Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 396 News of My Sister (10,000 words)
It was already getting dark.

The candles were lit, and the red lanterns shone brightly.

This was the Duke's mansion; if it were an ordinary family, they certainly wouldn't dare to be so extravagant, since lamp oil wasn't cheap. Song Yan and Steward Wang chatted idly along the way, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the backyard. When the two finally stopped in front of a small courtyard, a few black lines appeared on Song Yan's forehead.

Good guy.

Isn't this the courtyard where he and his mother used to live?
Song Yan was very familiar with this place.

But there's not much to be nostalgic about.

Although some precious memories remain here, most of them are rather unpleasant.

“Song Lu was dumped here by Song Hongtao.” Butler Wang spread his hands, his expression somewhat helpless. “Song Lu’s current situation is very bad. Song Hongtao is even more ruthless to him than he was to you, Ninth Young Master.”

"The Eighth Young Master had a leg injury, but it was only simply bandaged. There was no medicine or anything like that. He wasn't even assigned a maid. He was locked in the courtyard and was not allowed to go out without Song Hongtao's order. No one else was allowed to visit him either. His daily meals consisted mostly of leftovers that he would throw over the courtyard wall. Song Hongtao didn't care whether they fell on the ground and got dusty."

"If it hadn't rained a few days ago, Song Lü would probably have died of thirst from lack of water."

Song Yan nodded, already understanding Song Hongtao's plan. He intended to kill the illegitimate child born to Yang Miaoqing and Song Jincheng, but he was unwilling to let the child die too easily, and he didn't want to bear the stigma of killing his own son. Therefore, he chose this method to torture him. If Song Lu couldn't bear it and committed suicide, that would probably be exactly what Song Hongtao wanted... Perhaps Song Hongtao had even thought of an excuse in advance, such as Song Lu becoming depressed and depressed after realizing he had become a cripple, and eventually starving himself to death.

Whether it's nonsense or not, and whether anyone believes it or not, is not important; as long as there's a reason, that's enough.

Once Song Lu dies, you can just dig a hole and bury him. Does anyone really want to dig up his grave, open the coffin, and examine his body? Are they just bored and have nothing better to do?
Thinking this to himself, Song Yan couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. Not long ago, as the youngest legitimate son, Song Lu was Song Hongtao's darling. Shaking his head, he stepped forward, glanced at the iron lock hanging on the courtyard door, reached out, grabbed it, and twisted it forcefully. With a snap, the lock broke off.

With a gentle push of both hands, the door creaked open.

In the dark gray night, a figure could be clearly seen lying on the ground, rummaging around with its hands. Looking around, one could see some rotten vegetable leaves that had been scooped out of the swill bucket, as well as some dry, moldy steamed buns covered in dust and grime.

But the person didn't care at all. Finding a slightly larger piece, they hurriedly put it into their mouth and began chewing it greedily. Suddenly hearing the sound of the door opening, the person froze on the spot, their body instinctively curling up.

Song Yan took out a tinderbox and searched for some dry fallen leaves in the corner of the yard. After fiddling around for a while, he finally managed to start a fire.

The flickering flames gradually dispelled the darkness in the courtyard.

When the firelight shone on the man, he was terrified and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

By the light of the fire, Song Yan was finally able to see the person's appearance clearly.

His clothes were tattered, probably because they hadn't been changed in a long time. The mud had soaked through the fabric and was almost matted together. His hair was a mess, as if he hadn't been familiar with the courtyard since he entered it. Song Yan could even see some fleas jumping around in his hair.

He was disheveled and filthy, and looked withered and emaciated.

It's important to know that of Yang Miaoqing's eight sons, Song Zhe was the most talented, while Song Lu was undoubtedly the most handsome—calling him a heartthrob wouldn't be an exaggeration. Who could have imagined that in such a short time, Song Lu would have fallen to such a state? If it weren't for the few remaining features of Song Lu still clinging to his filthy face, Song Yan wouldn't have recognized him at all.

The worst part was Song Lu's right leg. Even when he was curled up, it was obvious that his body weight was instinctively on his left side. Upon closer inspection, you could see that his right leg was wet, with some thick pus seeping into his trouser leg, emitting a faint stench.

Ulcer, suppuration.

If things continue like this, Song Lu might not even survive until he starves to death… Complications from the ulcer, such as fever, could kill him. Song Lu's eyes also looked somewhat vacant, as if all his energy had been drained… Seeing him like this, Song Yan couldn't help but scoff. This guy, he'd only been imprisoned in this courtyard for a few dozen days and he'd become like this, while he had lived in this courtyard for many years back then.

Their tolerance for stress is truly appalling.

His blank stare betrayed deep fear, clearly indicating that he had been subjected to considerable bullying by the servants of the Duke's mansion these past few days. While these servants weren't allowed to freely enter or leave the courtyard, they would casually throw stones into it, or even deliberately withhold food from the swill bucket—enough to drive Song Lu to the brink of madness. If they saw Song Lu attempting to escape over the wall, they would show no mercy, dragging him down for a thorough beating.

After staring at Song Yan for a long time, Song Lu finally recognized him.

