Jing Xingzhi’s Daily Life in Ancient Times - Chapter 75
Sitting in the familiar east room of the thatched cottage. Jing Xingzhi poured a cup of tea for Fang Qichen across from him: “Teacher, have some tea.”
Fang Qichen tried his best to open his small eyes and criticized his young disciple: “Why did you come back in such a hurry? Don’t you know the gravity of the situation?”
“On the way back, it was fine and there was no problem,” Jing Xingzhi assured him. Then he asked directly, “Have you informed Marquis Zhenyuan about the matter?”
“I have. If I hadn’t, how would we handle this matter? He might really be your father,” Fang Qichen replied, his mind preoccupied with the complexities of his disciple’s identity.
Jing Xingzhi shook his head: “That can’t be true. Teacher, look at the useless and ill-tempered son he raised. He must be no good himself! I, Jing Xingzhi, don’t acknowledge such a father.”
After the investigation, the original suspicion was confirmed with real evidence – Jing Xingzhi was indeed picked up by Father Jing and his wife, and was indeed born by Wu Shuangxi.
As a child, the little scholar was born weak and appeared as if he would die at any moment. Fang Qichen and others speculated it was for this reason that Jing Xingzhi was abandoned.
At that time, the old Jing couple was in an even more pitiful situation, as the child they gave birth showed no signs of life.
After giving birth, Mother Jing fainted and Father Jing couldn’t bear to see her disappointed. He carried the lifeless baby and walked out, thinking he could delay the inevitable for a while.
Father Jing did not go far when he encountered the frail abandoned child. Upon hearing the weak and almost inaudible cry, he cruelly took the abandoned child into his arms, and that was how the little scholar came to be.
Jing Xingzhi was not a biological child of the Jing family. Only Father Jing and his close friends knew about this.
After Father Jing passed away, Father Jing ceased contact with her husband’s family and gradually distanced herself from Father Jing’s friends. However, this time various people came knocking at the door, and the truth was finally revealed.
The details of the investigation into Wu Shuangxi’s birth were more intricate, but the final result was accurate.
Fang Qichen stroked his beard and pondered that Ning Haibo really didn’t know how to raise children. He was too absorbed in his own affairs and didn’t pay attention to the children’s upbringing at all.
He said: “It’s okay if you don’t want to acknowledge it. My status still higher than him. If he insists, just give him face and call him brother, and no one else will say anything.”
If the two were indeed related by blood, in ancient times, they would be bound by societal expectations. Fang Qichen was well aware of this, so he had taken preemptive measures for Jing Xingzhi.
This move could firstly silence outsiders’ gossip, and secondly, it could provoke Ning Haibo, from achieving two goals at once.
After teasing his young disciple, Fang Qichen added, “Ning Haibo really doesn’t know what’s going on. It was his wife, Wu Shuangxi, who arranged for someone to hinder you from taking the provincial examination. This is his response to me. Take a look. This man is truly unworthy of being a father!”
Fang Qichen looked displeased, took out a letter from the drawer under the table, and handed it to Jing Xingzhi.
Jing Xingzhi opened the letter and discovered that reality had matched the famous saying “There is a lid for every pot.”
The wife swapped the child because he was too weak. The husband knew about the switch but didn’t care. He claimed the child wasn’t close to him, and since Jing Xingzhi was close to Fang Qichen, he might as well stay with Fang Qichen until he returned after finishing his work for the country (and taking credit for himself).
A woman who abandoned her own child for the sake of her husband’s favor and a stable wealth, a man who could disregard his children for the sake of future power, was not a good father.
When Jing Xingzhi pondered this, he was grateful the little scholar had been taken in by the Jing family. At least the little scholar had lived a happy life during his childhood.
If he had truly been in that marquis mansion, he couldn’t imagine what fate would have befallen him.
It was unknown whether the little scholar would become disabled and struggle to keep up with his studies in the future. Various secretive methods might be employed by his own mother, and the little scholar’s young heart might even be tortured, making his life very miserable.
“Teacher… thank you for your help,” Jing Xingzhi sighed emotionally.
Fang Qichen felt deeply distressed upon hearing this.
His little disciple was such a good boy. It must be heartbreaking for him to be mistreated like this by his biological mother. These words conveyed countless layers of sadness.
Fang Qichen extended his broad, comforting palms and patted the back of his young disciple’s hand: “Don’t lament for those who are unworthy. Although your adoptive father from the Jing family is gone, both you and I know that I can also be your father.”
Jing Xingzhi’s eyes widened in surprise: “…”
‘Is the teacher proposing… to adopt me???’
It was too sudden.