So stubborn and unreasonable!!!
“Crack, crack, crack——”
With a single glance from the Second Elder, the clansmen delivered several more lashes in succession.
The whip used in the Ancestral Hall was no ordinary whip—its tip was embedded with fine, dense barbs. Each strike tore flesh and sent droplets of blood flying through the air.
When the whipping paused, another elder roared angrily, “We’re giving you one last chance. Will you speak? Or not?”
The third son, Lu Yue, gritted his teeth without uttering a word, but his peripheral vision remained fixed venomously on Song Jinyao.
“Mother, are you just going to watch us being beaten without pleading for mercy?”
This was the eleventh lash!
His back burned with searing pain; he didn’t need to imagine—it was surely torn and gruesomely mangled.
Yet their mother, Song Jinyao, hadn’t spoken a single word in their defense. Lu Yue’s eyes were filled with disappointment and bitter resentment.
Given how things had unfolded, Song Jinyao was the primary victim in this matter. Lu Yue believed that if she would only plead for mercy and find a way to replenish the burial silver, the elders might enforce clan discipline but wouldn’t beat them half to death.
But what had Song Jinyao done?
From the moment she entered the Ancestral Hall, she had sat upright in the Grand Tutor Chair, occasionally dabbing at her tears.
She lamented that their father would surely lose his way on the road to the underworld and return to ask the Lu clansmen for directions.
Lu Yue strongly suspected that Song Jinyao was either foolish or deliberately adding fuel to the fire.
In the past, even a small cut on one of the brothers would make their mother’s eyes red with heartache.
Why was she so cold and unfeeling now?
At that moment, Song Jinyao was lowering her gaze, fiddling with the bodhi seeds on her wrist. Hearing his words, she inwardly sneered—plead for mercy?
Why should she plead for three ungrateful wretches?
This situation was exactly what she had wanted!
When she lifted her head again, her eyes were red and swollen, her voice choked with sorrow: “Earlier, when you extinguished the Changming Lantern, you had already committed a grave offense. My intention in having you guard the grave was to let you atone for your mistakes, but you——-”
“You… all of you… have disappointed me so deeply. From the moment you brothers argued about dividing the family estate in the Ling Tang, I should have…”
“I should have realized that in your eyes, aside from the family property, there isn’t an ounce of respect for moral principles!”
There was such a thing? The elders’ beards twitched with renewed anger.
Forcing their mother to divide the family estate before their father was even buried?
Simply!
Heaven-defying audacity!
The elders glared furiously at the three brothers, their faces dark and ominous like storm clouds pressing upon a city. Lu Chuan only glanced at them before shrinking his neck in fear.
Then they heard Song Jinyao continue, sobbing, “Even in seeking wealth, one must follow the right path. No matter what, how could you… how could you commit such an impious act as digging up your own father’s grave?”
“He was your father! That silver was for his journey in the underworld. If he returns at night to ask the clansmen for directions, what are we to do?”
“This matter concerns the entire fortune of the Lu clan. With such reckless behavior, how could I, as your mother, have the face to plead for you?”
“If this brings calamity upon the entire Lu clan——”
“You!” Lu Yue trembled with rage.
The same old story.
Didn’t she realize this would only make the elders angrier?
She must be doing it on purpose!
“Mother!” Lu Chuan could bear it no longer. “Are you just going to stand by and watch us beaten like this?”
“Do you even consider us your sons? Don’t you feel the slightest bit of heartache?”
Song Jinyao lifted her eyelids slightly, a cold laugh echoing in her heart.
If I treat you as sons, when have you ever treated me as a mother?
In her previous life, when these sons drove her out, they had servants chase her away with clubs. Did they ever consider whether their mother would feel pain?
“What do you want me to do then?” Song Jinyao asked.
Lu Yue remained silent, but the second son, Lu Xiao, spoke first.
“Take out your dowry to cover the burial silver, then kneel and beg the elders to spare us.”
Lu Xiao puffed out his chest and shouted righteously, “They’ve always respected you. If you plead for us sincerely and kowtow a few more times, this matter will surely pass.”
Song Jinyao lowered her gaze, letting the steam from the tea veil the mockery in her eyes.
Such wonderful sons she had!
Even now, they were still coveting her dowry!
When she looked up again, she had concealed the coldness in her eyes.
With a hint of confusion, she asked, “May I ask the esteemed elders…”
“If I follow Second Son’s suggestion, can the Lu family’s calamity be resolved?”
The elders: “——” This question? The Taoist priest never mentioned it—they dared not make any promises.
This concerned the Lu family’s fate; they needed to be extremely cautious.
Song Jinyao chuckled inwardly but put on a troubled expression as she looked at her three rebellious sons. “See, Second Son, it’s not that Mother won’t help you. It’s just that this… isn’t really a solution.”
Just as Song Jinyao was about to speak again, a clansman rushed into the ancestral hall in a panic.
“Elders, it’s terrible! Someone reported last night’s incident to the authorities. Minister Pei from the Dali Temple is here with his men to investigate.”
Hearing this, several elders nearly fell off their stools. “Who reported it?”
Family shame should never be aired in public. They never intended to involve the authorities—which fool reported it?
“Oh dear, this is no time to dwell on that! They’re almost here. We must go out and welcome them immediately.”
Someone shouted, snapping everyone in the ancestral hall back to reality.
In the ensuing chaos, they scrambled outside.
