CHAPTER 16

Song Yuanzhi looked at the letter in her hand with complicated feelings for a moment. She never expected that the previous generation had such love, hatred, and vengeance.

Song Yan was originally a farmer’s son. Because he was quite talented in studying, he was taken in as a disciple by his teacher, Shen Fang, when he was young. The Shen family was a big family in the local area. Shen Fang was a juren, with a lot of property under his name. He also married the daughter of the wealthy Xu family. Madam Xu was good at making money and saved a lot of wealth. However, the couple had only one daughter, who later married Song Yan, the original owner’s biological mother, Madam Shen. Unfortunately, Shen Fang and his wife were not in good health, and they both died after marrying Madam Shen to Song Yan.

Madam Shen’s health was not very good. She accompanied Song Yan to Beijing for the imperial examination. The bumpy journey hurt her body. Song Yan passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, and Madam Shen also brought good news. However, she had injured her vitality when giving birth to the original owner, and she died within a year. Then Madam Liu came into the house and became the mistress of the Song family.

When Song Yuanzhi thought about all these things and thought about Song Yan’s salary as a fifth-rank official and recalled the daily expenses of the Song family, What else was there that she didn’t understand?

Thinking of this, Song Yuanzhi couldn’t help but sneer. Song Yan was such a vicious, ungrateful person. He got the wealth of the Shen family and allowed Madam Liu to abuse the original owner, the only child with Shen family blood, to death. If Shen Fang knew about this, he would probably regret not being able to judge people well, mistakenly treating the ungrateful person as a rising star, and using his own flesh and blood to feed this beast.

Song Yuanzhi pursed her lips, and her eyes, which were always full of affection, were instantly filled with murderous intent. It took a lot of effort to suppress the urge to pick up the knife and kill Song Yan right now. She turned to ask Momo Liu, “Thank you for taking the trouble to find out this information. I wonder if someone helped you.”

Momo Liu smiled and nodded. “Of course someone did, and the young lady knows him too.”

Song Yuanzhi looked at Momo Liu in confusion. “I know him too.”

I am not very familiar with the people in Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, except for one… Hey, what a coincidence?

Seeing Song Yuanzhi’s understanding expression, Momo Liu nodded and smiled. “Guard Yuzhi is kind-hearted and takes good care of us old bones. I didn’t expect that he had helped the young lady.”

Song Yuanzhi was also happy: “He is indeed very enthusiastic and has a chivalrous heart.”

The time when she was kidnapped by Xuanyuan Yu, if it weren’t for the help of Brother Yu Zhi, she might not have been able to escape the pursuit of Xuanyuan Mansion.

Seeing this, Momo Liu asked Song Yuanzhi in a low voice, “If the young lady has any instructions, why not tell him in person?”

Song Yuanzhi thought about it and hesitated. “He is not here as a secret guard for me now, so it would be hard to trouble him.”

Momo Liu smiled again. “Madam is looking forward to you going to the Marquis’ Mansion to talk to her every day. If you are free, it would be good for you to go and accompany Madam.”

Song Yuanzhi’s eyes lit up. “That’s right, I miss Madam too, so I’d like to ask Madam if she can help me.”

Momo Liu choked. “You don’t want to ask Yu Zhi to help you?”

“Madam,” Song Yuanzhi sighed deeply. “No matter how good guard Yu Zhi is, I can’t go to him privately. We should avoid suspicion when we are in a melon field. Madam and I get along well, and the Marquis is also a great hero. I don’t want to make Madam upset because of our negligence.”

This is not like the later generations, where it is very normal for ordinary opposite-sex friends to meet for dinner. In this era, a man and a woman meeting alone will definitely not be a good thing if it is spread out. Song Yuanzhi herself doesn’t care, but Madam Qin is already miserable enough because she lost her son. If someone also accuses Song Yuanzhi of misconduct, wouldn’t it hurt Madam Qin even more? If Madam Qin vents her anger on Yu Zhi at that time, wouldn’t that hurt her?

Momo Liu was stunned. This was really… such a simple matter, but how could it become complicated with the Marquis’s involvement?

For some reason, Momo Liu suddenly wanted to laugh. She thought that the Marquis would have a very interesting expression on his face after hearing the news.

Momo Liu was a very proactive person. When Song Yuanzhi said she wanted to visit Madam Qin, Momo Liu asked Yurui to prepare a letter and send it to the Marquis’ Mansion. She also said, “Madam has always been thinking about you. I don’t know how happy she would be to know that you want to go to the Marquis’ Mansion.”

Of course, after hearing the message Yurui brought back, knowing that the Marquis had shot himself in the foot, the Madam would probably be even happier.

Momo Liu really knew her master very well. After hearing Yurui’s message, Madam Qin immediately ran to her son and laughed heartily, joking as she laughed, “I told you to deliberately hide from Zhi’er, but you said you were a bodyguard. Now, Zhier really treats you as a bodyguard and wants to avoid suspicion. Are you dumbfounded?”

Lu Shaoyou was helpless. “Just watch me laugh at my joke.”

“Are you angry?” Madam Qin was finally able to hold her head high in front of her son and said proudly, “I worried so much about your marriage before. I even lost a lot of hair, but you, a bastard, just don’t appreciate it. You look down on this and that. Now, I finally found someone to cure you! I’m going to have to watch you make a fool of yourself!”

