Chapter 101 Chapter 101 [VIP]
Chapter 101
Lord Song is still very confident in his son's aesthetic taste.
After such a big incident, his son protected her and didn't let her out because he was afraid that he would scold her. She came here on her own initiative tonight, but didn't she think that he would make things difficult for her?
The Marquis walked forward and stopped in front of her.
Qian Tong didn't get a response for a while. He looked up slightly and saw a hand reaching out to him. "Get up. Although you didn't get to drink your tea, you and my son have already been married. So you should call me father."
Qian Tong was stunned, forgetting his manners, and looked up, "Don't you blame me?"
Seeing her surprised expression and tears in her eyes, it seemed that she had come here tonight to get scolded. Lord Song said, "Since you are here, tell me what you think..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door behind him was pushed open.
Song Yunzhi had just finished applying the medicine and was wearing a middle-length robe. He stood at the door, looking nervously at his father and his newly married bride who was kneeling on the ground, as if he was afraid that his bride would be bullied.
Will I eat his people?
Lord Song took a deep breath and didn't bother to look at him.
"Father." Song Yunzhi came in, closed the door, walked over to Qian Tong, helped him up, and whispered, "Didn't you say you'd wait for me to come back?"
Qian Tong shook her head. She had tried hard, tried hard to cooperate with him, but she couldn't bear to watch him suffer for her alone. She was powerless to do anything. She looked at him and said, "Yun Zhen, I can't wait any longer."
Song Yunzhi didn't say anything, but reached out and hugged her, "Okay." He was afraid that she would get emotional, so he used silver needles to suppress her first. Now that she has calmed down, he can't trap her anymore.
Lord Song turned half of his body, but his peripheral vision swept over his son.
Perhaps it was because he had never seen him hug a young lady to coax her in his life. His expression and posture revealed a strangeness that he had never seen before, and he was quite surprised.
As someone who has been through this, Lord Song knows what such changes mean. His son has grown up, started a family, and has people he wants to protect, but his temperament is the same as when he was young. He is not good at speaking and does not know how to express his true thoughts. He only does things without saying anything and keeps sulking. Is it useful?
He had heard from Song Yunzhi what had happened. The root of the problem came from the bandit den kept by Qian Tong, but when he thought about it carefully, it was not a bandit den.
If the two had communicated with each other in advance and been honest with each other, they would not have been fooled by such a clown this time.
Since both of them are here tonight, Lord Song just has something to say.
When the two knelt before him and made up for the wedding banquet greetings, Marquis Song called out Qian Tong's name, "Do you know what my Yong'an Marquisate was like before it became a marquisate?"
Qian Tong was stunned and looked at him blankly.
Marquis Song said, "My ancestors were also peasants. After several generations of hard work, a scholar finally emerged. He took the imperial examinations and finally made it to where he is today. In the ancestral hall of my Yong'an Marquisate, the tablet of that peasant ancestor will always be placed at the highest position."
He continued, "His mother is the current eldest princess. Before Your Majesty ascended the throne, no one knew her name. She grew up in the valleys of Shu Province, only able to wield swords and guns. Some people secretly called her vulgar, but such a vulgar person has now become the eldest princess, respected and admired by the world. No one dares to say a word about her anymore."
"No one is born noble. Distinctions in social status are meant to encourage people to strive for excellence and reach their desired heights, not to create barriers in people's hearts, making them feel inferior and never accepted by aristocratic families." Marquis Song said, "Perhaps other families may have distinctions based on family background, but not in my Yong'an Marquisate."
"The Marquisate has never valued status," Marquis Song said. "I believe my son. His feelings for you aren't just because of your beauty. Now that you've married my son, you're a member of the Song family. It's his duty to protect the Qian family. But now that you're blaming yourself and feeling guilty, are you still thinking about not wanting to implicate him and asking me to reject this marriage?"
Qian Tong knelt there in a daze, looking at the strange middle-aged man in front of him. The thoughts hidden in his heart were touched, and the tears in his eyes fell "plop".
Song Yunzhi lowered his eyes and gritted his teeth.
Lord Song looked at Qian Tong and asked her, "Why can't you treat him as a family member, as the son-in-law of your Qian family?"
Qian Tong's throat was choked and tears flowed like beads from a broken string.
She doesn't dare...
Marquis Song then asked her one last question: "Now I ask you, are you willing to marry my son? Are you willing to trust him and treat my Yong'an Marquisate as your home?"
Qian Tong's throat was too tight and he couldn't hold back and sobbed.
Song Yunzhi couldn't bear it and called her, "Tong'er."
Lord Song continued, "If you wish, my Yong'an Marquisate will always be your backing. You can do whatever you want without worrying about the consequences. I, the Yong'an Marquisate, will take care of the consequences for you. You can rest assured to seek justice for the Qian family, avenge your deceased maid, and help your allies escape..."
