"At first, her friend didn't know it was a loan - shark either. Thinking it was her boyfriend, she thought he could be trusted. So she introduced him to my mom and said it was okay to delay the repayment for a few days. Later, when she found out it was a loan - shark, she realized she'd been deceived and even gave my mom 10,000 yuan as compensation."
"That friend... Did your mom say who it was?"
Song Yi'an shook his head.
"By the time I knew about this, the loan - sharks had already come to our door. My mom didn't tell me who this person was."
"After all, she harmed your mom. Don't you want to know who caused you so much trouble?"
When asking this question, Li Xiyu was extremely cautious. She was also testing Song Yi'an's attitude towards that incident back then, wondering if there was any room for change.
Because it was very likely that her father was the mastermind behind the plot. In ancient times, this would be considered a sworn feud for killing one's mother.
Song Yi'an shook his head and said, "I did investigate, but I couldn't find any clues. My mom had many friends, and a lot of them were mysterious. She was born into a wealthy family at first, but later fell into decline after the family went bankrupt. She didn't like me getting involved in that circle, so I didn't know many of her friends. Of course, I suspected Aunt Jiang at first, but after she knew about the loan, she scolded my mom severely and even took out Xichi's tuition fee to help my mom. After my mom got sick, I always ate at her place. It was really ungrateful of me to have suspected her back then."
Li Xiyu didn't know what to say.
When Song Yi'an said this, she could already guess who that person was. Of course, it was no surprise that Song Yi'an didn't figure it out.
In her past life, although Li Xiyu wasn't exactly a champion in the palace intrigues, she had survived among thousands of concubines and seen a lot of the world. But when she tried to deal with Jiang Yongfeng, she had to figure out ways to get her out of the safe zone, and the results were still meager.
If it weren't for Li Xichi's own stupidity in sneaking out with Song Yunsheng, she actually wouldn't have gained much of an advantage.
Moreover, Jiang Yongfeng always did an excellent job of maintaining a good front. She always stabbed people in the back while being polite on the surface. And she wasn't eye - catching. She always kept a low profile, so it was very difficult for ordinary people to notice her.
Even if Jiang Yongfeng wasn't that shrewd, even if Song Yi'an had found out that it was Jiang Yongfeng who introduced the loan - shark to his mother back then, the kindness of providing meals should have offset this debt.
Li Xiyu now kind of understood why Li Xiyu had been so jealous of Jiang Yongfeng and Li Xichi back then.
It was because she was anxious. That was a past she couldn't fit into, and it was also the emotional depth she could never reach with Song Yi'an.
She might have known that Jiang Yongfeng was a scheming woman with evil intentions.
Presumably, for Song Yi'an's sake, she must have told Song Yi'an about this many times. Judging from the emotions expressed in that girl's diary, she seemed like the kind of person who would do such a thing.
But speaking so abruptly about an elder that Song Yi'an respected so much, anyone would think there was something wrong with Li Xiyu. Coupled with Jiang Yongfeng's feigning weakness and sowing discord, Li Xiyu had no choice but to be hysterical.
Li Xiyu's experience made Li Xiyu feel heartache.
She thought of herself when a new concubine first entered the palace. She was so naive back then, suffering so many silent losses without knowing it, like someone who was sold but still counted the money for the seller.
At that time, she believed that her love with the emperor was unshakable, and the emperor would surely stand by her side.
But she overestimated a man's intelligence and patience.
Once or twice, Song Jiaye would believe her and stand by her side.
Three or four times, Song Jiaye would choose to listen to what happened and distinguish right from wrong.
Five or six times, Song Jiaye would start to ask, "Why are you involved in everything?"
So, even though Li Xiyu was the head of the six palaces, she lived a very aggrieved life. At this moment, she completely understood how Li Xiyu felt.
At this time, Song Yi'an asked, "Why did you suddenly bring this up?"
In fact, it was already quite a surprise to Song Yi'an that Li Xiyu knew about this. It had been so many years.
Li Xiyu thought for a while and decided to suppress her suspicion of Jiang Yongfeng and what Li Xiangping had done for the time being. She smiled and said, "I just remembered that I've never met your parents, so I asked about them. I often think that the woman who could raise someone as excellent as you must be really amazing. Once I started asking, I dug out this old story."
Hearing this, a warm current rushed from Song Yi'an's feet to the top of his head.
Li Xiyu smiled gently and said, "I've seen your mom's photo. She was very beautiful, and you look a lot like her."
Song Yi'an rarely talked about his mother in front of others. In the past, Jiang Yongfeng would occasionally tell him stories about the old days with his mother, and he would always be fascinated. Now that Jiang Yongfeng didn't talk about it anymore, he always felt empty inside.
The usually inarticulate Song Yi'an rarely brought up this topic that he seldom touched on, and once he started, he couldn't stop.
"My mom was really a beauty. Before she got sick, she would dress up beautifully even when she went to wash dishes for others. She told me not to be timid and not to be afraid of those rich and powerful people. They were no more excellent than me except for their good family backgrounds."
Song Yi'an's current achievements were largely due to his mother.
"My mom was also a very scrupulous person. Once when she was washing dishes, she fainted halfway through because she was too tired and was sent to the hospital. She still held my hand and said, 'Xiao'an, those dishes haven't been rinsed yet. We took their money, so we have to do the job well.' I didn't understand before. My mom was beautiful and well - educated, so why did she have to be a dishwasher? Later, when I grew up, I realized it was all because of me."
Seeing his dejected look, Li Xiyu couldn't help but stand up, walk to his side, and pat his shoulder.
"No mother would dislike her son. A child can never be a burden to a mother but only a hope."
Li Xiyu had lost a child, so she understood the bitterness in it very well.
When she was pregnant, she was indeed full of hope, thinking about the child growing up, getting married, and having children of his own. She felt that there was something to look forward to in life.
But when the child was gone and the family was broken, her heart almost froze instantly when she knew the child had miscarried.
Li Xiyu advised, "Have you ever thought that maybe the reason your mom could persevere in such dirty and tiring work as dish - washing was because you gave her the strength?"
"I was her strength?"