Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 528 For Whom Do the Fallen Petals Fall (12,000 words, please vote)

In the backyard of the Fang residence, Luo Yuheng leaned against the wall with one hand, his beautiful eyes wide open.

She had a fear of not being able to distinguish between reality and dreams.

Taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself down, Luo Yuheng attempted to analyze the abnormality in his body from the beginning.

First, her period hadn't come for two months, and coupled with symptoms like nausea, drowsiness, and fatigue, Luo Yuheng, though inexperienced in matters of love, was certainly well-educated as a member of the royal family. All these symptoms pointed to the possibility that she was very likely pregnant. A small hand quietly rested on her abdomen, and Luo Yuheng could vaguely feel the pulse of life... Of course, this was just an illusion; even if she were truly pregnant, a two-month-old fetus would likely show no signs of life.

If she is pregnant, a very important question arises: she is self-aware that she had a relationship with a man on the day Song Yan fell into a coma, and apart from that, she has never had intimate contact with any other man, but the timing doesn't match up.

That's not all. Luo Yuheng also remembered another question: during that indulgence, she didn't leave any bloodstains.

More and more questions are popping into my mind.

She then thought of something else: when did the completely uncontrollable dream first appear?
She remembered the time very clearly; it was Song Yan and Tian Xuan's wedding night. She had a terrible dream, and when she woke up, she found some dried blood on her leg. Since it was difficult to find a doctor for this, she checked herself and found that there was probably no more blood. She was extremely embarrassed, thinking that she had accidentally cut herself while dreaming.

After that, she would occasionally have such dreams. What was worse, the person who appeared in the dreams was always Song Yan. Strangely enough, ever since she had these dreams, the cold poison never flared up again. So, although Luo Yuheng was extremely ashamed, she let it go.

Careful calculations show that, aside from the dream in Dongling City, the most recent dream should have been before leaving Pingyang and returning to Dongling, when Song Yan was still fighting against the Xiongnu...

It's been about two months since then.

The timing seems to match.

Suddenly, Luo Yuheng's eyes widened. Could it be... that it wasn't actually a dream, but something she did without her knowledge? And the blood on her leg wasn't from accidentally breaking it while she was dreaming; was that blood for someone?

The thought in her mind filled Luo Yuheng with both shame and fear.

After an unknown amount of time, Luo Yuheng finally forced himself to calm down again.

In short, the most important thing right now is to find an experienced doctor to take my pulse and confirm whether I am really pregnant. As for other things, we can talk about them later.

Although Song Yan is a divine physician, one should not seek out Song Yan for such matters, and should even avoid Tianxuan and Tianyi!
If a child is indeed conceived, whose child is it? How should it be handled? These are also questions.

……

The carriage passed through Songzhou City.

The sky, which had been overcast all night, finally began to drizzle. The autumn rain brought a chill, and even the carriage was no longer as stuffy as before.

The streets were filled with hurried pedestrians, their steps quickened by the rain. In a teahouse, a scholar, fanning himself with a folding fan, was inspired to compose poetry while gazing at the pattering autumn rain. On the cobblestone streets, women chased after children running through the rain. The entire Songzhou Prefecture seemed to have become even more lively because of this rain. Along the banks of the Yi and Luo Rivers, slightly yellowed leaves swayed in the wind and rain, and every now and then, some leaves could not withstand the blows and fell to the ground.

Autumn is indeed somewhat desolate.

The wheels creaked and groaned as they turned, occasionally splashing water as they passed through puddles.

Song Yan lowered the carriage curtain. There were five people sitting in the carriage: Song Yan, Hua Lianyue, Luo Tianxuan, Lin Xue, and Luo Tianyi.

Chu Yue and Chu Menglan rode in another carriage.

Because of the rain, not many people went to Ningping this time. Fang Hai, Zi Yu, Gao Yang, five thousand silver-armored guards, and hundreds of boxes of gold and silver jewelry were all left at the Fang residence... Even Luo Yuheng did not come along.

