Chapter 52 The Confession

Seeing that Song Zaishui was so anxious that her face turned pale, Wei Changying didn’t know what to do and hurriedly asked the guard outside the curtain, “Since Mr. Deng has sent a message for the second cousin, does the second cousin have any good way to solve this problem?”

When Song Zaishui heard that, she also stopped crying and listened eagerly.

The guard said respectfully, “Mr. Deng said that under this circumstance, Miss must not marry into the royal family. Otherwise, there will be no good results!”

Wei Changying said hurriedly, “This is needless to say! Just tell me if the second cousin has any solutions!”

“Mr. Deng said one solution, but…” the guard said with hesitation.

Song Zaishui suddenly lost her temper and heavily slapped the table. She said angrily, “Why are you still so wordy at this moment? Since my second brother has a plan to ask Mr. Deng to bring it to me, why do you hesitate to tell? Even if the idea is risky, it’s not your idea anyways!”

The guard had no choice but to say, “Mr. Deng said that something bad would happen in the palace in a few days. If Miss returns to the capital at that time, he can spread rumors that Miss’s horoscope has collided with the Emperor. So it will be natural that Miss is not suitable to enter the palace.”

Wei Changying was stunned and said, “Bad horoscope, this reputation….”

“I’m going to lose my life. Do I still care about this?” After all, this thing could only be decided by Song Zaishui. She took a deep breath and said, “It’s just… can His Majesty believe in this reason?”

The guard smiled bitterly and said, “Mr. Deng said that as long as Miss arrived in the capital on the day of Zhong Xiaoyi’s birthday, someone would take care of it. This will make sure that Miss doesn’t have to marry into the Eastern Palace!”

Song Zaishui immediately heard something unusual, and her sight froze a bit, “Did you ask him whether it was my second brother’s idea or his own?”

“Mr. Deng said that he didn’t want to hide it from the Miss that his lineal aunt is the Honored Consort in the palace.”

Wei Changying said surprisingly, “Honored Consort? We can’t believe everything of this man’s words!”

“I know!” Song Zaishui had now calmed down and sneered, “It turns out that the Honored Consort is at odds with the Empress. Is this the Honored Consort trying to cut the Empress down?” Gazing for a moment, she cocked the corners of her mouth, “So what? As long as the Honored Consort really doesn’t want me to marry into the Eastern Palace, it’s natural that we each take what we need!”

Wei Changying warned, “Now it’s hard to say whether or not it is true that the Honored Consort is at odds with the Empress so that she wants to instigate you not to marry into the Eastern Palace. Moreover, if the Honored Consort only has this purpose, it is not impossible that she will harm you afterward!”

“I know the Honored Consort can’t be trusted either.” Song Zaishui nodded and looked solemnly, but she said, “But our previous plan obviously won’t work, and at least I still have a chance here with the Honored Consort. Otherwise, I’m afraid you will also be implicated!”

She raised her hand to stop what Wei Changying was about to say, “We are cousins, not mother and daughter. I have said before that it is my aunt who loves you the most. If you want to be loyal to others, think about aunt first! How many years has she been waiting till your birth? Not mention uncle and Changfeng!”

Wei Changying became silent and said softly after a while, “Life is hard!”

“There are still two months before Zhong Xiaoyi’s birthday.” Song Zaishui instructed the guard outside the curtain, “Try to find someone you can trust. Go to the capital first and inquire about the Deng Family, especially pay attention to the Honored Consort and Deng Zongqi!”

The guard said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Mr. Deng said that after he recovered from his injury, he might move out or continue to chase up his companions. But he left an address to me. It is outside the city, and he said you could go there to find him later.”

“It seems that the affair between the Honored Consort and the Empress is no secret.” Song Zaishui understood the situation and said to Wei Changying, “He managed to live in the front yard this time and passed on the message to me. But if Grandaunt and aunt heard about it, they would certainly send him away. That’s why he’s in a hurry to leave an alternate address. This man is shrewd and cautious. After all, he is still the eldest son of the Deng Family.”

Wei Changying sighed, “I hope this is a possible way to stay alive, and it would be better for Honored Consort Deng not to be too vicious.”

“After all, it is the one who comes with my second brother’s jade.” Song Zaishui looked dignified, but her tone was relaxed. She said, “At least the second brother thinks this is a way to stay alive!”

