Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 315 The Plum Family Jade Pendant (3)

Mei Zicong's smile vanished quickly. He glanced at Song Zhe across from him, whose sinister eyes were fixed on him. His expression grew increasingly serious, but his heart was filled with scorn.

These scholars, who considered themselves intelligent, looked down on warriors. In their eyes, warriors were nothing more than a bunch of simple-minded fools with strong limbs, whom they could easily fool. They forgot that warriors were simply not good at political maneuvering, but that did not mean that all warriors were stupid.

Using someone else to do your dirty work—could this intention be any more obvious?

Although he looked down on Song Zhe, he was slightly curious about Song Zhe's plan. He raised an eyebrow noncommittally, without showing any shock or anger. Instead, he picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp: "Brother Song, what do you mean by that? My grandfather only has one grandson, me. Do you think someone else will suddenly jump out and compete with me for the position of heir?"

Song Zhe breathed a slight sigh of relief. Mei Zicong had finally taken an interest in this matter. If he was interested, he would have a chance to get rid of Song Yan through him. Song Zhe carefully chose his words: "Brother Zicong should know that I have three younger brothers."

“Song Yun, Song Lü, and a concubine’s son Song Yan, who are all dead.” Mei Zicong nodded: “Speaking of which, who would have thought that among the nine sons of the Song family, the most promising one is actually the youngest concubine’s son? He should be sixteen or seventeen years old this year, and he has already been granted the title of Earl and is also the Prefect of Pingyang. He is truly admirable.”

That's a bit harsh.

In Dongling City, who doesn't know that Song Yan and his youngest brother have a bad relationship?

Song Zhe lost his academic honors, was expelled from the academy, and was even removed from the family genealogy, all because he risked his life to conspire with Yang Ming to murder Fang Jun, the eldest grandson of the Fang family.

Yang Ming lost his head because of this incident.

Yang Guochen lost his position as Minister of Rites.

Although Song Zhe survived by chance, his uncle Song Jincheng was also transferred from Minister of Personnel to Minister of Works, which can be considered a demotion.

Fang Hai was able to easily uncover the truth, reportedly with Song Yan's help behind the scenes. It's safe to say that Song Yan was responsible for at least 50% of Song Zhe's current miserable state, if not 80%. Now, with his body crippled, he probably hates his younger brother to the core.

Praising Song Yan in front of Song Zhe was like a resounding slap in the face, making half of Song Zhe's face burn instantly. His originally handsome baby face was twisted in an instant, and his resentful and fierce gaze made Mei Zicong feel a chill for a moment.

This guy is like a venomous snake.

With his throat bobbing, Mei Zicong pursed his lips: "Brother Song, you wouldn't be suggesting that my position as heir is related to your three younger brothers, would you?"

Song Zhe desperately suppressed the agitation in his heart and nodded vigorously: "To be precise, it is related to Song Yan."

"laugh."

Mei Zicong laughed somewhat unkindly.

Song Zhe didn't care, his face as gloomy as ever: "When the old master of the Mei family returned from suppressing the bandits, Miss Mei had already been buried in a hurry. The old master didn't get to see his daughter one last time. Is that so?"

Mei Zicong's smile suddenly froze, his brows furrowed, and his eyes stared straight at Mei Zicong: "That's right, what exactly are you trying to say?"

A sinister smile crept across Song Zhe's face: "So, Miss Mei might not be dead, but perhaps missing. Also, do you know what Miss Mei's name is?"

"Plum Blossoms Welcoming Snow!"

"Then do you know what Song Yan's mother's name is?" Song Zhe smiled, raised his pinky finger to pick up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp: "Mei Xue".

Mei Zicong's pupils suddenly contracted.

Seeing the change in Mei Zicong's expression, Song Zhe couldn't help but feel smug.

To reiterate, he doesn't need to provide any concrete evidence. As long as he proposes some plausible possibilities, as long as Mei Zicong cares about the position of heir apparent and the title of duke in Italy, he can't help but take it to heart.

These nobles were mostly ruthless people, and often preferred to believe it rather than not.

To keep his position, no one can guarantee what he might do.

Mei Zicong's throat bobbed as if he were constantly swallowing saliva, his expression shifting repeatedly: "What does this mean? Ningguo is very large, with a population of tens of millions."

"It's normal for people to have the same name, especially since these names are different."

Song Zhe's smile remained unchanged, but he gently shook his head: "I heard that the Mei family had a family heirloom jade pendant, which was buried with the eldest daughter of the Mei family. Do you know what that jade pendant looks like?"

Mei Zicong seemed to ponder for a moment: "A piece of green jade, with patterns in the jade resembling plum blossoms, is also called plum blossom jade. Because it matches the Mei family surname, it was kept as a family heirloom by my grandfather."

“Song Yan has such a piece of jade on him, which was left by his mother,” Song Zhe said calmly.

Mei Zicong's expression changed drastically: "Is this really true?"

Song Zhe chuckled, stood up, and patted Mei Zicong on the shoulder: "Brother Zicong, please tell Old Master Mei that he dotes on his only daughter the most. If he knew that his daughter had left behind a grandson, he would be very happy. In order to make up for the debts he has owed over the years, he might even leave the title of Duke of Lu to this grandson."