Song Yan thought that Luo Yuheng probably didn't know how to speak to Tianquan after meeting Tianshu.

The closer Lin Xue got to the place where she used to live, the more panicked she became.

The closer one gets to home, the more timid one becomes; this has always been the case.

The rain was getting heavier.

Ningping County is very close to Songzhou City. After about an hour, the county town came into view.

Soldiers were checking people at the city gate.

There was no malicious obstruction; after a simple check to ensure there were no wanted criminals or contraband items in the carriage, they were allowed to pass without any trouble.

Lin Xue's gaze unconsciously drifted out the window.

She was also unfamiliar with this county.

Since entering the Duke's mansion with her mother, she had hardly ever left that small courtyard. The most memorable time she left was when Yang Miaoqing sold her. She desperately searched her memory, trying to find something that matched the scene before her eyes. She tried for a long time, but in the end, she could only give up in despair.

Under the tarpaulin erected in front of the tea stall, many people were taking shelter from the rain. Some would spend a few coins to find a seat, drink the tea with starry skies, watch the wind, rain, and lightning outside, and chat with the people next to them from time to time, with smiles on their faces.

No longer the perpetually gloomy figure he once was, it was clear that Luo Tianshu had truly governed Ningping County quite well. Occasionally, one could see constables in straw raincoats walking along the banks of the Yi and Luo Rivers, striking their gongs to warn the riverside residents of the dangers of floods.

After all, the Yi and Luo Rivers flood almost every year, sweeping away people every year.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the gate of the Luo residence. The torrential rain was washing over the walls, and the servant at the gate was dozing off against a pillar.

Luo Tianyi and Luo Tianxuan then got out of the car.

An oil-paper umbrella is raised.

Raindrops hit the umbrella, creating a thick mist. Luo Tianxuan said softly, "Why don't we go home and rest first?" After traveling for half a month, even riding in a carriage had left her quite exhausted. One night's rest was not enough to recover her fatigue.

Song Yan shook his head: "No, I'll go to the Duke's mansion first and come back tonight."

"Then, go early and come back early."

It was a farewell reminiscent of an old married couple.

It's simple yet warm.

Song Yan smiled and lowered the carriage curtain.

With a shout from Zhang Han, the carriage started moving again, heading towards the Duke's mansion.

Yes, Zhang Han and Lei Yi were driving; those two brothers won the rock-paper-scissors game this time.

About fifteen minutes later, the familiar Duke Song's mansion appeared before her eyes once again. Lin Xue's body trembled slightly, probably because she was thinking about the terrible treatment she received as a child, and her little face looked rather unpleasant.

Song Yan got out of the car first and opened his oil-paper umbrella.

Hua Lianyue then darted under the umbrella.

With her strength, she could easily withstand the rain without even wetting a single strand of her hair if she used her inner energy slightly. However, she enjoyed the feeling of sharing an umbrella with her partner.

Lin Xue and Chu Menglan, who got out of the car afterward, exchanged a glance. They could both see the helplessness in each other's eyes. Their master had probably really fallen for her.

A streak of pure white lightning tore through the sky, as if splitting the entire heavens in two.

Rumble, rumble!

There was a crash of thunder.

The gatekeepers of the Duke's mansion seemed to be much more diligent in their duties. After all, the people here were all arranged by Luo Tianshu from the military camp. Upon seeing the figures of the group, their expressions immediately became vigilant: "Who goes there?"

"Tell Lin Xiangwan and Butler Wang that I, Song Yan, am back," Song Yan said with a smile.

Song Yan?

The Prince of Yan?

That man was clearly stunned for a moment, then a look of wild joy appeared on his face.

