Chapter 305 - 302: Conflict
Looking at the woman before him, Shen Changchuan felt a wave of emotion.
Though he had transmigrated several years ago, the memories of this body, from before he was a teenager, still existed in the depths of his mind.
The care he received in his early years, the love he was shown as he grew up—
her image,
was faintly visible throughout all those bygone memories.
Perhaps,
his transmigration hadn’t been a complete Possession-style takeover.
Instead, it was a transmigration and a fusion.
He had fused with the soul of the original Shen Changchuan.
It was just that his self from before the transmigration had become the dominant consciousness.
Because of this,
he felt no awkwardness in calling the woman before him "Mother."
There was none of the disconnect one might feel from calling a stranger "Mother."
Because a part of the past Shen Changchuan still existed within him.
To Shen Changchuan,
the woman before him, Han Yue’er, was not a complete stranger.
Any lingering knots in his heart
had long since been untangled over the years.
It was just that,
after so many years apart,
a certain degree of unfamiliarity was inevitable.
"Let Mother get a good look at you... It must have been hard on you all this time, hasn’t it?"
Han Yue’er was overcome with emotion, raising a hand to wipe the tears from her eyes.
On her brow,
a few wrinkles were already faintly visible.
Shen Changchuan was suddenly struck by a sense of unreality.
’Mother,’
’she’s gotten a little old.’
The her he remembered
wasn’t like this.
Back in his youth at the Shen Family Mansion, their life hadn’t been great. Her clothes weren’t as luxurious as they were now; in fact, to avoid trouble, she’d often had to make herself look less beautiful.
But Shen Changchuan still vaguely remembered that vibrant, youthful face...
Now,
even her magnificent robes couldn’t hide the traces of Time’s passage...
Although thanks to him,
his mother had successfully undergone Spirit Awakening and become a Cultivator of the Qi Introduction Realm.
But that bit of Magical Power wasn’t enough to support her pursuit of the higher Immortal Dao, nor could it extend her lifespan.
At most, it could only nourish her body,
making her a little healthier, and that was all.
"Mother, you don’t need to worry. It hasn’t been hard at all."
"When I was in Dawan Village, Grandfather helped me, so I didn’t have to manage anything. I could just focus on Cultivation or wander around... The outside world might be a bit chaotic, but with the Shen Family as our backing, no one dared to do anything to Dawan Village..."
"...I’ve met the Ancestor, and he has also looked after me a great deal... Later, I joined the Dragon Cloud Sect. My master saw my remarkable potential and took me in as a disciple. When I advanced to Soul Emergence, he even gave me a lot of resources. My senior brothers and sisters in the sect have also been very good to me..."
Shen Changchuan recounted, sharing the general gist of his experiences with his mother, Han Yue’er.
Han Yue’er watched Shen Changchuan with a gentle gaze, listening patiently with a smile on her lips.
Time slowly passed,
and the atmosphere grew warm and gentle.
"Good, good. You’re my son, after all. You’re amazing!"
Han Yue’er’s face was filled with gratification as she couldn’t resist reaching out to caress Shen Changchuan’s cheek.
"What about you, Mother? Have you been well at home all these years?"
"Of course, I have."
"You have no idea. Because of you, no one in the Shen Family Mansion dares to provoke your mother anymore."
"Before, very few people treated me with any kindness. But after your reputation started to spread, no one dared to find fault with me anymore..."
"Not long ago, when they heard you’d advanced to the Soul Emergence Realm, some of the petty people who used to bully us even came to our door with gifts, begging for forgiveness."
"Now, I’m surrounded by smiling faces..."
Han Yue’er couldn’t help but chatter on with Shen Changchuan for quite a while.
And so, Shen Changchuan spent the entire day accompanying Han Yue’er in the manor.
During that time,
Han Yue’er even personally cooked a grand meal for Shen Changchuan.
The taste was just as he remembered from his youth.
It stirred ripples of emotion in Shen Changchuan’s heart.
He remembered.
In his childhood, all his meals had been painstakingly prepared by his mother’s own hands. It had been like that for over a decade,
and he had never once eaten the food provided by the family’s servants.
As a child, Shen Changchuan hadn’t understood, nor had he paid it any mind.
Now,
he roughly understood.
It was a mother’s love for her son,
and also her way of protecting him.
In that closed and oppressive Shen Family Mansion, infants and young children dying prematurely were not a rare occurrence...
Perhaps it was a remnant of his old memories,
but staying within the manor,
gave Shen Changchuan a sense of peace and security.
However, the Ancestor had summoned him,
and he had important matters to attend to.
Shen Changchuan couldn’t stay for long.
So, Shen Changchuan informed his mother that he had to leave first to pay his respects to the Ancestor.
"Wait."
"What is it, Mother?"
Han Yue’er’s expression showed a trace of hesitation, a hint of uncertainty.
But after looking around and confirming that no one was there,
she looked at Shen Changchuan with a serious gaze and reminded him in a low voice:
"If you go to see your father... be careful. Keep your guard up..."
"This... Mother, what do you mean?"
Han Yue’er’s words
left Shen Changchuan stunned for a moment.
Those words
were completely unexpected!
’Be wary of Shen Fuxing?’
’Why?’
Although he had no particular affection for this body’s so-called father,
it wasn’t as if they were enemies, was it?
"Mother, do you know something?"
Although he didn’t understand,
Shen Changchuan didn’t rush to refute her. Instead, he asked, wanting to understand the situation clearly.
But, to Shen Changchuan’s surprise,
his mother, Han Yue’er, shook her head.
"I don’t know the exact details... All I know is that about a year ago, not long after you revealed your true strength to the outside world and your reputation spread, your name suddenly became the talk of the Shen Family Mansion. It caused a stir and even drew the Great Madam’s attention..."
Han Yue’er’s expression was grave.
A shadow of gloom hung over her brow.
"Actually, I didn’t notice it at first either. It was just that the wave of gossip started a bit too quickly and was far too intense. It was very unusual, which made me realize something was strange."
"Inside the Shen Family Mansion, the Great Madam holds the power of life and death over nearly all the servants. And because of the matter with Shen Chong, illegitimate sons are practically a taboo subject in her presence. The better you, an illegitimate son, perform, the more resentful and vicious she becomes. She might even take her anger out on someone on the spot... For those servants to dare risk their lives gossiping, how could there not be something strange going on?!"
"At first, I thought the Second Madam was behind it, pushing you into the spotlight to provoke the Great Madam... But later, I realized something was wrong."
"The Second Madam doesn’t have that much power, and besides, some things didn’t add up."
"Later, I investigated in secret and uncovered a few clues..."