The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity

Chapter 864 - 819: Misfortune Befalls the Family (Third Update)

The words clearly nailed her as the one who caused Song Jiao’s death.

Song Qi was outraged and glared at Old Mrs. Liang, "Your daughter-in-law is my sister, how could I play any excessive jokes in front of her? But when she had the premature birth later, why didn’t your Liang Family manage to save her?"

Shouting "thief" while being a thief! Old Mrs. Liang truly had enough!

She had a straightforward expression, "Since I dared to come today, I’m ready to give your Song family an explanation. But before that, I also demand an explanation for our Liang Family. Miss Song knew very well my daughter-in-law was heavily pregnant and going to deliver soon, yet she still came to bother her repeatedly. I won’t quibble over other matters with you; all you need to do today is to recount the joke you cracked on the last day, word for word, as that would be an explanation for our Liang Family. I won’t blame you afterward; when I see you next time, I’ll just pretend I don’t know you and avoid you!"

Song Qi bit her lip hard.

Both Aunt Xie and Xie Feng’s mother Yang were present. How dare she speak? How could she speak!

Zhao Xunyin observed Song Qi’s reaction, her eyes flickering slightly.

Wen Wan also looked pensive.

During that period, the Xie Family was proposing marriage to Song Qi, she was causing a great commotion, and her mother-in-law had said that she went to the Liang Family to ask Jiaojiao for a favor.

Jiaojiao is a clever child, well aware of Song Qi’s double-dealing nature, unlikely to agree easily.

Given Song Qi’s temperament, if she didn’t achieve her goal, she would utter some harsh words.

What kind of harsh words could anger Jiaojiao into a premature birth?

Song Qi’s nature is too unpredictable. Wen Wan can’t decipher anything at the moment, but judging by Old Mrs. Liang’s confident demeanor, it’s evident she is certain that Song Qi’s so-called "joke" was lethal.

Thinking of this, Wen Wan felt her heart sink; she hoped Song Qi would reveal the truth yet feared that doing so would infuriate her mother-in-law.

Granny Song looked displeased, partly due to Song Qi and partly because of the Liang Family.

Song Qi wasn’t wrong; she caused the premature birth, but the difficulty during childbirth was the responsibility of the Liang Family.

She blamed herself for being so consumed by anger against Song Qi that she forgot about this aspect.

Seeing that Song Qi was unwilling to speak, Old Mrs. Liang didn’t continue to make things difficult for the younger generation. Nevertheless, she had spoken plainly: if the Song Family had any sense of reason, they ought to question on their own; if the Song Family wanted to shield Song Qi, the Liang Family was weak and would have to swallow it.

Observing Granny Song’s dark expression, Old Mrs. Liang said, "Miss Song wasn’t wrong. During the difficult childbirth, the Liang Family should have done their utmost to preserve her, and indeed, the midwife asked me whether to save the mother or the child, I chose to save the mother."

Heaven knows she wanted a grandson more than anyone, but the Song Mansion was too powerful, and Song Jiao was originally from their family. If she died at the Liang Family, even if Brother Jun had a hundred lives, it wouldn’t be enough to compensate, so she decisively chose to save the mother, preserving Song Jiao; as long as the mother is intact, there would be opportunities to conceive again in the future, but who could have known...

Song Qi sneered twice, "You say save the mother and you save the mother? Now my sister has died, and without any evidence, you always seem to have the upper hand with whatever you say!"

Old Mrs. Liang was not intimidated by Song Qi’s words, "Those responsible bear their own consequences. As for the matter of choosing to save the mother or the child, all midwives present and Yun Duo, who went over from your family as a dowry maid, can testify."

Song Qi seized the key point, "The midwife was hired by your family, you can buy her off with some money, and Yun Duo, that little bitch, the way she looked at my brother-in-law was suspicious daily, she must have harbored desires for some time. Now that my sister is dead, she can secure herself a concubine status. With such benefits, how could she not lie for you?"

Upon hearing these words, Old Mrs. Liang smiled meaningfully.

Others didn’t understand what she was smiling about, but Song Qi was shocked into a panic by the laughter, her fingers curling tensely.

Immediately, Old Mrs. Liang spoke leisurely, "On the day Brother Jun’s wife had a difficult childbirth, we even invited Old Doctor Li from West City; if your family questions my words, you can invite him to verify, he was present in the birthing room the entire time, hearing the midwife asking to save the mother or the child."

Just hearing that Doctor Li could testify, Song Qi’s vision went black, her complexion changing.

Doctor Li treated her third aunt’s throat back then, and when Qi Bao was gravely ill, it was also him who was invited.

The Song Family knew very well about Doctor Li’s disposition. With him as a witness, who dared to raise even half a doubt?

Song Qi subtly glanced at Granny Song, indeed her grandma’s expression became more and more unpleasant.

