After being divorced, she overturned the capital and seized the empress's position!

As soon as Song Yue spoke, Zhang Mama's eyelids twitched: "This old servant..."

"Continue!" the old lady snapped.

Granny Zhang awkwardly shut her mouth.

Song Yue continued, "I am, after all, the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion, yet I am not even worth as much as a counterfeit carpet. People who don't know better would think that the Duke's mansion has fallen on hard times and can't afford to live anymore."

Upon hearing this, the old lady's face darkened even further.

“And these porcelain pieces, antique calligraphy and paintings, they’re all so fake, Grandmother, is this really what you wanted?” Song Yue winked at the Grand Madam.

The Dowager Lady frowned: "Nonsense, how could the Duke's mansion display fakes?"

Yuan Fuling's eyelids twitched, and she quickly chimed in, "Sister Yue, are you mistaken? How could there be counterfeit goods here? You've been in the villa for so long, it's normal that you can't tell the difference."

Still dare to argue!

Song Yue bent down to pick up the torn calligraphy and painting from the ground, pointed to the seal, and said, "Who is Liu Xiangzi? I only know that there was a Liu Xiangyu in the previous dynasty whose talent was unparalleled and whose words were hard to come by. And this vase was made by the Lingnan Imperial Kiln. Lingnan never makes porcelain. It should be Lingbei."

He casually picked up a few items and handed them to the old lady. The old lady glanced at them and her breathing became a little rapid.

"I smashed these things to preserve the reputation of the Duke of Jingguo's mansion," Song Yue said righteously. "I am the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion. Today I return to the mansion, and in the future, people will surely come to visit. If such a crude mistake is discovered, should we say that the Duke of Jingguo's mansion is declining, or should we say that someone is mistreating me, a legitimate daughter without a mother's upbringing?"

His words were well-reasoned and supported by evidence.

The way the old lady looked at Song Yue had changed.

Although she had been left to fend for herself in the villa for so many years without any attention, her demeanor was definitely not that of someone raised as a slave. She stood in the center of the crowd with neither arrogance nor servility, and even had more presence than Song Yao, who had been carefully nurtured for over a decade.

At that moment, the Dowager Lady firmly believed in the importance of pure bloodlines.

"That's just sophistry!" Song Hengchuan sneered.

Song Yue retorted, "Brother, you came to the courtyard and tried to attack me without asking a single question. That's incredibly reckless. You can't even beat an ordinary guard. It shows that you haven't taken the future of the Duke's Mansion seriously all these years."

Humiliated by Song Yue in this way, Song Hengchuan's expression was beyond ugly.

"Irritable, easily influenced, and unable to distinguish right from wrong..." Song Yue continued to berate.

"Enough!" Song Hengchuan couldn't stand it anymore. As the eldest son of the Duke's mansion, he was always praised wherever he went. When had he ever been humiliated like this?

Outrageous!

The old lady, however, felt a greater appreciation for Song Yue and turned to Song Hengchuan, saying, "Yue'er is your own sister. You were indeed too careless today."

"Grandmother?" Song Hengchuan was taken aback.

"Guards, take the eldest son to the ancestral hall and kneel for two hours." The old lady waved her hand, ordering someone to take Song Hengchuan away.

Yuan Fuling's expression changed slightly.

Over the years, the Dowager Madam has doted on Song Hengchuan like the apple of her eye. After Princess Jiahua left, the two siblings should have been sent away together, but the Dowager Madam did her best to protect Song Hengchuan and personally raised him until he was nine years old before sending him to her side for education.

Unexpectedly, the Grand Madam punished the eldest grandson for Song Yue's sake.

Song Yue smiled sweetly at the Grand Madam: "Thank you for making the decision, Grandmother."

The old lady smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. She glanced at Zhang Mama and said, "Zhang Mama, you've spoken rudely and contradicted your master. Guards, drag her out and beat her to death!"

Granny Zhang turned pale and kept kowtowing, begging for mercy: "Madam, please spare my life!"

Before he could say the second word, someone covered his mouth and dragged him away.

Yuan Fuling and Song Yao were so frightened that they didn't dare to breathe loudly.

"It's getting late today, so you can stay at Yuhan Courtyard for now. Tomorrow, have Madam Yuan prepare Yuehua Pavilion, and then you can move there," said the Grand Madam.

"Mother?" Yuan Fuling looked up in surprise. Had she heard correctly?

To free up Yuehua Pavilion?

The old lady's face darkened: "It's settled then."

Having received a satisfactory response, Song Yue's smile grew even brighter, especially standing among several corpses, her sweet smile looked eerie no matter how you looked at it.