Song Jinyao’s expression darkened slightly, but she didn’t move.
Her act was at a critical juncture—she was on the verge of achieving her goal.
What was Pei Jingzhe doing here now?
Was he investigating the stolen corpse case from the charitable mortuary?
Or the grave robbery?
But it didn’t matter. The play was nearing its end.
She had already arranged for the silver under the bed to be moved.
Even if the Dali Temple uncovered the whole truth, she had nothing to fear.
She had orchestrated the three little beasts’ grave-digging to trap them in a dilemma where any explanation would be wrong!
If they concealed the old man’s feigned death, they would bear the crime of digging up their own father’s grave to steal burial silver.
If they admitted the old man’s feigned death, the three of them—along with Lu Xiuyuan and the mistress—would be caught red-handed conspiring to seize their birth mother’s property, an act condemned by society!
They could neither advance nor retreat—a perfect deadlock!
Even if the highest authority came to investigate, no matter what, Song Jinyao was the victim.
After turning these thoughts over in her mind, Song Jinyao calmly sat back down in the Grand Tutor Chair and sipped her tea.
Hmm, this was Yuqian Longjing. It had been so long since she’d tasted such fine tea.
In her final years in her previous life, she hadn’t even had access to hot water!
Such excellent tea shouldn’t be wasted!
In contrast to Song Jinyao’s composure, Lu Yue was entirely different!
He!
Was terrified!
His face turned ashen—it’s over!
Once the authorities investigated, would his father’s feigned death, the stolen corpse from the charitable mortuary, and the plot to seize their mother’s property all come to light?
Lu Yue broke out in a cold sweat, the icy dampness seeping into the wounds on his back with a piercing pain. But what chilled him more than the physical agony was the imminent arrival of certain individuals.
The news that the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review would personally investigate the case felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head, making his teeth chatter uncontrollably.
“Damn it—” he cursed inwardly, his nails digging deep into his palms.
Just moments ago, after careful consideration, he had been contemplating whether to privately negotiate with the Grand Elder, hoping that confessing his father’s feigned death might earn him leniency. After all, if his father was still alive, their act of digging up the grave wouldn’t be considered a grave act of filial impiety.
Even if their schemes had crossed the line, they were still members of the Lu family—surely the elders would offer them a way out?
Perhaps the elders might even help them swindle Song Jinyao out of her dowry.
But that meddlesome woman, Song Jinyao! She had clung to them like a shadow from start to finish, leaving him no opportunity to speak.
Now that the officials had arrived, it meant the situation had escalated.
Soon, perhaps the entire Taihe Xian would know.
What would become of his imperial examinations?
What would become of his future official career?
“Third Brother! Fourth Brother!”
Lu Xiao suddenly tugged at his sleeve, his lowered voice trembling with panic: “When we face the officials later, we must never mention Father or Aunt Tao! Aunt Tao’s health—”
At the mention of Aunt Tao, a sudden suspicion flashed through Lu Yue’s mind.
Abruptly, he lunged at Song Jinyao, grabbing her collar: “Was it you who reported this to the authorities?!”
“Did you know all along?”
After his accusation, Lu Yue found it hard to believe himself, his expression twisting in conflicted confusion.
His gaze fell on Song Jinyao’s frighteningly reddened eyelids—she had cried so bitterly, clearly still deeply attached to their father.
If she had known, how could she possibly act this way?
For a moment, Lu Yue felt utterly bewildered.
He felt himself going mad—one moment suspecting this was all Song Jinyao’s revenge, the next convinced she couldn’t possibly know. This cycle of suspicion and denial repeated over and over—
In just one night, this relentless back-and-forth was driving him insane!
Where had it all gone wrong?
When did everything slip beyond his control?
Song Jinyao staggered from his pull, but in that moment of lowered eyes, she concealed the cold gleam in her gaze. When she looked up again, only appropriate confusion remained on her face.
“Yue’er, what are you talking about? What should Mother know?”
“—” Lu Yue choked on his words, uncertain how to respond.
It seemed Mother didn’t know after all?
He couldn’t afford to lose composure now: “N-nothing.”
When Pei Jingzhe strode in, he happened to witness Lu Yue clutching Song Jinyao’s collar.
His face instantly turned cold. In a few quick steps, flipping his official robes—
“Bang!”
Before anyone behind could process what happened, they saw crimson official robes swirling as Lu Yue was sent flying like a ragged sack.
Pei Jingzhe’s leg retracted with fluid grace, his official boots scraping harshly against the stone pavement.
His eyes first swept over Song Jinyao—good!
Aside from those irritatingly rabbit-red eyes, she appeared unharmed.
Yet her condition inexplicably fueled his anger.
“The Lu family certainly raises fine sons—I’ve witnessed it today!” he sneered, flicking his sleeves as he took the seat of honor. “Attempting matricide in public—it seems you’ve grown tired of living.”
Matricide?
Wasn’t this turning the natural order upside down?
The Lu clansmen started, their gazes toward Lu Yue shifting repeatedly.
Song Jinyao felt that Lord Pei’s previous remark had also implicated her—if a son was poorly raised, it naturally reflected the mother’s failure in upbringing. Yet she, too, was a victim—yes, a victim.
Moreover, Lord Pei’s kick had landed quite to her satisfaction.
Her expression shifting several times, Song Jinyao stepped forward and performed a bow. “This commoner, née Song, pays her respects to Lord Pei.”