Chapter 33 Premature Aging

Song Ye ignored the expressions of Duke Weiguo and Song Zhichen and continued, "You think you are fair and that no one can shake my and my mother's status. But which of those concubines in your backyard didn't want to replace us mother and son after they got favored?"

"Even if they didn't dare to do it at first, your love and indulgence gradually grew their hearts."

Everyone said that Song Ye was steadier than his age. Occasionally, Zhou Ying would feel sorry for him, saying that he was still young and didn't need to push himself so hard and live such a hard life.

"Father, if your son hadn't studied hard and practiced martial arts, and if he hadn't been on guard all the time, would he really be alive today?"

With a father like Song Zhichen, how could Song Ye be a carefree child?

He knew that if he couldn't hold on, he wouldn't be able to protect his mother.

Song Ye has always been a quiet person in front of others, let alone being so aggressive in front of his grandfather and father.

But he knew that if he didn't say these words today, Song Zhichen would not agree to the divorce.

Song Ye certainly wants to live with his mother, but he hopes even more that his mother can live happily and freely.

"As the son of the Duke's Mansion, I am still walking on thin ice. Father, how do you think mother has been doing in the Duke's Mansion these years?"

If Song Ye had any expectations for Song Zhichen as a father before, now it can be said that there is nothing left at all.

After saying this, Song Ye bowed and left.

Duke Weiguo felt shocked and distressed when he heard Song Ye's words.

He thought he handled it well, but he didn't expect that his grandson already knew it all.

If we don't make a resolution now, and let this evil son keep Zhou in the mansion and torture her to death, I'm afraid the Zhou family and the Duke's Mansion will become complete enemies, and my grandson will also become estranged from the Song family.

And the Shen family is not someone you can easily mess with.

Song Ye didn't say much, but his words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Song Zhichen's heart hard.

He never thought that he would be such a failure as a husband and a father.

Song Zhichen looked at Song Ye's departing back and sat in the chair for a long time without moving.

After a while, he laughed at himself, "Song Zhichen, look at what stupid things you have done."

*

In the study

The candlestick was dimly lit, the candlelight flickered, and Song Zhichen narrowed his eyes slightly.

He looked at the candlelight reflected on the window railing and felt his eyes were sore and swollen, as if sand had entered them.

Suddenly, Song Zhichen recalled the day he saw Zhou Ying dancing with a sword, and it was almost the same as when they first met...

When Song Zhichen was young, he traveled with several classmates and encountered bandits on the way back to Beijing.

They were all weak scholars who were powerless and had few guards with them.

If Zhou Ying, who happened to pass by, had not rescued them, Song Zhichen and several of his friends would probably have died at the hands of the bandits.

At that time, Zhou Ying was holding a long sword and covered in rosy clouds, like a goddess descending.

Song Zhichen was stunned and told himself that it was her.

This was the wife he wanted to marry.

He will treat her well for the rest of his life!

Zhou Ying was his benefactor and also his lover.

The beginning between them was right, the end was right too, so why did it change later?

When did it start to change?

The powerful emotions that kept surging from his heart, carrying with them the memories of the past, swallowed up Song Zhichen bit by bit in the darkness.

Song Zhichen sat in the study room all night, until the oil lamp burned out and the light came through the window paper. He moved his fingers and called out in a hoarse voice, "Someone come."

"Sir...your hair..."

The servant guarding the door pushed it open and was stunned.

However, in just one night, Song Zhichen's originally black hair turned into a lot of white hair.

"Hair?" Song Zhichen was stunned for a moment, then he stood up and walked to the bronze mirror, only then did he see the silver hair mixed in his temples.

Song Zhichen was stunned for a long time. He was still young, but he already showed signs of premature aging.

He chuckled, "Alright, alright."

An ungrateful person like him really deserves to be punished.

The attendant was very worried, "Are you feeling unwell? Why don't I go get a doctor..."

"Nothing," Song Zhichen interrupted the attendant, "Don't make a fuss, just help me grind the ink."

"yes."

Song Zhichen sat back at the desk, took out a few sheets of letter paper and spread them on the desk. He flattened them with a paperweight. When he was about to write, his hand suddenly paused and his eyes fell on the Duan inkstone beside him.

That was given to him by Zhou Ying after Song Zhichen got married.

The Duan inkstone is bluish-gray in color, with a moon-white center and a slight hint of blue. It is made of the finest fish brain jelly. It cannot be called the best, but it is rare.

When Song Zhichen first got this Duan inkstone, he was very happy.

At first he was reluctant to use it and would only take it out to play with it when it was late at night.

Later, Song Zhichen took it to the study and placed it in the most conspicuous place on the desk.

In order to better maintain this Duan inkstone, Song Zhichen even personally asked people about the maintenance methods of the Duan inkstone.

Whenever he used up the ink, Song Zhichen would clean it promptly and never ask anyone else to do it for him.

But later on, he got another good inkstone from someone else, and this Duan inkstone was put aside again.

Song Zhichen suddenly woke up from his memories, feeling lost.

He sighed, dipped the brush in ink, and began to write on the paper.