As a member of the anti-Japanese pirate garrison, he had naturally heard of Song Yan's reputation. Once upon a time, Song Yan led his troops in burning and killing countless Japanese pirates. The Jingguan (a mound of corpses) outside Ningping County was said to have been built by Song Yan himself, head by head. The fearsome reputation of the Jingguan Madman originated from this place. Even in the north, he could still overwhelm the Xiongnu and Jurchens. ...If Song Yan knew such legends, he would probably roll his eyes. Such a high Jingguan—if he piled up head by head, he'd probably work himself to death and still not be able to build it.

The news of Song Yan being enfeoffed as the Prince of Yan spread throughout Ningping County. As members of the anti-Japanese pirate troops, they felt a strange sense of pride, as everyone knew that although the anti-Japanese pirate troops were nominally under the Princess's command, the actual training methods, weapons, and armor were designed by the Prince, and his pay and daily meals were also set by him. As newly recruited soldiers, almost every anti-Japanese pirate soldier held Song Yan in high esteem, whom they had never met. They also hoped to follow in his footsteps, slaughtering the Japanese pirates who had ravaged the Ningguo coast for decades; even leaving their homes to guard Liaodong and defend against the Xiongnu would be a good thing.

Those who have never served in the military and have never personally experienced the suffering caused by foreign invasions can hardly understand what this feeling is like.

Several seconds passed before the obviously young Japanese soldier finally seemed to react, and then quickly pushed open the door while shouting in a shrill voice, "Ninth Young Master... the Prince is back!"

The sound is very loud.

Even the sound of the torrential rain could not drown it out.

Immediately afterwards, the entire courtyard of the Duke's mansion became agitated. In just a few breaths, Lin Xiangwan, Wang Qingshan, and many guards carrying weapons and wearing armor gathered together. Nearby, some maids peeked out, probably all wanting to see what the legendary Ninth Young Master of the Duke's mansion looked like.

As soon as they reached Song Yan, they all knelt down, wanting to pay their respects.

After all, Song Yan's current status is extraordinary; he is a prince, and a prince with real power and fiefdoms.

You should know that nowadays, almost all princes are nominally granted fiefdoms. A nominal fiefdom means that the place is nominally your fiefdom, but in reality, your status in the fiefdom is extremely high, and no one dares to offend you... Of course, just the status of a prince is enough to make anyone unable to offend you. However, the military power, administrative power, taxation, and grain in the fiefdom are all irrelevant to you. There is even a governor who watches your every move every day, and if there is any misconduct, he will immediately report it to the court.

But Song Yan, this prince, was a true enfeoffed king, holding absolute power over military and political affairs, and could even appoint officials in his fiefdom at will, making him practically a state within a state.

Song Yan felt somewhat helpless and quickly stepped forward. Before Wang Qingshan had completely knelt on the ground, he reached out and helped Wang Qingshan up, saying, "Steward Wang, please don't do this."

“Aunt Lin doesn’t need to perform such a grand ceremony.” “Rise, all of you.”

As Song Yan's voice rang out, Lin Xiangwan and the many concubines and guards around her all stood up.

With everyone's eyes on him, Song Yan felt a little uncomfortable.

"It's raining heavily outside, let's go back first and talk about it later."

Inside the hall, maids had already served fragrant tea.

The fragrant tea slightly dispelled the chill in my body.

Outside, the rain was still pouring down. Raindrops pattered against the leaves of the tall trees in the courtyard, creating a crackling sound. The sky grew increasingly dark; it seemed the rain would continue for a long time. Lin Xue looked around. Arriving at the Duke's mansion, she finally felt a sense of familiarity; after all, it was the place where she had lived for six years, though most of those memories weren't pleasant.

Wang Qingshan's cloudy old eyes kept falling on Lin Xue, his gaze somewhat strange. After a while, Wang Qingshan finally couldn't hold back: "May I ask if this young lady is Miss Xue'er?"

Lin Xue came to the Song family with her mother. Song Hongtao had adopted Lin Xue as his goddaughter, so Lin Xue was considered a young lady of the Duke's mansion. Although no one took her seriously, Song Hongtao never paid her any attention.

