Chapter 347: Chapter 348 - Parted in Discord

Song Yixiao hesitated for a while, but finally decided to go and see for herself how Lu Chai’er had been possessed by a demon. When she arrived at the courtyard where Lu Chai’er and her husband lived, Madam Deng said in a soft voice outside, “Chai’er, Lady of Yan is here to see you!”

Inside, Lu Chai’er screamed hysterically, accompanied by the sound of pounding things, which made everyone’s face change. Her husband, Gu Tongyu, really valued his wife and immediately came out to make Song Yixiao leave, “My wife is sick, so it is inconvenient for her to meet you. Lady of Yan, please go to the back hall, in case you will be disturbed here!”

In this case, Song Yixiao had no choice but to leave.

When she left, Madam Deng personally saw her off. By her words, Madam Deng asked Song Yixiao if she could talk to Wei Mengying and ask her to come and visit Lu Chai’er.

Madam Deng didn’t believe that Wei Mengying would plot against Lu Chai’er. She said bluntly, “Although we came to the imperial capital not long ago, we had heard when we were in Hongzhou that Prince of Hengshan favored Princess Consort of Wei. Chai’er’s mother is just a concubine. To put it bluntly, if Princess Consort of Wei really wanted to plot against her, Chai’er probably would have not lived to the day when she got married! Not to mention marrying my kid. There must be some misunderstanding here. Originally, I should have made Chai’er go to the Prince of Hengshan’s mansion to ask Princess Consort of Wei. But, Yixiao, as you can see, she is too intrusive to go in this state. Therefore, with all due respect, I can only ask Princess Consort of Wei to come here!”

“Does my mother still not know about this?” Song Yixiao asked tentatively.

“I’ve also told Princess Consort of Wei. But since she returned from Cuihua Mountain, she has been in bad health. She has declined to come twice.” Madam Deng sighed, “In my opinion, Cuihua Mountain is too strange this year. Why do incidents happen so often there?”

Emperor Xianjia died. Lu Chai’er was possessed by a demon. Song Yuan broke his leg. Princess Consort of Wei got sick… Madam Deng thought that something was wrong with Cuihua Mountain’s geomancy.

Song Yixiao didn’t believe in such things, so she didn’t think that way. But she was reminded, “When Mother asked Ms. Bo to send me the things two days ago, Ms. Bo didn’t mention that Mother was in bad health. She told this to the Gu Family, obviously because she didn’t want to come! In that case, could it be that she really had something to do with Lu Chai’er’s fear?”

She gave a vague and perfunctory reply to Madam Deng. Then she didn’t return to the mansion of Duke of Yan, but went straightforwardly to Prince of Hengshan’s mansion to see Wei Mengying.

Wei Mengying heard that her eldest daughter came and met Song Yixiao in the drawing room, “You are in such a hurry. Are you going to fight for someone again?”

“Mother, since you know it in your heart, why are you asking me?” Wei Mengying hid the sting in her words. So, Song Yixiao also talked back, “I just visited Chai’er. She was terrified somehow. Her mother-in-law even thinks she’s been possessed by a demon. I wonder what Mother thinks.”

“A good conscience is a soft pillow!” Wei Mengying grunted and said without changing her face, “She should ask herself. Madam Deng also came to talk to me about it before. I asked about it and knew that Lu Chai’er’s accident was during the summer vacation at Cuihua Mountain. She had been married at that time. Do you think I could reach out to the family of Prime Minister to make things difficult for her? Besides, I could never hide anything from you. All the schemes were just to make Guanyun the heir of the prince. How could this have anything to do with Lu Chai’er, a concubine’s daughter?”

Song Yixiao thought about it, and she found it reasonable. But she still had some doubts, “Chai’er always thinks that you are trying to harm her. Although the Gu Family now thinks that she is talking nonsense, after hearing too much of this, they will suspect you unavoidably.”

“It’s really rare. Are you caring for me?” Wei Mengying gave Song Yixiao a sarcastic look and stroked her hair, then she said, “I’ve been thinking about it. I guess it has something to do with that time when the boat capsized on the lake.”

“I remember that Chai’er and Wei Chan rescued you at that time.” Song Yixiao thought back and said surprisingly, “In that case, Chai’er should not have been so frightened, right?”

