Chapter 187: Lust for Women

Lin Lanting was silent.

Can't explain.

The Lin family's kung fu requires at least a year of instruction from someone before one can truly comprehend it, but my uncle only stayed at the Shen family for a few months before the Shen family fell into trouble.

Even if the younger uncle was grateful and went against the Lin family's ancestral teachings to teach the Lin family's kung fu to the Shen family's son, it would be impossible for the Shen family's son to become successful through self-study.

At this moment, the old monk added, "That young man's martial arts skills aren't very good, but it looks like he's been learning for at least ten years."

Lin Lanting pursed his lips.

The men of the Lin family started doing horse stance at the age of six.

So, the one who died was the son of the Shen family?

If he was the son of the Shen family, why would he say such a thing to his grandfather before he died?

Also, Miss Chang said that the osmanthus flower was the regret of the young man who left home before his death, which meant that even if it was not her uncle who died that year, she would have passed away now.

His eyes gradually darkened as he looked at Wei Qingyan, "Ms. Chang, how much do you know? The man you suspect is my uncle. What is his status in the Wei Dynasty?"

“After the Shen family suffered a disaster, Shen Changshan, the son of the Shen family, came to the capital alone and took refuge with the Qin family, to whom he was married.”

Wei Qingyan emphasized the word "one person".

She had always found it strange that Shen Changshan, a scholar with no martial arts skills, could escape to the capital alone in such a chaotic world.

If it was a young man from the Lin family who was skilled in martial arts, then it would make sense.

"Two years later, Shen Changshan married Miss Qin and became the Qin family's son-in-law. He then entered the Imperial Academy to teach. This was his status in the Wei Dynasty.

What I'm curious about is, since you know that the Shen family has a son who is about the same age as your uncle, have you ever paid attention to the whereabouts of the Shen family's son?"

At least they saved the life of the young man from the Lin family, and at least the Shen family died tragically because of the young man from the Lin family.

Lin Lanting coughed lightly, "When my grandfather arrived, my uncle was the only one still breathing on the entire street.

Grandfather hurriedly took people to find a clinic and ordered his subordinates to collect the bodies of the Shen family.

The younger uncle could not be rescued, and the grandfather lost his youngest son. The people below found that the body of the Shen family's son was missing, but they did not dare to disturb the grandfather who was suffering from the pain of losing his son, and instead searched for him privately.

When the grandfather recovered and asked about the matter, his subordinates told him that the son of the Shen family went to a classmate's house that night, escaped the disaster, and then left the north.

The north was the territory of the Great Wei, and since the Shen family's son had a place to go, his grandfather didn't ask too much about it. He told people to go to the Shen family's grave to pay homage every year, and then he took his uncle's body back to Feng Zhao.

Wei Qingyan and Shi Yu looked at each other.

No wonder they didn’t see any extra graves in the Shen family cemetery, and Shen Changshan had no habit of going to temples or Taoist temples.

Because the remains of Shen's son were buried in the Lin family instead of him, receiving offerings from the Lin family.

It also made the two of them understand why Shen Changshan took ten years to move the grave.

Firstly, the graves of several members of the Shen family were taken care of by the Lin family. Secondly, he was worried that when he returned, the Lin family would find out that he was still alive.

Later he moved his grave to the north in order to conceal his true whereabouts.

But why would he rather be threatened by the late emperor than return to the Lin family?

"General Lin, if it was your uncle who was still alive, do you know why he wouldn't want to return home?"

Lin Lanting actually knew about this matter.

“Grandfather is good in every way except that he is a bit indulgent when it comes to women.

My grandmother gave birth to my uncle when she was nearly 40 years old. Her health was not good after that and she passed away a few years later.

My grandfather remarried the year after my grandmother passed away. My uncle probably felt that my grandfather was cruel to my grandmother and had a lot of complaints about him for this.

Unexpectedly, the second wife was unlucky and died of a cold in less than a year. My grandfather remarried... and took many concubines during that time.

The more women my grandfather took into the house, the more distant my uncle became from him.

The woman who instigated my uncle to leave home was my grandfather's third wife. She was only three years older than my uncle, but more than forty years younger than my grandfather.

Because of these things, my grandfather had a bad reputation in Kyoto. My uncle was laughed at by his classmates and had a big quarrel with my grandfather. He threatened that if my grandfather dared to marry, he would sever the father-son relationship with him.