He paused and said, "I will give you a chance to bring your relatives back, provided that you also show sincerity and live up to the trust placed in you. If you are unwilling, I, the Marquis, will also uphold justice and justice in clearing the name of your Qian family and its merits."
After saying this, Lord Song turned around and looked at his son helplessly, "Is what I said what you think in your heart?"
Song Yunzhi nodded, mustered up the courage to turn around, and looked at Qian Tong anxiously. In order to wait for her to give the answer he wanted most, his fists were clenched tightly.
Seeing him so weak, she pushed him into the sea and thought of a countermeasure all night. What she came up with was to hold a bronze sword against her neck.
If he didn't believe in her in his heart, if he didn't really care about her, how could he have made the decision to bring her to such a place?
What virtue and ability does she have?
She looked at the pale face of the young man beside her, her heart aching. How could she not be tempted? She kept avoiding him because she was afraid of not being able to afford to lose...
But now, no matter what the result is, she wants to give it a try, try to tie her fate to his.
Qian Tong smiled at him, turned around, and kowtowed to Lord Song without hesitation, giving him his answer: "Daughter-in-law, I am willing."
——
prefectural government
The Duke hadn't expected his wife to come. What was she doing here? Hadn't she been terrified when she and her son were kidnapped by bandits? She turned pale at the mere mention of Yangzhou. So why did she dare to come here alone this time?
Due to the arrival of the Duke's wife, the Duke had no time to interrogate Duan Yuanjin and just put him in jail.
Wang Zhao prepared a banquet to welcome the Duke's wife. The family of three, plus the little princess, were all one family. It was getting late, so Wang Zhao, an outsider, did not join in the fun. He exchanged greetings with a few people and then left.
The Crown Prince is getting married tonight, and the Marquis has also come to Yangzhou. At this moment, I don't know what to do at the Qian family...
Just as he was about to ask if Feng Qing had returned, the young princess's maid handed him a note, "This is from the princess to Lord Wang."
Wang Zhao was stunned. Wasn't the little princess inside? If there was something he couldn't say, why did she pass him a note? He couldn't help but look back. The little princess was smiling and talking to the Duke's wife. Her eyes happened to meet his, and she nodded to him in a very subtle way.
Wang Zhao was suspicious. After he walked out of the yard, he opened the note and was stunned. It was blank without a single word.
"Aruo, what are you looking at?" the young master suddenly asked.
Song Yunzhao's eyes flashed with nervousness, and he quickly retracted his gaze, "Ah, no, nothing..."
But the young master followed her gaze and saw Wang Zhao under the lights outside.
That night, Song Yunzhao saw him, and he also saw Song Yunzhao. It was his fault that he couldn't bear to hurt her. He raised the knife in his hand and didn't let it fall on her. When he saw her fall, he dismounted and went down to help her out from the chaotic soldiers.
Two people who are familiar with each other will always leave some traces.
He didn't know whether Song Yunzhao recognized him, but he was always on guard and carefully observed her every word and action.
Song Yunzhao was never a person who could lie, nor could she hide her thoughts. The look she gave Wang Zhao outside just now was clearly wrong.
The Duke had noticed the young master's feet a long time ago. Seeing that he was so impatient that he wanted to leave, he asked unhappily, "Why, you can't sit still anymore? What's wrong with your feet?"
The young master quickly calmed himself down and replied, "I fell on the way to pick up my mother."
The Duke cursed, "What a shame!"
The young master lowered his eyes and said nothing.
The Duke's wife couldn't bear to see this, so she said softly, "Does fighting and killing really mean success? Hanzhang is a scholar, having passed the imperial examination. With such great talent, hasn't he brought honor to the Pei family?"
The Duke hated her saying this the most. Every time he wanted to teach his son a lesson, she would use her position as a Jinshi to shut him up.
But he couldn't refute it.
The chaotic times have passed, and scholars are becoming popular in the official circles. He is indeed a good student, but the Duke always thinks that he is just reading rote books, and that the fact that he was able to obtain the title of Jinshi is mostly due to the Duke himself.
Is there anything worth talking about for a lifetime?
The young master was already used to his cold stares, so he just let it go and didn't care what he thought of him. He stood up and said, "Father, Mother, my feet hurt a little. I'll go back to my room and apply some medicine."
fragile!
The Duke took a deep breath.
The Duke's wife said gently, "Go."
The young master stood up and limped out.
Only the Duke and his wife and Song Yunzhao were left in the room. The Duke's wife suddenly mentioned, "I heard that the Crown Prince is getting married today, and the other party is the daughter of a merchant." She turned around and asked Song Yunzhao, "Sister Zhao, why don't you try to persuade him? How can this be allowed? Your brother is the Crown Prince of the Marquisate..."
Song Yunzhao lowered his eyes. This was probably the first time he contradicted the Duke's wife in front of her. "Sister-in-law is very good. Brother likes her very much."
The Duke's wife was stunned.