If she was really frightened, how could she save others?

“Doesn’t her mother-in-law think that she has been possessed by a demon?” Wei Mengying said carelessly, “Have you forgotten what happened in that lake? It’s said that you had a personal encounter at that time! Maybe, Madam Deng’s prophecy has come true!”

Song Yixiao’s face turned awkward. By the lake where the boat had capsized and the thing she had personally encountered, wasn’t Wei Mengying implying that she and Jian Xubai had invited Pei Yourui and Nie Wuying to visit the lake and had come across the floating corpse of Princess Consort of Yi two years ago?

“But she wasn’t the only one who had fallen into the lake at that time.” Song Yixiao felt the goosebumps on her body and subconsciously retorted.

Wei Mengying grunted, “Who knows? Maybe because she was timid, or because she had a bad life. Anyway, don’t you blame me for anyone’s bad fortune! As her husband’s family, the Gu Family hasn’t been so attentive. Think about it. Guanyun is now a student of Mr. Helou. What’s the relationship between Mr. Helou and Prime Minister Gu? No matter how I dislike Lu Chai’er, why do I offend Guanyun’s seniors?”

Song Yixiao said, “Mother, what are you saying? I just felt that this matter was really strange. I heard from Madam Deng that you had been in bad health since you returned from Cuihua Mountain. I couldn’t be relieved. So I came to visit you.”

“Now that you’ve finished checking, you can leave if you have nothing else to say!” Wei Mengying looked cold as she unceremoniously expelled her guest, “If you have so much filial piety, why don’t you go and see your grandmother and stepmother? It’s only been five months since your father died, and your half-brother is so young. Doesn’t the Song Family need the support of the eldest daughter?”

Song Yixiao thought Wei Mengying was saying this out of her rage. So, she said, “Mother, why do you have to be like this? I’ve been raised by you after all. The relationship between me and the Song Family just stays on the surface. Besides, you also know how much my grandmother hates me. No matter whether something happens to them or not, if they don’t call me, why don’t I just pretend to know nothing and save my breath? If there is someone about whom I am truly concerned, that must be you!”

“You’re just saying those nice words!” Hearing this, Wei Mengying’s gaze softened for a moment, and then she said, “I remember that I have harmed you. How can you forget with such a good memory?”

“Mother, if you really have to mention those unpleasant things, what can I do?” Song Yixiao sighed, “So what should I do? If I tell you nice things, you will think that I’m just sweet-talking you. If I tell you negative things, you will say that I’m being unfilial. It would be nice if you didn’t give birth to me, right?”

The mother and the daughter parted in discord.

After Song Yixiao left Prince of Hengshan’s mansion, she felt that something was wrong with Lu Chai’er’s condition. She thought for a while, then she remembered that Wei Chan had saved Wei Mengying together with Lu Chai’er.

So she thought she would send someone to invite Wei Chan over for a gathering some time and ask her about it.

The reason why she didn’t go to the Wei Family in person was not that she despised Wei Chan. It was because the Wei Family was her legitimate maternal family, which was unlike other families. If Song Yixiao came over, Elder Lady Cao, Madam Mu and other seniors would definitely come out to chat with her. After exchanging pleasantries with so many people, most of the day would have passed. She had a daughter at this time, so her time became tighter. She didn’t dare to waste it.

However, when she returned to the mansion of Duke of Yan, Jinxun came up and reminded her that in two days’ time, it would be Prince of Liang’s legitimate eldest son’s birthday banquet. Song Yixiao had forgotten this thing. She was busy preparing the presents and the dresses and jewels to be worn at this moment, so she couldn’t spare the time for the time being. She instructed her subordinates to invite Wei Chan after the banquet.

The legitimate eldest son of Prince of Liang was given the name Lu Chenggui by Emperor Xianjia. But he had been sickly since he was born due to a plot when he was in his mother’s womb. A large group of foster nurses and maids surrounded him, and there were doctors on standby. But after a whole year of raising him like a glazed child, he was still not as well as everyone had expected when he was held out on the 19th of November.

