Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 393 Reunion with Song Hongtao (1)

On the city gate tower.

Emperor Ninghe silently watched the carriage gradually disappear into the distance, a faint smile on his face. He occasionally rubbed his forehead; he had already started taking Song Yan's medicine last night, and he was also collecting the various Chinese herbs. Of all the strange and unusual medicines, Emperor Ninghe's favorite was probably the one called ibuprofen.

The pain-relieving effect is really good.

Whenever I had a headache, I would take one pill, and the headache would gradually disappear within about 15 minutes, with the effect lasting for about two or three hours. The only thing that puzzled Emperor Ninghe was that such a good painkiller was named ibuprofen, which sounded like something from a barbarian tribe.

Of course, Song Yan also said that ibuprofen only has a pain-relieving effect and is of no use to the tumor in his head. Moreover, long-term use can easily lead to drug resistance... But Emperor Ninghe thought that was fine too.

After all, it was a brain tumor, and he was destined to die.

If the pain could be lessened a little during the process of dying, it would be good, so that he could concentrate more on doing what he wanted to do.

The wind was howling.

She lifted Emperor Ninghe's long hair and robes, revealing a slightly pale face.

In his eyes, the carriage grew smaller and smaller until it became a tiny black dot, and finally, even that tiny black dot disappeared completely from his sight.

call.

With a sigh of relief, Emperor Ninghe finally withdrew his gaze with some reluctance.

Then he smiled, his expression somewhat self-deprecating.

Humans are always greedy.

He had already been sentenced to death by Sun Shuji and was prepared to face it. Who knew that his son-in-law could extend his life, at least alleviate some of his suffering, and even reunite him with his two daughters? This was already an extremely good thing. But now, seeing his daughters and sons-in-law leave, he couldn't help but greedily want more...

If Song Yan and Tian Xuan could have a baby sooner, that would be great.

That way he'll have grandsons and granddaughters.

If I could hold my grandchildren, I would probably have no regrets.

Imagining her grandchildren's adorable and delicate appearance in her mind, the smile on her face couldn't help but deepen.

Shaking his head, Emperor Ninghe put aside his thoughts, stretched, and when he lowered his arm, his expression had returned to normal and indifferent: "Let's go... let's go back."

Although Bailu Academy suffered a severe blow, it still wields great influence among scholars.

The Yang family did not fall apart; in fact, its influence was slightly stronger than it had been some time ago.

He has many things to do and cannot waste his limited time on these delusions.

Dongling City has enjoyed several rare days of good weather.

It was as if even the heavens were celebrating the departure of that jinx, Song Yan. The crystal-clear sky brightened the hearts of many. It was said that in the days following Song Yan's departure, many wealthy and powerful families in the inner city spent a fortune to buy fireworks from Taoist priests. Every night, the city was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, creating a festive atmosphere that was in no way inferior to the Lantern Festival.

Such people should be sent to the frontier to wreak havoc on the Jurchens, the Japanese pirates, the Xiongnu... or even the states of Chu and Zhao.

The Eastern Mausoleum is a place steeped in poetry, literature, and etiquette; how could it withstand the turmoil caused by this madman?
Of course, some other things have also happened in the past few days.

For example, the entire Lu Guogong family was wiped out.

Looking at that pile of heads, it's obvious who did it. No one but Song Yan would be so fond of piling up heads. The Duke of Lu wields considerable influence in the army. Such an ordeal naturally infuriates some. Whatever the grudge between Song Yan and the Duke of Lu's family, why would they be subjected to such a massacre?
Some fools then clamored to capture Song Yan and bring him back to Dongling to be punished.

The moment such a sound was heard, it was immediately blocked by the Yang family and Bailu Academy.

What a joke! We finally got rid of this scourge, and now you want to bring him back? Don't you want to die? So many people died in Dongling City, everyone knows it was Song Yan who did it, but do you have any evidence? In the end, you'll probably cause a lot more people to die for no reason.

After all, no one's bottom is completely clean.

Moreover, the bloody writing on the wall clearly records the sordid deeds committed by the Mei family.

Whether it's true or false is not important.

The important thing is that this is how people profit from the loss of their children's property.

Any noble family would abhor such a thing.

Therefore, after the incident, no one investigated the situation of the Duke of Lu's mansion. Instead, powerful figures kept petitioning Emperor Ninghe, demanding an investigation into whether the Mei family was planning to exploit the descendants of the deceased. Mei Wen, who had never concealed his greed for the Duke's position, only took a short trip to Mei Family Village and immediately obtained a lot of useful information, especially regarding the numerous guards at Mei Wen's mansion that night. These guards vividly recounted the events of that night, including the conversation between Song Yan, Gao Shaofen, and Gao Cuicui.

