Chapter 258 My children have never been tools for vying for favor.
Guo Fan moved very quickly.
He returned in two days, but there was no news from him.
"Miss, we've checked everything."
"None of the Duchess of England's trusted confidants appeared to be acting strangely."
Guo Fan's lips tightened, and his face was more solemn than ever before.
Meng Shilan listened quietly, her slender fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the teacup.
As expected.
Someone who can hold the position of mistress in the Duke's mansion for decades is no ordinary person.
If she were so easily caught red-handed, she wouldn't be Zhao.
Since no leads can be found, there is only one path left.
Go and knock on that one and only, most vulnerable, opening.
Meng Shilan slowly stood up, her gaze drifting out the window, past the layers of courtyards, towards the most secluded corner of the Meng family home.
Her voice was cold and devoid of any warmth.
"Go to the ancestral hall."
The Meng family's ancestral hall, like the Zhenguo Duke's mansion, is grand and imposing.
The place is sunny and there's not a trace of gloom.
Only so that the heroes of the Meng family who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield can rest in peace.
The air was filled with the scent of sandalwood, and there were still candles burning. The place was cleaned by dedicated staff, and Uncle Qi personally supervised the cleaning.
Meng Shilan, alone, lifted her skirt and stepped into the half-sunken courtyard.
The little house was bathed in sunlight; it had windows and a table inside.
Unfortunately, Song Jiyun was tied to the corner, so she could neither sleep peacefully in bed nor bask in the sun under the window.
She could only stare blankly at the warm sunlight.
She went mad for several days, screaming day and night, resembling a vengeful ghost.
But today, she was unusually calm.
She was still wearing that lake-blue dress, her hair was disheveled, and there were still traces of tears on her face. She looked extremely haggard.
But her eyes were fixed on the ray of light on the windowsill.
His eyes were clear and bright, showing no trace of the madness he had displayed a few days ago.
Hearing footsteps, she slowly, inch by inch, turned her head.
Upon seeing that the person who arrived was Meng Shilan, a strange smile slowly bloomed on her originally lifeless face.
"You've arrived."
Her voice was hoarse.
The shackles on her feet made a heavy, piercing clanging sound with her movements.
She struggled to stand up, but was dragged down by the heavy iron chains beneath her feet, and could only awkwardly prop herself up.
"hehe……"
Hahahaha!
She tilted her head back and burst into loud laughter, which echoed in the empty and desolate ancestral hall, sounding particularly shrill and jarring.
"Meng Shilan, in the end... you still can't bear to kill me."
Her laughter stopped abruptly, and her gaze, like that of a venomous snake, was fixed on Meng Shilan's face.
"Whether I am valuable or not is irrelevant."
She spoke slowly and deliberately, her eyes flashing with a morbid fanaticism.
"Most importantly, I have value."
Meng Shilan looked down at her, her expression completely unmoved.
It was as if I were watching a clown performing a farcical act that had already been seen through.
She didn't want to see her go crazy; she just wanted to know one answer.
Meng Shilan stared coldly into her eyes, her voice as sharp as a dagger gleaming with cold light.
"Was it a conspiracy between you and the Zhao family?"
The smile on Song Jiyun's face froze instantly.
But that was only for a moment.
The next moment, her laughter became even more smug and unrestrained.
She knew what she was talking about.
"So what if it is?"
She admitted it without hesitation, her eyes filled with mockery and glee.
“I easily provoked the Zhao family with just a few words.”
"Meng Shilan, do you really think you've won?"
"In the eyes of the Duchess of England, you, Meng Shilan, are nothing more than a concubine who cannot be brought to the table!"
"So what if you're now the young lady of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"
"Even if the little thing you gave birth to looks exactly like Zhou Congxian, in her eyes, it will always be a little bastard who tries to confuse the Zhou family bloodline!"
She emphasized the words "little bastard" very heavily.
"I merely gave her a chance to test myself, a chance to remove a thorn in her side! She's practically begging to thank me, so why would she refuse?"
"She used me, but wasn't I using her too?"
Song Jiyun laughed so hard he almost fell over, tears streaming down his face.
Meng Shilan's face grew colder and colder.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze because of her anger.
She knew that Zhao disliked Song Jiyun.
She also knew that Zhao Shi disliked her as well.
Meng Shilan never thought about gaining anyone's affection.
She discarded wealth, status, and the title of mistress of a noble family as if they were worthless.
But the child...
Her child is her life, her Achilles' heel!
Regardless of who Xiao Pangxi's biological father is, he is her flesh and blood, whom she carried for ten months and risked her life to give birth to!
It's her child!
Nobody is allowed to touch it!
Song Jiyun keenly sensed the change in Meng Shilan's aura.
She looked at Meng Shilan's face, which instantly turned incredibly ugly, and thought she had hit her deepest sore spot.
Her laughter grew increasingly ferocious and arrogant.
"What? Did I hit the nail on the head?"
"Meng Shilan, Meng Shilan, so what if you're now the high and mighty young lady of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"
"It's still the same; I still don't win over my future mother-in-law!"
Song Jiyun's eyes turned crimson with extreme excitement and hatred.
"Let me tell you, you can never trust a man's words!"
"Zhou Congxian likes you now, but what about in the future?"
“Zhao is his biological mother. She has always favored her own son. In order to continue the Zhou family line and ensure the continuation of the family line, the number of women in your courtyard will only increase, not decrease!”
"In the long run, when you're old and faded, what good will it do even if you have the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion backing you?"
Her voice suddenly turned shrill, as if she were cursing or foretelling her own end.
"In the end, you'll end up like me!"
"Reduced to a pawn!"
A cold flame ignited in Meng Shilan's eyes.
"My children have never been tools for vying for favor."
It was not a tool for her to win over or exploit.
The emotion in her eyes was as piercing as ice cracking.
She turned around and picked up the long whip hanging at the door.
They approached that arrogantly laughing face step by step.
Song Jiyun's laughter finally showed a hint of hesitation.
She watched as Meng Shilan, whip in hand, walked towards her step by step. In those cold eyes, there was a chilling, piercing killing intent she had never seen before.
"What...what do you want to do?"
"Meng Shilan! How dare you!"
She was locked up here for several days without being beaten, scolded, or even visited by anyone.
She thought Meng Shilan had arrested her, but ultimately, out of consideration for the Duke of Ying's mansion, she dared not do anything to her.
She thought she was still safe.
"Smack—!"
The oil-soaked cowhide whip, carrying the force of a thunderbolt, tore through the air with a crisp sound!
He lashed out hard at her!
The excruciating pain of my skin being torn open spread instantly throughout my entire body!
Song Jiyun's face, contorted with smugness, froze instantly.
The next second.
"ah--!"
A bloodcurdling scream shattered the deathly silence of the ancestral hall and soared into the sky.
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