Song Yuzhang: Chapter 56 - A Dream of Vanity on the Sea
Chapter 56: A Dream of Vanity on the Sea
“This is impossible!”
Song Jincheng immediately stood up and shouted.
The lawyer, having finished reading the will, said calmly, as if used to such outbursts, “If you don't believe me, Eldest Young Master, you're welcome to see for yourself. But be careful not to damage the will—it won't do you any good.”
Song Yekang was completely dumbfounded, slumped in his seat without any response. He couldn't even hear the arguing between Song Jincheng and the lawyer. In his head, the same words repeated over and over: How could this be... How could this be...
Song Mingzhao was also somewhat stunned. He had been sitting beside Song Yuzhang the whole time. Now, with his mouth and eyes wide open, he looked completely at a loss. Although he had wholeheartedly supported Song Yuzhang in doing something big, now that the dream had actually come true, he felt a bit disoriented, as if it had little to do with him. Still, after the initial shock, he was happy. He turned to grasp Song Yuzhang’s hand and said, “This is amazing, Xiao Yu!”
Song Yuzhang, on the other hand, was inwardly shaken, his head and eyes involuntarily turning toward Liu Chuanzong.
Liu Chuanzong was still the same—as loyal and expressionless as a clay statue. There was no trace of emotion in his eyes. Then, that clay puppet took a slap across the face.
Song Jincheng roared with rage, “Where did this mutt come from? You’ve got some nerve! Colluding with an outsider to seize the family assets?!”
After taking the slap, Liu Chuanzong’s expression didn’t change. He silently stepped back to his original position. Song Jincheng, seeing him so unfazed, grew even angrier and immediately shouted for the servants, demanding they tie Liu Chuanzong up and take him to the police.
“Eldest Brother.”
Song Yuzhang stood up.
Hearing that voice, Song Jincheng turned around like a madman, face contorted with fury, “Who the hell is your brother?!”
Song Yuzhang didn’t have time to reflect on the strange nature of Song Zhenqiao’s will. Since Liu Chuanzong had been left to him in the will, he had a responsibility to stand up. So he said, “If you don’t believe the will, you can investigate it yourself. Why make things hard for a servant?”
“Fine.” Song Jincheng nodded slowly, the usual refinement in his features now twisted with viciousness. “You planned this all out, didn’t you? Fifth Brother, you’re quite the actor. Tell me! When did you start colluding with this man? Was it back in England? Were you in contact with people back home then?!”
As he spoke, he stormed over menacingly. Seeing this, Song Mingzhao quickly stood up to shield Song Yuzhang. “Eldest Brother…”
Without even looking at him, Song Jincheng raised his hand and slapped Song Mingzhao across the face. “Traitorous bastard, get lost!”
Stung by the slap, Song Mingzhao flared up and fought back, grabbing Song Jincheng by the collar and shoving him hard.
The servants, having been summoned, rushed in and scrambled to pull the two apart and calm the chaos.
While the room descended into mayhem, the dazed Song Yekang slowly stood and walked over to the lawyer. He asked quietly, “May I see the will?”
The lawyer, long used to these inheritance disputes, replied, “Second Young Master, please be careful not to damage it. First, this will has been notarized—tearing it won’t invalidate it. Second, Mr. Song made a clear clause in the will: if anyone tries to destroy it, their portion will be forfeited.”
Song Yekang nodded calmly. “I just want to look.”
The lawyer handed him the will.
Song Yekang held it in his hands and stared at it blankly.
It was Song Zhenqiao’s handwriting—there was no doubt about that. He’d seen it since childhood and couldn’t possibly mistake it.
But the contents… no matter how he read them, they didn’t make sense. He read them again and again, his eyes gradually filling with tears. The words blurred before him. His hands began to tremble as he murmured, “Why… why is this happening…”
The hall was in utter chaos, except for Song Yuzhang and Song Qiyuan, who remained calm. Song Yuzhang stood and looked down at Song Qiyuan, who was still seated. From the start of the will’s reading, Song Qiyuan had kept his head down, one hand covering most of his face. Even after hearing the whole will, he showed no reaction.
