Cao Lihuan was quite skilled in schemes and tactics, knowing how to please and understanding romance. She had countless ways to make people happy. Han Yaozu immediately fell deeply in love with her and couldn’t bear to be apart for a moment, completely forgetting about his tigress of a wife.
Cao Lihuan asked for everything from jewelry and seasonal clothing to food like chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and even various tonics. Han Yaozu, completely devoted to her, naturally granted her every request. To please him further, Cao Lihuan even offered her maid Hui’er to Han Yaozu. The mistress and maid served him together, and before long, Ren Yu was promoted from a jailer to a Ninth-Rank Tax Inspector, officially receiving an official position from being a commoner.
As the saying goes, “No wall is completely windproof.” Before long, someone saw Cao Lihuan leaving Han Yaozu’s study with her jacket loose, nearly exposing half her chest, and the gossip spread everywhere. When it reached Ren Yu’s mother’s ears, the old lady immediately fell back in anger and demanded Ren Yu divorce his wife. Cao Lihuan coldly laughed, “If it weren’t for me, how could your son have gotten a Ninth-Rank position out of nowhere? Your son couldn’t achieve an official rank through examinations, but at least he gained face by having a useful wife. How dare you criticize me!”
Hearing this and seeing Ren Yu’s submissive manner, his mother coughed up blood twice in anger and passed away within a month. After this, no one dared to control Cao Lihuan anymore. She remained sweet and gentle before Han Yaozu, but at home, she ordered her husband around like a servant, sometimes beating him, occasionally mixing in some sweet words. Ren Yu both feared and loved Cao Lihuan, choosing only to play deaf and dumb, swallowing his pride.
When Cao Lihuan saw Xia Yun at the entrance, she secretly took notice. She thought about how proper-looking Xia Yun was – though not as handsome as Ren Yu, he had an elegant and noble air about him.
While he lacked Han Yaozu’s official authority, his youthful vigor was incomparable to that old man Han Yaozu. She bitterly thought to herself: “How unfortunate that I have such bad luck, only able to marry a useless man, never meeting such a suitable person before! Xia Yun is different from others – passing the provincial examinations at such a young age, he’s bound to achieve great success someday.
Han Yaozu is getting old, and his official position will reach its limit sooner or later. Though he treats me well, it’s not a long-term solution. I should find a way to form a connection with Young Master Xia – it would give me another ally in the yamen… Perhaps I could even rely on him in the future!” The more she pondered, the more her heart burned like fire.
From then on, she sought opportunities to chat with Xia Yun, frequently showing concern for his well-being. She also whispered sweet words to Han Yaozu, making him value Xia Yun more. He assigned Xia Yun several prestigious tasks in succession and rewarded him with considerable silver.
Cao Lihuan then went to Xia Yun to take credit: “I admire Young Master Xia’s talent, your excellent calligraphy, and great learning. Working in this county yamen is beneath you. Fortunately, I was able to speak a few words to the County Magistrate, praising Young Master Xia’s virtues. See? A talented person immediately shows their worth, don’t they?”
Xia Yun immediately felt that Cao Lihuan was a discerning judge of talent who truly had his interests at heart. Though he had been distant from her before, they gradually became more familiar.
Once they were better acquainted, Cao Lihuan began flirting with her eyes and occasionally teasing: “Young Master Xia isn’t married yet? When you’re alone in bed at night, who do you think about?”
Xia Yun replied, “At night, I just close my doors and read.”
Cao Lihuan laughed, “Oh my, just reading won’t do, you need to relax sometimes, don’t you?” As she spoke, she leaned gracefully against the door, one foot on the threshold, lifting her skirt slightly to reveal a glimpse of her water-red embroidered shoes.
Xia Yun immediately understood her meaning. Though he despised Cao Lihuan’s character, he didn’t want to offend her, so he lowered his head and pretended not to notice. Still, he felt somewhat proud, considering himself handsome and refined, attracting admirers everywhere.
Since Cao Lihuan couldn’t linger too long at Xia Yun’s office in the yamen, seeing that he didn’t respond, she made some other small talk before taking her leave. She thought to herself: “There’s plenty of time – if a mouse likes oil cakes, I’m not worried about catching this innocent young man.”
Let’s leave aside how Cao Lihuan sought opportunities to seduce him and turn to Lin Jinlou, who had been networking in the capital for half a year before returning to Jinling. The news of Lin Zhangzheng’s promotion to Governor of Shanxi was confirmed, bringing joy to the entire Lin family. Upon hearing this, officials both great and small in Jinling sprang into action – Lin Zhangzheng had completed his mourning period and entered office, immediately being promoted to First-Rank official with real power over a region. This signaled the Lin family’s revival of prominence. Thus, people came in endless streams to present their cards and congratulatory gifts to build connections. Especially when rumors spread that Lin Jinlou had divorced Zhao, those hoping to arrange marriages formed a line stretching down the street.
After returning home, Lin Jinlou first spent several days inspecting the military camp, then handled various matters for two days before finally stealing half a day of leisure to sleep lazily in bed. Upon waking, feeling thirsty, he called for tea.
When the bed curtains were lifted, a heavily made-up woman offered him a bowl of tea. Lin Jinlou took a sip and looked up to see it was Huamei, causing him to slightly furrow his brow. This was the master bedroom of Zhichun Hall, and Huamei, as a concubine, shouldn’t enter casually.
