Chapter 419 — The Truth

"Stop shifting the blame, and stop spouting nonsense before me." He exposed Song Han's little scheme. "What sort of person is Nurse Xie, that she would say such things to Mother in your presence? It must be that Li Miaoniang found you before the incident. At first you did not believe her, but then she showed you A Yan, who looks exactly like Mother, and you were afraid. You not only gave her money from time to time, but played the dutiful, adorable son before Mother, terrified she would discover you were not her own child and despise you... That is why you clamored to marry a Jiang daughter, and especially to marry Cousin Xiexiu. You were merely afraid that when the truth came out, though you would not be a grandson of the Jiang family, you would be their son-in-law—and neither the Jiangs nor I could simply stand by and watch Cousin Xiexiu become a widow... Do not argue with me. I have no wish to dwell on the past. You need only tell me: before Mother died, what did Father say to her?"

"I truly do not know!" Song Han swore an oath. "If I know and do not tell you, brother, may heaven strike me dead and may I come to a wretched end!"

Song Yan did not press him further as Song Han had expected. Instead he suddenly asked, "Then when you served Mother the medicine, did you know it was poisoned?"

Song Han was struck dumb for several moments.

"At first I did not know," he said hastily. "By the time I learned and wanted to tell Mother, Father and Mother were already quarreling, and Mother had begun to vomit blood..."

Song Yan gave a bark of laughter. "So those not born of the same mother truly cannot pull in the same direction! Why would you need to tell Mother? Nurse Xie is a shrewd and capable woman—you need only have hinted to her that the black chrysanthemums Mother kept had died, and she would have investigated on her own. Yet you tell me you had no chance to tell Mother... Truly, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the sons of rats know how to burrow. While Mother lived she treasured you like a jewel, yet you calmly served her poisoned medicine. No wonder you kept a cat in your rooms and made it taste your food—you committed the sin yourself, yet feared the retribution would fall on your own head. You are just like that mother of yours: utterly selfish."

Song Han had always been ashamed of Li Miaoniang.

He dreamed of having been born of Jiang-shi, dreamed of being the legitimate second son of the Yingzhen Ducal Estate, with no connection whatsoever to that cheap wretch who sold smiles at the door.

Song Yan's words struck precisely at his wound.

The pain turned his face white.

Song Yan felt that one more glance at him would defile his own eyes.

He rose and strode out of the study.

Outside, Song Cen was pacing anxiously in the courtyard, while Lu Ming and Guard Chang stood clearly divided on the east and west sides of the yard.

Song Yan came to a stop beneath the covered corridor.

He studied the grapevine, thick with leaves and heavy with sour fruit, his gaze deep.

※

Sisters and brothers, here is today's first update. Please vote with your pink tickets.

o(n_n)o~