“I just find her interesting.” Lu Shaoyou still wanted to be stubborn. “What’s the point of saying whether she can cure me or not? How can I, the great Marquis of Zhenbei, be cured by a little girl?”

“Oh, so you are dissatisfied. I will go to the palace and tell the Empress that since you have returned safely, Zhi’er’s status is still a little low. Why don’t we just call off this marriage?”

“That won’t do!” Lu Shaoyou stopped her immediately. “A girl’s reputation is so important. If we really cancel the engagement, how can Miss Song go out and meet people?”

“It’s incredible that you can actually feel sorry for someone! Last year, that girl from some family mustered up the courage to say that she admired your beauty. How did you respond? You’re grateful for your kindness, so you should respect yourself? Why didn’t you worry about the girl’s reputation at that time? I had to come forward to clean up the mess for you so that the story didn’t get out. It seems that this stupid person is not incapable of feeling sorry for someone, but just hasn’t met the right person, don’t you think?”

Lu Shaoyou was so embarrassed that his ears turned pink. He tried to defend himself, “That’s different. The previous incident was not exposed, so no one else knew about it. In Miss Song’s case, you even went to ask for an imperial decree. How could you stop the gossip?”

“You’re just being stubborn! Zhi’er doesn’t want to ask you for help anyway. When she comes, we’ll have a good talk. You have no part in it!”

Lu Shaoyou held his forehead helplessly and rubbed his eyebrows. “Mother——”

“Are you anxious?” Mrs. Qin laughed. “You crawled out of my belly; how could I not know what you are thinking? Are you still being stubborn?”

Lu Shaoyou was forced back by his mother and could only smile bitterly, “Mom, please forgive me.”

Madam Qin had been protected by her son for many years. Now she finally regained the feeling of bullying her son when he was a child. She was refreshed and wanted to hum a little song to express her joy. She also kindly reminded her son, “Are you still planning to hide your identity from Zhi’er? If you continue to hide it, she won’t want to see you.”

Madam Qin originally wanted to laugh at her son, but later changed her mind and liked Song Yuanzhi even more. Song Yuanzhi didn’t know her son’s identity, and it would be bad if she had some other feelings for the “Yuzhi” guard.

Thinking of this, Madam Qin stopped smiling and sighed, “That child is a good one, and she is a good match for you. You are taking advantage of her!”

Lu Shaoyou: ???

Madam Qin said no more and happily went to the warehouse to stroll around, deciding to give her future daughter-in-law some more gifts. No one in the Song family truly loved her, and Song Yan didn’t care about such a good child, but she will cherish her very much!

Lu Shaoyou coughed lightly, called the hidden guard nearby, and whispered, “If Miss Song arrives, send someone to report to me.”

The secret guard clasped his fists, made a low response, and retreated quietly.

Lu Shaoyou thought about the fact that he had concealed his true identity from Song Yuanzhi, recalled what his mother had just said, and inexplicably felt guilty.

Song Yuanzhi was completely unaware of this. After bringing Yurui and Yurong to the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, Song Yuanzhi discovered that Madam Qin seemed to be in a particularly good mood today.

Madam Qin was born extremely beautiful, and she seemed to have gained some weight during this period, becoming more plump with a very good complexion and a radiant look. Compared to the first time Song Yuanzhi saw her in Ci’en Temple, she was completely different. It was not that her facial features had changed, but her mental state was very different. When they first met, no matter how strong Madam Qin’s face was, there was an indelible depression and sadness between her eyebrows. Now that they met again, that sadness was long gone, and instead there was a hint of joy. One could tell at a glance that she was living a very comfortable life.

Song Yuanzhi couldn’t bear to poke at Madam Qin’s scars, so she just picked a happy topic and said, “Madam is so considerate of me, sending gifts and servants. Now I will become the tyrant of the Song Mansion.”

“That’s how it should be!” Madam Qin laughed and clapped her hands. “You are the legitimate daughter of the first wife. If anyone dares to neglect you, just point out his fault and punish him. Kill the chicken to scare the monkey a few times, and others will learn their lesson.”

Seeing that Madam Qin was in high spirits and without a trace of gloom, Song Yuanzhi was happy for her. She sat down next to her and whispered to her, “Don’t even mention those servants who change their attitude according to the situation. Even my father didn’t dare to speak loudly when he saw the two Momos you gave me.”

Madam Qin didn’t think much of Song Yan’s behavior. Even though she was the one who wanted to find a wife for her son, she had to say that everyone thought her son had died in battle. A family that really loved their daughters would never send their daughters to be widowed just for the position of the wife of the Marquis of Zhenbei. Song Yan could push Song Yuanzhi out to be a widow. It goes without saying how insignificant Song Yuanzhi was.

Madam Qin is so open about her double standards—I love my son so much that I am going against my conscience to find a daughter-in-law to inherit the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion. You push my daughter out to marry into a rich family, which means you don’t love her. I just don’t like you!

Thinking that her son was a stubborn person, Madam Qin could not help but try to make up for him. She secretly whispered to Song Yuanzhi, “There’s news from the border that someone has seen Ah-ji’s whereabouts. Ah-ji is still alive!”

Song Yuanzhi’s eyes widened immediately. Lu Shaoyou is still alive? There is no such thing in the original novel ?