His stiff face began to tremble, and he seemed extremely excited. He had completely lost all the pride, dignity, and self-respect of a duke's legitimate son. He crawled on the ground towards Song Yan, saying, "Ninth... Ninth Prince, it's you, you're back."

"Help me, I'm your myna bird!"

"Father, he's gone mad, he's gone mad."

A pair of dirty hands grabbed Song Yan's thigh.

This is his only hope now.

Ever since he was imprisoned in this small courtyard, Song Hongtao had given him absolutely no chance to contact anyone, only arranging for his trusted men to watch him outside the courtyard twelve hours a day. In a month, he had been tortured beyond recognition. In Song Lu's mind, the so-called underworld and the eighteen levels of hell were nothing more than this.

He is quite clever.

When Song Yan, backed by the Luo family, returned to the Duke of Song's mansion and broke Song Zhen's legs in front of Song Hongtao and Yang Miaoqing, Song Lu understood that Song Yan was no longer the pitiful child he could bully at will. When Song Yan led the Luo family guards and a group of newly trained soldiers to slaughter tens of thousands of Japanese pirates and build ten mounds of corpses, Song Lu felt a chill run down his spine. Thinking back to the humiliation he had suffered at Song Yan's hands as a child, he trembled with fear. He had gone to Songzhou Prefecture to study voluntarily, wanting to stay far away from Song Yan.

It was only after Song Yan was transferred to Pingyang that he dared to occasionally return to Ningping.

However, while Song Lu feared Song Yan's revenge, he was now even more afraid of Song Hongtao. He couldn't understand how his father, who usually doted on him, had suddenly changed so drastically and would resort to such cruelty.

There was a time when he also wanted to compete for the position of Duke.

But now such thoughts have long been extinguished; he only wants to get away from the Duke's mansion, this den of iniquity.

Song Yan's expression was extremely cold as he looked down at Song Lu, making no attempt to hide the mockery in his eyes: "Let go. Why should I save you?"

"Could it be because of a blood relationship that doesn't even exist between us?"

"Or is it because we're about the same age that you've bullied me the most since we were little?"

Of course, due to his relatively young age, Song law's methods were mostly not too vicious or cruel, and at the very least, not fatal.

However, the large quantity of these items was truly making Song Yan very uncomfortable.

Upon hearing this, Song Lu trembled violently, his eyes filled with intense fear. The next second, he abandoned all pretense of dignity and knelt down in front of Song Yan. With a thud, his forehead slammed heavily onto the ground in front of Song Yan's toes.

boom.

boom.

boom.

“Ninth brother, no, I mean the Earl of Pingyang, it was wrong of me to bully you before.”

"I'm kowtowing to you."

"I'm kowtowing to you."

Song Lü was unaware that Song Yan had been granted the title of Marquis and still thought he was just an Earl, just like before.

A dull sound, almost imperceptible.

This is absolutely genuine, without any fakery.

dignity?

Decent?

It doesn't make any sense.

All Song Lu knew was that if he were allowed to continue living in this small courtyard, he would die.

"I've kowtowed to you, please forgive me."

“My mother did what happened to Aunt Mei Xue. You killed her too, but it has nothing to do with me.”

"If you want the title of Duke, I swear I will never compete with you for it."

"If you're still not satisfied, hit me, scold me, I won't fight back. I just ask that you help me leave this place, just leave the Duke's mansion."

Song Lu's voice was hoarse.

It was probably because I hadn't been able to eat properly for a while that my throat got scratched and inflamed by some dry and hard things.

Song Yan watched coldly. Look at him! Once upon a time, the handsome man of the Duke's mansion, the peerless gentleman, Song Lu, has now become so disheveled.

Ha ha……

Truly, times change, and retribution is inevitable. A year ago, when Song Lu was still bullying him, he probably never imagined that one day he would kneel before him and beg for mercy like this.

“Song Lu…” Song Yan smiled and said, “Do you know, you look like a dog right now.”

Song Lu suddenly raised his head, his scalp was bruised and bleeding, and thick blood slid down his dirty face. But he seemed to feel no pain at all, and even forced a smile on his face: "Dog? You say I'm a dog, then I am a dog."

"Wang!"

"Wang Wang!"

"Wang Wang Wang!"

"Look, do I look good?"

Seeing that Song Lu was really treating him like a dog, sticking out his tongue and panting heavily, Song Yan was somewhat shocked.

What exactly did Song Lu go through in the past month to be tormented into this state?

Originally, Song Yan came to him mostly wanting to torment Song Lu severely. After years of humiliation, he had to recoup some of the interest. But now he suddenly realized that what he wanted to do had already been done in advance by someone else.

Shaking his head, Song Yan prepared to leave.

Seeing Song Yan's actions, Song Lu panicked. This was his only hope of survival, and he had to hold on to it no matter what.

"Wait a minute, Song Yan, I have another secret." Song Lu suddenly screamed, "If I tell you this secret, you will help me escape from the Duke's mansion."

Song Yan's body showed no sign of stopping.

"It's about Song Xue."

Song Yan suddenly paused.

Song Xue.

The older sister who was three years older than him.

