The daughter she and Song Chengru had treasured for over ten years was dead, and had died under unclear circumstances. This truly cut her heart like a knife.
When people grew old, they loved to think about the past.
She still remembered that the day Song Linlang was born was just like today—clear after snow, with a new atmosphere between heaven and earth, and the ornaments on the curio shelf gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.
She also remembered the nervousness and irrepressible joy in Song Linlang’s eyes when she came to ask for their approval.
As the legitimate eldest daughter of the family, she represented the family’s reputation. They had never thought Song Linlang needed to marry into an equally matched family—they only hoped she could live openly and honorably according to her own wishes.
But even this small wish could not be fulfilled. The daughter they had cherished like a pearl and precious jade for half a lifetime hadn’t even lived to see thirty, dying in a foreign land, unable to see her father and mother one last time before death.
Old Madam Song gripped the armrest beside her tightly, her hands clenched so hard that the joints protruded distinctly.
Song Ci paid his respects in the outer chamber, and upon receiving Old Madam Song’s permission, entered the room. Without even bothering to drink a sip of tea, he said breathlessly, “It was a physician from Hechun Hall who treated her, but now that physician has been arrested, saying he prescribed the wrong formula and poisoned someone.”
How could people not suspect there was something fishy here?
Third Master paused before continuing, “How could there be such a coincidence? The moment he finished treating Linlang, the very next moment he was locked up.”
Old Madam Song nodded with a stern face, propping her chin with one hand in contemplation for quite a while before suddenly saying, “Ci’er, write a letter to the Governor of Shandong, Lord Li Yu.”
If Xiang Yunzhang thought he could bully the Song family like this, truly thinking the Song family had no one, then she would let Xiang Yunzhang know what it truly meant to use one’s power to oppress others.
By evening, Xiang Yunzhang had neither sent over Song Linlang’s dowry and trousseau, nor had there been any sign of Xiang Mingzi.
It wasn’t that Xiang Yunzhang didn’t want to send them—he truly didn’t dare send Nanny Zheng, Nanny Wang, and the others, and had already secretly called human traffickers to sell them away. These were people who dealt in human trafficking under the table; they all knew how to handle people sent out by officials. This group would never appear before Old Madam Song or the Xiang family again.
As for Xiang Mingzi, she also knew about the arsenic matter, so she truly couldn’t be sent over either.
Because of this matter, he was so anxious that blisters formed in his mouth. Although he had made up his mind not to fear the Song family—if they wanted divorce, then divorce it would be—in the end he still feared that if he provoked the Song family too much, they might do something drastic.
Old Madam Xiang couldn’t stand watching him jump around restlessly like this. She frowned and said, “Can’t you just say the person is ill? How can you not even come up with this excuse?!”
Xiang Yunzhang sighed, feeling that Old Madam Xiang was thinking too simply. “Mother, how could there be such a coincidence? Not ill earlier, not ill later, but happens to be ill now? Moreover, Old Madam Song is after all Mingzi’s maternal grandmother. It’s only natural for her to want to see her. If we stubbornly block this, what will outsiders think of us?”
He was an official after all—he still needed to pay attention to his reputation.
Old Madam Xiang naturally thought of this point as well. She lowered her head and thought for a while before letting out a cold laugh. “Others being ill might be too coincidental, but Mingzi has a mother who was like a consumption ghost. It’s normal for her to have a weak constitution. In a while, go invite the witch doctor back.”
Anyway, the witch doctor had said that Xiang Mingzi was a reincarnated disaster star. Now that it just so happened Song Linlang had died, why not simply solidify the reputation of being a disaster star?
Xiang Yunzhang thought it over and truly had no other solution. He dispatched one group of people to invite the witch doctor, while another group went to the Song family’s residence in the city to send word that they couldn’t meet tonight.
Concubine Bai felt sorry for him being so anxious and distressed, and came tearfully before Old Madam Xiang—but she didn’t dare wail loudly. Old Madam Xiang was full of taboos; if one cried too much, she would think others were cursing her to die early.
Old Madam Xiang had no particular aversion to this always docile and gentle concubine. Moreover, she was currently pregnant, so with a cold face she told her to rise. “Your master and I aren’t dead yet. The sky hasn’t fallen. What is there to cry about?”
Concubine Bai wiped the corners of her eyes and truly stopped crying. She sighed and shrank her shoulders slightly. “Old Madam, the Earl’s residence is after all powerful. How can we confront them head-on?”
She paused, then couldn’t help but fill her eyes with tears again as she looked at Old Madam Xiang. “I truly didn’t dare poison the madam. Speaking bluntly before you, the madam in that condition—even without disaster or calamity—wouldn’t have lived much longer. I would have to be a fool to poison her at this juncture. But the physician from Hechun Hall said the madam ate arsenic and was poisoned. Yet the madam specifically kept me alone to talk for a while—this never happened before. Tell me, could it be that…”
Old Madam Xiang’s wrinkled face showed an even more harsh expression. She turned her head to glance at Concubine Bai, keeping a stern face as she said coldly, “Are you saying she took the poison herself?”
Old Madam Song didn’t believe Song Linlang would want to die. Right until her death, wasn’t she still protecting Xiang Mingzi? If she died, wasn’t she afraid Xiang Yunzhang would immediately hand Xiang Mingzi over to the witch doctor to be burned?
Comparing the two, she truly felt it should have been Concubine Bai who did it—otherwise why had she been absent-minded these past few days, looking like someone who had done something against her conscience, her legs even going weak when facing the Song family?
She knew what she knew, but she wouldn’t push Concubine Bai out because of this matter. At the very least, Concubine Bai had borne Xiang Yunzhang sons and daughters, and was currently carrying another.
Moreover, she had never wanted in-laws like the Song family anyway.
Concubine Bai suddenly shivered, somewhat fearfully hugging herself as she nodded. “I truly think the madam was trying to disgust us. With her death like this, the Song family definitely won’t let this rest. Look at how the master has been forced into such a state…”
But if this was true, Song Linlang was truly too terrifying. She wasn’t just throwing a tantrum with Xiang Yunzhang—she actually wanted Xiang Yunzhang dead. If the matter of the master’s concubine poisoning the wife came to light, Xiang Yunzhang would inevitably be crowned with the crime of doting on concubines and destroying his wife. With the Song family’s connections, even if Xiang Yunzhang didn’t die, he would shed several layers of skin.
Old Madam Xiang kept a stern face and scolded her sharply, “Enough! Everything has its limits. The person is already dead. You gossiping about this in front of me won’t bring her back to life to say who poisoned her. I don’t care who it was. In any case, you behave yourself and give me a safe and healthy grandson, and I’ll guarantee nothing happens to you.”
Concubine Bai didn’t dare contradict Old Madam Xiang. Although she felt she hadn’t explained things clearly to Old Madam Xiang, hearing her say this, she couldn’t very well continue. She smiled ingratiatingly and respectfully rose to pour a cup of tea for Old Madam Xiang.