Xiang Lan couldn’t help but laugh at his words.

When Lin Jin Lou saw her gentle smile, like peonies moistened by rain with rouge reflecting on her cheeks, his heart filled with joy. He lowered his head and softly asked, “What are you laughing at?”

Xiang Lan looked up at him and saw Lin Jin Lou smiling at her. She wanted to laugh again but couldn’t when she saw his face. They gazed at each other for a long while. She suddenly wanted to ask Lin Jin Lou why he had helped the Crown Prince escape back then – such a grave crime punishable by execution and family extermination, bringing no benefit but countless harm. With his flourishing career and prosperous family, was it worth taking such a risk?

But in the end, she couldn’t ask.

Everyone has something in their heart that weighs more than anything else – whether it’s righteousness, loyalty, conscience, or fame and status. They struggle for it throughout their lives, willing to sacrifice everything. Perhaps others might think it’s not worth it, but without it, nothing else would be worthwhile.

She understood him.

Seeing Xiang Lan staring at him silently, Lin Jin Lou couldn’t help but touch his chin and asked teasingly, “What are you looking at? Can’t get enough of me?”

Xiang Lan smiled and said, “Nothing. I was just thinking that Master now says ‘I’ when speaking to me instead of referring to himself as ‘Master.'” She then lifted her skirt and turned to walk down.

Lin Jin Lou felt somewhat awkward and followed behind, asking, “Well, what of it?”

Xiang Lan shook her head and said, “Nothing much. I’m just moved that Master now shows me respect…” Lin Jin Lou froze, slowly stopping in his tracks.

Xiang Lan continued walking forward without looking back, saying, “Two people must first have respect before they can speak of anything else.” After walking a few steps, she noticed Lin Jin Lou hadn’t followed and looked back. She saw him still standing there in a daze. After a moment, he came over with an unreadable expression and suddenly flicked her forehead, saying, “Silly girl.”

By then, the memorial service was complete, and everyone packed up to return to the city. Lin Jin Lou said, “If you still want to stay out, we can have tea and food at a famous restaurant later.”

Xiang Lan replied, “We’ve been out half a day already, we should head back.” As they chatted, they arrived at the Lin residence. After getting off the carriage and entering through the second gate, they hurried to Chang Chun Hall to change clothes. They then went to the flower hall, where the opera had ended and a female storyteller was performing. Lin Zhao Xiang had retired to You Shi Hall to rest. In the room were only Wan, Yi, Xiu, and seven or eight female relatives. Old Madam Lin was reclining on the luohan bed while Madam Qin personally served fruits.

Seeing other women in the room, Lin Jin Lou didn’t want to deal with social interactions and went to You Shi Hall first to pay respects to Lin Zhao Xiang. Just as Xiang Lan was about to enter the flower hall, she encountered Lin Dong Yi coming out of her seat. Meeting in the corridor, Lin Dong Yi said, “Where did you go earlier? Old Madam had people looking for you.” Without waiting for Xiang Lan’s response, she continued, “The Jiang family has already left. Old Madam said there weren’t enough people to make it lively, so she invited several close relatives over. There will be a variety of performances later.”

Xiang Lan asked, “Where are you going?”

Lin Dong Yi replied, “Second Aunt is ill, and Miao has gone to attend to her. My mother asked me to check on her behalf.”

Remembering her earlier conversation with Lin Jin Lou about Madam Wang’s illness and how he had asked her to take two taels of imperial-awarded medicine to Madam Wang, Xiang Lan said, “I’ll go with you.” She then ordered Xiao Juan to fetch the medicine and went with Lin Dong Yi to see Madam Wang.

Let us shift our focus to another part of the story. After Madam Wang returned to her courtyard and lay in bed, she felt a blockage in her chest that she couldn’t cough up. Her chest hurt severely, and she pounded it with her fist several times. Tears rolled down her face as she tossed and turned restlessly. The doctor came to examine her and said it was qi stagnation due to excessive worry. He wrote a prescription and left.

