Chapter 391 Old News

Therefore, the old Duke calculated that his son is still his son, and his grandson is still his grandson. No matter how well Duke Ding treats Song Mo, in the end Song Mo will still wholeheartedly protect the Duke of Ying's Mansion.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

In his previous life, Song Mo personally cut off the inheritance of the Duke of Ying’s Mansion!

If the old Duke knew about this, would he regret his decision?

Song Shize saw the coldness flashing across Dou Zhao's face, and thought that Dou Zhao was also a daughter-in-law, and his heart sank. He couldn't help but defend the old Duke: "The old Duke did this for a reason..." He hesitated, "When the Duke was young, he once kept a concubine..."

Concubine?

Dou Zhao was so shocked that he almost jumped up.

According to Song Mo's description, she felt that although Song Yichun and Mrs. Jiang were not in perfect harmony, they treated each other with respect. How come a mistress suddenly appeared?

Moreover, ever since Song Yichun and Song Mo fell out, Song Mo had dug up all of Song Yichun's affairs. If Song Yichun had ever had a mistress, Song Mo would not have known nothing about it. The most likely reason for Mrs. Jiang's death was that she had an affair with Song Yichun, but Song Mo never thought about it when analyzing the cause of Mrs. Jiang's death, which showed that Song Mo had never heard of this matter.

Things are so secretive, it must not be simple.

Her face hardened.

Song Shize said hurriedly: "That was all in the past. Ever since the old Duke killed that woman himself, he has never done it again. The people of the Duke Ding's family are tough. The old Duke was on guard against Madam Jiang because he was afraid that Madam Jiang would become powerful after taking power and settle accounts with the Duke later, ruining the future of the Duke Ying's Mansion. He had no other intentions..."

Dou Zhao had no time to listen to his explanation and interrupted him in a deep voice: "Tell me in detail what happened! Why has no one in the family ever talked about it? Who else knows about this?"

Song Shize hesitated and said, "Except for the old Duke, Madam Lu, the Duke, Madam Jiang, me and the two old stewards who have passed away, even the Jiang family at that time was not very clear about this matter.

To talk about this matter, we have to start with the marriage of Duke Guo and Mrs. Jiang.

At first, the old Duke took a fancy to Madam Jiang, mainly because the women of the Jiang family were good at giving birth, and secondly because Madam Jiang, at a young age, had already helped Madam Mei to manage the affairs of the Dingguo Mansion in an orderly and comfortable manner. She was considered one of the most virtuous women in the noble circle of Kyoto. But the Duke was not very satisfied. He wanted to marry a woman from a scholar family. He thought that Madam Jiang, who came from a general family, must not have read much. It was only after Madam Lu found a way to let the Duke meet Madam Jiang that the Duke happily agreed to the marriage.

After the Duke and Madame Jiang got married, they had a very good relationship at first. However, Madame Jiang often complained about her brother, and the Duke became more and more displeased with her. Once, they even had an argument. The Duke splashed a cup of hot tea at Madame Jiang, which made Madame Jiang so angry that her face turned pale. She ignored the Duke for half a year. If it weren't for Madame Lu's persuasion, the two would probably have continued to quarrel.

It was during this period that the Duke went to Wanming Temple to relax and met a young lady whose father had died early and who lived with her widowed mother and brother. Somehow, the Duke ended up getting together with this woman and even bought a small house behind Wanming Temple, where he would have trysts with the young lady from time to time.

This matter was secretly reported to the old Duke by the servant beside the Duke.

The Jiang family had always had the habit of taking concubines, so the old Duke was not worried about the Jiang family. He just felt that this young lady had been flirting with the Duke before she even left the house, and was afraid that her character might be improper, so he sent the now deceased Steward Chen to investigate.

Manager Chen found out that the young lady had been engaged in her early years, but the engagement was broken off because of rumors that she had some affair with his cousin.

How could the Duke allow a woman like this to enter his house?

Let Manager Chen handle this matter.

Who knew that when Manager Chen came back he said that the woman was pregnant for three months and was the Duke's child.

The old Duke was dumbfounded when he heard this.

The Duke of England's family has few descendants, so the old Duke couldn't help but feel reluctant to let them go.

At this time, news came that Mrs. Jiang was pregnant.

The old Duke was very worried. He was afraid that the man outside would give birth to a illegitimate son and Madam Jiang would give birth to a legitimate son. The two children would be too close, which would be bad for the Duke's Mansion. He was also afraid that the man outside would give birth to a illegitimate daughter and Madam Jiang would give birth to a legitimate son, which would make Madam Jiang feel uncomfortable. What he worried most was that the man outside would give birth to a illegitimate son and the one at home would give birth to a legitimate daughter, which would leave trouble for the Duke's Mansion.

This matter was known by Mrs. Lu.

Mrs. Lu’s idea is right.

It is said that no matter whether the child born by the other party is a boy or a girl, he is a bastard and cannot be kept.

There will be plenty of grandchildren in the future. Even if Mrs. Jiang has no sons, she can marry a daughter of a decent family and have children for the Duke of Ying.

After hearing this, the old Duke sent Chief Steward Li to take a nanny from Old Madam Lu to give the young lady medicine.

But the young lady was a scheming person. After Manager Chen left, she hid herself away.

The old duke was furious and felt that the young lady had evil intentions, so he called the old servant back from Baoding and together with the steward Li, they found the girl.

