Chapter 660 - 659: The Truth About One’s Background
Song Hong was indeed Song Chongjin’s biological father, and Song Chongjin’s mother was named Qi Huan, the daughter of the Hanlin Scholar Qi during the previous Emperor’s reign.
If the Song Family had retained the glory from when Duke Weiguo founded the country, the two families would have certainly kept to their own affairs, never interfering with each other.
However, Song Hong’s grandfather had sided with the wrong faction before the previous Emperor ascended the throne, so after his ascent, Duke Weiguo became obediently low-profile.
Every dynasty, upon its establishment, would foster the arts and devalue military accomplishments.
After dimming down their presence, the Song Family aimed to cultivate their children in the ways of scholars, thus deliberately seeking closeness with the Qi Family.
Song Hong and Qi Huan shared a childhood friendship, their relationship being particularly affectionate.
Both families were happy to bless the young lovers, having arranged a marriage early on, waiting only for Qi Huan to reach marriageable age to hold the wedding.
Unexpectedly, two months before Qi Huan’s coming-of-age ceremony, the Emperor, now old and senile, became enraged because during a court session, Scholar Qi had spoken out fairly against the Emperor’s indiscriminate killing.
The Qi Family was decimated, the male family members were exiled thousands of miles away, and the women were sold. Overnight, the Qi Family, once the most noble among the civil officials, vanished like smoke in the air.
At that time, the Song Family was not favored by the Emperor and was cautious by nature, dare not speak out against the injustice done to the Qi Family; no one in the court dared either.
They could only spend silver to make the journey of exile somewhat more bearable for the Qi Family.