Song Mo instinctively turned his head away, avoiding the palm that Song Yichun slapped at him, and couldn't help but say: "Daddy, how could it be me?"

It was not known whether it was because of what his son had done that Song Yichun was too angry or because his son had dodged the slap, but Song Yichun was furious and shouted, "You evil creature, you still dare to make excuses!" Then he pointed to his feet and said, "Kneel down!"

Song Mo was stunned and knelt in front of his father.

"Xingfang admitted that she saw you and Meirui hanging out together; Chen Tao confirmed that the jade pendant was yours and that it was lost when you went to Liaodong. There are witnesses and evidence, and you still say that you didn't do it!" Song Yichun was so angry that he was shaking. "When you were three years old, I hired a coach to teach you martial arts; when you were five years old, I invited a great scholar from the Hanlin Academy to enlighten you... Even for your brother, I would never spend so much effort. Your mother and I have spent so much effort on you, and this is how you repay us! Fortunately, your mother is gone. If she were still alive, she would be mad at you! You are such an unfilial thing, you have brought shame to the Duke of Ying's Mansion..."

Chen Tao...

How come?

impossible!

Song Mo looked at his father in shock.

Xingfang was another big maidservant by his mother's side. He didn't have much contact with the maidservants by his mother's side, so it was possible that she framed him. But Chen Tao was his wet brother, the second son of his wet nurse. Chen Tao and his brother Chen He entered the mansion to serve him when they were five years old. This time when he went to Liaodong, it was Chen He who served him closely. Anyone could betray him, so how could Chen Tao?

Listening quietly to his father's scolding, his expression gradually became complicated. Only when his father's anger subsided did he whisper: "Dad, this matter really has nothing to do with me! Think about it, although the jade pendant is not as good as other things in the mansion, it is the ancestor's personal belongings after all. My grandfather gave it to me in front of many relatives and friends when I was 100 days old. No matter how foolish I am, I can't give it to a maid! Wouldn't that be telling others that I have an affair with her? Besides, there has never been anyone around me who has been cheated. If you ask me what I did, you will know. Even if Chen Tao can't remember clearly, there are still Mr. Yan, and Yu Jian and others..."

"How dare you bring it up!" Song Yichun interrupted Song Mo with a sneer, "Do you know what Xingfang said?" He suddenly raised his voice and said loudly, "She said Meirui dared not disobey. She knew that once the matter was exposed, she would be dead without a burial place. She was also afraid that you would not admit it later, so she stole a jade pendant while we were having sex. She was originally planning to ask your mother for mercy. Who knew that your mother suddenly died of illness, and she was four months pregnant. I was going to marry her off again. She knew that the truth could not be hidden, and in fear, she hit her head against the pillar and died..." As he spoke, he slapped the kang table with one hand and said rudely, "No matter what you say today, it's useless. I will teach you a lesson for your dead mother!" He shouted to the maid, "Drag the prince away and give him twenty lashes!"

The people working in the upper room were all Jiang's people. Upon hearing this, the maids couldn't help but look at each other.

Song Yichun picked up the cup in his hand and smashed it over: "You bastards, I can't control you!"

Song Mo had no choice but to say to the maids, "It is only right for my father to teach me on behalf of my mother." He looked as if he was surrendering himself.

A few maids then slowly came over, whispering "Master, we're sorry", while carrying Song Mo up.

Song Yi looked at him angrily and said, "Fight me here, fight me here!"

Several old women looked at Song Mo.

Song Mo nodded.

A few old women then came over with the spring stool.

Song Mo lay on the stool.

An old woman came forward and whispered, "My Lord, please be patient," then picked up a meter-long bamboo stick and started beating him.

They were the servants in the inner courtyard. On weekdays, they just followed Jiang's orders to beat the maids. To Song Mo, they had no killing power at all, not to mention that they deliberately let him off, so the beatings did not hurt Song Mo at all.

Song Yichun was so angry that his face turned red. He walked forward and pushed away several old women. He snatched the bamboo stick from the old woman's hand and hit Song Mo hard. Only then was the first muffled sound heard in the room.

Song Mo couldn't help but take a breath of cool air.

Song Yichun seemed to be still not satisfied. While beating him, he cursed him: "You evil son! You are so lawless! If this gets out, how will you let others talk about your dead mother? Poor her, she was very competitive all her life and never lost to anyone..."

As Song Mo listened, he saw a flash of water in front of his eyes.

My father has never been good at handling household chores. After my mother passed away, this kind of thing happened. I'm afraid my father must be very angry. If he wants to beat himself to vent his anger, let him beat himself.

He lay there obediently and let his father beat him.

Crackling, crackling, there was a lot of beating, more than twenty boards.

Song Mo gritted his teeth and endured it.

The white silk pants were soaked with blood.

The old women were shocked.

A woman who relied on her past favor from Jiang whispered, "Master, stop hitting me! If you continue, the Crown Prince won't be able to bear it!"

Song Yichun seemed to have just come to his senses. He looked at the blood on his son's pants, was stunned for a moment, and dropped the bamboo stick with a "pa".

Song Mo and several old women breathed a sigh of relief.

Who knew that Song Yichun suddenly opened the curtain of the inner room and shouted "Guards" to the outside.

