Chapter 69 Song Shulan, You Win
"Tang Ning, what are you doing?"
Song Tan was horrified, and with all his might he looked at the handsome man. "Lord Xiao, although there is some rift between us and Tang Ning, and there were some misunderstandings before, you cannot bring people into the Duke's Mansion without permission. My eldest brother is still on duty in the palace. If His Majesty knew what happened today, he would definitely reprimand Lord Xiao for being so insolent..."
"I don't know what your majesty is up to, but your elder brother will be with you later."
Xiao Yan's expression was indifferent. "Song Hong holds the position of Minister, yet he has not appreciated the Emperor's grace. Instead, he has colluded with the Li King's old ministers and plotted treason. All members of the Song family will be arrested and brought back to the Criminal Court for trial."
Treason?!
Song Qin's eyes suddenly widened, and even Old Madam Song's expression changed instantly.
The servants of the Song family who were escorted out were all terrified. How could the master be plotting treason?!
Old Madam Song's ears buzzed with a humming sound. She suppressed her fear for Xiao Yan and said angrily, "Lord Xiao, my Song family has been at court for many years. My husband died for the Great Wei, my son has always been loyal to Your Majesty, and everyone in the Song family has always adhered to their duties as subjects and never dared to make even the slightest mistake. How could you falsely accuse us of treason?!"
As she spoke, she glared at Song Tangning.
"Is it you, Song Tangning? You are the one who holds a grudge against the mansion and colluded with outsiders to frame your uncle. We are all your closest relatives. How dare you be so perverse and vicious?!"
Song Tangning was practically amused by Old Madam Song's being the first to complain. She stood beside Xiao Yan, looking at the stern-looking Old Madam Song, and sneered, "Is it me who is vicious, or is Song Hong shameless and despicable?"
"You stuffed Song Hong and Xu Zhen's illegitimate offspring into the Second House to pretend to be my father's bloodline, and allowed her to bully and humiliate me, tarnishing my father's posthumous reputation. Who in this world is more vicious than you?"
Song Qin's face suddenly turned pale, and Old Madam Song's expression also changed drastically.
When Song Shulan heard the word "Xu Zhen", she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar and her whole body was freezing cold. She couldn't help shivering when she looked at Song Tangning who was standing not far away.
She knew...
She actually knew!
"Tang Ning."
Song Qin swallowed his saliva, and with a glimmer of hope, he forced himself to say, "Did you misunderstand something, or did someone say something to provoke you? We have never known Xu Zhen, nor have we ever heard of this person..."
"Really? Then when Third Uncle brought Song Shulan back to the capital from Suyun Town, why did he conceal her identity and hide the fact that her biological mother's surname was Xu?"
Song Qin's face was instantly filled with panic. He didn't expect that Song Tangning could actually find this out.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to argue, he saw Song Tangning directly took out a book.
"Xu's daughter, native of Suyun. Uncle, would you like to explain why you said her biological mother's surname was Li and her native place was Anzhou?"
"I……"
When Song Tan looked at the book with the seal of Jingzhao Prefecture, his face trembled and his eyes showed fear.
impossible!
Prince Cheng clearly told them that the book had been taken away by him, and that everything had been arranged in Anzhou. Even Song Shulan's past had been erased.
How could Song Tangning know all this?!
Tang Ning looked up at the bewildered Song family members, and his gaze fell on the pale-faced Song Shulan:
"Song Shulan's biological mother's original name was Xu Zhen. She was the daughter of Xu Chunrong, an old minister of the late Crown Prince Li. She and Song Hong had a childhood friendship. After the Crown Prince Li's rebellion was exposed, Xu Chunrong was executed by the late emperor, and the entire Xu family was executed as well. However, Song Hong, not wanting to be associated with them, rescued Xu Zhen and raised her as a concubine. He later sent her out of the capital after the incident."
"The old lady was worried about her son and wanted to eliminate him completely, fearing he would be implicated by the Xu family. However, Xu Zhen managed to escape. Over ten years later, his daughter came to the mansion with the Song family token. Song Hong, mindful of their past relationship, concealed this from Zou and conspired with the two of you to take her in."
"Madam Song, Mr. Song, please don't tell me you don't know who Xu Zhen is."
