"What are you saying? Why are you stammering?" Shen Feng said impatiently.
"They said they were the second young lady's adoptive parents and had come to the capital specifically to find her."
"Adoptive parents? Second sister, how come you haven't mentioned adoptive parents at all since you returned to the manor? We thought you..."
As she was speaking, Shen Jinshu quickly stopped talking, looking somewhat annoyed. It seemed that she was concerned about the inappropriate occasion and wanted to cover for her, but her hesitant manner left people with endless room for imagination.
Shen Feng's expression softened, and his tone became condescending, "Since they are the Second Miss's adoptive parents, let them in. What kind of behavior is this, making a scene outside the mansion?"
Before long, the butler led the Song family of three in.
As soon as Song's mother entered the mansion, her eyes darted around, revealing her greed.
She never imagined that the little girl she had casually picked up from the deep mountains was actually the daughter of a noble family, and that her parents had even taken her back.
Looking at the enormous mansion, Song's mother had a wicked idea. The lure of money overcame her fear of Song Zhiyu.
That person said that as long as they went to the capital to complain that Song Zhiyu was heartless, ungrateful, and that she had become rich but did not treat her adoptive parents well, thus completely ruining her reputation, they would receive a large sum of money.
At that time, they could not only pay off their family's gambling debts, but also return to the village to build a big house and find a beautiful wife for Yaozu.
As for what happens to Song Zhiyu, that's none of their business.
"My lord, the person has been brought here." The steward turned to the side, revealing the three people behind him.
Song's mother's gaze swept past the crowd and landed directly on Song Zhiyu, her expression slightly taken aback.
Is this Song Zhiyu, that damned girl?
Regardless of whether it is true or not, let's first complete the task that the benefactor asked them to do and get the money first.
With a sudden burst of anger, Song's mother rushed to Song Zhiyu's side, trying to grab her hand, but was blocked by Ling Wushuang's whip.
"Zhiyu, we've finally found you. You heartless bastard, you've forgotten about us now that you've found powerful and influential parents. Your father and I have been waiting for you to come back every day."
As she spoke, she wiped away tears, which, combined with her patched clothes, made her look particularly pitiful.
The contrast between their clothes and Song's mother's accusations against Song Zhiyu left everyone present speechless.
I never expected that the true daughter of the Marquis's family would be so despicable. She can even ignore her adoptive parents who raised her. She is truly unfilial!
Seeing that everyone was on her side, Song's mother was overjoyed and added fuel to the fire, "Back then, I picked you up from the deep mountains and raised you with painstaking care of you. Even if we didn't do anything special, we still put in a lot of effort. You can't just abandon us now that you're rich."
You've had a bad reputation since you were little. You not only liked to bully the other kids in the village, but you also stole things from your neighbors and got caught, which cost us a lot of money.
Even so, your parents never disliked you; they always loved you as their own daughter.
Song Zhiyu stepped forward, her dark and deep eyes staring straight at her mother, her words full of sarcasm, "You said you raised me and loved me like your own daughter."
You accused me of stealing, causing you to pay compensation, yet you've never shown any resentment towards me? That's laughable. Don't you feel any remorse when you say that?
Song's mother swallowed hard and subconsciously took two steps back.
The moment she met Song Zhiyu's eyes, she felt pain all over her body. The fear she had felt when Song Zhiyu had dominated her instantly overwhelmed her, making her feel inferior to Song Zhiyu in terms of presence.
"Enough! Song Zhiyu, she raised you all these years, her kindness in raising you is greater than heaven."
"You not only don't know how to be grateful, but you're also unrepentant. You've ruined the reputation of my Cheng'en Marquis's family for generations." Shen Yanxi pulled Song's mother behind him and rebuked her sharply, meeting Song Zhiyu's cold gaze.
Song Zhiyu sneered, her eyes narrowed, and she suddenly raised her hand and slapped Shen Yanxi hard across the face.
Still not satisfied, she took advantage of his momentary lapse in attention and slapped him across the other side of his face with all her might.
The crisp sound of a slap echoed in the air, followed by Song Zhiyu's voice, "Shen Yanxi, my patience has its limits. You know nothing, you have no right to criticize me."
Indeed, taking action is the best way to shut someone up.
Shen Yanxi's face was slapped crookedly, with two bright red handprints on his fair and handsome face, one on each side, making him look extremely comical.
The burning pain on his face brought Shen Yanxi back to his senses. His expression was extremely ugly. He twitched his other, intact hand, which was hanging by his side. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Song Zhiyu. He had lost his mind and raised his hand to hit her back.
But before his hand was even raised in mid-air, Song Zhiyu grabbed it firmly and slapped him across the face again.
Three slaps in a row stunned Shen Yanxi.
"She took me from the deep mountains, but she didn't raise me. I grew up on the charity of others until I was five years old; she never gave me a single bite to eat."
I lived a life worse than a pig or a dog in the Song family, suffering abuse every day. She would beat and scold me at the slightest provocation, and in the end, she even tried to sell me.
If I hadn't fallen seriously ill when I was five years old, and hadn't been in danger of dying at any moment, and the buyer hadn't wanted me, she wouldn't have let me go so easily.
She abandoned me in the deep mountains, leaving me to fend for myself. Luckily, I survived and was able to escape the Song family completely, thus saving my life.
Those who never raised me are just using the title of adoptive parents; what right do they have to criticize me now?
"Zhiyu..." The Duchess looked heartbroken. She hadn't expected that Song Zhiyu had lived such a life as a child, growing up being abused.
The usually gentle and dignified Duchess looked at Song's mother with a chilling gaze.
Regardless of whether Song Zhiyu and her sister-in-law were related, she genuinely loved this young girl.
Now that I know what happened to her, I feel nothing but heartache.
Shen Yanxi was somewhat flustered, as what Song Zhiyu said was completely different from what he had investigated.
It must be an excuse she made up because she was afraid of ruining her reputation, that must be it!
The two men each had their own version of events, and for a moment they didn't know who to believe.
Seeing that the situation was turning sour, Song's mother hurriedly denied it, "You're talking nonsense! I've never mistreated you, do you have any proof?"
Anyway, all the villagers who know about those things are in Qinghe Village, so it's up to her to decide what really happened.
"I really don't have any evidence..."
Song Zhiyu glanced at her mother and Shen Jinshu, who stood silently not far away, then changed the subject, "However, I have witnesses."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lu Bai walked over with two men and a woman.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Song's mother could no longer maintain her smug expression, and she became visibly flustered.
"You should be familiar with these three, right?" Song Zhiyu smiled charmingly, watching with great interest the sudden change in her mother's expression.
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