Chapter 78 Chapter 78 [VIP]
Chapter 78
Qian Tong came back last night and was fully prepared, waiting for Song Shile to question her. She thought Shile would ask her whether she killed the princess and whether the person who killed the prince was her man.
But Song Shiliao didn't ask her anything about last night.
And marry her.
Qian Tong really didn't know what was going on in his mind. Just because of a promise, a kiss, and a little love, he wanted to tie her to his side regardless of the consequences?
The Song Dynasty was truly a stubborn place.
He could put down everything tonight and sit by Bai's bed to force her to marry him. Qian Tong knew that this matter must be the first thing on his mind. Although she didn't know the reason, she knew she couldn't refuse. She said tactfully, "Yun Zhen is so good, what girl wouldn't want to marry you..."
Song Yunzhi interrupted: "Then you marry."
"Marry! I will." Qian Tong smiled at him and gently grasped his wrist. "But you see, we still have many unresolved issues. The Pu family and the royal palace will soon become enemies. The two families will fight each other, and the court will benefit. Shi Le will be able to successfully open the canal. Before long, Shi Le will take back the two Huainan salt fields from the prince. At that time, the salt fields in both Huainan and Huainan will belong to the court. The court can set up its own salt officials here and transport Yangzhou sea salt to various places in Dayu. The huge salt tax will help the court ease the post-war recovery. Dayu will become more and more prosperous, and the people will also get better and better..."
Qian Tong looked at him tentatively, "I will marry you, but not right now."
Song Yunzhi: "Put on your clothes."
Qian Tong was stunned. "Huh?"
"Wang Zhao, come in. I'm going to arrest you." Song Yunzhi slowly stood up. "You hired gangsters, pretending to be a foreigner, to break into the Park family's home at night and assassinate the King and Queen of Pyeongchang. Once you're in the prefectural jail, tell me about this crime."
Qian Tong was stunned.
Song Yunzhi's face was devoid of any humanity at this moment. He glanced at the people outside and said, "Wang Zhao, arrest him!"
"yes!"
Qian Tong: “…”
"Wait a minute!"
Qian Tong hadn't expected him to come for real. He quickly wrapped himself in the quilt and shouted at Wang Zhao, who had already rushed in aggressively, "Don't come in yet! I'm naked, and you'll be dead if you come in!"
Sure enough, Wang Zhao stopped moving.
"Song Yunzhi! How could you be so bad?" Qian Tong quickly stood up and went to look for clothes, scolding him as he went. "Back then on the deserted island, you tied my hands and asked me to marry you with a sword. Now, you're using your power to force me to marry you. Am I so good that I deserve your unwavering love? What girl would marry a man as unromantic as you?"
Qian Tong spoke loudly on purpose so that his soldiers outside could hear.
He was a great Song Dynasty man, a proud man, so he had to have some dignity. After being angered by her, he let her die in vain and temporarily gave up the idea of marrying her.
"What do you want?" Song Yunzhi said, "Tell me how you want me to do it, and I'll do it."
Qian Tong: “…”
After a sleepless night, he arrived here when it was already dawn outside. Song Yunzhi's eyes were bloodshot. "If you have anything else to say, just say it now."
She had nothing to say.
But she really can't get married.
Qian Tong didn't plan to argue with him anymore. He put on a thin cloak, turned around and walked up to him, looked up at him, and said seriously: "Song Yunzhi, my feelings for you are not as deep as you think."
She looked at his eyes and moved them, then told him, "I like you, but not to the point where I have to marry you, understand?"
Song Yunzhi didn't say anything, but tightened his grip on his hand.
Qian Tong continued, "I know you're doing this for my own good, and you don't want my hands to be stained with blood again, but I can't do it..." Her voice was very soft. Song Yunzhi looked at her, and Qian Tong told him the truth, "I'm a merchant. It's impossible for me to turn over a new leaf and become clean as you wish."
He didn't have to try to change her.
Even his marriage was of no use to her.
She said, "Perhaps a country girl like me is very special to Shile, and has piqued his interest. He wants to do something for me, make a promise to me, but that's just his momentary affection. Life is too long. The difference between Shile and me is not just our status; we also think and act differently. How can Shile guarantee that he won't regret his impulsive behavior in the future?"
