Chapter 516 — The Ancestral Hall
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
More than that, no one had ever looked down on her for being a widow. Several of the older women had even urged her time and again to find another husband. And the peddler son of Widow Du at the head of the village, whenever he came back from carrying his wares from village to village, would bring her brightly colored silk threads. This time, when he heard the lady wanted her back at the manor, he thought she would not return, and followed behind her carriage all the way out of Zhending County...
At the thought, her cheeks grew warm. She shot a quick glance at Dou Yan, and seeing that Dou Yan was speaking with Miao Ruosu and had not noticed anything amiss, she let out a breath and her anxious heart finally settled.
Wuyi came running to find them: "My lady, Second Madam, Miss Qixia—the masters and the uncles from the Lu family have all arrived. The Heir Apparent asks you to come over."
The curtain was about to rise.
Dou Xin followed Wuyi to the ancestral hall.
The several masters of the Song family and the several uncles of the Lu family sat in the great hall of the ancestral hall, while the women waited in the side chamber.
Before long, Song Cen and Song Chu entered the ancestral hall one after the other.
Everyone rose to exchange greetings with Song Cen and Song Yan.
Song Yan was mild in manner, but Song Cen looked as though someone owed him three thousand taels of silver and had no intention of repaying it. He nodded stiffly at the assembled company and took his seat in the grand armchair at the center of the hall. "I have already told you all why I called you here," he said, his gaze sweeping over the Lu family. "Today I have asked you here to serve as witnesses, so that when people ask hereafter, they will know that from this day on Song Han is no longer a descendant of the Song family." Then his gaze darkened, and he shouted, "Bring Song Han in!"
Song Han was nearly going out of his mind!
Dou Yan had shut him in the firewood shed, served him good food and drink, and yet not a single person had spoken a word to him—no scolding from Song Cen, no interrogation from Song Zhi. Everyone seemed to have forgotten he existed. He wished to defend himself, but there was no one to listen, and he did not know what would be waiting for him next. One moment he imagined the shed door creaking open, his father standing on the threshold with a dark face, Leng Heng saying to him, "Come with me," while Song Sui could only swallow his anger and watch him leave with his father. The next moment he imagined the door kicked open and himself dragged out like a dead dog, those men heedless as the gravel tore his clothes, snarling, "You have eaten and drunk your fill today—next meal you will be dining in the courts of the King of Hell"...
So when Xia Lian came in with several serving women carrying hot water and clothes, he threw himself down before Xia Lian with a thud, clutched her leg, and burst into tears: "It wasn't me, that business truly wasn't me, I have been wronged... let me see my brother once, just once..." When he saw that Xia Lian was unmoved and wore a trace of mockery, he hastily changed his tune: "I beg you, carry a message to my father for me. I will not treat you ill, and you know my father is very fond of me. If he learns who has done this to me, though he may not be able to touch the one behind it, dealing with the hands that carried it out would be easy enough... This is a family matter of ours, so do not meddle in it. Since ancient times, no subject who became entangled in a contest over the succession has come to a good end—and the same will be true of you..."
No wonder everyone said the Second Master and the Heir Apparent were not born of the same mother.
How could the Heir Apparent, so steadfast and resolute, have such a full brother?
It was only with great effort that Xia Lian kept herself from kicking Song Han aside.