As soon as the old servant received the order, the Duke came over to plead with the old Duke, saying that he was the one who hid the young lady, and if the old Duke wanted to punish him, he could punish him. He also said that he was just confused for a moment, and he continued to raise the young lady because she was his child, not because he wanted to marry her. He also promised the old Duke that as soon as the young lady gave birth to a child, he would cut off all ties with her and have no relationship with her anymore. No matter whether the child was a boy or a girl, he would give her to a good family to adopt, and in the future, the man and the woman would get married, and it would have absolutely nothing to do with the Song family.

You can disown your own woman, but there is absolutely no reason to disown your own child.

How could the old Duke agree?

The Duke went to ask Madam Jiang for help.

Mrs. Jiang was a reasonable person. She said that if the Duke liked it, it was fine to take the girl in, but the child could not be kept because the two children were too close in age. If the young lady agreed, as long as she beat the child, Mrs. Jiang would immediately make the decision and let her enter the Song family.

The old master looked unhappy.

But Mrs. Lu thought this was great.”

Speaking of this, Song Shize couldn't help but let out a long sigh, his expression looking a little gloomy.

After hearing this, the Duke was so happy that he spun around. He held Mrs. Jiang's hand and thanked her again and again. He put his arm around Mrs. Lu's shoulders and called her "Mother" affectionately, then went out happily.

The old duke then found out that the young lady was hiding in Wanming Temple.

Moreover, the young lady was willing to abort the child just to be able to marry into the Song family.

The old Duke kicked the Duke on the spot, staring at him with red eyes and said: "You still want to marry a woman like this? Are you dissatisfied with your life being too idle and want to find something to do?"

The Duke foolishly covered the place where the old Duke had kicked him, and asked the old Duke in confusion: "Didn't you say that as long as she was willing to beat the child, she would be allowed in. Why did you go back on your word now that she was willing to beat the child?"

As he said this, the Duke ran out as if he had thought of something. As he ran, he shouted, "I knew you were lying to me! After you found out where Tiao Niang was hiding, you wanted to deal with us. You didn't even plan to let her in..."

The old Duke was so angry that he asked the servant beside him to hold him down. He handed him over to me for care, and went to Wanming Temple in person with Steward Li.

Not long after, the old duke came back.

He said with a tired face that the matter had been dealt with.

The Duke, who had been acting like a trapped beast in the house, suddenly pushed the old Duke away and ran out.

I was very worried, so after getting the old duke's tacit consent, I followed him.

The bedding on the kang was covered in blood. The young lady lay paralyzed on the kang with a pale face and a terrified expression on her face.

The Duke hugged the young lady and cried loudly.

I walked forward and felt the breath, but it seemed there was no breath, so I backed out.

Not long after, a maidservant beside the young lady came with her brother.

He pushed the door open stupidly and walked into the room.

After a while, sad cries were heard.

Later, the young lady's brother and the Duke started fighting.

Seeing the Duke being beaten without any resistance, I pulled him out and drank two cups of wine with him in a small tavern next to Wanming Temple. I watched him pass out drunkenly, and then I brought him back home.

The old Duke sent me to take care of the funeral affairs.

The young lady's brother was a tough man and threw out all the silver that the old duke had given him as a reward. But his widowed mother was an interesting one. As soon as the young lady's brother's back was turned, she came out and picked up all the silver that the old duke had given her as a reward. She even bargained with me and asked for an extra two thousand taels of silver.

Afterwards, I returned to Baoding, and Manager Li was assigned to work for the Duke.

I heard from Steward Li that the Duke never did anything wrong again after that.

Also, because it was the old Duke who looked down on the young lady's character and did not allow her to enter the mansion, Mrs. Jiang became more justified from then on. On the contrary, the Duke seemed to feel guilty about this matter and was very humble in front of Mrs. Jiang, especially after giving birth to the Crown Prince. When the Duke was dragged down by Earl Guangen, Mrs. Jiang was pregnant with the Second Master at the time and pleaded with the Duke with a big belly. The Duke became even more obedient to Mrs. Jiang.

The old duke looked at it and shook his head.

But it was useless to persuade her several times. There was no other way, so she had to entrust the Duke of Yingguo Mansion to Madam Jiang and leave a few people to the prince. "

Dou Zhao was stunned.

I didn’t expect that Song Yichun had done such a thing when he was young?

But what does this have to do with the rift between Song Yichun and Song Mo?

Song Yichun would not kill his first wife, with whom he had slept for more than ten years, and his eldest son, who inherited the family business, just because of an old matter, right?

Is he that affectionate?

This is too unreasonable!

Even so, it is impossible that Song Mo in his previous life would kill his father and brother and end the inheritance of the Duke of Ying's Mansion just because Song Yichun killed Madam Jiang, right?

Dou Zhao thought of the maids in Xixiangyuan.

Could it be that Song Yichun was a lustful person by nature? Did she suppress her lust because of Mrs. Jiang, and did she change psychologically over time?

That's not right!

Normally, as the old Duke judged, the Jiang family has always had the habit of taking concubines, and Mrs. Jiang should not care too much about this matter. If Song Yichun wants to take a beauty as a concubine, Mrs. Jiang will not stop him. Why does Song Yichun need to pretend?

Or maybe Mrs. Jiang was different from others, and because she had seen too many disputes between wives and concubines, she was particularly disgusted with others taking concubines?

Dou Zhao had a headache.

It would have been better if I didn’t know about this. Now that I know, I’m sinking deeper into the past and becoming more confused.