The crowd in the hall, already stunned by the earlier revelation of Song Jinxiu's "theft," was now left gaping in shock at Gu Helian's words.
"You’re lying!!" The Prince Cheng could no longer maintain his composure. "Gu Helian, stop slandering me!"
"Slandering?" Gu Helian mocked. "You thought you could send a few worthless lackeys to Anzhou, relying on your princely title to intimidate others into silence? You didn’t even bother to hush them up with a bit of bribery. Although the magistrate of Anzhou might be afraid of your power and didn’t dare to expose your dealings with the Song family, there are many eyes within the Anzhou authorities. Did you think everyone fears you?"
"Mu Feng," Gu Helian called out, and the silent, stoic attendant standing behind him stepped forward, holding a brocade box. He opened it before the crowd, revealing a thick stack of papers inside.
"These are all testimonies our master’s men acquired from the Anzhou authorities. They clearly describe how people from the Prince Cheng's mansion threatened the Anzhou magistrate to falsify Song Shulan's registration and how they altered her mother Xu's name, hiding her among refugees from the Wuzhou floods seventeen years ago. The refugees had been sent to Anzhou by Master Song under imperial orders. They fabricated a long-standing connection between Song Xi and Xu, concocting a tale of an old love affair amidst the disaster."
Mu Feng carried the brocade box over to the Princess Cheng. She reached out to take it, but as she did, the prince grabbed her arm. "Yue Niang, Gu Helian has ill intentions! Don’t believe him..."
The Princess Cheng pulled away. "Yue Niang..." His face pale, the prince looked at her with pleading eyes.
Gu Helian watched the princess’s expression darken as she examined the documents, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "What's wrong, Prince Cheng? Are you afraid your lies will be exposed? Or are you scared that your abuse of power and manipulation of court affairs will be discovered? Rong Yue, if you're too scared to read, then forget it. After all, with such deep affection between husband and wife, it's not surprising if Xie Tianyu merely lied to you."
"Shut up!" the princess barked, turning to glare at him.
Expressionless, she shook off the prince’s hand and removed the contents from the brocade box. When she saw the various handwriting styles on the testimonies, her face grew even grimmer. Silently, she passed the documents to Tang Ning beside her, who read them before lifting her gaze toward the prince.
"Uncle, is this what you meant by helping me?"
Gu Helian, standing on the steps of the hall’s entrance, scoffed. "Helping you? Helping you by ruining your father's reputation after his death, aiding Song Hong's illegitimate child to take your life, and assisting the Song family's main branch in bullying an orphan without parents? Perhaps after your death, everything your parents left behind would go to that illegitimate daughter as part of the main branch’s fortune."
Although his tone was light, his words were sharp enough to flay the prince’s pride.
"Song Shulan is actually from Yanghua Town. Her mother’s surname is Xu, and her maternal grandfather, Xu Chunrong, was once a Deputy Officer at the Left Guard House under the Crown Prince twenty years ago. When the mad prince rebelled, attempting to seize power, and ended up perishing in a fire at the Forbidden Palace, all his associates were executed, including the Xu family. Yet Xu Chunrong's daughter, Xu Zhen, somehow survived, hidden by the then-young Song Hong."
"The two of them had been childhood sweethearts. However, being the daughter of a traitor, she could never enter the Song household. So Song Hong married the daughter of the Zou family as his wife while keeping Xu Zhen hidden in the suburbs as his mistress. While he and his wife gave birth to their first son, Song Jinxiu, he was secretly maintaining a love affair with Xu."
The main madam of the Song family clenched her palms so hard that they turned pale. She had always known that Song Shulan was an illegitimate child from one of Song Hong’s dalliances, believing his explanation that it was merely a momentary lapse in judgment, leaving him vulnerable to blackmail. That was why Song Shulan had been taken into the family. But she never imagined that he had a childhood sweetheart hidden away all those years. Even when he married her, showered her with love, and treated her well, he had kept another woman in the shadows.
No wonder Song Hong had always protected Song Shulan so fiercely. Instead of finding a convenient excuse to keep her in the family, he insisted on inserting her into the second branch, giving her a legitimate identity. It turned out that she was the daughter of his first love...
The main madam stumbled, collapsing onto a chair, tears streaming down her face. She had helped cover up the Song family’s deception regarding Tang Ning, only to find herself trapped in the same web of lies.
Song Jinxiu swayed, hearing a roaring in his ears. "You’re saying... Song Shulan is my father’s daughter?"
"You didn’t know?" Gu Helian raised an eyebrow. "Yet you still helped her steal?"
