Chapter 90 The Slave's Life Is the Miss's

Their gazes followed the convoy as it traveled through the dim night, and they could vaguely make out a corner of gold and jade...

The gates of the Lin residence were violently forced open by the convoy.

Seemingly intending to intimidate with an overbearing attitude, the slaves guarding the gate were knocked away by the carriages as soon as they reached out to stop them. Their limbs were broken and they were trampled underfoot, their blood and flesh forming a long carpet on the steps to welcome the "guests."

How could the Lin family have provoked the government troops?

This was a question lingering in the hearts of every resident of Chentang Pass, including the Lin couple involved. They watched in terror as soldiers rushed into the mansion, lanterns falling to the ground and casting a red glow. Soon, the soldiers surrounded the couple, Lin Dong shielding Xue Yue'e behind him. A man in green stood in front of them, his voice sharp but his tone weak: "Our family hasn't done anything wrong, what are you doing!"

"I haven't done anything wrong, I'm just here to tell you some incredibly good news," the leading officer chuckled, then turned to the back and asked, "Lord Li, would you like to tell us?"

Mr. Li?

In a flash, Lin Dong's eyes widened.

The man in the official robe cursed under his breath and had no choice but to step out from behind the carriage.

Without any cover, he was completely exposed to Lin Dong.

Lin Dong's mind went blank; he didn't understand why Li Jing was acting this way. He instinctively roared, his cry of "Li Jing" like that of a trapped beast.

Seeing his former brother in such a sorry state, Li Jing felt a chill run down his spine: "Brother Lin, it wasn't me."

If these were his own private soldiers, Li Jing would never have allowed them to vandalize like this. Regardless of his character, he was known for his strict discipline in managing his troops. Lin Dong noticed that not only he, but even Li Jing, seemed quite anxious and uneasy. He calmed himself down and asked, "Is my family's snack not good?"

If commoners were classified into classes, the Lin family would undoubtedly be among the highest. After all, as the heads of the household, the Lin couple not only paid taxes on time and generously donated to the court during times of crisis, but they were also known for their philanthropy, always providing food to the homeless and beggars. No one in their family committed crimes, and even their slaves were far more respectable and well-behaved than those in other wealthy families. If they were arrested for a crime, it wouldn't warrant such a fuss. The possibility of Li Jing abandoning them after using them is unlikely; the only explanation Lin Dong could think of was a problem with the food his family had presented.

Li Jing shook his head and replied, "Precisely because it was done too well."

Lin Dong paused to let him continue: "Lady Daji praised your family's exquisite skills and wanted to sacrifice you to make snacks for the gods to show the king's filial piety."

A tall tree catches the wind, and being too outstanding is also a mistake.

She exchanged a glance with her husband, secretly relieved that she had sent Pingyu away early that morning.

Every household holds sacrificial rites on a fixed date, let alone the national sacrifice, which is a major event of the year. The couple knew full well that their fate was sealed; once a human sacrifice was chosen, it had to be reported to Heaven and could not be replaced. Faced with the soldiers forming a human wall around them, the Lin couple gave up resisting. How could their small family possibly fight their way out? Lin Dong gave a bitter smile, harboring no resentment towards Li Jing.

On the bright side, Pingyu is no longer here.

The Lin family's pastry recipes mostly originated from Ping Yu, but because their daughter was too young, the couple didn't spread her name, instead claiming that Xue Yue'e was divinely inspired and self-taught. This time it was another sacrifice, not a transgression. A sacrifice only required a few designated people to die, but a transgression would result in the execution of nine generations of one's family. Daji wanted the Lin family's true pastry-making experts to be sacrificed, and Ping Yu could be excluded. Just then, Li Jing looked around but didn't see the girl.

He asked, "Where is Pingyu?"

Unexpectedly, the female slave who was protecting her master stepped forward and said to him with a disregard for her own life, "Lord Li, if you want my parents' daughter, aren't I right here?"

The three of them were taken aback.

Lin Dong suddenly remembered that the Taoist priest had said Ping Yu's birth must not be discovered, so although Ping Yu was registered, she was actually registered under the name of Lin Dong's deceased family. To ensure Ping Yu could grow up properly, they consulted many Taoist priests. One of them suggested that a girl born around the same time as Ping Yu should live with her, so that their auras would intertwine and entangle, making it impossible for ghosts and spirits to distinguish who was truly destined for the underworld.

So Greenie was bought from a slave trader, and she became the child registered in Lin Dong's household register.

Most of the Lin family's wealth was under Pingyu's name. They originally planned to let her return to her registered residence after her life-threatening ordeal. They took the opportunity of today's welcoming banquet to discuss this matter with Li Jing.

The reason Li Jing was asked to move his household registration was to prevent him from committing a crime that would implicate his entire family. Even if Ping Yu was registered in someone else's household, he would still be unable to escape death.

Green Robe was called a slave in the Lin household because Lin Dong and his wife wanted her to maintain her proper status and not let wealth give rise to inappropriate thoughts. However, Green Robe was not a slave. From a young age, she was instilled with the idea that peace and harmony should be the priority in all things, unlike the other slaves in the Lin household. Perhaps the Lin couple felt guilty towards her, because Green Robe had plenty of free time outside of her chores and lived a life not much different from that of an ordinary daughter from a well-off family.

Green Clothes grew up alongside Pingyu from a young age.

During the days when they were forbidden from contacting outsiders in the family temple, they depended on each other for survival.

Pingyu is both the master and the younger sister.

Besides, she knew in her heart that if Lin Dong and his wife hadn't bought her from the slave trader, she might have remained a slave for the rest of her life and never grown up.

