Chapter 74 Turning Black into White

Song Hui looked melancholy.

"Eight years ago, when my father arranged our engagements, he chose two marriages for my sister and me."

One family was the heir of the Marquis of Anping's family, and the other was my husband, Zhao Hong. At that time, he had not yet passed the imperial examination and was just an unknown scholar from a poor family.

Mother said that since you are the eldest sister, you should be the first to choose a marriage partner, and without hesitation, you chose the heir of the Marquis's mansion.

After learning of the Zhao family's poverty, my sister felt uneasy and worried that I would suffer in their household. Therefore, before my marriage, she personally promised to voluntarily give me her dowry.

At this point, Song Hui lowered the corner of her eye.

“I didn’t want my sister to be poor and refused to accept it, but my sister suggested that the Marquis’s mansion is wealthy and doesn’t need you to bring too much dowry.”

Therefore, she gave me half of her dowry and her mother the other half, as a token of her gratitude for her nurturing over the years.

"Sister, you secretly wrote a letter of gift without Father's knowledge, and it even has your signature on it. Don't you remember, sister?"

Song Yi's eyes widened, and she shook her head frantically.

“I have never written any letter of gift, Song Hui, you are lying.”

Song Hui remained calm. Compared to Song Yi's anger, she maintained her usual composure and calmness, as if Song Yi was being unreasonable.

“If my sister doesn’t remember, I’ll have someone go to the house to look for that gift certificate from back then.”

He turned his head and gently shook the still bewildered Zhang.

"Mother, you really are something. Why didn't you explain the gift certificate to Father and Sister just now? If you had just shown them the gift certificate, everything would have been clear."

Tell me quickly where the gift certificate is, and I'll send someone to look for it at home.

As he spoke, he secretly gave Zhang a look.

When Madam Zhang came to her senses, she knew that her daughter was always thorough in her actions, and since she had said so, there must be a book of gifts.

His lips moved, and he quickly said, "That was eight or nine years ago. Besides, it happened so suddenly today that I was stunned and didn't remember it."

The letter of gift is on the bottom shelf of the second drawer beside my bed, wrapped in oiled paper.

Song Hui gave a look and instructed her maid.

"Go with the head maid who serves your mother to find her."

The maidservant obeyed and left.

There was a moment of silence in front of the Song family's house.

Song Yi instructed the servants to bring out a chair for Madam Zhang, and then helped her sit down.

Then he had a servant bring out some ointment and carefully applied it to Madam Zhang.

She presented herself as a gentle and filial daughter, never uttering a single word of criticism against Minister Song.

Meanwhile, Vice Minister Song paced back and forth with his hands on his hips, looking irritable.

Song Yi picked up the ointment with her fingertips, warmed it in her palm, and then applied it little by little to Zhang's face.

Her movements were graceful and smooth, and her speech was as calm and gentle as before.

"Father, please calm down. Once the servants bring the letter of gift, everyone will understand that it was all a misunderstanding."

She emphasized the word "misunderstanding".

Song understood her implication, and the irritation in his heart immediately dissipated.

Hui'er is not one to speak without reason; judging from her confident demeanor, she must be certain she can resolve the situation.

He snorted and stroked his beard, saying, "But I have already informed His Majesty that I am going to a temple to cultivate myself, and it is already past noon, yet I have not set off."

If this were to reach His Majesty's ears, and he were to think that I was not sincere, that would be disastrous.

Song Hui revealed a hint of self-reproach.

"Your Majesty is wise and discerning. He must know that Father is burdened by trivial matters and will not blame him. But these trivial matters are, in the end, family affairs."

"It was my sisters and I who were ignorant; we didn't explain the dowry arrangements beforehand, and instead, we've caused trouble for our father."

These words made Vice Minister Song feel completely at ease, and he found Song Yi even more hateful.

Children should be like Hui'er, filial and respectful.

The truth is not important, but Song Yi's act of leading people to block his door and question him is truly unfilial and disrespectful.

A born curse!

Vice Minister Song glared fiercely at Song Yi.

Since Song Hui appeared here, she has never criticized Song Yi once. She even portrayed Song Yi as a good girl who is worried about her younger sister and filial to her stepmother.

Her humble and ashamed demeanor drew praise from the onlookers.

"What the second aunt of the Song family said might be true. The eldest aunt chose a wealthy noble family and let her younger sister marry into a poor family."

Feeling guilty, she voluntarily offered her dowry to compensate her sister.

"I heard that the Marquis's mansion was raided a few days ago. Perhaps the eldest daughter of the Song family is short of money, so she changed her mind and wants to take back her dowry."

"Oh dear, how can you take back something you've already given away? Isn't that going back on your word?"

"If you want to go back, you can discuss it with Lord Song and his wife, right?"

As Song Yi listened to the increasingly loud discussions, her fingertips gripped the hem of her skirt tightly, her knuckles turning as white as frost from the force.

Song Hui is really good with words; with just a few sentences, she managed to turn the tables on her.

Looking at Song Hui's confident expression, she couldn't help but feel flustered.

Could Song Hye really have some kind of gift certificate?

Before she could figure it out, Song Hui's maid came out, holding a piece of oiled paper in her hand.

Song Hui opened the oiled paper and pulled out a piece of paper from it.

The three large characters above, "A Gift of a Book," pierced Song Yi's eyes deeply.

Song Hui presented the book to the crowd, raising her voice slightly.

"As you can see, this is the letter of gift that my sister wrote by hand before we got married."

It's written very clearly inside: my sister voluntarily gave half of her dowry to me and the other half to my mother.

She handed the paper to Song Yi.

"This also has my sister's autograph on it. Sister, have you forgotten?"

Song Yi's expression changed slightly.

The paper did indeed have her handwriting from before, and even the signature was almost identical to hers.

But she never wrote anything like that.

Song Hui looked sad, but then changed the subject.

"Is it because you regret the gift you gave me back then, and you're trying to get back all the dowry by digging up the old list?"

We're all family. If my sister asks for it, my mother and I will definitely not refuse. Why are you acting like this, falsely accusing my mother?"

With red eyes, she sighed, "Although my mother is my stepmother, she has always put my older sister first since I was a child."

"When it comes to good food and drinks, my elder sister gets to choose first. Even in marriage, it's my elder sister who gets to choose first. If she says she'll marry into a marquis's family, then she'll marry into a marquis's family. My mother and I have never felt the slightest bit of jealousy."

"Sister's actions now have truly chilled our hearts."

Song Yi was so angry at these words that the veins on her neck bulged, as if something had exploded in her ear.

She watched Song Hui's mouth open and close, but felt that she was getting further and further away from her.

How can people be so evil! So twisting the truth!

As her vision blurred and she nearly fainted, her palms suddenly felt warm.

A chubby, warm little hand stubbornly pulled away her hand that was clutching the hem of her skirt, and then the hot palm grasped her fingers.

Li Nanke tilted her head back, her grape-like eyes blinking brightly.

She pulled down on her with her little hand.

She bent down in a daze.

Li Nanke leaned close to her ear and whispered four words.

As if a thunderbolt had suddenly exploded in her mind, Song Yi trembled, the daze in her mind instantly receded, and she became more clear-headed.

She stepped forward and stared intently at Song Hui.

His arm, hanging by his side, trembled again and again. After a moment, he finally raised his hand and slapped Song Hui hard across the face.

"ah!"