Chapter 337: Chapter 338 - Stepmother and Birthmother’s Probe

Song Yixiao was stunned at her words, then said, “Mother, you don’t have to be so insensitive. Of course I understand that you’re being considerate. After all, my husband has been consoling Emperor’s grandmother these days, and I need to take care of the mansion of Duke of Yan alone. While looking after Qingyue, I still need to prepare for the coming of my aunt’s family. You are doing this because you care for me. Although I regret it, how can I blame you?”

She meant what she said. After all, that was the impression Madam Lu had always given her.

But what Song Yixiao had said sounded like a knife in Madam Lu’s ears and she thought to herself, “Prime Minister Gu was right! As is said, familiarity breeds fondness. Although Eldest Young Lady was raised by the Song Family until she was eight years old, she already had a grudge against the Song Family because of Madam Liu. She was later brought up by Madam Wei in Prince of Hengshan’s mansion. How could she not be taught to hate her father’s family? When she grew up, she was polite to the Song Family because she didn’t want to be criticized for being unfilial, not because she genuinely respected Song Yuan. Between her birth parents, she would definitely think that her birthmother is more important!”

If Song Yixiao really cared about Song Yuan, how could she have reacted so calmly to not being able to see her biological father for the last time. Why did she even take the initiative to excuse her stepmother?

The reason why she understood Madam Lu so easily at this moment was because she didn’t care about Song Yuan at all.

The fact that she hadn’t seen the last of him didn’t bother her!

The so-called regret was just an understatement!

So even if Song Yixiao had known the truth about what had happened in the valley, would she have avenged her own father’s death?

Perhaps she would only help her birthmother to take care of the aftermath!

In that case, Madam Lu felt that there was no need to talk to her stepdaughter any further, so she just closed her eyes and said, “It’s good that you don’t blame me, Eldest Young Lady.”

Song Yixiao, who didn’t know what was going on, spoke gently to comfort her for a while. But she didn’t have the heart to answer, and remained silent.

But Song Yixiao knew that her stepmother had deep feelings for her own father, so she didn’t suspect anything. She thought Madam Lu was just too sad.

“I am not fortunate enough to be at my grandmother’s side from time to time. Now that my father has just left, I am sure my grandmother is grieving. So I would not dare to go to her.” After a long time, Song Yixiao felt that she had said almost everything she could. Although no one else had come to offer their condolences, she did not want to stay any longer. So she excused herself, “Otherwise, how could I afford to cause her to grieve even more? Please tell my grandmother I’m sorry for her loss.”

She was saying this because she did not want to see Elder Lady Pang.

To tell the truth, Song Yixiao was more disgusted with Elder Lady Pang than with Song Yuan.

After all, it was true that the culprit for Wei Mengying’s remarriage was Elder Lady Pang. Sure enough, from Elder Lady Pang’s point of view, the Song Family had a single heirloom for three generations. So a daughter-in-law who could not give birth to a son but did not allow her husband to have a concubine was absolutely evil!

And since Wei Mengying had seen the situation and married into Prince of Hengshan’s mansion, there was nothing Elder Lady Pang could do to make things difficult for her. Therefore, except for Wei Mengying’s own daughter, who else could Elder Lady Pang take her anger out on?

But as far as Song Yixiao was concerned, all her sorrows in her past and present life began with her grandmother’s preference for sons over daughters.

So if it had been Elder Lady Pang who had died, she would have been willing to go and visit Song Yuan. But at present, it was Song Yuan who had died and she was supposed to go and see Elder Lady Pang. She really wasn’t in the mood!

It was a good thing that everyone in the imperial capital knew that the Song Family’s the natal chart of Eldest Young Lady was incompatible with that of her grandmother, Elder Lady Pang, and that it was inappropriate for them to see each other. She didn’t have to find excuses.

But Song Yixiao didn’t know that when she did this, Madam Lu became more and more disappointed, “No matter how sorry the Song Family should be for Eldest Young Lady, after all, there’s a blood tie! Her biological father has just died, yet she refuses to even visit her grandmother. How distant is Eldest Young Lady from the Song Family? It must be hard for her to be so polite to me these past two years! No wonder my husband used to tell me that Eldest Young Lady didn’t want to deal with us at all!”