Song Yuzhang studied him closely, suspecting that Song Qiyuan had known the outcome all along.
Under his gaze, Song Qiyuan finally lowered his hand, stood up, glanced at Song Yuzhang, and then walked over to the lawyer. “When can the paperwork be finalized?”
“If Third Young Master cooperates, it can be done tomorrow.”
“Good. I’ll come to the firm tomorrow.”
Song Yuzhang thought that, true to his usual aloof style, Song Qiyuan would just leave then. But instead, after finishing with the lawyer, he turned and headed straight back into the center of the scuffle, forcibly separating Song Mingzhao and Song Jincheng. “Enough! We’re all brothers here. What are you doing, brawling in front of the servants?!”
Song Qiyuan, who never involved himself in family matters, now suddenly displayed decisive authority. When he pulled them apart and glared at Song Jincheng, the eldest brother— despite being more than ten years older—fell silent. That glare stirred something deep within him, reminding him vividly of Song Zhenqiao in his prime. And so, for a moment, he actually shut his mouth.
Song Qiyuan grabbed his elder and younger brothers, one in each hand. “Fourth Brother, have you made enough of a scene?”
Song Mingzhao, undeterred by his third brother’s authority, shouted, “He hit me first!”
“I’m the eldest! Can’t I hit you?!”
“What did you say?!”
Seeing that they were about to start again, Song Qiyuan turned to the servants. “Bring the whip from the study!”
Song Jincheng and Song Mingzhao, mid-squabble, both froze at once. Their faces wore the exact same stunned expression.
“Third Brother…” Song Jincheng said, uncertain and suspicious, “What do you mean by that?”
Song Qiyuan ignored his brother’s question and simply shouted again at the servants, “Go quickly!”
“Third Brother!” Song Jincheng roared, veins bulging on his face. “What do you mean by this?!”
Song Qiyuan, thoroughly annoyed, saw that his usually composed and refined eldest brother was now on the verge of a full-blown tantrum. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly swung his arm and landed a hard slap across Song Jincheng’s face.
The slap sent stars spinning before Song Jincheng’s eyes—he nearly fell to the floor. But before he could react, Song Qiyuan gave him another unrelenting slap, this one knocking him over with a thud.
The noisy Song family hall instantly fell silent.
Breathing slightly heavily, Song Qiyuan turned and instructed the servants, “Go get the whip.”
The servants answered timidly and hurried upstairs.
Lying on the cold floor, Song Jincheng’s cheek burned while his mind went blank. In his thirty-plus years, no one aside from Song Zhenqiao had ever treated him so harshly. He had grown up under Song Zhenqiao’s strict discipline, so he was no stranger to violence mixed with intimidation. At this moment, the fearful little boy who had once been cowed by their father’s authority quietly resurfaced, leaving him panic-stricken and unable to react.
Seeing the situation, Song Mingzhao sensibly darted to the side and edged closer to Song Yuzhang.
After watching the brawl between the Song brothers, Song Yuzhang wasn’t exactly panicked, but he was indeed shocked.
Now, the Song brothers no longer needed to keep up a facade of harmony—each had revealed their true selves. Yet even now, Song Qiyuan’s true face remained hard to read.
While the servant went upstairs, Song Qiyuan returned to the lawyer, took the will clutched in Song Yekang’s hands, and handed it back. “Second Brother, there’s no point reading anymore.”
Song Yekang stared blankly, looking at Song Qiyuan in a daze.
Song Qiyuan patted him on the shoulder and then instructed the servants again, “Go pack Second Young Master’s belongings.”
“Pack?” Song Yekang asked.
“Yes, just grab a few changes of clothes…” Song Qiyuan turned to look at him. “Is there anything you want to take from your room? If not, just let the servants handle it.”
“Pack? Why pack?” Song Yekang asked.
“This is no longer a place for either of us to stay.”
“No need,” Song Yuzhang interjected. “I’m not trying to drive any of you away.”
Song Qiyuan glanced at him but didn’t respond. He asked Song Yekang again, but the man remained dazed and speechless, so Qiyuan made the decision himself, instructing the servants to pack both Song Yekang and Song Jincheng’s belongings. “Madam is upstairs. For Eldest Young Master’s room, just listen to her instructions.”