Li Miao Zhi saw the doctor off and supervised the preparation of the medicine. After helping Madam Wang take the medicine, Xue Zhan came to invite her, saying some regular visiting relatives had arrived and requested Li Miao Zhi to meet them and keep them company briefly before returning. Li Miao Zhi had no choice but to go.

Madam Wang lay there alone when suddenly the door curtain moved, and a Daoist nun-like woman entered with a gauze veil covering her face. Seeing no one else in the room, she removed the veil and approached the bed, calling out “Mother” – it was Lin Dong Ling. It turned out that Madam Wang had secretly brought Lin Dong Ling from Jinling, first hiding her in the carriage. Upon reaching the capital, she placed her in a temple built by the Lin family, disguised as a nun, instructing her to live in seclusion until Madam Wang could find her a suitable marriage match and give her a new identity.

Today, with the grand feast at the Lin residence, Lin Dong Ling faintly heard the sound of music and felt envious, thinking she should have been sitting at the front of such a grand occasion. She had always thought highly of herself and never imagined falling into such circumstances. In her anger, she drowned her sorrows in alcohol and inevitably had another crying spell. Just then, Madam Wang’s maid Hu Po came to bring her food and found Lin Dong Ling sobbing face-down on the bed. She went over to console her, saying, “Madam is holding on solely for you and Third Young Master now. Even if Miss doesn’t take care of herself for her own sake, she should do it for Madam. If Madam knows you’re crying like this, she’ll fall ill again.”

Hearing the implied meaning in these words, Lin Dong Ling immediately pressed for details. At first, Hu Po wouldn’t say, but after Lin Dong Ling’s persistent questioning, she finally revealed what had happened in the side room.

Lin Dong Ling immediately gnashed her teeth and said, “That whore! She’s always been showing off her power, and I’ve long been disgusted with her. Now she dares to bully my mother like this. Just wait until I see her!” She then secretly slipped out to visit Madam Wang.

Now seeing Madam Wang’s face as yellow as gold leaf, spirits low, tears on her cheeks, aged five or six years from exhaustion, she let out a sob and began crying. Stroking Lin Dong Ling’s face, Madam Wang said, “My child, if it weren’t for you all, I would close my eyes and let go.”

Hearing these words, Lin Dong Ling immediately glared and said, “Mother, what nonsense are you talking about? If anyone should die, it should be that whore!”

Madam Wang quickly covered her mouth. Knowing Lin Dong Ling had been spoiled since childhood and had a fiery temper, acting without considering consequences, she feared trouble would arise. She hurriedly said, “It’s my fault, my fault. I shouldn’t have said that to you. Now Concubine Su is pregnant, and if anything happens to her, they’ll blame us. I will handle this matter myself. You just stay quietly in the temple.” After a pause, she continued, “I’ve already looked at several potential matches with your First Aunt. Once we find a good one, we’ll marry you off, and then my heart can finally be at ease. You absolutely cannot cause any trouble.”

Lin Dong Ling pushed away Madam Wang’s hand and sneered, “They’re bullying us so brazenly, and we can’t even make a sound? So what if she’s pregnant? At worst, I’ll kick her and make her lose the child. Let’s see if she’s still so proud then!”

Just then, a young maid entered and said, “Second Young Miss and Miss Xiang Lan are here to check on Madam’s illness.”

Madam Wang hurriedly sent Lin Dong Ling to hide behind the screen before inviting them in. After Lan and Yi inquired about her health and symptoms, spoke some comforting words, and left the snacks, porridge, and medicine they had brought, they were about to take their leave. At this moment, another maid entered to report that Concubine Su had come to apologize. Since there were others present, Madam Wang couldn’t refuse, and despite her extreme reluctance, had to invite Su Mei Ru in.

Xiang Lan and Lin Dong Yi exchanged glances and swallowed their farewell words, sitting back down.

Su Mei Ru appeared with a sallow face. She had been crying and making scenes all day, and her makeup had long since smeared. She had simply washed it off with water and hadn’t reapplied any. Upon entering and seeing Madam Wang, she immediately began crying, saying, “It’s my fault. I’ve caused Madam to fall ill. Please punish me.” As she spoke, she moved to kneel.