As she thought this, the decision in her mind became more and more resolute.

But she did not show it in front of Song Yixiao. She only nodded her head gently, saying that she would bring the words to Elder Lady Pang.

Song Yixiao said goodbye to her stepmother, knowing nothing. She boarded the carriage and went out. Before she returned to the mansion of Duke of Yan, she was stopped halfway by a servant from the Prince of Hengshan’s mansion, “Madam, Princess Consort asks you to go to the mansion. She has something important to discuss with you!”

“Now the former emperor is dead. What can be so important that Mother has to find me?” When Song Yixiao heard this in the carriage, she felt a sense of indifference and thought to herself, “Most likely she has also heard about Father’s death. Why does she care about this matter now?”

When she arrived at Prince of Hengshan’s mansion, Wei Mengying dismissed her servants and left her daughter alone to talk. She even didn’t bother to exchange pleasantries, but directly asked, “Did you just go to condole with your father? How was it?”

“It was just like that.” Song Yixiao said carelessly, “Yijiao and Yiyao are too young, so only Stepmother and Yibao are over there to keep watch beside a coffin. So it looks a bit cold.”

Wei Mengying mused, “Did your stepmother say anything to you?”

“My stepmother is too sad. She can’t even cry.” Song Yixiao said, “What could she say to me? But I did say many words of condolence to her. Like, ‘After all, Yibao and the others are still young. Without their father, they are relying on you to support the family’. But it’s hard to tell if she listened to me.”

“Alright.” Wei Mengying seemed to be thinking and said, “When you were there, what kind of people went to offer their condolences?”

“Not a single one.” Song Yixiao said, “Mother, have you forgotten what time it is? All the families are rushing to the palace to offer their condolences and weep. How can they go to the Song Family’s mansion as soon as they receive the news as usual? I reckon no one will go there until evening, right? At least they have to come out of the palace.”

Wei Mengying gave a hum and asked, “Have you seen your grandmother? Did she say anything?”

“Why would I see her?” Song Yixiao felt that her own mother was a bit strange today. Wei Mengying’s usual term of endearment for Elder Lady Pang was usually “old bastard” or “old fossil”. At this time, Elder Lady Pang lost her son. Wei Mengying should be gloating, instead of being so preoccupied like this.

“You haven’t seen her?” Hearing this, Wei Mengying was disappointed and complained, “At least your own father died. How could you, as the eldest legitimate granddaughter, not visit your grandmother at a time like this? You really will make mistakes without my exhortations. You should go to the Song Family’s mansion again tomorrow and at least make a good show of it!”

“Mother, have you forgotten?” Song Yixiao said unconcernedly, “I got married from Prince of Hengshan’s mansion and didn’t return to the Song Family’s mansion because my destiny bumped up against my Grandmother’s. Now that my father is gone, my Grandmother will be devastated. After I go to see her again, if something happens to her later, won’t they say that it’s my fault? Why do I need to get myself into such trouble?”

Then she doubted, “Moreover, you always think that we don’t need to deal with Grandmother. Why are you urging me to go see her today? You know that Grandmother has never had a good word to say when she sees us. At this point in time, if I go to her, it’s just to be aggravated!”

“I’m just worried about you.” Wei Mengying was shocked at her words and hastened to cover up, “That’s your own father anyway. Filial piety is the most important thing these days. You’ve shown to be a person who has good manners for so many years. If you lose everything because of this single mistake, will it be worthy?”

Song Yixiao could never have imagined that her own mother was so nervous to find out how the Song Family would react because she had killed her own father. So, after hearing this explanation, she didn’t suspect anything more. Of course she didn’t believe all of Wei Mengying’s words. She just thought that her birth parents were a couple at a young age. And to be honest, Song Yuan was better than the Prince of Hengshan, from the perspectives of talent, looks, mannerisms, and devotion to Wei Mengying. So it wasn’t surprising that Wei Mengying still had some lingering feelings for him after abandoning him.

Therefore, she didn’t continue to ask, but just said, “I will of course go to the Song Family’s mansion again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but I will only be able to persuade my stepmother and coax Yibao. As for my Grandmother, I will never go there of my own accord. Wasn’t it enough that I had suffered so much maltreatment from her? I can’t bear to look at her face now!”