“Yes, sir.”
Unknowingly, the chaotic household began to regain order. The servants seemed to awaken from a dream and scattered to begin packing.
Song Qiyuan turned to ask Song Mingzhao, “What about you?”
Song Mingzhao clung to Song Yuzhang’s sleeve. “Xiao Yu already said he’s not driving us out.”
Song Qiyuan stopped speaking to him and instead bent down to help Song Jincheng off the floor. “Eldest Brother, I’m sorry—I hit you too hard just now. But what’s done is done. Don’t cause more trouble. Come on, get up. Sister-in-law is still upstairs. I’ve already asked the servants to pack. It’s not too late—let’s go stay at my place for the night.”
Song Jincheng, now completely deflated, let himself be helped up, dazed and silent like Song Yekang.
The servants worked quickly, and soon the luggage was ready. Meng Sushan, supported by Wan Lan, came downstairs. She had already heard a rough account of what had happened. Now, seeing the scattered positions of the five Song brothers, she still looked a bit lost.
How could it be Song Yuzhang?
She had thought… it would be Song Qiyuan.
As a daughter-in-law, Meng Sushan had always considered herself an outsider to the Song family’s affairs, and thus never intervened. Once downstairs, she merely gave a distant nod to Song Yuzhang.
He returned it with a nod of his own.
Behind Song Qiyuan stood Song Jincheng, his wife, Song Yekang, and a crowd of servants. The unmarried Song Qiyuan now looked like the one with a whole family in tow.
Song Qiyuan gave Song Mingzhao one last look, then decisively said, “We’re leaving.”
The living room suddenly emptied again. From chaos to quiet, the entire process had taken less than half an hour. Watching Song Qiyuan efficiently execute what amounted to a family split, Song Yuzhang became more and more certain: Song Qiyuan had known the contents of the will beforehand.
If he had known, why would he just accept it?
Meng Tingjing had leverage over him, so perhaps he had no choice but to stay quiet. Plus, he had brought the fake ‘Fifth Young Master’ into the family—exposing him now would only tarnish him, too. Presumably, he had calculated all this before deciding to stay silent.
But Song Qiyuan was a different story.
For him, exposing the imposter would be nothing but beneficial. Why would he hold back now?
If Song Qiyuan, like that naive rich boy Chen Hanmin, had considered the family estate a burden, maybe that would make sense—but that didn’t seem like him at all.
Pensive, Song Yuzhang stared at the now-empty front door.
“Mr. Song,” the lawyer stepped forward, “according to the will, you’ll be inheriting the Song Family Bank. Please come to our office at 9 AM tomorrow to finalize the paperwork. You can discuss the details with Mr. Liu.”
Song Yuzhang nodded. “Thank you.”
He asked Song Mingzhao to see the guests out, then stayed behind alone to question Liu Chuanzong. “Why did Father leave the bank to me? Did you tell him I wanted to bring in investment from the Shen family?”
Liu Chuanzong said, “The master had long intended to leave the bank to you. I also told him about the matter with the Shen family.”
“Then why would he ignore those four sons of his and give it to someone born outside the family?”
“The eldest and second young masters are useless, and you know what the fourth young master's temperament is like. As for the third young master…” Liu Chuanzong paused, then said seriously, “The master has other arrangements for him.”
After hearing this, Song Yuzhang felt a new wave of emotion. It seemed the old master truly had no son he could entrust the family business to. Song Qiyuan had ‘other arrangements’ —what arrangements? Did the Song family have other industries? Oh, right, the money in the Citibank account. Song Yuzhang asked, “How much money did he leave for Song Qiyuan in Citibank?”
“I don’t know.”
No matter how much, it can’t compare to owning a whole bank.
A whole bank… Song Yuzhang finally began to feel a bit dizzy, like he'd really been hit by a pie falling from the sky.
In one night, his wish had come true.
And what he received didn’t seem all that connected to his own efforts—it was more like a pure gift… He asked Liu Chuanzong again, “Then how did my father know I was suited to run a bank?”