When the investigation results were sent back to the imperial court, the entire court was in an uproar.

Good heavens! From her mother to her brothers, nephews, and grandnephews, the entire family was determined to bleed Mei Wu dry. It wasn't that these nobles were particularly righteous; they simply didn't want their families to suffer the same fate. So, another mountain of memorials was sent up. Within two days, Gao Shaofen's entire extended family, nine generations in total, had been arrested. Not a single one was spared. They didn't even need a trial; they were simply taken to the marketplace and beheaded. Gao Shaofen's family members only realized they were implicated by her at the moment of their execution. They wept bitterly, cursing her as stupid and vicious—reportedly using very vulgar language.

Some people then pinned the blame on Song Yan.

Some say Song Yan is like a demon sent from heaven; even though he's already left Dongling, he still manages to cause such a commotion.

In comparison, the divorce of Song Jincheng, the Minister of Works, and his wife Shen Qi did not cause much of a stir.

No one knows why the two wanted to divorce. All that is known is that Song Jincheng agreed very readily, allowing Shen Qi to take all her dowry and even almost all the assets of the Minister of Works' mansion. Even when Shen Qi proposed that their two sons would live with him from then on, Song Jincheng only hesitated slightly before finally agreeing.

In those days, the rules weren't so strict. While divorces weren't common, they weren't nonexistent either, and it was common for divorced women to remarry, so it didn't usually cause much discussion. As for Shen Qi's whereabouts, some speculated that she returned to her rural hometown, while others said that Shen Qi left Ningguo with her two sons. But one thing was certain: Shen Qi had completely disappeared from Dongling City.

The day after Song Yan left was the day the imperial examination began.

Many students entered the examination hall full of confidence, but came out looking as if they had lost their parents.

Some students even pointed to the sky and cursed, wondering which despicable person had come up with the exam questions.

Who knows how Zhang San would be sentenced for paying for prostitution at a brothel with ghost money?

Who knows if Zhang San's actions towards Li Si when he defiled the woman constituted rape? Suddenly, many students hated Zhang San intensely, and it was said that many people named Zhang San, fearing being implicated, had to change their names.

Is there really a place called Qinghua Pond in the palace? Yang Hetong and Fang De, one the Grand Secretary and the other the Minister of Works, how bored must they be that one of them used a large bucket to fetch water into Qinghua Pond and the other used a small bucket to pump water from it? Who knows how long it would have taken Yang Hetong to fill Qinghua Pond.

I know Fang De and Yang Hetong have never gotten along, but this behavior is too childish, like children playing house.

……

Song Yan was unaware of what had happened in Dongling City.

Even if they knew, they probably wouldn't care.

At this moment, Song Yan was leisurely lying on Zi Yu's lap, pretending to sleep. The soft flesh of her legs was very comfortable to rest on, and with the fragrance of violets, it was simply a pleasure.

Inside the carriage, only Song Yan and Zi Yu were present.

Luo Tianxuan, Luo Tianyi, and Hua Lianyue were in the carriage behind.

Bu Yu and Nahetuya were in Fang Wanlin's carriage.

Fang Wanlin came along as well, as had been planned beforehand. Fang Hai also came along; he had been staying in Dongling for too long and it was time for him to return to Songzhou Prefecture to take charge.

There was originally a more direct route from Dongling to Pingyang, but Song Yan planned to return to Ningping first. One reason was to warn Luo Tianchu and Luo Tianquan to be careful, lest the Yang family act rashly. If all else failed, he would try to get the two of them to Pingyang as well. Pingyang was Song Yan's territory; while not absolutely safe, it was certainly much more secure than Ningping.

On the other hand, he was also preparing to meet with Song Hongtao.

Song Hongtao left letters for all his sons, explicitly stating in the letters that he wanted to kill him. Song Yan was very curious about what was wrong with his adoptive father this time.

They encountered nothing along the way. Even if there were bandits or highwaymen, seeing the 300 guards on both sides of the caravan, they probably wouldn't dare to make any rash moves.

Mei Wu was naturally placed in the car as well. The old man was in good health; it was just that he had been tormented by Mei Zicong recently. Once the medication Mei Zicong was forced to give him stopped, he recovered quickly. Song Yan did not hide the fact that he had been taken in from Mei Wu. She also told Mei Wu everything, including the fact that everyone in the Mei family, including Gao Shaofen, had been killed.