Lin Xue smiled and said, "It's kind of you, Butler Wang, to remember me."

Lin Xue hated the Song family to the core, but she didn't feel much hatred towards Butler Wang.

During my time living in the Duke's mansion, I was often bullied by the servants, maids, and especially the young masters of the Duke's mansion. Occasionally, Steward Wang would see this and stop them.

Therefore, Lin Xue felt somewhat grateful to Butler Wang.

Steward Wang then laughed and said, "The old man can't remember either. After all, Miss Xue'er was just a little child when she left the Duke's mansion. She has changed a lot over the years. It's just that the Marquis... the Prince sent a letter back in advance, which is why I remembered Miss Xue'er."

Lin Xiangwan was also taken aback. She had naturally heard about the Ninth Young Master's older sister, but she never expected that the Ninth Young Master would actually be able to find her.

Lin Xue briefly recounted her experiences, which evoked sighs from everyone present.

"Alright, it's all over now. My brother and I are doing just fine, while the Song family is now ruined and dead. I guess this is retribution." Song Yan said, "During my absence, did anything happen at the Duke's mansion?"

"Some minor incidents did occur, but overall the impact is not significant." Lin Xiangwan carefully considered her words before speaking. "As per the Prince's request, the caravan has been reorganized, and the business has been changed from snow salt to soap, so there hasn't been much of an impact."

"The caravan's first trip was to the State of Zhao, and the round trip took three months. Because it was their first time running a trade route, the caravan did not carry much cargo, and they needed to find connections and make favors everywhere, so they only brought back eight thousand taels of silver."

"However, once we get used to it, the time it takes to travel back and forth will naturally decrease, and the income will increase. Butler Wang and I have estimated that if everything goes smoothly in the future, we can make four round trips a year, with each trip generating an income of around 30,000, which would amount to a profit of 120,000 per year."

120,000 isn't a lot.

But this is a business that can be done for a long time.

Moreover, there is currently only one caravan, traveling only the Zhao Kingdom trade route. If the scale were expanded further, the annual revenue from the Chu Kingdom, Liang Kingdom, and even the major prefectures within the Ning Kingdom would be significantly higher. Not to mention 120,000, even 200,000 or 300,000 would be very possible.

“Very good, keep going.” Song Yan nodded: “Don’t blindly expand the scale, stay steady, take it one step at a time, and pay special attention to the safety of the merchants.”

"I've got it." Lin Xiangwan was very happy to receive Song Yan's praise. She knew very well that the rise and fall of the Lin family depended entirely on her. Only by showing more value could she avoid being abandoned by Song Yan.

"There is another matter, and I beg Your Highness's forgiveness," Lin Xiangwan said somewhat nervously. "Although Her Highness the Princess arranged for the Madam's grave to be repaired, it was, after all, a mass grave. So I took it upon myself to buy the mass grave and renovate it, building a large cemetery where all the remains were reburied. Of course, the Madam's tomb remained unchanged, and each tombstone is inscribed with the words that they were able to have a final resting place because of the Madam."

“Here’s the title deed.”

With that, Lin Xiangwan stood up and handed a land deed to Song Yan.

Looking at Lin Xiangwan, Song Yan nodded slightly: "Auntie, you are very kind."

She is a clever woman.

Lin Xiangwan was secretly delighted, knowing that what she had done pleased Song Yan, so she quickly pressed on and said, "There is one more thing... a few months ago, Song Hongtao's third son, Song Jing, broke into the Duke's mansion and was eventually riddled with bullets by the Japanese pirates."

Song Yan raised an eyebrow; he truly didn't know about this matter.

Unexpectedly, Lin Xiangwan possessed such abilities. Although she was somewhat disappointed that she couldn't personally kill Song Jing, she still felt quite pleased.

"I originally intended to send Song Jing's head to the Ninth Young Master."

"However, the journey is long and the weather was hot at that time. Perhaps by the time it is delivered, only the skull will remain. Therefore, I have decided to temporarily store Song Jing's head in the ice room."