“The master had a good eye for people.”
“So everything I did was reported to him by you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Song Yuzhang smiled. He wasn’t bothered by Liu Chuanzong’s surveillance—it was expected. Otherwise, who was he putting on all that effort for?
After Song Mingzhao escorted the lawyers out and returned, the grand hall was left with only Song Yuzhang lying on the sofa. From a distance, Song Mingzhao saw his dark, tousled hair against the cushion and quietly went over to rest his chin beside Song Yuzhang’s head, tilting his face to look at him.
Song Yuzhang was staring up at the massive crystal chandelier. Reflected in his eyes was its brilliant light, and his gaze was slightly dazed. He turned to look at Song Mingzhao’s handsome and well-defined face and smiled faintly.
That night, though the five Song brothers had split into two camps, none of them slept well. It was practically a sleepless night.
When Song Jincheng arrived at the villa that Song Qiyuan had arranged, he found the place very well prepared—the guest room was furnished with soft, fluffy bedding, and even the toiletries were fully stocked. Sensing something off, he went to find Song Qiyuan. Surprisingly calm, he asked, “Did you know this would happen?”
While unbuttoning his cuff, Song Qiyuan said, “Don’t ask anymore. Go keep Sister-in-law company and get some rest.”
Song Jincheng’s face still hurt, and he didn’t dare provoke his third brother—especially since the whip that had disciplined the four brothers since childhood was lying right beside Song Qiyuan.
He couldn’t understand how the whole world had changed overnight.
The Song family bank now belonged to Song Yuzhang.
The once carefree third brother had taken command and even scolded him, the eldest.
Both things baffled and frustrated Song Jincheng.
Although he was the eldest, he had been the most deeply disciplined by Song Zhenqiao and, in truth, was the least independent. Back in his room, he leaned against his wife’s knee and poured out his grievances and frustration. Meng Sushan gently stroked his hair, comforting him like a child, “It’s okay. We’ll just start over…”
At least Song Jincheng had someone to comfort him. Song Yekang sat alone in his room. He had been silent all evening, but suddenly started smashing things in the middle of the night.
Song Qiyuan, who was in the adjacent room, heard the commotion and told the servants to watch over him carefully and make sure he didn’t get hurt.
After ten minutes, the noise grew louder—like the room was about to be torn apart. Song Qiyuan got out of bed, grabbed the whip, and stepped out.
The couple across the hall—Song Jincheng and his wife—also came out to check what was happening.
Song Qiyuan opened Song Yekang’s door and shut it behind him.
Moments later, two sharp screams were heard from inside.
Then, silence.
Song Qiyuan came out of the room, the whip coiled around his wrist and tucked into his sleeve. He said casually to the couple, “Eldest Brother, Sister-in-law, go back to sleep. I’ve persuaded Second Brother to rest.”
Without a word, Song Jincheng wrapped his arm around Meng Sushan and returned to his room.
The next morning, Song Jincheng showed up for breakfast with a still-swollen face. Song Yekang, dressed in long sleeves and pants, sat down, but when Song Jincheng accidentally bumped his arm, he flinched and hissed in pain.
The two brothers exchanged a look—like a sudden moment of clarity: they were no longer the ‘elder brothers.’ This house was no longer theirs to control.
“Hurry and eat. We’ve got to go to the law office early. Once we finish the paperwork, there’s still plenty of business to take care of.”
Song Qiyuan casually pulled out a chair and started eating without looking up.
Song Jincheng and Song Yekang ate in silence.
After a tasteless, purely practical meal, Song Qiyuan more or less shoved his two older brothers into a car like a robber. He personally drove them to the law office. Unexpectedly, as they entered, they ran into Song Yuzhang and Song Mingzhao on their way out.
Upon seeing them, Song Yuzhang greeted them with poise and a small smile, “Good morning, brothers.”
“Morning.”
Song Qiyuan responded on their behalf. Song Jincheng and Song Yekang both stared daggers at Song Yuzhang until Song Qiyuan gave a loud cough in warning, at which point they averted their gazes, begrudgingly following him into the law office.
