Chapter 1681: Chapter 1681: So You Die with Clarity

Song Zhiqing’s heart raced.

Evidence or no evidence, in other words, he wouldn’t care about any evidence; he simply wanted to kill him, that was all.

His breathing quickened, and his voice carried a hint of defiance: "Why? Just because we are not siblings from the same mother, is that why I am a thorn in your side?"

"Why?" Song Zhiyuan laughed and said, "Third Brother, in just a few years, you’ve risen to the Fifth Rank and secured a lucrative outdoor position, what do you think you relied on? Is it your outstanding political achievements, or that you have a high-ranking, influential elder brother? Aren’t you aware of it?"

Song Zhiqing’s face burned, his eyes holding a trace of humiliation.

Song Zhiyuan said, "Third Brother, you just don’t understand, if I wanted to suppress you, wanted you to be like the Fourth Brother, just a idle fop, all it would take is a few words, and you would be suffocated by praise, rendered insignificant like many other illegitimate sons in the capital, living off only the family’s monthly salary. But I didn’t, nor did my mother, do you know why?"

"It’s because of your birth. Your birth already lacks the legitimacy, if I let you achieve nothing, and when our parents pass away and our brothers divide the family, how would you, being an illegitimate son without any skills or titles, establish yourself in the Great Qing, and how would you support a family in the future? This was my mother’s advice, given to you when you entered the Academy those years ago."

Song Zhiqing felt a bit dazed.

"My mother is a person who lives up to her conscience, and she has fulfilled her duties as a legitimate mother to you and Song Zi. Otherwise, how else would you siblings be where you are today? You probably think she’s hypocritical, only longing for that bit of reputation, but you forget one thing; she was Empress Dowager’s friend in adversity, and the Emperor privately calls her ’Aunt.’ Would you care about that tiny bit of so-called virtuous reputation? Even if she isn’t virtuous, what harm would it be to her? In this capital, which legitimate mothers truly care about the future of their illegitimate sons and daughters? So even if she did harm to you, who would blame her? But did she do that?"

"And about your birth mother, you always think it was my mother who schemed to harm her, yet you don’t consider that your birth mother was already frail at the time and was pregnant with twins, how could childbirth be easy? To say it was my mother who harmed her, it’s better to say it was you brothers who harmed the mother’s body."

Song Zhiqing’s face turned pale.

Song Zhiyuan looked down at him from above and said, "You might think I’m defending my mother with all these words, but I’m not, nor do I need to. I just want you to be clear, you are foolish; precisely because you are short-sighted and aim too high, you are foolish enough to dig your own grave."

He finished this sentence expressionlessly, turned to leave, but his peripheral vision caught sight of a tree, his eyes narrowed.

Peach tree.

Song Zhiyuan changed direction, walked up to the peach tree planted in the corner of the wall, and looked down.

This was an old peach tree of many years, with dried yellow leaves under the blazing sun.

He looked at the roots, a patch of earth was visibly loose, seemingly newly dug.

Seeing him walk over there, Song Zhiqing’s face changed dramatically.

Song Zhiyuan glanced at Jiang Fula, who had already grabbed a handy tool from the base of the wall and began digging in the pile of earth. As the soil was removed, something inside was revealed.

The red color was striking to the eye.

Jiang Fula’s eyes turned red as he cleaned off the object and, with a drastic change in his expression, looked at Song Zhiyuan.

Vermillion, rectangular, the shape polished, it was a small coffin about the size of a palm, with the coffin body sealed with unintelligible talismans.

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