Wei Changying thought for a moment. Although she thought that it might break Song Zaishui’s fantasy, this matter was too serious. So she said, “Although you said that the Siskin Holds the Lucid Ganoderma was not known to the outsiders, I think we should take the broken jade and see if it is the piece carved by my second cousin himself. We are Misses in boudoir and Fengzhou or Jiangnan are so far away from the capital. Then why do people in the capital know our thoughts so quickly? Forget about me. Many people have seen that I learn martial arts with Uncle Jiang that I can’t hide it from others at all. But your reluctance, except to tell me in private and write to my uncle in the letters, how did it leak out? Even this news can be leaked, not to mention the information of a piece of jade.”

Song Zaishui was silent for a while and said softly, “You’re right.”

If the Siskin Holds the Lucid Ganoderma was not gifted by Song Zaijiang, then Song Zaishui or the Song Family would be at an embarrassing situation.

And even many secrets would not be able to keep any more…

This also meant that the credibility of Deng Zongqi could not be proved by Song Zaijiang. If Song Zaishui insisted to act according to his plan, god knows what result would be?

However, if Song Zaishui just ignored him, she would still have no hope for the future.

This time, after coming out of Mingse House, Wei Changying wondered at the intersection for a while before she decided to find Madam Song.

Seeing her daughter come to visit her, Madam Song put down her matters and asked with deep concern, “What happened?”

“My cousin could not easily heal from the injury. If Mother has enough people here, let Huaping or others go and take care of Zaishui at Mingse House.” Wei Changying mused for a moment and said.

Madam Song frowned and looked around. Granny Shi understood what she meant and dismissed all the people other than her trusted subordinate.

“So what happened?”

Wei Changying’s eyes suddenly turned red and choked with sobs about the causes and following consequences.

After listening to this, Madam Song was stunned for a while before murmuring, “Why is this child so miserable?” Then she suddenly came to her senses and said angrily, “Break the pledge of the marriage… and this is the pledge of the marriage with the royal family? How dare you interfere with it!”

“Originally, I thought the Crown Prince was a bad person and took pity on my cousin’s talent and appearance. But in the end, I thought there was a glimmer of hope. After all, my cousin has a lot of means of doing things. Unlike me, I always make Mother worry about me. Zaishui is also the Crown Princess chosen by the Empress herself. Even if the Crown Prince is not virtuous, what if my cousin will be able to make the Crown Prince become a better person? But now, if my cousin enters the Eastern Palace, how can she stay alive?” Wei Changying wiped her tears and pleaded, “Mother, cousin is only your only niece. Can’t you really do something about it? The Empress and the Crown Prince have already held a grudge for this. Thus, no matter what happens in the future, not to mention Cousin herself, Uncle will also be encumbered! After that, even if the Crown Prince inherited the throne and looked back to settle this matter, didn’t my uncle both lose her daughter and the efforts he put into to support the Eastern Palace?”

Madam Song was muddled and her eyes turned red. She said tearfully “What do you know? Zaishui is also lineal kin, how can I not love her? But your uncle… and even if your uncle changes his mind now, how can he easily break off the engagement? Don’t say it’s the Crown Prince who is betrothed to Zaishui! Even you, do you think the marriage of the Shen Family can be changed at will?”

Seeing this situation, Granny Shi hurriedly came to ease the moment. Madam Song wiped away her tears, calmed down, and continued to say, “But you are also right. Now it is not a question of whether Zaishui is going to have a good life when marrying into the Eastern Palace, but that the Song Family will be determined not to lose the only lineal daughter of this generation and to be resented by the Empress and the Crown Prince!”

She raised her head and told Sister Shi, “Prepare ink, I want to write to my father! When did the daughter of the Song Family have to fall so low that she had to rely on the Deng Family to reject the marriage?”

When it came to the safety and future of the Song family, Madam Song did not intend to tangle with Song Yuwang who was determined to marry her daughter into the royal family as promised. In addition to this, Fengzhou was very far away from the capital and much closer to Jiangnan.

Duke Duanhui Song Xinping, the Family Head of the Song Family, was not used to the natural environment and climate of the capital so that he brought his wife back to live in Jiangnan Hall and still had good health. Song Xinping valued the interests of the Song Family a lot so that he had never liked the fact the Song Zaishui did not want to marry into the royal family. However, Song Xinping was not in favor that having a Crown Princess would be good for the family or that the Crown Prince was not a bad person. What he cared about was that if Song Zaishui did not marry into the royal family, the reputation of the Song Family of Jiangnan would be tarnished.