Song Yuzhang, not wanting to leave room for complications, had gone to the law office early in the morning to complete the inheritance process for the bank. It turned out to be simpler than he’d expected—after signing a few documents, the bank was officially his.
The process went so smoothly that Song Yuzhang felt as if he were in a dream. Even the joy of success seemed a bit muted. It was Song Mingzhao who was overjoyed, throwing his arms around Song Yuzhang again and again in the car, exclaiming, “From now on, it’s really just the two of us at home. This is wonderful!”
Song Yuzhang gave a faint smile, still wrapped in a surreal sense of disbelief.
Liu Chuanzong drove them to the Song Family Bank.
Song Yuzhang got out of the car and stood at the entrance, gazing up at the massive structure. The golden spire of the bank gleamed blindingly under the morning sun. Song Yuzhang closed his eyes slightly—it reminded him of the day he was adrift at sea, surrounded by all kinds of banknotes, the sunlight on the water just as piercing.
So fate really did work in mysterious ways.
This was his second life, now accompanied by a respectable identity and an immense fortune.
Song Yuzhang opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them as he smiled and said, “Let’s go have a look.”
Liu Chuanzong took Song Yuzhang to the bank’s confidential records room, where he presented the transfer documents and retrieved a set of vault keys. The keys were made in a very traditional and old-fashioned style—very heavy. Holding them in his hand, Song Yuzhang finally felt it more deeply—everything here was his. He was now the new master of this place.
“Fourth Young Master,” Liu Chuanzong stopped Song Mingzhao before they reached the vault. “This is a restricted area. It’s not really appropriate for you to go in.”
Song Mingzhao immediately felt displeased, but having already been completely won over by Song Yuzhang, he looked to him first for direction.
Song Yuzhang gently persuaded him, “Fourth Brother, wait for me in my office. We’ll go together another time.”
Though a little aggrieved, Song Mingzhao agreed. “Alright then.” After all, he didn’t really care about the money. What mattered to him was Song Yuzhang. Now that they were truly brothers who could rely on each other, he had nothing to complain about.
Liu Chuanzong led the way, guiding Song Yuzhang to inspect the most important and core area of the bank.
Meanwhile, at the law firm, the three elder Song brothers had completed the legal procedures.
Like herding ducks, Song Qiyuan once again pushed his two elder brothers into the car and drove them—this time heading out of the city.
Back at the bank, the vault was secured with multiple layers of protection. Song Yuzhang declined Liu Chuanzong’s help, choosing to unlock it himself. After opening five doors, he finally pushed open the last iron gate. What greeted him was row upon row of bronze shelving units that gleamed with a dark luster. They were packed full of legal tender banknotes.
Song Yuzhang slowly approached, pressing his palm against the notes. He felt his hand growing hot and trembling, as if even the blood in his veins was about to boil.
Unfortunately, the legal tender had recently depreciated quite severely—it wasn’t worth as much anymore.
The room that held the currency wasn’t large, and at the far end, there was yet another door.
If nothing had gone wrong, the foreign currencies, gold, and silver would be stored behind it.
That was the true treasure.
Song Yuzhang took a deep breath, found the correct key, and inserted it into the lock.
Click.
A car door opened—Song Qiyuan had arrived and stepped out.
Song Jincheng and Song Yekang had no choice but to follow.
They had returned to the foot of the mountain where Song Zhenqiao was buried.
Song Jincheng and Song Yekang exchanged glances, then looked toward Song Qiyuan.
“Third Brother, why did you bring us here?” asked Song Jincheng.
Song Qiyuan looked toward the nearby hilltop, his expression cold and weary. “I came here to tell you both something.”
Back at the bank, Song Yuzhang stared in stunned silence at the enormous room in front of him, so vast that its end was almost out of sight.
Despite its size, the room was shockingly easy to see through—completely empty and exposed.
The key in his hand clattered to the ground.
Song Yuzhang turned his head.
Liu Chuanzong stood behind him, as emotionless and still as a puppet.
“Liu Chuanzong,” Song Yuzhang said slowly, “why is this place… empty?”
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