Madam Wang said, “Enough, you’re pregnant. No need to kneel.”

Su Mei Ru said, “Madam is truly kind. In the future, my child will also be Madam’s child. An old fortune teller looked at me and said I was carrying some kind of literary star. Master was so happy he gave him a generous red envelope. Ah, but I don’t have such fortune. I’ll be content if this child has half of Third Young Master’s success. If it’s a girl… I heard Madam also had a daughter who passed away young. Master doesn’t allow anyone to mention it, probably because it hurts too much to bring up. If I have a daughter, she can fill the void for Master and Madam, and help ease the pain in your hearts.”

Xiang Lan’s heart skipped a beat as she thought, “This Su Mei Ru is truly skilled at killing with soft words. Every sentence seems considerate but stabs at the heart, leaving one unable to complain. Could it be that she wants to anger Madam Wang to death and then have Lin Zhang Min make her the official wife?”

Sure enough, Madam Wang’s face turned red as she began coughing violently, tears falling as she coughed.

Behind the screen, Lin Dong Ling heard this and trembled with rage. The anger from daily humiliations and today’s degradation, combined with the effects of alcohol, seemed to find an outlet. Looking again, she saw Lin Dong Yi had gone forward to massage Madam Wang’s chest, while Su Mei Ru, appearing greatly alarmed, was about to stand up and approach. Xiang Lan blocked her, and at that exact moment, Lin Dong Ling rushed out without hesitation, kicking straight at Su Mei Ru’s belly while shouting, “Dead whore! Today I’ll let you taste some pain!”

Caught off guard, Su Mei Ru cried “Aiyou” and stumbled backward. Lin Dong Ling grabbed Su Mei Ru’s hair and kicked her stomach twice more, cursing, “You disrespectful slave who doesn’t know your place, you worthless thing! Today, Young Miss will teach you a lesson!”

Xiang Lan was stunned at first, but when she came to her senses, she quickly went to pull Lin Dong Ling back, saying, “Stop quickly, Madam needs attention first!” Lin Dong Ling refused to stop, and Qian Ma Ma, Hu Po, and Ying Luo heard the commotion and rushed in to help break up the fight.

Just then, the door was kicked open with a bang, and Lin Zhang Min entered. Seeing the scene before him, his eyes turned red. He grabbed Lin Dong Ling and began beating her, cursing, “You disloyal, unfilial, heartless, unprincipled thing, you worthless prostitute, how dare you hit someone!”

Upon seeing Lin Zhang Min, Lin Dong Ling immediately lost her nerve and stopped, crying, “Father is so biased, not asking how that whore angered Mother, but beating me instead!”

Su Mei Ru let out an “Aiyou” and collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach and moaning continuously. Her face was deathly pale, with cold sweat rolling down her forehead. Xiang Lan looked down and saw a pool of blood beneath Su Mei Ru. Greatly alarmed, she quickly ordered people to help Su Mei Ru to the bed and send for a doctor immediately.

Seeing this, Lin Zhang Min became even more enraged. He pulled a dagger from his boot and said, “Very well, very well! Today you harm your stepmother, tomorrow you might kill your parents. I might as well kill you today and be done with it!” He lunged forward to stab her. Madam Wang hurriedly got up, stumbling and rolling off the bed, crawling to Lin Zhang Min and grabbing his arm while crying, “Master! Master, open your eyes and look, she is still your flesh and blood! You can’t care only for the unseen child in the belly while killing the one you’ve raised for over ten years!” Lin Zhang Min waved his hand, shouting “Get out of the way!” and shoved Madam Wang against the wall, where Qian Ma Ma and others rushed over crying to help her up. The room instantly descended into chaos.

Seeing the situation turn dire, Lin Dong Ling quickly fled during the confusion, with Lin Zhang Min pursuing her.

Lin Dong Ling ran blindly until she reached the corridor, where she saw the corner gate to the street was open, and quickly ran out. Lin Zhang Min followed out and saw Lin Dong Ling stumbling down the alley before turning a corner and disappearing. Only then did he return, cursing under his breath.