“He looks like he’s even younger than Qingyue.” Xie Yiren saw him and said to Song Yixiao in a low voice after Princess Consort of Liang had gone away, “This child is three months older than Qingyue, right?”

“He’s only two years old. He will get better if he’s raised carefully.” Song Yixiao also felt that Lu Chenggui’s condition was not very good. Aunt Yun had said before that he would need to be raised very carefully to grow up. But, thinking of the skinny baby in the Red Silk Qilin Swaddling Clothes, she was also a little worried. Could he really be raised in this condition?

They were not alone in their lack of confidence in Lu Chenggui’s health. The others who had come to celebrate didn’t say anything about it, but in their hearts, they suspected that sooner or later the couple would suffer the loss of their son.

Perhaps Prince of Liang and his wife were also unsure, but a few days after the banquet, news came out of the palace that Prince of Liang had asked Emperor Duanhua to appoint his legitimate eldest son as his heir. Apparently, he wished to give the child a blessing so that he could grow up safely using the decree and the status.

When the news came out, everyone said that Princess Consort of Liang was really lucky. Originally, she was just a concubine’s daughter abandoned by her family, but due to the death of her legitimate sister, she married a royal prince and became Princess Consort, and even had such a warm and loving husband. Even though she gave birth to a congenitally deficient son, she was more protected by Prince of Liang. No one knew where she obtained her fortune, but they were indeed jealous.

Originally, after Lu Chenggui’s birthday banquet, Song Yixiao planned to invite Wei Chan over for a chat. But when she was thinking about it, Elder Lady Duanmu sent someone to say she had something to discuss.

Although Elder Lady Duanmu had reconciled with Duke of Yan’s family a few days ago, she had never taken the initiative to approach them after that. When she was suddenly summoned at this time, Song Yixiao surely didn’t dare to delay. She hurriedly changed her dress and led her subordinates over.

“Actually, it’s not a big deal.” Elder Lady Duanmu looked thinner than when she had just arrived in the imperial capital, but she looked much better. She looked vigorous as if she was several years younger. Seeing that Song Yixiao was so serious about it and came, she showed a rare smile and said gently, “It’s just that due to Imperial Privileged Examination next year, there are a few old acquaintances who are interested in attending. They will be arriving in the imperial capital in the next few days. I am thinking whether Xubai would like to get to know them.”

Song Yixiao thought to herself that there was no one left in Jinxiu Hall, and Prince of Chengyang’s family was completely wiped out back then. How could Elder Lady Duanmu have old acquaintances attending the examination?

So she thought they might be the members of a side branch of the Duanmu Clan.

She had been told by Jian Xubai that Elder Lady Duanmu had saved his life and that they could not refuse any requests she could grant.

Therefore, she said at this time, “Those who have caught your eye must be the pillars of the country. I am sure my husband will be delighted to have talented people for company. I wonder when they arrive in the imperial capital, so that we can send people to greet them.”

“We don’t know as much as the men about the matters in the court.” Hearing that, Elder Lady Duanmu shook her head and said kindly, “We should ask Xubai about this first and let him decide.”

After a pause, she said, “The old acquaintances I am talking about are actually related to your maternal family. They are members of the Shen Family of West Liang Region and of the Liu Family of East Hu Region. They have guarded their graves for three generations, and their period of refuge has expired. This time they are going to attend the examination, which means that these two families will also get involved in the court’s matter in the future!”

Elder Lady Duanmu’s expression was obscure. It was hard to tell whether she was happy or angry, but her tone was plain, “As the legitimate daughter of Jiangnan Hall, even if you didn’t grow up in the Song Family, you must have a good idea of what these two families are like! In terms of the talent of their members, even if their power is not as strong as before, the Six Warlords must have something unique, since they are able to pass on their legacy to this day. These two families have not attended in the court these years, so they must be cultivating the young generations! It’s a pity that…”

She gazed longingly at the flowers in the Blue Blossom Beauty Kettle, and sighed softly, “It’s a pity that it’s no longer possible to have a clan owning as much power as the Six Warlords!”

After all, Song Yixiao had not been taught by the orthodox Jiangnan Hall. So, she could not feel the same way as Elder Lady Duanmu did at this time. She only said, “I will follow your order!”