As she spoke, Lin Xiangwan called over someone and gave them a few words of advice.

Soon, the man left and then returned, this time carrying a wooden box.

The box was opened, and inside was a human head.

Although the ice room was cold and damp, it had been there for a long time and some signs of decay had appeared.

However, it was definitely Song Jing; Song Yan wouldn't mistake that arrogant and domineering face no matter what.

Lin Xue's pupils trembled slightly. She hadn't expected to see the head of someone who had bullied her since childhood as soon as she returned to the Duke's mansion.

This is a nice gift.

"What about the rest of the body?"

"Feed the dog."

"Then let's take this head and feed it to the dogs."

For Song Jing, this ending was perhaps the most fitting.

"It's a pity that we only captured Song Jing." Lin Xiangwan's voice still held a hint of regret: "Song Huai, Song Yi, and Song An are nowhere to be found. If we could also find these people, the Duke's mansion would be completely wiped out."

call.

Song Yan let out a heavy sigh: "It's alright, there's plenty of time later. Aunt Lin, you've done a great job these past few days."

"What I owe you, I will give you."

"Now, take me to Song Hongtao. I have prepared a wonderful gift for him."

Lin Xiangwan was overjoyed and immediately led Song Yan, Lin Xue, and the others to Song Hongtao's residence.

Lin Xue's face was gloomy, and her eyes were filled with intense hatred.

This hatred stemmed not only from the abuse she suffered as a child, but also from the hatred of her mother's poisoning and the resentment she felt for the torment her younger brother had endured over the years... She already knew that Song Hongtao was living a miserable life, but only by witnessing that scene with her own eyes could Lin Xue truly feel relief.

If I could strangle Song Hongtao with my own hands, that would be even better.

Chu Yue and Chu Menglan were also very curious about what kind of person Song Hongtao was, that he could have such an outstanding son as Song Yan and such an outstanding adopted daughter as Lin Xue, yet in the end he ended up being betrayed and abandoned by everyone.

In just a few steps, they arrived at a small courtyard in the back of the residence. Even though it was raining heavily, the place was still heavily guarded by guards.

Lin Xiangwan pushed the door open with a creak, and Song Yan and his group entered the room.

Outside, it was pouring rain, so you couldn't really feel anything, but as soon as you entered the room, almost everyone subconsciously frowned. A stench that made you want to vomit filled the air.

The room was small.

Apart from the door, there wasn't even a window left. There were no candles inside, and once the door was closed, the whole room was pitch black... Living in such an environment was definitely an extremely cruel punishment.

Even the Ministry of Justice's prison is probably inferior, since at least there are a few torches stuck on the walls of the Ministry of Justice's prison.

Here, it is almost eternal darkness, a truly inhumane torture.

The only time each day when they could see light was when Lin Xiangwan fed Song Hongtao his medicine... but for Song Hongtao, that was another kind of torture.

In the dimly lit room, only a vague human silhouette could be seen on the bed.

Lin Xiangwan found an oil lamp, lit it, and the dim light finally dispelled the darkness in the room.

hiss!
When they saw Song Hongtao's appearance, almost everyone gasped.

First of all, there was the bed. The sheets and blankets hadn't been washed for months; they were practically caked together. They were covered in dark brown grime and reeked of foul odors. Putting everything else aside, just sleeping on something so filthy every day was enough to drive anyone crazy.

Song Hongtao's clothes must have been worn for a long time; he was a complete mess.

If you get a little closer, many of the flies that were crawling on Song Hongtao will buzz and fly away.

The room was a complete mess.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that many parts of Song Hongtao's skin have rotted, revealing grayish-white flesh underneath... and within the grayish-white flesh, one can see milky-white worms wriggling inside.

Those are... maggots!
This was a dignified Duke, yet he has fallen to such a state.

Sad, deplorable!
(End of this chapter)