Wife, Don't Be Like This!

Chapter 23 - Green Hats Are Normal

"Song Zhen is not Song Hongtao's biological son."

"Fu..."

Song Yan barely managed to stop himself from cursing out loud.

Yang Shi had cuckolded Song Hongtao.

This show was getting good.

Luo Tianshu's voice was very low and he didn't let Luo Tianyang hear. After all, with Luo Tianyang's big mouth, if he knew, it would be the same as the entire Ningping County knowing. Although this was Song Hongtao's scandal, it wasn't a case of the bigger the fuss, the better. It would depend on what goal Song Yan wanted to achieve through this matter.

Song Yan's expression gradually calmed down. As his brain processed at high speed, he asked: "Is it confirmed?"

"Not confirmed."

Luo Tianshu immediately shook his head.

"Although those three old servant women were favored by Yang Shi and Song Hongtao, they were ultimately just servants. It's impossible for them to know the true secrets of the Duke's mansion."

"They probably couldn't stand the torture and just spewed out everything all at once—things they had, things they didn't, things they'd seen, things they'd heard, and even things they'd guessed."

"One of the old servant women, surnamed Liang, was a personal attendant to Yang Shi. According to her, one night when she got up to relieve herself, she inadvertently saw a figure sneakily walk out of the First Mistress's room. Judging by the build, it was a man, but she wasn't clear on who it was."

"Soon after, Yang Shi became pregnant. But, as for whether the child in her belly belonged to that secret lover, she couldn't be sure, because during that period, Yang Shi also frequently shared a bed with Song Hongtao."

As for the matter of these three old servant women being sent to monitor Song Yan, that naturally couldn't be hidden either, but Luo Tianshu didn't mention it, as if such a thing had never happened.

His eyes shone with a strange light, as if he were extremely interested in this kind of great clan's secret gossip. He was clearly a graceful and elegant scholar... Song Yan felt that this person had great potential to be a paparazzi—well, paparazzi sounds a bit crude—he had great potential to be in the Jinyiwei.

His fingers tapped rhythmically on the tabletop. Song Yan was connecting some things together.

Speaking of which, on the day that Song Hongtao had instructed him to investigate the relationship between Luo Yuheng and the Luo children, he had felt that Song Zhen and Song Hongtao didn't look much alike. At the time, he had thought with some malice, 'Could it be that Yang Shi had cuckolded Song Hongtao?'

Besides, Yang Shi's attitude towards Song Zhen was also very strange. In a normal family, they would dote on the eldest legitimate son, as he was to inherit the family business and naturally needed to be carefully nurtured.

Or, they would dote on the youngest son; the youngest child always gets more favoritism.

Or, they would dote on the most talented one. Whether it was achieving fame in the examinations or defending the borders, a talented descendant could bring more glory to the family, and the parents would also gain face.

But Song Zhen was neither the eldest legitimate son nor the youngest son. In terms of talent, he couldn't read many words, couldn't endure the hardship of practicing martial arts, and had no head for business. Inept in both literary and martial pursuits, good at absolutely nothing, a complete and useless bum.

He was also arrogant and domineering, stirring up trouble all day long.

In short, there was not a single likable thing about Song Zhen. But in terms of the degree of favor he received, even the eldest son Song Huai, the youngest son Song Lu, and even that Qilin Son of the Song family, Song Zhe, all added up, were far from being comparable to Song Zhen.

Once upon a time, Song Zhen had galloped his horse through Ningping County and run down an old man, killing him. He even beat to death the old man's son who came to demand justice. Song Hongtao had wanted to reprimand him a little, but was shielded by Yang Shi, who said: "He's still just a child," nearly choking Song Hongtao to death.

Originally, he was puzzled as to why she doted on a good-for-nothing, but if it was her lover's child, then it wouldn't be strange.

To a woman, a lover's child is often more pleasing to the eye than a husband's child.

'That's not right...'

His knuckles were still tapping rhythmically on the tabletop. Although Song Yan felt this should be the truth, he also felt the truth wouldn't be so simple.

Yang Shi's paramour should not be someone from within the Duke's mansion.

Yang Shi had a noble background; the Yang family was a first-rate aristocratic clan in the Ning Kingdom. This world hadn't experienced the massacre of Huang Chao's rebellion, so the influence of the aristocratic clans was extremely exaggerated. The saying 'a dynasty of a hundred years, a clan of a thousand years' was by no means a joke.

As the legitimate young miss of the Yang family, Yang Shi was naturally extremely proud. What Song Hongtao had said to Song Yan before about fearing the Yang family and fearing Yang Shi was, on one hand, to appease and win over Song Yan, but on the other hand, it might not have been far from the truth.