Qian Tong spoke his mind and stopped lying to him, "We can be confidants and lovers, but we are not suitable to be husband and wife."
If she had known from the beginning that he was such a good person and took his status and marriage so seriously, she would never have provoked him.
She regretted it more than once. Every time Song Shiluo did a good thing and was nice to her, the more regretful she felt.
I explained things to him clearly today, and at the same time, I severed the emotional ties that hadn't yet grown into towering vines.
, being forcibly cut off always hurts.
She is in pain too.
, I didn't dare to look into his eyes. The people outside were silent. If it weren't for the shadow cast by the screen, it would still be...
Song Yunzhi didn't leave, but stood there steadily.
After a while, he suddenly laughed softly, "Money"
"You want to get close to me, want me to show you mercy, but you don't want to give me any benefits. How can such a good thing happen in this world?" The moment Qian Tong looked up, he turned sideways, facing outward, his voice low and hoarse, "I have no interest in being your confidant, nor do I have the leisure to be your lover. It's okay if I, Song Yunzhi, was poisoned by you, Qian Tong, or if I have to marry you. It's up to you, but if you want to avoid this prison disaster and want the Qian family not to be implicated by you, there is only one way: marry me."
After he finished speaking, he didn't say another word to her, nor did he even look at her. He walked out and said to Wang Zhao outside, "Give her an incense stick. If she doesn't agree, arrest her."
Qian Tong: “…”
She had never seen such a stubborn donkey.
——
When Wang Zhao came in, Qian Tong was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees in a daze.
He asked his men to wait outside first, and Bai Ji walked in alone. Before tonight, Wang Zhao could not understand why Shi Le fell in love with the daughter of a merchant.
With his status, position, and talent, what kind of girl could he not find? Why did he have to spend his time on a merchant girl and be fooled by her again and again?
Especially tonight, her hairband fell into Shi Le's hands. This piece of evidence alone was enough to put her in jail.
But the world still gave her a chance.
The world has sent the bodies of the prince and the princess back to the prefectural government. Madam Park was imprisoned, and the eldest and third sons of the Park family were both invited to the prefectural government for questioning.
She was the only one who was not arrested immediately.
On the way here, Shi Liao took the initiative to explain to him: "She is not bad."
Afterwards, Shi Le told him about the widows who had lost their families and the hope she had given to the dying people in the Cui family's pawnshop.
She gave flowers to the people and asked, "Who do you think is happier, the one who gives the flowers or the one who receives them?"
Song Shiliao then asked Wang Zhao, "Do you think the person who asked this question is a bad person, Lord Wang?"
Wang Zhao couldn't answer. His feelings towards this Qi Niang were too complicated. To say she was bad, everything she did was truly beneficial to the people's livelihood. At the Cui family's teahouse, she had rescued countless people and given them shelter. This time at the salt works, the women and children she had brought with her were all grateful to her. To say she was good, she never told the truth, deceiving the government and the three major families, causing chaos and unrest.
He also raised bandits.
Wang Zhao saw through his thoughts. He was just an assistant officer, and all the decision-making power was in the hands of the world. There was no need to explain to him what choice he should make.
Wang Zhao said, "This humble official trusts Shi Liao's judgment."
But Song Shiliao still made his selfish motives clear to him. He said, "To be honest, Your Majesty, this is the first time I've fallen in love with someone, and I don't know how to like her. She's the same. We're in different environments, have different personalities, and our approaches to things differ from mine. But it would be too hasty to conclude that there won't be a good outcome before we've even gotten used to each other." Song Yunzhi said, "On the deserted island, I promised her marriage and held an engagement banquet. Having made a promise to her, I can't give up easily. I've watched her go astray. I'm saying this tonight in the hope that Your Majesty will show her some leniency. If she truly refuses to repent and commits a serious mistake in the future, I, Song Yunzhi, will not show any partiality and will accept the punishment alongside her."
Her mother, Qian Jianiang, was clever, but Song Shile was also a well-known figure in Kyoto and not someone who could be fooled.
