The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 434: The Chief Culprit

Chapter 434: Chapter 434: The Chief Culprit

Wang Yongzhu looked at Song Chongjin’s expressionless face, quietly extended her hand, and held his.

Song Chongjin’s icy fingers stiffened for a moment when Wang Yongzhu took hold of them, but he immediately clasped her hand firmly in his own.

"Master Qin told me none of this has any meaning anymore. I said it before; I am not of the Song Family’s blood, but it is because of her that I was able to survive until now. The debt of gratitude for my upbringing, I have already repaid by selling myself. I have no more ties with the Song Family or her," Song Chongjin’s voice was decisive, leaving no room for a turnaround.

"I suppose Master Qin and the other master have already reported these events to that Noble Patron. I know that all my skills, including my ability to read and write, come from being mistaken as the Noble Patron’s lost blood relation, which allowed me to learn them. Now that the truth has been revealed and I have no ties to the Noble Patron, no matter what, I have still received the Noble Patron’s favor."

"I have already made my position clear last time; with regard to the Noble Patron’s kindness, no matter where it came from, since I have received it, I will naturally keep it in my heart. If one day the Noble Patron has any command for me, I shall repay it. If the Noble Patron feels that I have occupied the status of his blood for so many years and wishes to punish me for it, he can just say it. I, Song Chongjin, will take it all."

"The fact that both masters have asked me to come here today, I presume, is because there has been a message from the Noble Patron. Master Qin, there is no need to keep secrets; just say it outright."

Song Chongjin had long been mentally prepared. The Noble Patron, high above, had been deceived, recognizing a child of unknown origin as their own for over a decade, and must be very angry.

Now, what awaited him was the Noble Patron’s retaliation. If this had been before, he might have resigned to his fate in despair.

But now, feeling the softness and warmth in the palm of his hand, a glint of cunning flashed through Song Chongjin’s eyes. For himself, for Yongzhu, he would not let the Noble Patron slaughter him at will!

Hunter Qin did not expect Song Chongjin to lay everything out so clearly and was momentarily stunned. He averted his eyes when met with Wang Yongzhu’s seemingly amused gaze.

Shopkeeper Zhang, on the other hand, could not help but say after listening for so long, "You only talk about repaying Lady Song for raising you with selling yourself, but did you consider how much effort our Family Head has spent all these years, sending us two to tutor you? What status do Old Qin and I hold? If not for our master, how could a mere country lad like you accept our teaching? Now that you have completed your learning, and knowing you are not the Family Head’s blood, yet you have received the Family Head’s benevolence, you naturally should repay the kindness with your utmost loyalty and service until your dying breath..."

With that said, Wang Yongzhu understood the situation.

So this was conveying the Family Head’s sentiment above, thinking that nurturing Song Chongjin for nothing, only to find out he was not their own blood, was a loss for the Noble Patron—they could not afford to waste the time, money, and effort for nothing.

Hence, they wanted Song Chongjin to change his status, acknowledge the Noble Patron as the Family Head, and sell himself to work for the Noble Patron!

What a calculated plan!

Before Song Chongjin could speak, Wang Yongzhu scoffed, "Indeed, the countryside is different from the city. As the saying goes, ’Every debt has its debtor; every wrong has its wrongdoer.’ Instead of finding the true culprit, they’ve clutched at the most innocent. How novel indeed!"

"You country woman, what nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean ’the true culprit’? Who’s the most innocent?" Shopkeeper Zhang couldn’t restrain himself.

"Do I really need to spell it out who the culprit is? Back then, your Family Head lusted after Song Chunhua’s beauty, took her in and impregnated her. If there was any sense of responsibility, he should have taken Song Chunhua as a concubine, brought her to his side, and then, when Song Chunhua had the child, wouldn’t the child’s status be legitimate?"

"But your master, having eaten his fill and wiped his mouth clean, casually made an empty promise and patted his buttocks and ran off. He left Song Chunhua alone with a swollen belly to return to her parents’ house, clinging to the promise of your esteemed master. There, she waited to give birth, fighting for life as if passing through the jaws of death to bring forth a son, only for the child to fall ill and perish prematurely."

"Not to mention anything else, I simply do not believe that your master’s household couldn’t even support a concubine and a son. It’s nothing more than disregard and indifference to whether they lived or died. It’s also Song Chunhua’s own infatuation; had she been any other village woman, why on earth would she cling to a man who discarded her? She should have found another husband after being sent back to her parents’ home, and the child wouldn’t have had to suffer the insult of being called a fatherless bastard."

As these words were uttered, both Hunter Qin and Shopkeeper Zhang’s faces were a picture, especially Shopkeeper Zhang, who stared at Wang Yongzhu with his mouth agape, every expression on his body indicating but one thing: Could there really be such a shameless woman in this world?

Wang Yongzhu could not have cared less about the looks from Shopkeeper Zhang as she spoke even more deliberately, "Having cruelly abandoned that mother and son, and after more than a decade, suddenly you remember to seek out this lost blood kin? Don’t tell me that it’s your master’s conscience waking up, because that conscience is quite late in stirring. It seems more likely that your Family Head has gotten himself into trouble, with no heir to follow, and hence remembered this blood kin he once cast aside."

Wang Yongzhu made her bold conjecture.

Sure enough, seeing the stiff expressions on the faces of Hunter Qin and Shopkeeper Zhang, she immediately realized that her offhand remarks were probably on the mark.

The Noble Patron’s home must have a formidable Madam; it mattered little in his youth, with just a village girl’s child—it would be a laughingstock to bring him back, so he simply ignored the plight of the Mother and Son of the Song Family.

It was estimated that later on, this Noble Patron must have found his offspring lacking, and perhaps something occurred that made him realize he could have no more children.

At that point, the Noble Patron, having no other choice, remembered the Mother and Son of the Song Family he had abandoned so early on.

That’s why he sent people to protect Song Chongjin and his mother.

Little did he expect, in some cruel twist of fate, that his real son had already died, and the one he had been raising as his own, Song Chongjin, was but a child picked up by Song Chunhua.

As she sorted through her thoughts, Wang Yongzhu almost wanted to applaud; it served him right!

If only that Noble Patron had had a sliver of conscience and not abandoned Song Chunhua, he would not have ended up without a blood heir today.

The one to blame for this outcome was himself; no one else was at fault!

Although Wang Yongzhu didn’t say this aloud, her expression clearly and boldly conveyed this idea.

It vexed Hunter Qin and Shopkeeper Zhang, who wanted to offer a rebuttal but also knew that the bitter fruit they were now reaping stemmed from the seeds that had been planted back then.

"And as for the most innocent of all, isn’t that Song Chongjin? At the time, he was a naive infant, picked up by Song Chunhua, who had lost a child, raised as her own until not long ago when Song Chunhua revealed the truth, and he finally understood!"

"He was picked up by Song Chunhua and never enjoyed a single day of fortune; he faced exclusion in the Song Family and was driven to support the family at the tender age of just over ten, enduring a life harsher than those of children without parents. Are you unaware of all this?"