Although the Duke of Song was ranked among the top nobles and had developed through the reigns of two emperors, Taizu and Taizong, in terms of foundation, he was still far from being comparable to the Yang family.

And in the Duke's mansion, apart from Song Hongtao, there were only servants and underlings. No matter how thirsty Yang Shi was, she would most likely look down on these people.

Perhaps because that paramour was not from the Duke's mansion, and the biological father couldn't frequently appear before Song Zhen, Yang Shi felt a sense of guilt towards Song Zhen in her heart, which was why she doted on him doubly.

In this Yang Shi's heart, could there be the idea of letting the adulterer's child, Song Zhen, inherit the title of Duke?

Song Hongtao had already become an unwitting father. Not only was he raising an adulterer's son for free, but his family property was also being coveted. Women, ah, once their heart is no longer with you, they probably won't be satisfied until they've skinned you, pulled out your tendons, broken your bones, sucked out your marrow, and eaten you clean.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Song Yan. Even without marrying in, the Song family's property had nothing to do with him. But this didn't stop Song Yan from using this matter to make a big issue of it.

"Did that old woman Liang say if the Duke's mansion had any honored guests during that time?" Suddenly, Song Yan looked up and asked Luo Tianshu.

Luo Tianshu was stunned. He really hadn't asked this question. He hurriedly left.

About a quarter of an hour later, Luo Tianshu rushed back, the expression on his face looking particularly strange.

"Found out?" Song Yan raised his eyebrows.

Luo Tianshu nodded heavily.

"During that time, the Duke's mansion did indeed have an important guest. It was said to be from the Yang family's side; a male cousin from Huilong arrived in Ningping and stayed at the Duke's mansion."

The Huilong Yang clan?

Two hundred years ago, because the family had grown too large, the Yang clan split into two main branches: the Langya Yang clan and the Huilong Yang clan.

The Langya Yang clan was located in the Ning Kingdom and held a transcendent status there.

The Huilong Yang clan, on the other hand, was located in the present-day Chu Kingdom, and was also powerful in court.

The Yang family's situation was somewhat similar to the Zhuge clan's during the Three Kingdoms period!

Generally speaking, a large clan like the Yang family would not split easily. They firmly believed that only by concentrating their power together could they maintain the family's prosperity. Moreover, once the clan split, they would become two separate families. In the beginning, they would still look out for each other, but as time passed, affections and blood ties would inevitably fade. It wouldn't be strange for them to even become enemies.

And the two branches of the Yang clan belonged to the Ning and Chu kingdoms respectively, so their relationship faded even faster. However, they had not yet become enemies, and it was normal for the two branches to have occasional exchanges of favors.

Luo Tianshu's expression was particularly strange:

"Although the clan has already split, in terms of generation, that man was after all Yang Shi's cousin. So... it couldn't possibly be him, right? After all, this... this would be considered in*est, wouldn't it?”

"In*est?" Song Yan pursed his lips:

"Over two hundred years, with a generation every twenty years, that's more than ten generations. Even if they came from the same ancestor and are considered cousins in terms of seniority, how much of the bloodline could be left? It wouldn't be strange for something to happen."

"Besides, is it really important whether it was this person or not?"

Hearing this, Luo Tianshu also smiled.

Many times, the actual truth isn't important. As long as they can make Song Hongtao believe this is the truth, that's enough.

Suddenly grasping this piece of information should be a good thing for him, but Song Yan's brow was tightly furrowed. It was as if a thick fog had covered his eyes, obscuring his vision.

He always had a very strange feeling, as if the truth of the matter wasn't this simple.

The Yang family.

The Song family.

The Duke's mansion.

He felt like he had overlooked something, something that prevented him from seeing the truth.

After a long while, Song Yan suppressed the doubts in his chest and discussed some more details with Luo Tianshu.

From beginning to end, Luo Tianyang was listening quietly not far away. Although the rustling sounds of their whispers weren't very clear, he felt a chill run down his spine, and goosebumps rose on his arms.

As expected, the hearts of these scholars are really too dirty.

I must stay far away from them, or I'll be corrupted. Thinking this, Luo Tianyang's body scooted back a little.

Fortunately, the two didn't deliberate for too long. Not long after, Luo Tianshu left with a smile.

Song Yan also looked a little strangely at this simpleton, wondering what else he was staying here for.

Seeing that there was no one else around, and even Gu Banxia was far away, Luo Tianyang finally sidled up to Song Yan awkwardly. As if from shame, his big, dark face flushed bright red:

"Bro-Brother-in-law, can you come somewhere with me?"

Following behind Luo Tianyang, twisting and turning along the way, it didn't take long before they arrived at an extremely remote corner.

In the air, there seemed to be a strange smell drifting.

He looked up...

The latrine?