t we play some games in the side room? Before the New Year, I had two billiards tables and a game console sent over."

Jiang Lingxi had seen billiards but hadn’t played it yet, the same with the game console, so she immediately looked forward to it and was about to nod.

At that moment, the voice of Second Uncle Shen came from the hall, "Yunqing, you guys are back?"

Shen Yunqing responded, having no choice but to head into the main hall to make an appearance.

Jiang Lingxi decisively abandoned him and went with a bunch of younger ones to the side room.

As Shen Yunqing came in, Second Uncle Shen specifically looked behind him, "Where’s Lingxi?"

"She went to play billiards with Qingzhou and the others in the side room."

Receiving the dark look from his big nephew, Second Uncle Shen touched his nose.

He had really just casually called out after hearing the noise outside.

However, now that he was in, it’d probably be a while before he could leave again.

"Ahem, how about sitting down and having a cup of tea to warm up first?"