Everyone in the room looked surprised.

This is the upper room, Jiang's inner chamber. The guards are not allowed to enter the hanging flower gate. There are old women like them who patrol the inner courtyard at night.

But what surprised them even more was that as soon as Song Yichun finished speaking, several burly guards walked in.

Song Yichun pointed at Song Mo and said, "Drag him into the yard and beat him up!"

Song Mo didn't know any of these people.

He felt an impulse in his heart and wanted to get up, but he felt his whole body was weak and he couldn't move.

"Daddy..." He looked at his father with his eyes wide open.

However, the father acted as if he didn't see anything, while several guards quickly stepped forward and tied him up with thumb-thick rubber bands. Their movements were extremely skillful and it was obvious that they were used to doing this.

"Daddy!" Song Mo's face was full of disbelief.

He practiced internal martial arts to maintain health, and he only mastered a few of them. Although they were not as powerful as external martial arts, no one could touch him. Now, not only was his whole body limp, but his inner energy was also chaotic, and it was obvious that he was no longer under his control.

Several old women also sensed something was wrong and huddled together, shivering.

Song Mo calmed down and tried to condense the true energy in his body.

Several guards carried him out. Another stool had been prepared outside. The two guards standing next to the stool were no longer holding bamboo sticks, but killing sticks used to punish conscripts.

Song Mo stared at his father.

Song Yichun didn't even look at him, and ordered several guards: "Hit me!"

The stick fell on Song Mo's body, and Song Mo felt as if all his internal organs had been moved.

Soon, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Daddy!" Amid the "crackling" sounds, Song Mo raised his head and asked his father standing under the porch: "Why?"

Song Yichun's eyes were as cold as a thousand-year-old ice: "Evil creature! You did a good thing, and you dare to ask me why!"

"Why?" Song Mo asked his father.

His eyes turned to the bird cage under the eaves.

The small water jar was carved from white jade and was given to him by his father when he was five years old.

Look toward the pomegranate tree in the corner.

It was planted by him and his father when he was eight years old.

Looking at the swing swaying slightly in the cold wind.

That was made by his father and him for his younger brother when he was three years old.

"Why?" Song Mo asked his father, tears falling uncontrollably.

Next to the camphor tree, there is a ball that he once used and now gave to his younger brother; on the grape trellis, there is still the red rope he tied to pull the vines together...

"Why?" he asked his father loudly and excitedly.

His father just looked at him coldly.

Song Mo looked at his father, but his consciousness and vision began to blur slowly. Time seemed to be so long that it was unbearable, yet so short that it seemed to have only passed in an instant.

I could vaguely hear my father's stern voice: "Drag him to the inner room and keep him under good care."

The stick that was about to hit him stopped, but his father's words hit his heart more painfully than the stick itself: "Lü Zheng, go and invite the eldest, third, and fourth masters to come and tell them that Song Mo has failed in his moral conduct and that I want to open the ancestral hall!"

Open the ancestral hall!

Song Mo lay limply on the spring stool. All the bones in his body seemed to be broken. The feeling of excruciating pain made his consciousness a little hazy.

Opening an ancestral hall?

What's next?

Should we first ask for an imperial decree to depose him from the throne? Or should we expel him from the family?

The tears in his eyes had long dried up, but Song Mo still raised his head with difficulty and asked stubbornly: "Why?"

White light, green shadow, dazzling red, dark brown, overlap into a strange and bizarre light and shadow.

"Your body and skin are given to you by your parents. If you want it, just take it. But why do you have to do this?" He couldn't see the person he was looking for. "I just want to ask, why?"

No one answered him.

With a "bang", he was thrown onto the stone bricks in the inner room where the dragon was burning.

The sweet scent of benzoin floats in the warm air, making people drowsy.

Song Mo bit the tip of his tongue, trying hard to concentrate his thoughts.

He couldn't sleep! If he did, he might never wake up again.

He is not afraid of death.

Sooner or later, everyone will die.

Some are heavier than Mount Tai, some are lighter than a feather.

Although his death now is lighter than Hongmao...but he still doesn't want to die!

Since no one tells him why, he has to find the answer himself.

Song Mo struggled to get up.

But as soon as he moved, hot and fishy blood gushed out of his mouth.

He has internal injuries!

It turns out that his father really wanted him to die!

Song Mo smiled.

He moved forward inch by inch.

In front of the window is a large kang.

Even if he dies, he won't die in a servile manner!

Wherever Song Mo passed, a deep bloodstain was left behind.

He was thinking about Yu Jian and Chen Tao.

I'm afraid they've all died.

If I had known this, I should have let Yu Jian return with the guards.

So as to avoid losing an extra life in vain.

Fortunately, Chen He did not come back with them.

There were only two brothers who were wet nurses. Now that Chen Tao was gone, there was still Chen He who could take care of her until the end of her life.

However, despite such a big commotion in the upper room, no one came, which showed that my father had already made arrangements.

We have to find a way to inform them.

Escape if you can!

Song Mo was breathing heavily and leaning against the big kang by the window.

On the tea table opposite, two white hibiscus flowers in cloisonné vases were in full bloom.

But he knew that no matter how beautifully the flowers in the vase bloomed, they would wither after a few days.