When he was three years old and his sister was six, his sister disappeared due to the machinations of that old witch Yang Miaoqing, and was never seen again.

Song Yan didn't have a deep impression of Song Xue.

Yet I still remember that little girl, who could barely walk on her own, often carrying her younger brother and running around the yard, as if that alone made her happy...

There was a small tree in the yard. Every summer, cicadas would chirp and sing in the tree. My sister would carefully approach, trying to catch a cicada, but she never expected that there was a hornet's nest hidden in the branches.

When a swarm of wasps buzzed over.

The little girl didn't run back to her room immediately, but instead hugged herself tightly as she sat in the courtyard.

Finally, I was bitten more than a dozen times.

Despite crying loudly from the pain, she forced back her tears when she saw her younger brother, forcing a smile and saying that it didn't hurt.

Indeed, a wasp stung her lip.

For several days in a row, my upper and lower lips looked like classic sausage lips.

Taking a deep breath, Song Yan forced herself to calm down, slowly turned around, and stared intently at Song Lu, her gaze terrifyingly gloomy.

But Song Lu wasn't afraid at all. On the contrary, he was overjoyed, knowing that he had made the right bet.

"Speak," Song Yan said in a deep voice.

"You have to promise me first that after I tell you, you'll help me get out of the Duke's mansion," Song Lu said, his throat bobbing as he stiffened his neck.

This was his only chance to survive.

Song Yan's eyes flickered: "Okay, I will tell you the whole truth. Whether you leave the Duke's mansion or do something else is up to you."

"But if I find out you're lying to me, I will find you no matter where you are, and then grind you to dust."

Song Lu was overjoyed and shook his head like a rattle drum: "No, absolutely not."

“I swear, every word I said is true.”

"Speak," Song Yan said coldly, not wanting to hear those worthless vows.

Song Lu took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He searched his mind for information while carefully choosing his words: "In this small courtyard live you, your sister, and your mother. Of the three, my mother... cough cough, is the one Yang Miaoqing hates the most, and your sister is the one I hate the most."

"Why?" Song Yan frowned.

He didn't understand.

My sister is just a little girl who is only a few years old. She has only met Yang Miaoqing a handful of times. How could she have provoked such great malice from Yang Miaoqing?
"Because your sister is very happy."

Yang Miaoqing couldn't understand why, even though your whole family was imprisoned in this small courtyard, dressed in rags, eating pig swill every day, and being beaten and scolded from time to time, this little girl could still be so optimistic and laugh every day.

"She couldn't understand it, and then she became very jealous."

crunch.

Song Yan's fingers clenched tightly.

The knuckles were white and made a cracking sound.

"Just because of this bullshit reason, she wants to harm my sister?" Song Yan's voice was like a demon from the underworld, eerie, cold, and chilling.

Song Lu's body twitched, but he still forced himself to say, "Yes, that's the reason. Whenever Yang Miaoqing hears Song Xue's laughter, she feels very irritated. She says she wants to make sure your sister can never laugh again."

“I wasn’t very old at that time, so she didn’t carry me on her back. But Yang Miaoqing didn’t know that I had a long memory. I remember everything she did very clearly.”

When talking about these things, Song Lu couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Yang Miaoqing.

His mother's viciousness was so bad that even he, as her son, found it hard to bear.

Being vicious is one thing, but with the Yang family as their backing, even if they were ten or a hundred times more vicious, nothing serious would happen... But being both vicious and stupid is truly terrible. If it weren't for what their mother did, how could they have offended Song Yan so badly? If they had been more thorough and eliminated the threat completely, their eight brothers wouldn't be in such a sorry state, with some dead and others injured.

Thinking this, Song Lu's voice did not stop: "I remember Yang Miaoqing arranged for one of her maids to tie up Song Xue and take her away. She specifically instructed that Song Xue must be sold far away, preferably to a poor farming family in the deep mountains and forests, to be raised as a child bride."

"It would be best if you had several brothers in your family."

"I still remember what Yang Miaoqing said at the time: Let's see if you can still laugh then."

damn it.

Yang Miaoqing, I wish I had let you die so easily back then.

Why didn't they spare Yang Miaoqing's life back then, and then cut her every day for more than ten years, so that they could wash away her sins?

"Then the maid left the Duke's mansion and returned about a month later to tell Yang Miaoqing that the matter had been completed."

"But I noticed that the maid's expression was a little off, so I pressed her privately for details. The maid was scared and confessed. It turned out that she had encountered a merchant caravan on the road. The caravan manager took a liking to Song Xuesheng because of her good looks and spent one hundred taels of silver to buy her from that old woman."

Song Yan pursed her lips and let out a heavy sigh: "What's the name of that caravan?"

“That old woman is illiterate.” Song Lu shook his head. “But judging from the caravan’s accent, she doesn’t seem to be from Ningguo. She seems to be speaking the dialect of Chu.”

“If Song Xue is still alive, she should be in the State of Chu right now.” Song Lu quickly added, “I swear, everything I’ve said is true. If I’m lying, may I be struck by lightning.”

Song Yan's expression was solemn, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Is it the State of Chu?
(End of this chapter)