The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 661 - 660 Back then

Chapter 661: Chapter 660 Back then

Not a word of resentment or blame filled the pages.

Instead, it was as if an old friend had sent sincere blessings before drifting away.

Song Hong was nearly driven mad. Qi Huan was but a weak woman who had never left the house alone before, let alone while pregnant. Once she left the house, once she left the Capital City, she wouldn’t even know which direction to take. How could she possibly seek out her family?

Not to mention that the Qi Family had been exiled thousands of miles away. She was a defenseless beauty, and outside the door, she would be like a lamb to the slaughter.

Song Hong had all his men go out to search for her, yet he himself sat trembling in Qi Huan’s room, feeling as cold as the weather outside.

He dared not think what would happen if Qi Huan met with some misfortune outside.

He knew he had wronged Qi Huan, but the hundreds of lives in the Duke Weiguo Residence were his responsibility. The education he had received since childhood was that he was the future, the hope of the Duke Weiguo Residence!

The rise or fall of the Duke Weiguo Residence all depended on him!

Song Hong had grown up in the expectant gaze of his family, the responsibility ingrained deep into his bones.

Qi Huan was the woman he loved, but the Duke Weiguo Residence was his root, his responsibility, his everything.

If he neglected the Duke Weiguo Residence for Qi Huan, for the Qi Family, he would be unfilial.

If he caused trouble for Duke Weiguo for the sake of the Qi Family and was not careful, the Duke Weiguo Residence could fall into the same fate as the Qi Family.

In the face of his family’s greater cause, that bit of affection between a man and a woman was worthless.

Song Hong was rational, and also in agony!

In his restlessness, he swept all the items on the table onto the floor to vent his frustration. It was then that he noticed a piece of letter paper lying on the ground.

Picking up the letter, it briefly stated that information had been gathered about the Qi Family being exiled to the Northeast frontier. Thanks to someone’s arrangements, they had arrived safely and settled down. Although life was harsh, at least they had survived.

There was also an address left behind, which, if he was not mistaken, should be the current place of the Qi Family’s exile.

Gazing at the letter in his hand, Song Hong took a long time to come to his senses before he got up and ran outside.

The journey to the Northeast frontier was long, and with Qi Huan’s pace, she only had one main road to follow upon leaving the Capital City. A thorough search should lead to her quickly.

But to his surprise, this ’quickly’ ended up lasting almost half a year.

Throughout that half year, Song Hong sent his closest subordinates to look for Qi Huan, but she seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Every time he received a possible tip or clue from his subordinates, he would go with hope, but return with disappointment.

Just as he was about to lose hope, clinging only to a stubborn sliver of it, he received new information from his subordinates.

He was almost ready to give up, especially during that period when the Duke Weiguo Residence was not faring well either.

But for some reason, he still set out from the Capital City, telling himself that this would be the last time. If he couldn’t find Qi Huan this time, he would completely let go.

Unexpectedly, fate had a cruel sense of humor. This time it was real.

When he arrived, Qi Huan had just taken her last breath, her body still warm, her eyes closed, her lips slightly lifted into a smile as if lost in a beautiful dream.

But she would never wake up again.

By the side of Qi Huan’s body lay the wailing Song Chongjin.

Song Hong cradled Song Chongjin, looking at Qi Huan, who would never wake up again, and for a moment truly didn’t know what to feel.

Compared to the last time he saw her, Qi Huan had become emaciated and darker, her once full figure was now reduced to bones, and she was no longer clothed in fine silks but rather in humble hemp and cotton. Yet, traces of her former beauty could still be discerned.

She lay there quietly.

Song Hong had no idea what she had been through along the way. Wasn’t she supposed to seek refuge with the Qi Family? How did she end up in Jing County, miles away? In her last moments, what was on her mind?

He suppressed his grief, took care of Qi Huan’s body, and buried her in the temple garden outside Jing County.

The place was scenic with clear mountains and water, somewhere Qi Huan would have liked.

After burying Qi Huan, Song Hong worried as he looked at his son in his arms.

The child had lost his mother before he was even a year old, yet Qi Huan had taken good care of him, raising him to be chubby, white, and lovable.

For the past few days, a wet nurse he hired had been feeding the child, who perhaps knew that his mother was gone, seemed listless.

In principle, he was Song Hong’s eldest son and the child of the woman he loved. If the Qi Family hadn’t encountered trouble, this child would have been the rightful next head of the Duke Weiguo Residence.

But now things were awkward. How could he care for the child by himself without the protection of the child’s mother? It was quite possible that an accident would occur in just a few days.

Besides, he had received a message from his home; the late emperor was becoming increasingly muddled, demonstrating dissatisfaction with the Duke Weiguo Residence in court multiple times recently.

He needed to hurry back day and night. If he brought such a small child along, the child certainly couldn’t bear the journey.

Moreover, he was also concerned that upon his return, he did not know if it would be a blessing or a disaster.

If Duke Weiguo truly couldn’t escape this calamity, bringing the child back would only harm him. It would be better to leave him outside; firstly, to preserve his life, and secondly, in case of any eventuality, at least the Song Family would still have some bloodline remaining outside.

Having made up his mind, Song Hong took his son down the mountain and happened to run into Song Chunhua.

Song Chunhua’s child had passed away, and she wept so miserably. Moved by the sight, Song Hong impulsively placed his son beside her and then hid at a distance to watch.

As expected, Song Chunhua was reminded by pilgrims visiting to pray and seek blessings that there was another child. When she turned and saw Song Chongjin, she seemed to ponder something and eventually took Song Chongjin away with her.

Song Hong followed behind Song Chunhua, listening to her arrangements and how she repeatedly claimed that Song Chongjin was her son, he then felt at ease.

After instructing his associates to investigate Song Chunhua and learning her situation, he even found out who the so-called Noble Patron she had given herself to was.

Ironically, that Noble Patron who had slept with Song Chunhua and left her was Song Hong’s own cousin, Song Yin.

It was a branch of the Duke Weiguo that had split off some time ago, and they were doing quite well, especially Song Yin, who was good-looking and elegant, well-read, and poetic, and had caught the eye of the youngest daughter of the Duke Qiguo Residence, Lady Wang.

This daughter had been properly married before but had an ill temper and returned home after a divorce.

For some reason, she took a fancy to Song Yin and insisted on marrying him. Duke Qiguo, unable to resist his daughter’s will, agreed.

Even if Song Yin was unwilling in his heart, he had no choice but to marry Duke Qiguo’s youngest daughter, Lady Wang.

Lady Wang had been raised in luxury since childhood and had an inherently violent temper, which was why she caused a divorce scandal just a year into her marriage.

Naturally, she looked down on the modest home of Song Yin. Even after marriage, she often lived in the Duke Qiguo Residence.

Song Yin seemed less like a husband than a son-in-law living with his in-laws.