"It's just a pity for Brother Zicong. After being the heir apparent for so many years, he ended up with nothing. But after all, the old master raised Brother Zicong for so many years. I suppose Brother Zicong won't care about these trivial matters so as not to upset the old master, right?"

"Brother Zicong, I have something else to attend to, so please take your time to consider it."

"I've already paid."

After patting Mei Zicong lightly on the shoulder twice and uttering two very obvious pointed remarks, Song Zhe walked out of the house, leaving Mei Zicong alone with a gloomy expression. Only when he heard the sound of the door closing behind him did the gloom on Mei Zicong's face vanish in an instant, replaced by a mocking laugh.

"hehe."

"You really think I'm just a crude and uncouth brute, easy to fool?" As he spoke, Mei Zicong casually took out a jade pendant from his sleeve.

Actually, it probably doesn't qualify as a jade pendant.

The color wasn't cyan, but rather a mottled white.

This was just a piece of white jade, the kind you'd find anywhere in a ditch, polished into a plum blossom shape, with a hole drilled in it. It wasn't anything of much value. Come to think of it, Old Master Mei came from humble beginnings; his father and grandfather were all ordinary farmers. How could they possibly have a priceless jade pendant to pass down through generations? As the son of a noble family, he would naturally be embarrassed to wear something like this… not out of filial impiety, after all, even Old Master Mei himself was ashamed to wear it out in public.

When he had nothing to do, Old Master Mei would casually polish jade pendants at home. Now he had about a basketful of them, which he said he would leave to Mei Zicong's son, daughter, grandson, and granddaughter. Mei Zicong had made up his mind that when the old man passed away, he would put all these jade pendants into the coffin.

I would never let my children wear this thing; it would be too embarrassing.

He had only made up a story about a piece of green jade containing plum blossoms, but Song Yan happened to have such a jade pendant. How could there be such a coincidence? If Song Zhe wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work, he should at least have made up a more elaborate reason. He thought he could fool people with such a crude one?
Do you really think they're all fools?
This Song Zhe, after all, is the prodigy of the Song family, a man of great learning and profound knowledge. How could he be so incompetent? Could it be that becoming a rootless person was such a blow to him that he made a series of foolish moves?

Mei Zicong smiled. Although he wouldn't fall for it, he was still quite interested in Song Yan. His grandfather had once said that whether the Ningguo martial arts lineage could rise again depended entirely on Song Yan. Shaking his head, Mei Zicong stopped thinking about these messy things and called over the pimp outside the door: "Go, call ten girls for me."

"I want someone with a big butt."

"Listen carefully, put it on Song Zhe's tab."

……

Outside the Jade Garden.

Song Zhe let out a long breath. The night wind was chilly, but Song Zhe felt radiant.

The descendants of military families are indeed brainless fools; they were easily persuaded with just a few words.

Mei Zicong has a fiery temper and is not someone to be trifled with. It won't be long before he makes a move against Song Yan... However, one Mei Zicong is probably not enough.

He needs more help.

Oh, right, the Yang family.

Because of Song Yan, the Yang family lost a Minister of Rites, Yang Ming, and their mother, Yang Miaoqing, also died at Song Yan's hands. The Yang family must hate Song Yan to the core. If I were to go and sow discord even slightly, the Yang family would become an extremely sharp knife in his hand.

Even those relatives who married into the Yang family.

These people wielded immense power in Dongling City.

Tightening his collar and facing the wind, Song Zhe resolutely stepped into the darkness. As the governor, Song Yan would arrive in the capital soon, and he was going to lay a net that would be enough to strangle Song Yan.

There isn't much time left.

Perhaps Mei Zicong was right; Song Zhe had indeed gone mad in his desire to kill Song Yan.

……

The twentieth year of Ninghe.

The tenth day of the first month.

In the early hours of the morning, a dozen fast horses galloped away from Pingyang City.

Song Yan, Luo Tianyi, Bu Yu, Nahetuya, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, plus ten elite soldiers selected from the black-armored warriors, totaling sixteen people.

A galloping horse is naturally extremely fast.

By noon, they had arrived at Dingzhou City, where the Prefect of Dingzhou, Jiao Junze, was waiting at the city gate, clearly intending to travel to Dongling with Song Yan. As comrades-in-arms who fought alongside the Jurchens, this bond was naturally unmatched by anyone else.

Speaking of which, the position of prefect can only be held by a civil official, but Jiao Junze was a typical military man who had never participated in the imperial examinations, let alone become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). It is said that because of this, Jiao Junze was often attacked, but he was specially granted the title of Tong Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), which barely silenced the public.

Then, after Jiao Junze, the emperor lost the power to grant the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

As many civil officials put it, if the emperor could arbitrarily bestow the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), then what would be the point of the imperial examination system? This would be extremely unfair to all scholars in the land.

It must be said that this reason is irrefutable.

Jiao Junze originally wanted to travel with Song Yan so that he could inform Song Yan of some things to pay attention to and the rules along the way, but he did not expect that Song Yan had to go to Songzhou Prefecture first, so he had no choice but to give up.

After giving each other some instructions and agreeing to meet in Dongling City, they parted ways in Pingyang City.

Jiao Junze headed west.

Song Yan headed south.

At the same time, another figure also quietly left the group and headed towards the imperial city.

It's Bu Yu!
That newly appointed governor of Pingyang, Sun Hao, is unlikely to survive.

(End of this chapter)