Shen Li's eyes lit up as he looked at the small box of house deeds and land deeds.
She really wanted to pat Zhong Ning on the back.
With these, wealth and freedom would be waiting for them. At that time, who would still want to be polite here? Wouldn't it be better to find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers to retire?
Upon seeing Shen Li's expression, Zhong Ning had no choice but to shatter her dreams.
"We can't claim them. You grandmother has her methods.
"Besides, the people in the shop currently belong to your uncle's family. We can't even enter the shop."
For the sake of her reputation, Zhong Ning had kept it from her. There were many servants in the house, and the expenses were really high. At that time, she had tried to go to the old mansion to take back the shop.
However, they mocked her for wanting to monopolize the Shen family's things.
She was a married woman without any biological children of her own, and Shen Li was a mute, so she could only suffer in silence.
Shen Li could roughly guess what Zhong Ning meant, but the house and land deeds were all here. She didn't believe that she couldn't get back her things without the law.
Shen Li suddenly thought of another problem.
"Mother, is my grandfather in Xianyang?" Zhong Ning didn't know why she suddenly asked this, so she gave her the truth.
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
Shen Li arranged her thoughts and asked her directly. "What if... We take back the land and shop, sell some of them and then go to Xianyang to seek refuge with my maternal grandfather? What do you think?"
Zhong Ning almost fainted on the spot. She thought she had misheard it.
They might not even be able to clear the first step of claiming the land and shop...
"You want to leave the capital? But what about our residence? I have to watch over this place and be dutiful to your late father."
Zhong Ning's panic-stricken face somewhat angered Shen Li. She felt sorry for her, just as much as the frustration welled up.
"This empty courtyard? Do you want to guard the memorial tablet for the rest of your life?
"The dead can't be brought back to life. I believe that if Father knew about this in the underworld, he wouldn't want to see us trapped here.
It is painfully clear where my paternal grandparents stand, and you and I don't have a good reputation here. It's difficult for us to establish ourselves in the capital with our strength, and we can't hide in the yard all day."
Shen Li paused to give Zhong Ning some time to think before she continued.
"To be honest, I plan to cash in my assets after I take them back, and then go to my grandfather. By then, my life will definitely be more comfortable than it is now."
The maternal grandfather Shen Li was talking about was Zhong Ning's father. After all, she didn't have a biological maternal grandfather to seek shelter with. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been left to Zhong Ning.
However, to be honest, Zhong Ning was a kind person and treated her very well.
Shen Li could somewhat understand why Shen Hai had chosen Zhong Ning as his second wife and entrusted her with the family fortune.
He probably took a fancy to Zhong Ning's character.
Shen Li couldn't bear to see Zhong Ning waste her time in the backyard. She had originally wanted to persuade Zhong Ning to remarry while she was still young.
However, Shen Li felt that Zhong Ning would not be able to take so many things at once. She had to digest their conversation today. She would think about remarrying later.
Upon hearing Shen Li's words, Zhong Ning's face turned from green to white, and her lips were trembling.
"Leave? I... I've never thought that it's my duty to guard."
She was her husband's soulmate in life and her husband's gravewatcher in death. This had been the case since ancient times.
Moreover, she married Shen Hai to repay his kindness. How could she leave just like that?
Shen Li knew that she might not be able to accept it in a short time, so she changed the topic.
"Let's talk about it later. Let's take back the land and shop first.
However, this is going to get complicated. When the time comes, we'll need to find some strong servants to come with us."