A group of people came and went in a hurry.

The house was quickly cleaned up.

Once Song Yue sat down, the maids dared not have any other thoughts. They wished they could kowtow to Song Yue and apologize, since even the eldest young master had suffered a loss because of the third young lady.

What are those few maids compared to them?

"Get out, everyone. No one is allowed to come in without my permission," Song Yue said.

The maidservant quickly withdrew.

Song Yue looked at Ling Yi: "Do you think I'm too arrogant?"

Ling Yi pursed her lips and remained silent.

“Song Hengchuan had murderous intent toward me. He has no pity for the weak. Even if I begged for mercy and admitted my mistakes, I might not get his pity. For so many years, I have been tortured in the villa, and he has never come to see me once.”

He was not left in the Duke of Jingguo's mansion of his own volition, and she did not blame him.

However, as the eldest son of the Duke of Jingguo's family, he was showered with favor. If he put in a little effort, Song Yue wouldn't have to suffer so much in the villa.

Zhang Dazhu and Wang Guihua wouldn't dare to bully them at all.

While she was starving and freezing, and being beaten and bruised all over, Song Hengchuan was busy trying to please Yuan Fuling and coaxing Song Yao, living a life of extravagance and luxury.

So why should she show mercy to Song Hengchuan?

Ling Yi lowered her eyes and stopped questioning: "Miss, I know I was wrong and shouldn't have doubted you."

Song Yue shook her head. Who would have thought that siblings would turn on each other the moment they met?

The only reason Song Hengchuan was kept alive was for his mother's sake.

She was afraid that her mother would misunderstand her if she came back one day.

Song Yao, having been beaten, dared not retaliate and followed behind Yuan Fuling in silence. Only when no one was around did Song Yao finally speak out indignantly, "Mother, why isn't this little bitch stupid anymore?"

This surprised Yuan Fuling as well.

"Also, why was that little slut sent back by the Prefect of the Capital? Were those two maids just doing their jobs?" Song Yao complained.

Yuan Fuling rubbed her temples: "There must be someone secretly taking care of Song Yue behind the scenes. Damn it, someone took advantage of the situation. It's also my fault for overlooking it. I should have gone to the other courtyard to check on things myself."

It's too late to say anything now.

"Mother, Song Yue is back. What about the marriage at the Zhennan Prince's Mansion..." Song Yao's eyes reddened. She only wanted to marry Brother Zhao.

Yuan Fuling gently patted Song Yao's shoulder and comforted her, "Now the whole capital knows that Song Yue was injured and that's why she came back. How could the Zhennan Prince's Mansion possibly want someone like that to come in? Don't worry, what belongs to you, no one can take away."

Song Yao breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"Yaoyao, go and see Chuan-ge'er. He is the future heir of the Duke's mansion. Only by keeping him under control can we gain a foothold," Yuan Fuling instructed.

Song Yao nodded: "Mother, don't worry. That idiot will soften up as soon as I cry and will listen to everything I say."

"That's good." Yuan Fuling had been trying to win Song Hengchuan over for ten years before finally bringing him to her side. With her eldest son backing her up, she had nothing to fear.

Song Yao obediently went to the ancestral hall to visit Song Hengchuan.

Having taken a punch from Ling, Song Hengchuan lay on the ground, clutching his chest, his face contorted in pain. He only managed to kneel properly after hearing footsteps.

"Big brother." Song Yao leaned forward, her voice choked with emotion, "Are you alright? Mother asked me to come and see you."

To avoid worrying Song Yao, Song Hengchuan shook his head nonchalantly, saying, "I'm fine, don't worry, and don't worry about Mother either."

Song Yao lowered her eyes, tears welling up in her eyes. Seeing this, Song Hengchuan felt heartbroken: "Yao Yao, don't worry, I will definitely protect you and your mother. As for that bastard, I will never allow her to stay in the Duke of Jingguo's mansion."

He coaxed her for a long time before Song Yao finally stopped crying and smiled.

“Brother, although Song Yue is unruly, she is still Father’s flesh and blood. Father might not necessarily drive her away. Today, Grandmother has already spoken, instructing Mother to vacate Yuehua Pavilion for Song Yue to live in…”

"What? Grandmother is really confused! How could we let her arrogance grow?" Song Hengchuan was so angry that his heart ached.

Song Yao bit her lip, looking troubled: "Big brother, if we talk to Song Yue properly, we might be able to get along peacefully. If we keep making a fuss like this, it will hurt your brother-sister relationship."