He knew that Princess Pyeongchang was killed by Qian Niang tonight.
He couldn't arrest her and put her in jail, but he couldn't sit back and do nothing, thus using his own strength to bend the law. So he offered himself as a guarantee and begged him to give her a chance to mend her ways.
Wang Zhao is married with children, and he understands the feeling of liking someone. But he believes that this time, besides liking Qi Niang, he believes that she has unspeakable difficulties.
He used himself as a guarantee to protect her and gave her a chance to prove herself.
Wang Zhao heard what Qinnan said to Shile just now. He thought that only someone like Song Shile could bear it.
Wang Zhao didn't try to get Cui Qiantong to respond quickly, nor did he try to persuade her. He just asked, "Qian Qiniang, how can you be so sure that someone's love won't be above everything else?"
Qian Tong was still considering the pros and cons of this marriage. He looked up when he heard this, not quite understanding what it meant, and looked at Wang Zhao in confusion.
Wang Zhao then said, "Don't deny the answer just because you can't afford it."
He said, "What you've done, any official in the imperial court would have been unforgiving towards you. You're so smart, and Bai Ran knows this. The reason you keep playing tricks on him is because you know he's the one, and you're certain he won't do anything to you. Just as Qian Niang thought, Song Shi Le really can't bear to punish you."
Wang Zhao continued, "But his status is there. If I don't punish you, I can't explain it to the outside world or to him. The only solution I can think of is to tie you to him. From now on, everything you do will be linked to him. You will be together in life and death, sharing honor and disgrace. He will also bear the responsibility for your future sins."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Qian Qinnan staring at him blankly.
I don't know how long I stared at him, my eyes gradually becoming empty and covered with a layer of mist. I asked blankly, "Why does he trust me so much?"
Wang Zhaoze asked in return: "Why can't Qi Niang trust him just this once?"
——
Song Yunzhi didn't wait for her answer. He left Qian's house and returned to the prefectural government first.
King Pyeongchang was frightened and lost his queen. When he left the Park family, he went crazy. "Let me go, I will kill the Park family! The Park family hired a killer to kill! I will wipe out the entire Park family!"
Song Yunzhi had him restrained and forcibly brought back to the prefectural government. He ordered someone to immediately send a message to Jiangning, "Notify the Prince of Pingchang's palace to come and put up the coffin."
When King Pyeongchang heard the word "coffin", he came to his senses and ran to the carriage to visit his dead queen.
The princess had already died and was lying in the carriage, covered with a white cloth.
The Hongmen Banquet at the Park family tonight was planned by King Pyeongchang and the Queen when they left Jiangning. The plan was to kill Song Shile. He never imagined that the first person to die in the Hongmen Banquet would be the Queen Pyeongchang.
If Song Yunzhi had not arrived in time, King Pingchang thought, he would probably have died.
The huge change left him in shock, and he no longer had the majesty of a prince. He crawled over, slowly grasped a corner of the white cloth with one hand, and untied it downwards. When he saw the terrified face of the princess, he was shocked and his soul flew away. He dropped the white cloth in his hand and fell against the wall of the carriage at the back. He took several deep breaths before he calmed down.
After calming down, all that was left in my heart was hatred and panic.
At first he didn't believe that the Park family had the guts to assassinate him.
But her princess died at the hands of Madam Park. Everyone saw it, a merchant woman, actually dared to kill his princess, what a shitty Park family second, his worthless life, gone, gone, he still wanted to seek revenge for his princess's life?
Mrs. Park went crazy because of the death of her son, which brought the relationship between the Park family and the royal palace to the bottom.
Does Park Huailang know?
Who is that masked young man? Is he one of the eldest lady's men, or is he sent by Park Hwayang to threaten him?
He was able to achieve what he has today thanks to his contribution in defending the city five years ago. Once this matter is exposed, all the people in the Pyeongchang Palace will be finished. No matter whether it is the eldest lady or the head of the Park family who is threatening him, the Park family cannot be left.
If he can't take over Yangzhou, the Pu family won't get any benefit either.
He wanted to use the imperial court to destroy the Park family and let this secret remain buried in the abyss, with no one knowing about it anymore.