Song Tangning's eyes were cold, and his originally gentle face was filled with frost. Every word he said was like a sharp blade, cutting the blood from the Song family members.
"You knew exactly who Song Shulan's bloodline was, yet you forced her onto my father to protect Song Hong's reputation."
"Song Hong imitated my father's handwriting to leave a so-called letter. Song Jinxiu stole my father's belongings and pretended they were tokens of trust in an attempt to deceive me. You colluded with Prince Cheng and coerced the Anzhou prefect to forge Song Shulan's family records to conceal her identity as the daughter of a traitor. You even tried to use other people's words to force me to return home. How dare you accuse me of being cruel and vicious?"
Song Qin's face was as pale as a cadaver. Old Madam Song had never expected that Xu Zhen's affairs would be exposed after so many years. It was obvious that everyone who knew about it back then was already dead. How could Song Tangning possibly know about it?!
She no longer had the slightest bit of her previous fierceness. She forced herself to look angry but was actually weak inside. "Nonsense, what Xu Zhen, what old minister of the Crown Prince? I have no idea what you're talking about!"
Old Madam Song insisted, "Song Shulan's biological mother's surname is indeed Xu, but she has nothing to do with the Crown Prince. Her mother was just a lowly prostitute. Because she was too lowly and seduced my son into immorality, almost ruining the reputation of my Song family, I forbad her from entering the mansion and drove her out of the capital. But who would have thought that she would actually get pregnant and come back to me more than ten years later."
"Your uncle is the Minister of the Imperial Household, a close minister to the Emperor. He is to inherit the title of Duke of Guo, so he must not have such a stain on him. Your uncle and I pushed Song Shulan into the second room, but it was all for the future of the Duke of Guo, to preserve the prominence of the Song family, and to allow you to have the protection of your natal family after you marry into the Lu family."
"How does this have anything to do with treason?!"
Old Madam Song's words became more and more fluent, as if Song Tangning was really talking nonsense and they didn't know Xu Zhen at all.
"Tang Ning, Grandmother knows you're angry, but your uncle and I were forced into a desperate situation. Your father is gone, and the Duke's Mansion can only rely on your uncle and brother. If anyone knew that he had such a fleeting relationship, it would only bring ruin to the Song family."
"I had no choice but to marry Song Shulan to your father. You can be angry and hate me, but how can you slander us like this? Being involved with the Crown Prince is such a great crime. If His Majesty knew about this, the family would be confiscated and the entire clan would be exterminated. No one in the Song family would escape."
She was reminding Song Tangning that she was also a member of the Song family, and if the Song family was convicted, she would not be able to escape.
"Tang Ning, stop messing around."
Song Tangning watched as Old Madam Song fabricated a whole story in a short time, and watched as she fabricated the identity of Song Shulan's biological mother so perfectly.
If the evidence was not solid and Xiao Yan and Gu Helian had not investigated first, she would probably have believed her seeing her helpless and angry look.
No wonder they were able to deceive her in her previous life, no wonder they were able to coax her into taking away her mother's belongings. They helped Song Shulan become famous in the capital, helped her take away those things that rightfully belonged to her, and sent her to the Lu family over her corpse.
Tang Ning's eyes flashed with anger: "Old Madam Song is really good at talking. It's a pity that I'm not a criminal judge. You should save these words for when you're in jail."
"Song Tangning, you're from the Song family!" Old Madam Song saw that she was unmoved and immediately said, "Do you think that with the Song family ruined, what good can you expect?!"
Song Tangning sneered: "Who said I'm from the Song family?"
Madam Song's expression changed instantly: "What do you mean?"
Song Tangning sneered: "What I mean is, I feel ashamed to be of the same race as shameless and heartless people like you."
"I have already expelled myself from the Song family in front of Song Jinxiu and everyone else in Prince Cheng's mansion. From now on, my father and I are no longer members of the Song family. The life or death of your Song family has nothing to do with me. Just accompany Song Hong to the prison and explain Xu Zhen's identity. Let's see if the cruel officials in the Ministry of Justice will believe your words."
"Whore..."
Oh!
She looked at Song Shulan with a mocking look: "You went to great lengths to return to the Song family and used all sorts of tricks to snatch what belongs to me. Now I will give it all to you."
"Song Shulan, you win."
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