Now that the young lady is in trouble, Green Robe knows it's time for her to repay her kindness.

She met Li Jing's scrutiny without fear, ignoring the pressure he exerted through his gaze.

Li Jing was a veteran of the battlefield and had seen the eyes of countless assassins.

At that moment, in his vision, the eyes of the man in green overlapped with the eyes of those who were fearlessly facing death.

He knew that this female slave truly wanted to die.

Is Lin Pingyu really that likable?

Li Jing recalled his interactions with the girl, wondering why everyone was willing to die to protect her, and why even his ungrateful son showed her special favor.

At first glance, Li Jing only found Pingyu beautiful and well-behaved, yet she always displayed a maturity beyond her years. This initial goodwill vanished when Nezha committed suicide; Li Jing remembered Pingyu's questioning of him. He believed that a girl should be obedient and well-behaved; being too opinionated would only lead to her becoming a shrew. His wife had mentioned wanting to strengthen ties with the Lin family through marriage, but he didn't want a girl like Pingyu as his daughter-in-law.

Too much trouble and restlessness, lest you cause unrest in the household later on.

However, it was through what the woman in green said that Li Jing became certain that he had chosen the wrong path at Cuiping Mountain.

The temporary palace that Pingyu built in the Li family.

With only one chance to choose, Tian let Pingyu live.

Leaving the child behind would be like leaving a seed of trouble, and Li Jing couldn't guarantee that the child wouldn't come looking for trouble when he grew up.

However, he hesitated for a moment and ultimately gave up on ordering his subordinates to exterminate them all.

Li Jing presented himself to Lin Dong as someone who "did not intend to" and was "powerless." If he were to pursue the matter relentlessly, he might be suspected of conspiring with King Zhou to murder him. Even when facing a dying man, Li Jing wanted to maintain his image and dignity.

Pingyu is such a frail girl, she's unlikely to amount to anything.

Furthermore, young children are easily deceived. If Pingyu were to actually come to their door in the future, he could easily fool them by making a story about sparing their lives. The two families have a deep friendship, so Pingyu would likely believe him.

After the brainstorming session ended, Li Jing relented.

Seeing that Lin Dong offered no resistance, he ordered, "Men, requisition a carriage from this mansion and take them away."

The officer roughly tore Lin Dong and Xue Yue'e apart. A handful of the woman's hair was ripped out, and Lin Dong was about to curse but was stopped by a look from his wife. Li Jing spoke up at this moment, hurriedly saying, "This is not a criminal, please be gentle!"

Lin Dong and Xue Yue'e sneered, disgusted by his hypocritical pretense.

The two men and the woman in green boarded the same carriage together.

Without fire, the candles in the carriage couldn't be lit. The three people inside were like flies trapped in a bowl, with nowhere to escape.

Lin Dong and Xue Yue'e sat silently in their chairs, while the woman in green busied herself. She lifted the curtain inside the carriage, letting some moonlight in. Xue Yue'e's eyes were stung by the light, and she squinted slightly. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw the young woman smile at her and say, "Madam, I have something good to show you."

After saying that, the woman in green took out a comb from her sleeve.

Xue Yue'e recognized it as an ivory comb, which she had given to Ping Yu as a birthday gift.

The woman in green said, “Miss loves this comb the most, so I carry it with me every day. If Miss’s hair comes undone while she’s out, I use this to comb it for her. Now that Madam’s hair has been messed up by those uncouth men, I’ve come to re-braid it for you.”

As the girl spoke, she came up behind Xue Yue'e. She gently removed the hairpin from Xue Yue'e's head and combed the woman's cascading hair smoothly.

Xue Yue'e asked, "Green Robe, why do you want to take over Ping Yu's household registration?"

The man in green ran his fingers through the woman's silky hair and whispered, "Isn't this why you and the master bought me?"

The woman was silent for a moment, then said, "But in that situation just now, no one would check the relevant records. If you don't acknowledge it, neither the master nor I will say anything."

An exquisite updo took shape in the girl's nimble fingers. Green Robe retrieved a hairpin from a hidden compartment in the carriage to select hair ornaments for the woman. Her gaze swept over the magnificent jewelry before finally choosing a jade hairpin. She said, "From the moment I was bought, Green Robe has belonged to you, Miss. If Madam and Master are taken away, I will have no face to face you. I've grown accustomed to living in the Lin family; if my masters are gone, I don't know how I will go on."

The jade hairpin was slowly pushed into her hair, and Xue Yue'e regained her usual dignified appearance. The woman in green sat back down, bowing her head respectfully:

"Besides, if no one takes care of you two, Miss will worry."

She didn't hear a positive response and looked up in confusion.

The girl had just tilted her head back when a wave of heat pressed down on the top of her head. The man's hand was large enough to cover her entire head. Lin Dong looked at her with complicated emotions, his voice rising amidst the woman's soft sobs: "Child, I'm sorry."

The woman in green shook her head and smiled, "After Miss passes her tribulation, she can cultivate immortality. It takes a long time for a person to enter reincarnation after death. Perhaps Miss will find our souls before that time comes?"

She comforted the two of them, saying, "Madam and sir, good people are always blessed. Heaven will not cut off all paths for people."

Xue Yue'e wiped away her tears and said in a muffled voice, "I wonder how Pingyu is... It's good that she's alright."

Green Robe and Lin Dong agreed: "Yes, as long as she's alright, that's all that matters."

Torches led the way at the top, and a long procession of carriages and horses moved without stopping.

The Lin family members were taken to Chaoge.