After arriving at the palace, Prince Pyeongchang calmed down completely and went to find Song Yunzhi.
After searching three times, he heard that the person had returned at daybreak. He hurried over and asked to interrogate Mrs. Park with him. "This matter is my fault. I didn't know the Park family was so ambitious. I mistakenly trusted Park Huailang and wanted to form a Qinjin relationship with him. That's why we are in this situation today. Not only did I kill the princess, but I also put Shi Liao in danger. He almost fell into the hands of the Park family. I can't escape the blame. This matter, I must investigate it thoroughly and give the princess an explanation and give Shi Liao an explanation..."
Although he spoke sincerely, Song Yunzhi did not let him see Madam Park. "The prince is frightened and cannot see anyone. Besides, the princess's body is still warm and should be buried first."
King Pingchang wanted to say something, but Song Yunzhi seemed exhausted. He stood up silently and ignored him.
After not sleeping for a whole day and night, Song Yunzhi returned to the house, washed up, and slept on the couch for most of the hour. The secret guard Meng Qing came in to apologize, knelt on the ground, took off his shirt, and asked for forgiveness.
The master had already told me that I should be wary of Qian Qinnan when I was with her.
Unexpectedly, I still fell into the trap.
He was drugged by Qian Qinnan and lay in the carriage for a whole night. When he woke up, it was already dawn and everything was over. He didn't dare to imagine what consequences his dereliction of duty would bring to the world.
Song Yunzhi glanced outside the door and saw that the sunlight was shining on half of the cylinder.
Wang Zhao has not returned yet.
"If you know you're wrong, remember this." Song Yunzhi didn't punish Meng Qing, but gave him a task: "Find out Duan Yuanjin's identity and check his family register for the past three generations."
Song Yunzhi did not punish him, and Meng Qingbaiji went to the torture chamber to receive twenty strokes of the board. He then left the prefectural government to investigate Duan Yuanjin.
Song Yunzhi got up, put on his clothes, and continued to sort out the case of the Park family. After sorting out the files, he went to the dungeon and met the eldest lady of the Park family alone.
Mrs. Park seemed to have aged ten years overnight. The expensive brocade she was wearing was stained with blood and dirt, and her meticulously combed hair was disheveled.
The first wife of the Park family, who was once so glorious, eventually suffered the same fate as the third wife.
Even more miserable.
At least the Third Lady was not wrongly accused, but what about her? In one night, her son was gone, and she was involved in a murder case, which might have put the Park family to death as well.
She did not kill the princess.
When the prefectural government captured her, she had said, "I didn't kill the princess." Now, having met Song Yunzhi, the eldest lady felt like she had grabbed her last straw. Previously, she resented the other officials, but now she was counting on this honest and upright official to help her. She pleaded, "Song Shiliao, please judge for sure. I didn't kill the princess. It wasn't me..."
Song Yunzhi remained silent.
Mrs. Park knew that at this point, she could not impress the master without an explanation, so she admitted that she had hired the Hu people with the intention of taking his life.
At this point, she still had a bit of rationality and did not give up the King and Queen of Pyeongchang behind the scenes.
"This was done by me alone. I deserve death, but the princess's death was truly an injustice..." Madam Park recalled the scene of last night. She was in the midst of grief at the time and had argued with the princess. She really wanted her to die. After the princess left, she was so angry that she chased after her, intending to ask her for an explanation, but when she arrived...
Mrs. Park said: "I saw it, I saw the thief..."
Song Yunzhi finally reacted, raised his eyelids slightly and looked at Mrs. Park.
To prove her innocence, Madam Park tried to recall the scene from last night. The thief was dressed in black, was very thin, taller than the princess, and stabbed her from behind. Besides that, she suddenly remembered and said to Song Yunzhi, "He had a blue headband on his head. Yes, it was blue... There was a fire in the yard at that time, and I saw it clearly..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Zhao walked in and said, "It's over."
Song Yunzhi turned around, the murderous intent in his black eyes had not yet completely faded.
Wang Zhao lowered his head quickly, knowing what he was waiting for, and reported: "Mrs. Qian is here, let's go out and see her."
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