Rebirth As a Fatuous and Self-indulgent Ruler
chapter-219

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

Song Qingtian was taken to Shi.

Seeing Shi again, Song could hardly contain his excitement.

The young man was the son of his old friend…

But thinking of Shi’s current identity, Song had to control himself.

“Song Qingtian greets Your Grace. Long live Your Grace.” Song knelt down and greeted Shi.

Shi slowly turned to look at Song.

Looking at the man, who was his father’s friend in his memory, kneeling in front of him, Shi didn’t say anything for a long time.

As Song finally sobered, he felt a little strange.

Why did Shi come? Of course, Song had heard some rumors spreading in the nation. To be exact, that was actually the truth.

For example, many people had been eliminated in a lot of cities.

He knew that the leader of those killers was the empress.

Song was aware of this. However, Shi had never harmed any common people in those cities, nor did he hurt innocent officials.

Song was not surprised that Shi appeared in his city, but he didn’t know why Shi went to meet him.

Song promised that he had never colluded with foreign enemies.

However, Shi appeared and went to meet him directly. Song wondered if some of his subordinates rebelled and why he knew nothing about it.

Song was a little confused, but not flustered.

He believed that his old friend’s son was definitely not a murderer and wouldn’t kill innocent people. He didn’t think that he had done anything wrong, so he had nothing to fear!

Even if his subordinates had made some mistakes, the imperial court could only blame him for neglecting his duty. He had nothing to do with rebellion!

Thinking of this, Song didn’t feel scared at all.

Shi fixed Song with a stare.

Although it was hard for Shi to make a judgment because Song’s expression couldn’t be seen with his head down, many other factors could be used for reference.

Physical reaction was one of them.

If Song was nervous, Shi could surely notice that.

However, Song only seemed to be confused. He was very calm and not flustered at all…

Shi’s eyes glinted and soon he became calm.

Shi said softly, “Uncle Song, please get up.”

By calling him Uncle Song, Shi meant to tell the old man that he was talking to him as the son of one of his old friends.

However, he might treat Song with a different identity later.

Even so, Song was still very happy. He stood up and couldn’t help asking, “How is your father?”

Shi nodded slowly. “My father is at the border. He’s fine.”

Song smiled. “The last time I contacted him was more than a year ago. I’m glad to hear that he’s fine.”

More than a year ago… Shi slightly pursed his lips.

“Uncle Song, do you have much contact with my father?”

Song shook his head. “I don’t think so. We contact each other almost once a year.”

Hearing those words, Shi stared at Song significantly.

Song didn’t understand why Shi looked at him like that, but he was not afraid. He just wondered what Shi was thinking about.

“Uncle Song, why did the fire break out in your mansion?”

Song looked serious when he heard the words. “I don’t know. Fortunately, it happened in the daytime. The losses were minimized and nobody died. If I know who did it, I won’t spare him!”

After a short silence, Shi said calmly, “So you don’t know who the culprit is.”

“I don’t know.” Song talked to Shi casually.

Shi nodded. “Who do you suspect?”

Hearing this, Song pondered. “Recently, an arrogant womanizer appeared in Songye city and he’s the only person I suspect. He even wanted to hurt my daughter, but he failed and was hurt by her. It is very likely that he came back to take his revenge.”

“I heard about that womanizer…” Shi said slowly, “It’s said that he could do great martial arts. Uncle Song, your daughter is called Song Cailian, right?”

“Yes, she’s called Song Cailian.”

Shi nodded. “I heard that she had been studying martial arts outside since she was a child?”

Song was slightly stunned. He had the feeling that Shi’s arrival seemed to have something to do with his little daughter, but he didn’t know the reason.

No matter what, Song still replied, “Yes, my daughter had been very weak since she was born. My wife was superstitious and went to ask a fortune teller. The master said that my daughter would put my wife’s life at risk, but if she was raised in another place before the age of ten, it would be beneficial to everyone.” Speaking of this, Song gave a bitter smile.

“I didn’t have the heart to give up my own flesh and blood, so I tried to stop it. However, since my daughter was born, my wife had been in poor health and couldn’t recover. My daughter always cried in the middle of the night and even three nannies couldn’t change anything. At last, my wife insisted on sending her away. I agreed for the peace of my family. What’s more, she just needed to live outside until she was ten years old. She wouldn’t be there forever. Therefore, we spent a lot of efforts and found a great master. He met my daughter and said she had a talent for martial arts. So he agreed to adopt her. Ten years later, we brought her back and she has been living with us till now.”

Song explained everything in detail.

Shi listened quietly and did not interrupt.

After Song finished his words, Shi said, “How much do you think you know about your daughter, Uncle Song?”

Shi’s words stunned Song once again and he was also sure about one thing.

Shi’s arrival did have something to do with his daughter!

Song was very puzzled and he also realized how serious the matter was. Given his loyalty to the emperor and trust in his old friend, Song began to recall carefully.

After organizing his thoughts, Song said, “My daughter came back when she was ten years old… In fact, she’s not so close to us. My wife and I feel sorry for sending her away at a very young age, so we’re willing to give her everything she wants as long as it’s reasonable. But she seldom asks for anything and seems very sensible. She’s just not very close to us. Both my wife and I feel helpless about this. When she was 16 years old, we planned to marry her off. That was the only time she reacted violently. She said she didn’t like men and didn’t want to get married. If any of us forced her, she would commit suicide. For this reason, my wife cried for two nights and finally chose to compromise. Now she is 19 years old, but still unmarried.”

“Oh? She doesn’t like men?” Shi raised his eyebrows.

Song smiled bitterly. “That’s what she said.”

“What about her martial arts? How powerful is she that she can hurt that womanizer?”

“It was an accident,” Song said at once, “I found a person who is an expert in poison. That man gave my daughter several kinds of poison for self-defense. That womanizer is very arrogant. He likes to send a letter to the victim’s home before he takes action. Moreover, he looks down on women and wouldn’t take precautions against them. What happened that day was an accident. I asked a maid in my mansion to be disguised as my daughter. That expert in poison was also hiding in my daughter’s room. I didn’t expect that the womanizer would see through the maid’s identity and find the underground passageway in my mansion. However, he despised my daughter and was poisoned by her. That’s why he was severely injured. It’s not because my daughter is more powerful than him.”