Song Yan had no feelings for Mei Wu.

The reason she brought Mei Wu along was simply because her mother was Mei Wu's daughter, so it was probably a way for her to fulfill her filial duty on behalf of her mother.

But if Mei Wu is a clueless person, and complains even the slightest bit, Song Yan guarantees he will throw Mei Wu off the carriage and never care whether the old man lives or dies.

After Song Yan explained the whole story, the old man's eyes were filled with pain... It wasn't that the old man knew nothing; at least he was adopted, and he knew this. But he still treated Gao Shaofen like his own mother. He always felt that his father and mother had given him a life. His eldest son, Mei Wen, was good to his parents, so he had to be even better to them. If Mei Wen was filial, he had to be ten times more filial. He never imagined that it was his beloved mother, whom he always cherished, who caused his family to be destroyed.

Mei Wu's eyes still held a hint of guilt.

This guilt is directed at Old Mei, who took him in and gave him a life, but ultimately caused the Mei family line to end because of him.

But I can bear this guilt myself; I will never involve my grandson.

Upon hearing that Song Yan's mother, Mei Yingxue, had been murdered by Yang Miaoqing when she was only in her twenties, Mei Wu could no longer control himself and burst into tears.

He was clearly a general who could overwhelm the foreign tribes, but at this moment he was crying loudly.

Just like a child.

Song Yan also asked Mei Wu whether he knew that his mother was still alive.

Mei Wu nodded.

Mei Wu had some doubts about this matter. It was when his wife, who had gone mad, suddenly woke up from her sleep and screamed in terror, "Don't steal my child!" that Mei Wu began to have some suspicions.

Suspecting that her daughter had actually been stolen, Mei Wu's mother and sister-in-law, fearing his blame for not taking good care of her, fabricated a story of her dying from illness. Because she was adopted, and in those days, for ordinary farming families, raising even one child was a tremendous struggle, Mei Wu often felt an indebtedness to the Mei family. Because of their care, Gao Shaofen had even suffered a miscarriage, further fueling Mei Wu's sense of guilt. This feeling prevented Mei Wu from ever suspecting anything about Mei Wen's family.

He tried to question his wife, but she just rambled on and on, yelling things like "Don't steal my child!" and "Don't hurt my child!" He couldn't get any useful clues.

Mei Wu had no choice but to dismiss the three hundred retainers of the Duke's mansion and entrust them with the task of searching within the territory of Ningguo.

However, after a decade or two without a single piece of news or clue, Mei Wu's heart gradually sank, and it was at this time that he adopted Mei Zicong. Another decade or so passed, and as Mei Wu grew older and often lacked energy, he gradually handed over the power of managing the household to Mei Zicong.

Those who can be adopted are ultimately just those who are adopted.

An ingrate will always be an ingrate.

He never dreamed that Mei Zicong would poison him. Mei Wu even thought it was because he had suffered too many injuries in his youth, which caused him to be sickly in his old age. It wasn't until he was bedridden and could no longer get up that Mei Zicong gradually revealed his true colors. The old people in the Duke's mansion were also gradually purged by Mei Zicong, and in the end, only Mei Zicong's henchmen remained.

Song Yan realized that while the old man was unmatched in military strategy and tactics throughout the Central Plains, he was truly terrible at deception and treachery.

A typical image of a martial artist.

The long journey gradually came to an end.

On the evening of the fifth day, the carriage finally stopped in front of the Duke's mansion.

Looking up, the Duke's mansion still retains its former glory.

Butler Wang was sitting on the steps in front of the gate, holding a yellowed pipe in his hand. His rough fingers twisted the tobacco into the pipe bowl, and he lit it by striking a flint and steel to create a bright spark. He took a couple of puffs, and his wrinkled old face was full of satisfaction. Occasionally, when the pipe bowl got clogged with ash, he would lift the pipe and tap it against the stone next to him.

He glanced up casually and saw Song Yan getting off the carriage. Steward Wang's old face immediately lit up with joy, and he immediately stood up and strode towards Song Yan.

"Ninth Young Master, you're back."

Although it has been almost a year since Song Yan left the Duke's mansion, the title of Steward Wang has never changed.

Then he saw Steward Wang lower his eyelids and glance lightly at the Duke's mansion behind him:
"Be careful."

"The Duke is going to harm you!"

(End of this chapter)