He knew that this old friend was Zhou Linghuai, who used to live in the Yu Residence. He and Yu Youyao were childhood sweethearts.
Before leaving, Chang An said heart-wrenching words, “Madam Xie loved her daughter deeply. Before she died, she had found a skilled craftsman to forge 15 longevity locks for her daughter. Among them, there was a longevity lock for two fishes, one yellow and one red. It was a natural phenomenon. On Eldest Miss Yu’s fifth birthday, her grandmother personally helped her to wear it.”
“The next year, on the eighth of April, on the day of the Buddhist Festival, Eldest Miss Yu followed her grandmother to the Precious Peace Temple to add incense oil, pray, and mourn for her deceased mother. This longevity lock was accidentally damaged. Old Madam Yu felt that it was inauspicious. The longevity lock was related to her granddaughter’s well-being and could not be easily damaged. Old Madam Yu was afraid that it would be harmful to her granddaughter, so she placed it in the temple hall and chanted scriptures every day to suppress her blessings.”
After Chang An left, “Song Mingzhao’s” heart was in turmoil.
The reason why he thought that Yu Jianjia was his savior when he was young was because he had once heard Yu Jianjia mention that she had accompanied his grandmother to the Precious Peace Temple to offer incense and met a thief.
Suspicion arose in his heart, so he investigated this matter.
He found out that Yu Youyao and Yu Jianjia had gone to the Precious Peace Temple that day. Eldest Miss Yu’s reputation was not good. She had been arrogant and domineering since she was young.
Naturally, he did not think that the person who had saved him would be such a notorious woman.
Naturally, he began to pay attention to Yu Jianjia.
Due to the limited evidence, “Song Mingzhao” did not confirm that Yu Jianjia was his savior. However, after interacting with her for a while, he also felt that Third Miss Yu was smart and polite. It was inevitable that he would think highly of her and have a good impression of her.
Later on, Eldest Miss Yu met the Third Prince in the Duke Rong’s Residence and her reputation was damaged.
In order to protect her granddaughter’s life, Old Madam Yu used the letters that her grandmother had exchanged with Old Madam Yu when she was alive to force him to admit that he was engaged to Yu Youyao.
Her grandmother had liked Yu Youyao since she was young. She and Old Madam Yu had reached a consensus on the engagement and had indeed mentioned it in the letter.
He couldn’t deny it.
It would be unfilial to deny it.
However, in his heart, he did not want to marry a woman with a bad reputation.
He was even more displeased with Eldest Miss Yu.
Not long after, Old Madam Yu suddenly passed away.
Not long after, “Song Mingzhao” finally confirmed that Yu Jianjia was his savior because of a damaged longevity lock.
Yu Jianjia personally took out the longevity lock and told him, “This is what I wore when I was young.”
The missing part was the broken jade part of the longevity knot that he usually wore.
Moreover, just as he saw this damaged longevity lock, he received news from the Yu Residence that Eldest Miss Yu was not Yu Zongzheng’s biological daughter. Instead, her mother did not abide by the rules of a woman and had an affair with someone.
The Yu Residence did not reveal anything about this improper person.
He was engaged to Eldest Miss Yu, so when he suddenly found out about this, he was naturally furious. He sent someone to Quanzhou to investigate Madam Xie’s marriage and found out that she had been in close contact with Second Master Yu.
Everything was obvious.
“Song Mingzhao” was a prodigy. How proud was he? However, he was forced to marry such a notorious and extremely dirty bastard. This was simply a huge humiliation to him.
However, his grandmother had passed away, and Old Madam Yu had also passed away.
This marriage was the order of his elders. Even if he retreated, there was no way to back down. Otherwise, if the Zhenguo Marquis Residence joined forces with him, he would also be infamous for being treacherous or even unfilial.
After their marriage, he treated Yu Youyao bluntly.
Yu Youyao seemed to feel guilty towards him because of this marriage and wanted to compensate him. She was quite concerned about him and would fawn over him from time to time.
After a few more times, he couldn’t be bothered to refuse.
Gradually, he realized that Yu Youyao did not seem to be as arrogant and unbearable as the rumors outside said.
At that time, “Song Mingzhao” did not understand that when a person began to accept the good of another, they had already accepted this person indirectly in the depths of their hearts.
This was until Yu Jianjia’s condition worsened.
He had a good impression of Third Miss Yu and was also grateful for her saving his life when he was young. He wanted to repay her kindness, so he looked for famous doctors in the world and happened to find Divine Physician Xie…
After that…
All kinds of past events appeared in his mind. How smart was “Song Mingzhao”? Chang An’s words instantly reminded him that there were many suspicious points behind this matter.
First of all, Yu Jianjia had asked him to see this broken longevity lock after Old Madam Yu passed away.
In other words, Yu Jianjia did not have it in the past. It was only after Old Madam Yu passed away that Madam Yang, as the mistress of the household, could touch the things that Old Madam Yu had left behind.
Old Madam Yu doted on Yu Youyao and was very cold to her granddaughter, Yu Jianjia. Why couldn’t she help Yu Jianjia keep her old damaged things?
“Song Mingzhao” immediately ordered someone to find the craftsman who had forged the longevity lock for Madam Xie.
Those skilled craftsmen were all very famous and were from the capital. They were easily found. When craftsmen made jewelry, they needed patterns. Even if the guests sent them patterns, they would keep them.
The truth was revealed too easily.
It was as if Yu Youyao’s heart had been easily carved out.
The truth often came one after another with countless truths. All the misunderstandings, prejudices, and anger towards Yu Youyao in the past were actually planned by Madam Yang and her daughter.
“Song Mingzhao” went crazy.
Just like now, he sat there until dawn in the Frost Residence, where Yu Youyao had lived for three years.
His hair turned white overnight.
After that, “Song Mingzhao’s” heart disease worsened.
He said to Yu Youyao before she died, “I’ll marry Jia Jia as a second wife and take good care of your sister for you to comfort your soul in heaven.”
“Song Mingzhao” had deliberately suggested that he wanted to welcome Yu Jianjia into the family within a hundred days.
Yu Youyao felt aggrieved and hesitant. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she looked pitiful.
“Song Mingzhao” watched coldly from the side and thought maliciously, “Back then, her mother was the daughter of a lowly concubine who had climbed into bed. She was secretly pregnant and entered the family within a hundred days of mourning.”
Now, the daughter was like her mother.
The mother and daughter were in the same family. They were in a hurry to be someone’s second wife and mourn for the first wife.
On the night that Yu Jianjia entered the family, he smiled and said to her, “I have a heart disease and need to use the Blood Medicinal Catalyst. Madam has had a heart disease since she was young and has consumed a lot of expensive medicinal herbs. Divine Physician Xie said that someone like Madam is already a natural blood medicine catalyst. In the future, I’ll have to trouble Madam for your health.”
Song Mingzhao sat in the study until the oil lamp burned out and daylight seeped through the window paper. He moved his body and called out hoarsely, “Kong Qing.”
Kong Qing, who had been guarding outside the door for the entire night, quickly pushed open the door and entered. He was immediately stunned.
Seeing his strange expression, Song Mingzhao frowned. “What’s wrong?”