Song Jinxiu's face drained of all color. He truly hadn’t known. His father and grandmother had always claimed that Song Shulan was his uncle’s daughter, the result of a fleeting romance in his youth. One night, he drank heavily after feeling frustrated at the Hanlin Academy, where he’d been ostracized. Song Shulan tearfully told him that his father wanted to send her away, accusing Tang Ning of harboring a deep resentment toward her because of her status. She said she had overheard his father and grandmother discussing how Tang Ning planned to have the Prince Cheng investigate her background in Anzhou.
With Song Shulan’s history already surrounded by rumors, and with no evidence to prove her true parentage other than a single letter left behind by her late mother, she was desperate. She cried, claiming that if Tang Ning manipulated the investigation, she’d be ruined. She pleaded with him, saying that if she could obtain proof of his uncle’s affection, then even if Tang Ning wanted to harm her, she could protect herself.
In his drunkenness, Jinxiu initially argued with her. But in the end, her tears softened his resolve. He knew that the belongings left behind by his uncle and aunt were stored away in the Shi'an Pavilion, a place Tang Ning hadn’t touched for years, unwilling to reopen old wounds. He secretly stole a bamboo-patterned jade pendant from there, his hands trembling from both alcohol and guilt, convincing himself that it was necessary...
He just wanted Tang Ning to stop making a fuss, just wanted peace in the Song family. He simply wanted Tang Ning and Shulan to reconcile, to stop their constant hostility. But he never expected that Song Shulan was actually Song Hong's daughter.
"How is this possible..." Song Jinxiu's eyes were full of disbelief. He raised his bloodshot eyes and cried out, "You're lying to me!"
"Why would I lie to you? Many people here are already aware of the Xu family's situation, and as for Song Shulan's identity, your mother should know a bit about it."
Song Jinxiu looked at the tearful Madam Song, feeling an excruciating headache. It felt as if his mind was about to explode, yet Gu Helian continued speaking.
"Back then, Song Hong lived a life of indulgence, keeping Xu Zhen in the capital. They even had a son together, who was born just a month after you, but the child died before his first birthday due to congenital weakness."
"Later, after the Xu family’s downfall, Song Hong thought no one would care anymore and boldly brought her back to the capital. Unexpectedly, this was noticed by others at court. The old Duke of the Song family went through great efforts to suppress the matter, but Song Hong was forced to send Xu Zhen out of the capital. The old Duchess feared that as long as Xu Zhen lived, she might one day bring calamity upon Song Hong. Hence, she wanted to eliminate her completely. However, Xu Zhen was lucky enough to escape and vanished without a trace."
Gu Helian's voice was calm but carried a tinge of sarcasm:
"More than six months ago, a woman claiming to be of the Song bloodline approached Song Qin, saying that her mother's name was Xu Zhen. Before her death, she had told her daughter that she was a daughter of the Duke’s family and had left behind a letter instructing her to go to the capital to find her relatives."
"Since Song Qin knew about the events of the past, he had no choice but to bring her back to the capital. But Xu Zhen was the daughter of a rebel. The Xu family had been executed under the former Emperor's decree. If anyone found out that Song Hong had harbored the daughter of a rebel and even had a daughter with her, not only would his career be ruined, but the entire Duke’s household would be branded as traitors. However, Song Qin couldn’t abandon the bloodline of his childhood sweetheart, and the letter Song Shulan held was too damning. Thus, he decided to claim that Song Xi, who had died many years ago, was her father."
He raised his eyes, looking at Song Tangning, who was standing beside Princess Cheng, her face covered by a veil. There was a mix of anger and reluctance in his eyes.
"He covered up Song Shulan's true identity, claiming that her mother's surname was Li, and said that she was an old romantic entanglement of your father. He pinned it all on your father."
"The entire Song family spread this lie, and since your parents died young with no one to refute the claim, and you were too young to know the truth, Song Hong's daughter was forcibly placed into the second branch of the Song family. They made her out to be the blood of the second branch, elevating her to the status of a concubine-born daughter and even allowed her to humiliate and harm you, nearly taking your life."
"Tang Ning, your father never had any involvement with other women. His heart belonged solely to your mother, and he never betrayed Lady Rong."
Tang Ning's eyes instantly reddened, and everyone in the hall was left stunned by Gu Helian's words.
Song Shulan was actually Song Hong's daughter, and her mother was a traitor who had sided with the rebel prince?!
The audacity of the Song family was unbelievable; Song Hong was out of his mind, wasn't he?
There was a momentary silence before the crowd erupted in an uproar. Song Jinxi felt his head buzzing, his vision swimming, barely able to stay on his feet.
========
[You can read ahead to chapterr 100 here]
Comments
Post a Comment