Song Yunzhao also stood up and said, "Madam, please have dinner with the Duke first. I'll go see Hanzhang."
"Did the Crown Prince really marry a merchant's daughter?" As soon as Song Yunzhao left, the Duke's wife asked the Duke, lowering her voice, "But that Qian family woman kept bandits captive and got into trouble. Why did the Crown Prince want to marry her?"
The Duke doesn't want to mention this matter. The Marquis has already arrived at the Qian family tonight, and he will decide how to end it.
He actually wanted to go and see Duan Yuanjin.
The Duke's wife pulled him aside and continued, "I don't think the fault lies with the bandits. The key lies with the man who wields the knife. How could the knife not obey the man who commands it? That Lord Duan today doesn't seem like an unforgivable criminal. He's about to die, yet he's still trying to clear Madam Qian's name. It's quite pitiful. If he can reform, he might be able to be of use to the court in the future. Don't torture him yet..."
Duke Dingguo was confused.
Was she pleading for a bandit? She, the wife of a duke, was actually concerned about the fate of a bandit. He casually asked, "Do you know him?"
"I..."
"More than just knowing her." A woman's voice suddenly came from outside the door. The voice sounded familiar, and the Duke recognized who it was, but felt that she shouldn't be here at this time. Just as he was wondering, the figure outside the door had already walked in.
The visitor was dressed in a wedding gown, and because the hem of her dress was too long, she held it in her hands. She was unruly, as if she had entered a deserted place. She did not even greet the Duke, and even stopped at addressing him. She sneered, "Don't you know that the son you have painstakingly raised for more than ten years is actually the illegitimate child of your wife and someone else?"
The Duke's wife hadn't yet realized who this person was, but she was slandered by him. She slammed the table in anger and said, "Who are you? Do you know who I am?"
"I know. The Duke's wife left the Duke's mansion's true prince in a bandit den in order to bring back the bastard she had with someone else. Now, in order to protect the bastard, she wants to push the Duke's mansion's prince out. How vicious..."
These words were like a thunderclap.
The Duke was stunned and could not help but stand there, forgetting to scold her for her rudeness. His expression was as if he had been struck by lightning, and he looked stiffly at his wife.
The Duke's wife's expression also changed.
What the hell is she talking about?!
Who was she, and how did she know the truth? The Duke's wife suddenly fell into an icy cave, her heart pounding. She was panicked and confused, too busy to think about how the news had been leaked. But the truth wasn't what she thought. She was afraid she'd start shouting, and everyone would hear. Even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn't clear her name. She was so anxious she got up and went to catch her. "Help! Where did this wild girl come from? You've fabricated so much nonsense, and you dare to slander the reputation of our Duke's family? I'll tear your mouth off today..."
"So Madam doesn't recognize me." Qian Tong stood there motionless, holding a scimitar in his hand, and introduced himself as "the Crown Prince's Consort of the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion, the Seventh Lady of the Qian Family, Qian Tong."
The Duke's wife was startled and stopped dead in her tracks.
The seventh lady of the Qian family?
How did she get out? Wasn't she imprisoned in the Qian family by the imperial army?
What about Marquis Song? Doesn’t he care?
The Duke's wife couldn't figure out why she was here, but since she was here, she must have come for her. She tried to calm herself down, "It's Madam Qian. Madam Qian is getting married to the Crown Prince. I'm sorry that the Duke and I couldn't attend... Since Madam Qian is here, let's sit down and talk slowly..."
"I'm not familiar with you, so I have nothing to say." Unexpectedly, Qian Tong didn't give her any respect at all, and simply said to Duke Dingguo, "Now, I'll tell you two truths, Duke. You can choose which one to believe."
"First, more than a decade ago, the Duke's wife and the young master were kidnapped by Old Master Duan. Six months later, Old Master Duan received your ransom, but suddenly became selfish and gave his son to the Duke's wife. The Duke's wife knew at the time that the son was not her own, but she despised her own son for the crime of killing him, so she abandoned him and took the bandit's son home, raising him as her own."
"First, more than a decade ago, when the Duke's wife saw that the young prince was missing, she took advantage of the situation and brought back the bandit's son. She secretly killed him and then took back the bastard she had hidden away. If the matter was exposed, it would be her own fault. No one would know that the child she raised was a bastard born by someone else..."
After Qian Tong finished speaking, he looked at the already stunned Duke and asked again, "Which one do you believe, Duke?"
Doesn't he like to meddle in other people's business? Now, he has caused trouble in his own family.
Don't you like making decisions for others? Now it's his turn, let him choose!
Should he choose to believe that his wife didn't want her own son and raised the bandit's son, or should he choose to believe that his wife had an affair with someone else and had a bastard, so he abandoned his son?
How to choose?
It’s an easy choice!
The Duke's wife quickly realized her viciousness. Her legs went limp and she collapsed to the ground, cursing, "You vicious woman!"
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