Mistress Liu saw that Song Yuan remained silent and finally sighed, "My lord, Eleventh Mistress has been with you for so many years and has never asked anything of you. Even when you suggested letting Eleventh Mistress move to the manor that day, I never harbored any resentment."
She bowed her head, her heart filled with a chilling emptiness. "Now, I only beg you to let Eleventh Mistress go. Grant me freedom, allow me to leave the Song family. I implore you!"
At this moment, Song Yuan looked down at the woman who had followed him for so many years.
He suddenly realized that she was no longer young.
She was long past being the dan actress who would elicit thunderous applause with a single glance back on stage.
And she was certainly not the Eleventh Mistress Liu, veiled in sheer gauze, who had once offered him endless allure.
Time had not left too many marks on her face.
But her heart had grown old. It was as if she had been treating him without a soul in recent days.
He had once mistaken this for gentleness, obedience, and docility. Now, he realized it was because her heart simply no longer cared about anything!
Song Yuan closed his eyes, his fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails almost dug into his flesh.
He refused to admit everything Mistress Liu had said.
At least... he refused to admit that he had made many mistakes over the years.
Thus, his gaze turned cold, and his voice became sharp, "What if I refuse? You are merely a concubine in my Song manor. What right does a concubine have to request dismissal? As long as I do not agree, you will forever be a member of the Song family, and you will never be allowed to step out of the Song manor!"
This reaction was what everyone had anticipated.
Therefore, whether it was the Old Madam, Song Chaoyu, or Mistress Liu, no one showed any surprise in their eyes.
They watched calmly as Song Yuan's anger gradually consumed his gaze.
The more this happened, the angrier Song Yuan felt.
He stood up in anger and paced back and forth before Mistress Liu. "I will not let you leave! From the moment you entered the Song manor, you should have known! Even for the sake of Little Qing'er, I will not let you leave. You will be a ghost of the Song manor even in death!"
These words were truly excessive, and even Song Chaoyu could not bear to listen.
"Heh—"
Mistress Liu let out a cold laugh. Having long expected this outcome, she merely lowered her gaze and said, "Although I know that with my own strength alone, it will likely be difficult to achieve what I wish to do, it is still better than doing nothing. Therefore, if Lord Song is unwilling, then I will go to the Capital Prefecture Magistrate and ask the magistrate to judge the case and give me an explanation."
"What?!"
Song Yuan had never expected Mistress Liu to say such a thing. "Go to the Capital Prefecture Magistrate?! Do you know what kind of place that is? You are a concubine of my Song manor, and you actually want to go to the Capital Prefecture Magistrate for him to pass judgment? Not to mention that your chances of success are practically nil, but even if you did, you, a concubine, suing me, a high-ranking official of the imperial court, how will the people of the capital think of me, how will they think of the Song family?!"
Even the Old Madam had not expected Mistress Liu to be so resolute. She also furrowed her brow.
Mistress Liu's expression, however, remained calm. "I wonder if Lord Song has ever heard the saying, 'put yourself in another's shoes.' For so many years, has my lord ever thought of us, mother and daughter? Why should I care what the people of the capital think of my lord, or of the Song family?"
Song Chaoyu noticed that Mistress Liu's address to him had changed from "this concubine" to "I."
Clearly, Lord Song had also realized this.
His right hand began to tremble slightly. "Eleventh Mistress, are you serious? This time, are you truly going to be this ruthless? If you have any dissatisfaction with me, we can discuss it. But there is really no need to go to the Capital Prefecture Magistrate, is there?"
In fact, at this point, Song Yuan was merely afraid of escalating the matter.
And the more he acted like this, the more disappointed Liu Shi'er Niang would become.
Liu Shi'er Niang lowered her gaze. "My mind is made up. I beg my lord to grant my request!"
"Bang—"
Song Yuan could no longer contain his anger and violently hurled the teacup in his hand towards Liu Shi'er Niang.
Song Chaoyu suddenly stood up, almost stepping in front of Liu Shi'er Niang.
But whether Song Yuan intended it or not, the teacup did not hit Liu Shi'er Niang. Instead, it shattered into pieces at her feet.
Traces of tea splashed onto Liu Shi'er Niang, but they did not cause any ripple in her calm, unperturbed gaze.
Song Yuan felt that he was almost driven mad by Liu Shi'er Niang's gaze.
He rubbed his forehead and warned Liu Shi'er Niang in a low voice, "If you remain obstinate, do not blame me for being impolite! You are nothing but a concubine. I have plenty of ways to deal with you!"
Liu Shi'er Niang nodded. "Lock me up? Or send me to the manor again? It doesn't matter. If Lord Song can lock me up for a lifetime, then I will accept my fate. But as long as there is a day I can get out, I will not give up striving for my freedom. Lord Song, I am determined to leave the Song manor. This is an unchangeable fact."
This was the first time Song Yuan had seen such a Mistress Liu.
His eyes were tinged with red, and he stared intently at Liu Shi'er Niang. "Don't forget, you are merely a concubine of the Song family! In this world, you cannot do whatever you wish!"
But at this moment, Song Chaoyu finally stood up.
The man before her now did not resemble a father, but rather someone prone to impotent rage.
Like Mistress Liu, she looked at Song Yuan with cold eyes. "Father, don't forget, I am always Mistress's daughter. As long as Mistress is in trouble, I will not let it go. Therefore, before Father considers locking Mistress up, he should always think of me, or think of the Prince of Chang's manor."
Song Chaoyu, now, could stand tall and use the Prince of Chang's manor as her backing.
"Don't try to scare me!"
In his extreme anger, Song Yuan turned and pointed at Song Chaoyu. "Do you think you're so great just because you're now the Prince of Chang's consort? I tell you, even the Emperor coming here would be useless! Liu Shi'er Niang is my concubine, and she will be for life!"
"Cough, cough!"
However, as soon as Song Yuan finished speaking, the Old Madam coughed lightly and then reminded him that he should not say such things. "Yuan'er, what you said is not good. If others were to hear it, they might criticize our Song manor."
Song Yuan realized that his words were rebellious.
But at this moment, he only felt an inexplicable fire in his heart that he could neither unleash nor suppress.
"Sigh!"
Even Song Chaoyu sighed as she looked at him. "Father, why must you do this? In fact, you don't care that much about my aunt. Why must you cling to her and not let go? Aunt only wants her freedom. She has not been happy in the Song family for half her life. Why... can't you let her go?"
Song Chaoyu even looked back towards the backyard. "There are so many women in Father's backyard. It's not as if you must keep Aunt by your side. Aunt has never been the most important woman to Father. Although I don't know why Aunt and Father got together back then, isn't the current unhappiness proof enough of everything?"
She sighed softly. "Father, please let Aunt go, won't you?"
The word "let go" finally caused Song Yuan's body to freeze.
He had never imagined that one day, Liu Shi'er Niang would need him to "let go" to achieve fulfillment.
He lowered his head in a daze, looking at Liu Shi'er Niang, who was still kneeling on the ground, and suddenly murmured, "Being by my side makes you feel so distressed? Shi'er Niang, why have we come to this point?"
Liu Shi'er Niang did not know the answer to this question, so she could not reply to Song Yuan.
She simply knelt there, like a sculpture devoid of emotion.
Perhaps in the past two years, she had not even felt the emotion of disappointment anymore.
Now, she only desired the word "freedom," which was also the most extravagant word for her.