My grandfather was a powerful general in Fengzhao, so how could he be threatened by my uncle? After that, my uncle really moved to the academy and rarely came home.

That was why the woman got the opportunity to plot against him.

The girl asked why her uncle didn't go home. I thought maybe her uncle was resentful, resentful that he couldn't resist the temptation, and even more resentful that her grandfather kept marrying one woman after another.

If the woman had not come in, he would not have had to flee from home.

"There's another reason. After my uncle left home, news of him eloping with my stepmother spread throughout Kyoto. If he returns, rumors are inevitable."

Lin Lanting did not hope that Shen Changshan was his uncle. The Lin family girl had participated in the palace coup, and his uncle was also involved in the prince's disappearance.

How will the Queen view the Lin family?

But only by figuring out what happened to Shen Changshan could he investigate the whereabouts of the prince, so he had no choice but to cooperate.

"Your grandfather was worried about being feared by the royal family, so he deliberately revealed this lustful weakness for them to exploit.

Yet, he was too self-righteous to tell his son the truth, which ultimately led to this tragedy and brought disaster to his descendants."

The old monk sneered, "There is no shortage of fools in this world. It is these fools who keep appearing one after another that have added so much suffering to the world."

"How dare you, a monk, curse at me? My great-grandfather didn't say anything, but he wanted to protect his son and let him grow up without worries."

Xiao Zhian couldn't help but speak up to defend him.

He thought of his mother, who rarely told him about the intrigues in the court.

The old monk snorted, "Even though I've never been to Fengzhao, I've heard about how prestigious the Lin family was in Fengzhao back then.

Since your great-grandfather realized this and came up with such a bad idea, why didn't he understand that being born into a family feared by the royal family meant that one was destined not to be ignorant and carefree.

If the young man from the Lin family had known earlier that his father was not truly lustful, he would not have had any grudge against his father, and would not have been easily deceived by a woman.

The occurrence of one tragedy often leads to more tragedies.

It would be fine if the father really didn't care about his son as he seemed to be doing.

But he couldn't bear to let his son know about the family crisis, which shows that he cares about his son very much. How can he bear the pain of losing his son at such an old age?

No matter how powerful a family is, if its pillar falls, it will no longer be so terrifying. I don’t need to list the many things that have been implicated in this incident.”

"What do you mean?" Xiao Zhian seemed to understand, but also seemed not to understand.

The other three people present were shocked.

Lin Lanting silently bowed to the old monk.

Everything happened just as the old monk said. The death of my uncle was such a huge blow to my grandfather that he was caught by the royal family for his negligence in government affairs.

In addition, the news of my uncle's elopement spread, and the royal family demoted my grandfather's official position and took away the Lin family's military power on the grounds that he was not a good parent.

The glory of the Lin family was gone, and it was only before his death that the grandfather realized that he should not have raised his uncle to be ignorant of the ways of the world. In the end, he became a pawn of the royal family to crush the Lin family, and also harmed his uncle himself.

Yes, the Fengzhao royal family was behind the whole thing, but he just didn't talk about it because it involved the dark affairs of his own country.

After the old monk's advice, Wei Qingyan understood the various conspiracies behind it.

She thought of General Wei.

I thought about why General Wei, who clearly had not let go of his original wife and who clearly knew about the relationship between Madam Wei and the late emperor, still married Madam Wei as his second wife.

She thought about why General Wei had disguised her as a man and told the late emperor.

By doing this, he was actually handing an advantage to the late emperor and showing his weakness.

Wei Qingyan felt a sense of sadness in his heart.

Peace was originally brought about by the general, but the general could not feel at ease and enjoy the peaceful and prosperous times he had created.

Even worse are those like Du Changyuan, who died on the eve of peace.

The general has pacified the world and protected the peace of the people, and he has done nothing wrong.

The fault is that the monarch is unkind.

In this case, let’s replace him with a benevolent and righteous monarch.

Wei Qingyan clenched his fists and bowed deeply to the old monk.

The old monk looked at her seriously for a long time before he looked away, took a sip of wine and savored it carefully.

Shi Yu also thought of General Wei, the late emperor, and even the Empress Feng Zhao, whom he had never met.

Perhaps the late emperor had treated General Wei sincerely, but from the day he ascended the throne, he was just a king, and all he cared about were matters related to the king's power.

Similarly, Empress Feng Zhao, who had been in power for many years and had experienced the decline of the Lin family and understood the reasons, why did she repeat the same mistakes and raise her only son into an idle person?