Huamei, being extremely perceptive, saw Lin Jinlou’s displeasure and immediately understood. She quickly said, “The Madam told me to wait here, saying that the Young Master has been as busy as a spinning wheel these past few days, and who knows when you’d wake up – there couldn’t be no one here to serve you when you did…” She glanced at Lin Jinlou and lowered her voice, “Originally, those serving in this room… were mostly people she brought from her maiden home, so…”
Lin Jinlou immediately said, “I understand.” He lifted the thin quilt, preparing to get out of bed.
Huamei quickly bent down to help him with his shoes, then took his clothes from the warming frame to help him dress. After he was fully dressed, she asked, “Would the Young Master like something to eat? The small kitchen has just made some fine pastries, all your usual favorites. Would you like a few pieces?” Seeing Lin Jinlou nod slightly, she immediately ordered someone to bring them.
Lin Jinlou turned his neck, and an agile maid promptly brought a bowl of clear soup. As Lin Jinlou took a sip, he heard the faint sound of gongs and strings from the front, so he asked, “What’s all that commotion in the front?”
Huamei replied, “Several of the Master’s students and subordinates came to offer congratulations, so the Master invited them to stay for dinner.”
Lin Jinlou looked out the window and saw that indeed, it was already getting dark. He finished the soup in his hand and picked up his chopsticks to eat some snacks when suddenly his hand paused. He called out to the maid who had just entered with the soup: “You, stop right there!”
That maid was Yindie. Because Lin Jinlou was home today, she had specially dressed up, changing into a new lotus-colored outfit. She wore all her finest accessories, with three pairs of bracelets on each hand, and had secretly used palace powder from Huamei’s dressing table. She was naturally beautiful, and with this decoration, she looked even more attractive.
Now that Lin Jinlou had called her to stop, Yindie trembled with joy. She stopped and turned around, just about to give Lin Jinlou a charming smile when she saw him approach with a stern face. He grabbed the gold horse pendant with precious stones hanging from her belt sash and asked, “Where did you get this?”
Yindie’s whole body shuddered.
When Xiang Lan was driven away by Zhao Yuechan, everything had been so rushed that many things weren’t packed. Yindie had secretly taken Xiang Lan’s box. She had taken all the good clothes and jewelry inside, and at the bottom of the box, she found a red silk purse containing this little gold horse pendant with precious stone tassels – it was truly exquisite. Yindie’s eyes had immediately lit up, and she had quickly tucked the gold horse into her pocket. She hadn’t worn it since taking it, but today was the first time she had tied it to her belt sash, and Lin Jinlou had immediately noticed and questioned her.
This gold horse pendant had quite a history. It was originally a rare item brought back on a sea vessel, decorated with bright precious stone tassels and various valuable jade stones, and given to Lin Jinlou. Lin Jinlou had also found the pure gold and yellow jade horse exquisite, and after playing with it for a while, had worn it at his waist. That day happened to be when Xiang Lan was serving him, and as he had taken a liking to that maid, he had given the little gold horse to her as a reward. Now seeing this item worn by an unrelated maid, Lin Jinlou’s face darkened.
Yindie was quick-witted and immediately sensed there was something special about the gold horse. Moreover, feeling guilty about the theft and fearing Lin Jinlou’s authority, her eyes darted around as she stammered, “This is… this is…”
Lin Jinlou kicked Yindie in the stomach and said, “This what? I’m asking you where this gold horse came from!”
Yindie let out a cry and fell to the ground, quickly scrambling back to her knees. Her face was pale with pain, and she thought to herself: “This is bad. If I say I stole it from Xiang Lan, I’ll surely be in big trouble. Since Zhao Yuechan is gone anyway, I might as well pin everything on her.” She immediately said, “Young Master, please understand, this was given to me by the former Young Mistress…”
Lin Jinlou laughed coldly: “She gave it to you? She was such a miser, yet she was so good to a dog servant like you? When she left the Lin family, why didn’t she take you with her?”
These casual words terrified Yindie so much that every hair on her body stood on end. She repeatedly kowtowed, saying, “This servant was wrong, please spare me, Young Master!”
Lin Jinlou didn’t even look at her, only ordering: “Call a slave trader first thing tomorrow morning to get rid of her.”
Huamei quickly responded: “Yes.”
Yindie was shocked and terrified, tears rolling down her face as she kowtowed repeatedly: “Young Master, please spare me! Young Master, please spare me! That pendant wasn’t given by the Young Mistress, I found it in Xiang Lan’s box after she left. I was blinded with greed, I’ll never dare do it again, I’ll never dare…”
Lin Jinlou shouted: “Get her out of here!”
Two old women came and gagged Yindie before taking her away.
Huamei’s lips twitched as she thought to herself: “Yindie is truly foolish. It would have been better to admit to stealing the item than to say it was given by Zhao Yuechan. Doesn’t she know what irritates the Young Master most?” However, her face remained calm, not saying a word more, only carefully attending to Lin Jinlou’s meal.
Lin Jinlou held the gold horse pendant and looked at it, thinking only of Xiang Lan. During his half-year away, he had kept well-informed, knowing that Song Ke had passed the imperial examinations and become engaged to the daughter of the Marquis of Xian, leaving Xiang Lan behind when he took his family to the capital.