Wei Mengying had wanted to persuade her daughter again. But on second thought, there was no one left in Elder Lady Pang’s maternal family. If she knew anything and wanted to take revenge on Wei Mengying, there was no reason why she did not bring Madam Lu’s maternal family into this matter, even with Gu Shao’s help.

After all, the Prince of Hengshan’s Family was a powerful clan. Even though Gu Shao had the power to overthrow the court, it was unlikely that he would be able to aim at a prince without sufficient reasons.

The new ruler had only just ascended to the throne and needed to win the hearts and minds of the people. So how would he be willing to offend the Prince of Hengshan’s family, which had a strong position in the royal clan?

If the Song Family and Gu Shao wanted to avenge Song Yuan, they would have to enlist a few more helpers. And Madam Lu had never had many centrifuges, so if she knew the truth, how could she not reveal it in front of Song Yixiao?

Wei Mengying still trusted her eldest daughter’s tact and insight. After all, she herself had been in a lot of trouble at her daughter’s hands.

So it seemed that the Song Family didn’t know yet?

As for the reason why the Song Family hadn’t made a fuss when Song Yuan, the pillar of the family, had died in the wild valley, after thinking about it, Wei Mengying thought it might have something to do with Song Yuan’s accomplice.

“I wonder who that unknown person is?” She thought in private, “The Jin Family? The Cui Family? The Marquis of Boling? The Wei Family? Or someone else?”

She had screwed over so many people that Wei Mengying was unable to determine who was colluding with Song Yuan to kill her!

“You also have a point. In that case, you can take care of it yourself. I will not worry about you.” Wei Mengying felt that she needed to sort things out alone and find this person and do away with him as soon as possible. She didn’t have the heart to keep her daughter any longer, so she said, “I’ve heard that my son-in-law has been away from the mansion a lot lately. So you’re busy all by yourself. Take care of yourself and don’t get too exhausted!”

“Thank you for your concern. I will.” Song Yixiao saw this and nodded, picked up her tea and took a sip. Then she excused herself.

In the next days, she went to the palace to weep for the former emperor and went to the Song Family to offer her condolences a few times. A minister’s funeral could not be compared to a state funeral. Especially since the Song Family didn’t have many people and could not afford to delay, so the funeral only lasted for seven days and then they buried the body.

As Song Yixiao’s half-brother still needed to be held by mother, and Song Yuan was the single heir in his generation, there were many things that Madam Lu could not do with alone. So she had to turn to Song Yixiao, who was already married. Song Yixiao was not able to shirk her responsibilities, so she had to run here and there. She had lost a lot of weight as she managed to get her own father’s body buried.

But Elder Lady Pang never showed up. The Song Family said that the old lady was too grief-stricken to get up and could not see her son’s funeral, so she stayed in her room.

There were few things in this world that could compare to the tragedy that befell Elder Lady Pang, who lost her husband in her youth and her only son in her old age.

Although Song Yuan had a son, how could a grandson be closer to her than a son born from her own womb?

Song Yuan was the No. 1 Scholar and had just been allowed to leave the imperial capital. He was a talent that Gu Shao hoped would lead to a high rank in the future. He was the son who could have revitalized the family. But he died in his prime. It was not a matter of whether Song Yiyao would be able to match his father’s achievements in the future, but with the current situation of children dying, it would be nice if he could grow up safely and pass on the Jiangnan Hall’s bloodline.

In such a situation, it was not surprising no matter how sad Elder Lady Pang was.

The Emperor’s Grandmother and Empress Dowager Su in the palace were examples of this.

Song Yixiao was unkindly glad that she could not meet her grandmother. Otherwise, if Elder Lady Pang would have used her as a punching bag in front of everyone, what could she do as a granddaughter?

On normal days, there might be somebody speaking up for her. At this time, all the people would definitely persuade her to show restraint. She had to understand her grandmother’s pain of the loss of the son!

After the burial of Song Yuan, the state mourning had lasted for half a month. Although the former emperor’s funeral was still not over, the whole imperial capital was getting used to it and was settling down.

At this moment, the family of Jian Lizhi, who was in a hurry, finally arrived at the imperial capital!