She panicked terribly, her whole body trembling like a sieve.

At this moment, Wen Wan, who had been silent all along, asked, "Since it was to save the mother, why did it end up with both mother and child dead?"

Old Mrs. Liang replied, "The Commandery Princess is young, and both her previous deliveries were smooth. She might not have seen women suffer from difficult childbirth. When saving the mother, you have to cut the baby into pieces and take it out bit by bit. Which mother can endure such heart-wrenching pain? My daughter-in-law was like that, watching helplessly as the child she carried for eight months was cut into pieces with scissors, and in her utter grief, she followed."

As Old Mrs. Liang’s voice fell, the entire courtyard plunged into silence.

Wen Wan’s face turned pale, her breathing became a bit rapid.

She had heard of the practice of saving the mother before, but since her own deliveries went relatively smooth, she felt that such a situation was very distant and couldn’t empathize. However, when such a thing happened to her own family, with the mother being the daughter she had doted on for years, she felt as if her heart was being gouged out and her bones scraped, and tears burst from her eyes.

Zhao Xunyin quickly got up from his seat to support Wen Wan, knowing she was in distress. Saying things to make someone come to terms with such matters would not help, so he gently held his daughter in his arms and softly said, "Cry if you want to cry, it will make you feel better."

Wen Wan tried her best to control her emotions, but her lips still trembled as if she could see the despairing and helpless look of Song Jiao before her death.

Old Mrs. Liang’s voice continued, "Failing to save my daughter-in-law, the Liang family indeed has a fault, but under such circumstances, as a mother-in-law, I believe I did my utmost. In the end, we couldn’t keep her; it just means the Liang family was not meant to be with her."

"What do you mean by ’not meant to be’?" Yun Xia, brought to tears by the Eldest Girl’s cause of death, said, "Had the Second Girl not gone to provoke her, how could the Eldest Girl have had a premature delivery, how could she have been upset to the point of death from anger?"

The topic turned again to Song Qi.

Song Qi had already been petrified by Old Mrs. Liang’s words. What difficult birth, what sacrificing the mother required cutting the baby up; just hearing it conjured one bloody scene after another in her mind. So, this was how her sister died? In the afterlife, she must hate her to death, right?

Fear spread all over her body, and Song Qi cried in terror; she looked at Granny Song, "Grandmother, I didn’t mean to, I was only joking, I didn’t think my sister would take it seriously, would be angry to the point of premature labor, I, I just..."

Old Mrs. Liang’s cold expression turned to sorrow, "Do you know, because of your joke, you ruined my daughter-in-law and unborn grandson, and also ruined my son. He hasn’t gone to the Hanlin Academy in many days, living like a ghost, neither human nor ghost. Your Song family lost a daughter and wants justice. I lost a daughter-in-law, a grandson, and turned my son into this. Who can I ask for justice from? Who can give me an explanation?"

Tears then poured down, provoking the maids to cry softly.

Yang had been crying for a while but didn’t dare to make a sound.

Aunt Xie’s eyes were also slightly red. She even wanted to kick this shameless brat to death, but unfortunately, this was a matter for the Song family, and she had no place to intervene.

Granny Song took a deep breath and ordered Yun Xia, "Go and get the whip."

Yun Xia’s crying paused, "Old Madam?"

"Hurry up and go!"

Yun Xia dared not delay and hurriedly ran out.

Granny Song looked at Song Qi as if looking at a corpse, "I’ll ask you one more time, what exactly did you say?"

Upon hearing Granny Song ask Yun Xia to get the whip, Song Qi felt as if lightning struck her. She understood completely that if she didn’t speak up, she would be beaten to death today. Shaking her body, Song Qi stammered, "I begged my sister to plead with Grandmother on my behalf, not to let me marry Xie Feng. My sister refused, so in anger, I said I would rather be Brother-in-law’s concubine than marry Xie Feng."

Aunt Xie was so furious she was shaking all over. She could no longer contain herself despite so many people present, immediately bursting out abusively, "You shameless little wretch!"

No wonder she made such a fuss about refusing to marry before. After Song Jiao’s death, she eagerly went to the Xie family, using it as a shield.

What did she take the Xie family for?!

Yang, who had been crying before, suddenly changed her expression upon hearing this, her eyes filled with hatred.

Granny Song felt a metallic taste rise in her throat. When Yun Xia brought the whip, she declared that anyone who dared to stop her would be beaten to death as well. Then, supporting her ill body, she stood up, and the long whip mercilessly lashed onto Song Qi’s back.

Song Qi, her hands bound, was kneeling on the ground and couldn’t dodge. Her cries of agony echoed throughout the courtyard. Before long, her back was whipped open, and blood seeped through her clothes.

Granny Song suddenly laughed wildly towards the sky, "Unfortunate family, unfortunate family—"

As her words ended, she collapsed to the ground.