âUncle, didnât you urge me to get married as soon as possible?! Now, Iâve fulfilled your wish of marrying a wife and having children; Iâll be holding a grand wedding in the future, too! Youyou is an excellent and smart boy who will do great things in the future with a little more grooming! Heâll surely surpass me and be a much more outstanding heir than I was when he grows up. My wife, on the other hand, is warm, kind-hearted, and virtuous. I owe her too much and hope that she wonât receive such unjust treatment further!â
âHa ha! Because of that, you want to sacrifice our familyâs reputation and hold a grand wedding? In my opinion, youâre just hell-bent on embarrassing our family!â
Without giving his nephew a chance to speak, Mu Linfeng continued. âWhat kind of woman is Yun Shishi? Sheâs merely a tool for surrogacy back then! The contract clearly stated that she mustnât fight for custody rights regarding the children after she gave birth to them, but what happened in the end?! Not only did she hide one of the twins by her side, she even dreamed of making use of the child to climb the social ladder! Is that possible? What would others think of the Mu family if news got out?! Our centuries-old familyâs reputation ought not to be tarnished by that woman! If the public catches wind of the Muâs young mistress being a surrogate mother once...â
The young man said nothing throughout.
Apparently, he did not agree with what his uncle had just said.
The older man reined in his anger and patiently coaxed his nephew. âIâm naturally happy to see you get married! Youâre no longer young, after all. If you want to get married, you should find a well-matched woman. Weâll surely accept one with a strong background and can help in your career! By then, once you build a strong foundation, no one can push you off your position; isnât it killing two birds with one stone? Instead, you willfully insist on keeping your marriage with that commoner who gave birth to children in exchange for money! How awful would it sound if news of you marrying a single mother spread?!â
âThose are my sons, anyway.â
Having expected better from his nephew, the elderly one was immensely disappointed. âThe public doesnât care about this! They all think that Little Yichenâs mother is Mu Wanrou! Even though the outside world knows that your engagement with her has been called off, they still donât know who the boyâs real mother is! If news spread and others were to learn that we resorted to surrogacy, it would surely tarnish our familyâs reputation!â
âI donât care about that! My mind is made up! I wonât divorce her. Itâs useless no matter what you say!â
The young manâs attitude was very firm, leaving no room for negotiation.
His exasperation rendered the older man speechless for a while before he suddenly made a slight concession. âItâs fine if you insist on not divorcing her and letting her enter the family! Iâll give you some leeway, but there will be no grand wedding!â
âWhat do you mean?â
âShe can only be quietly married into the family! Since you want to marry her, itâs not a problem if she becomes your concubine! Your marriage mustnât be made known to the world, though! She may be your lawful wife in name, but she can only be a concubine at most! This is the biggest concession I can make!â
Concubine?!
Mu Yazheâs forehead creased upon hearing that, though he was not surprised by his uncleâs suggestion!
It was very much the older manâs style.
In wealthy families, concubines meant mistresses!
In ancient times, mistresses could not be seen in public.
Even though their country practiced monogamy nowadays, the old feudal system of polygamy remained a common practice in the wealthy and influential families!