It was precisely because Song Xinping supported Song Yuwang and insisted that Song Zaishui should fulfill the promise so that even if Old Madam of the Song Family loved her granddaughter, she was unable to protect her.

However, comparing with the reputation of the Song Family, Song Xinping would certainly not do things that were thankless or even forge a grudge after losing his granddaughter.

Song Xinping was known for his faithful actions in the country, but he was not a fool. Otherwise, how could he have the obedience to the people when he was in charge of Jiangnan Hall? As the master of gentlefolk, the important thing was to be able to revitalize the family and safeguard the interests of the Song Family. It was not ok for him to only have good conduct that was worthy of setting an example in the country.

As the lineal daughter of Song Xinping, how could Madam Song did not know that the faithful reputation her father worked so hard to build up was also only for the benefit of Song Family.

Now the Song Family had been resented by the Empress and the Crown Prince, which could not be solved by continuing to marry Song Zaishui into the royal family. In that case, why would it be necessary to pay the debt by losing the granddaughter? Now that the feud had been made, the Song Family might as well look for chances on the side of Honored Consort Deng. If there was a chance, then just let the Empress Qian’s matter of mother and son to happen again to thoroughly eliminate the aftermath so that the Song Family could rest assured!

Wei Changying was relieved to see her mother acting like this and thought that it was right to confess to her mother. Although her grandmother was also her cousin’s grandaunt, it was still a generation away. Her mother was her cousin’s aunt, who always loved her cousin more. Without her mother, she couldn’t be able to ask maternal grandfather to do anything.

Wei Changying’s maternal grandfather should be able to overawe her uncle more than her maternal grandmother and should also have more solutions and ideas. Her grandfather was extremely shrewd. Her maternal grandfather had a similar status with her grandfather, whose means of doing things should not be worse than her grandfather’s.

She breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn’t forget to explain, “My cousin is scared now, and I’m afraid she won’t get over it. Before, my cousin only wanted to ruin her appearance so that she didn’t have to marry into the Eastern Palace. But now I’m afraid that she has the will to die to prevent encumbering the Song Family!”

If she hadn’t thought of this and feared of the happening of an irreparable tragedy, Wei Changying would not have told her mother everything in this way.

Madam Song sighed deeply and said, “I see. Granny Shi, go and take care of this child in Mingse House and talk her out a bit.” She then told Wei Changying, “Don’t tell your grandmother about this first, especially the matter of Deng Zongqi.”

“I know.” Wei Changying nodded.

It was not that Madam Song was not afraid to encumber the Wei Family into the matter, but now the Song Family was in crisis. As the daughter of the Song family, she was also cherished by her parents when she grew up and wanted to help the family anyhow. But if Wei Huan and Old Madam Song knew about this, they would definitely cut off any relations with this matter as soon as possible.

In that case, Deng Zongqi would definitely be “invited” out of Ruiyu Hall or even Fengzhou. Madam Song said that the Song Family’s daughter did not need the help of the Deng Family to reject the marriage, but the situation was in a hurry, and it was not known whether Song Xinping could come up with a solution in a short period of time. If there were no other ways, the Deng Family could still be used as a backup plan.

If Song Zaishui was the only one in this matter, the Song Family should still be cautious about being deceived by the Honored Consort Deng. But if the Song Family and the Deng Family worked together, the Honored Consort Deng might not dare to harm Song Zaishui. In the end, the Song Family was one of the six gentlefolk. Even if the family was about to collapse, the Deng Family could still not handle their retaliation. If the Honored Consort Deng didn’t hate the whole family to the bone, she would never harm Song Zaishui when the Song Family came forward to solve the matter for her.

And since the Honored Consort Deng sent her nephew to Fengzhou before Song Yuwang realized, she obviously mastered the news that Song Yuwang did not know in the palace.

What’s more, if the Song Family wanted to repent the marriage, they had to take care of the means of the Empress and the Crown Prince. As long as the Honored Consort Deng was really at odds with the Empress, with her status as the Honored Consort and the lineal cousin of the Emperor, she would more or less contain the Emperor in the palace.

Of course, most of these were thinking for the Song Family. Madam Song, after all, was still surnamed Song.