Chapter 63: Poisoned by a Gu Worth 20,000 Gold

Lin Yuan rested her chin on the table and tossed chopsticks into her father's empty wine cup.

The bamboo chopsticks lay askew on the table.

A bamboo chopstick flew from behind, grazed my shoulder, and landed in the ceramic cup with a muffled thud.

Lin Yuan turned her head.

Lin Yu walked over.

He reached out and picked up the bamboo chopsticks one by one, then sat down beside her.

"Brother, do you think Father and Mother might not like Young Master Xiao?"

Lin Yu's eyes flickered, and she asked with a slight smile, "Are you worried about this?"

Lin Yuan rested her chin on her hands and hummed in agreement: "Father and Mother dislike kings and nobles the most, and they hate imperial relatives even more."

"Well, that depends on who that person is," Lin Yu said softly.

He picked up a clean cloth from the table and wiped the bamboo chopsticks one by one.

"Brother, what about you?" Lin Yuan tilted her head and tugged at Lin Yu's arm.

"I?"

"Hmm, do you like Young Master Xiao?"

Lin Yu paused, without looking up, still holding a chopstick in her hand, wiping repeatedly, her speed unconsciously increasing.

"Brother, keep rubbing, you'll wear the bamboo skin off."

"oh."

Lin Yu seemed to wake up from a dream, "Oh, I thought it was a water stain."

It was long past time to light the lamps, but the sky was dark and the room was gloomy.

He stopped and stared at the tiny, round spot of light on the bamboo chopsticks.

Lin Yuan smiled at him: "They are Xiangfei's tear stains."

She pulled the chopsticks from his hand, but felt a warm dampness on her fingers.

"Huh, it really is a water stain."

She pulled up a corner of the cloth that Lin Yu was clutching in her hand and wiped away the drop of water.

The last glimmer of light turned into twilight.

The room grew even darker.

"Brother, you haven't answered me yet."

"Hmm? What should I answer?"

"I just asked you if you liked it..."

“I don’t like it,” he said decisively.

Lin Yuan was stunned.

A faint smile appeared on Lin Yu's lips: "What if you don't like it?"

“If you don’t like it, and neither do my father and mother, then, then I will, I certainly will…” Lin Yuan bit her lip and said these words with difficulty.

Lin Yu stood up.

As he stood up, he gently tapped her head: "Silly girl, the person he wants to take as a concubine isn't me, so why would I like you?"

Reaching the eaves, he turned around, looked at Lin Yuan whose eyes were still red, and raised the corners of his lips: "If you like it, then I'll reluctantly... give it a try."

The sound was very soft, dissipating into the twilight.

As dusk settled, Lin Yu walked through the courtyard, just as Xiao Xun was crossing it.

As the wind rose, the two brushed past each other, their clothes fluttering and intertwining.

"Where to?" Xiao Xun asked.

"Feed the horses."

Lin Yu glanced at him, then strode off towards the courtyard gate. "Ta Yun has become entangled with Qingyun Steed. I'm going to take a look."

Lin Yuan went out to greet them, looking outside: "What did you talk about? Where are my father and mother?"

Xiao Xun stopped and shook his head.

Dusk crept into my eyes, making my gaze so deep and unfathomable.

Lin Yuan was a little nervous. Leaning against the door frame, she gripped the hem of her clothes tightly and slowly said, "Have my father and mother offended you?"

Xiao Xun didn't respond. She continued, "They are just ordinary people, rough and unrefined. They don't understand formalities and speak very directly. If you offend them, please don't..."

But then the kitchen door creaked open, a puff of white smoke dissipated, and Madam Qin walked over with a beaming smile.

“Young master, we didn’t know we had guests coming, so we didn’t treat you well. Since you haven’t touched your food much, I’ve made some honey cakes. Please have some more.”

Lin Yuan was taken aback and came to take the plate.

It really was honey bait. As if in a dream, she reached out and picked one up, only to be slapped on the back of her hand. The honey bait, still steaming, slid down her fingers, leaving her fingertips slightly red and still carrying the sweet scent of honey.

"This is for the young master, not for you!"

Madam Qin pulled Lin Yuan aside. "By the way, since the young master has come from afar and curfew is approaching, your father and I have discussed it and decided that he should stay at our home today."

"Although the rooms at home are small, they are cleaner than the mansion outside, and the food is better than the usual vegetable soup and bean paste. It's kind of you, young master, not to mind making do here." She turned to Xiao Xun and smiled.

"How can this be?" Lin Yuan exclaimed in shock, stamping her foot in surprise.

But Xiao Xun's eyes were full of smiles.

Unable to hear Lin Yuan's words, Qin Shi tugged at her hand: "Then it's settled. Mother will go make up some new bedding now. You, take the young master inside in a bit, and you should also take a bath and change your clothes early."

It's settled?

No, Mother, who did you make the agreement with?

While Lin Yuan was still in a daze, she saw Qin Shi pat Xiao Xun's arm affectionately and say to him, "Don't be shy, make yourself at home," before leaving in a hurry with a big smile.

Lin Yuan looked up from the rising steam of the honey bait and met Xiao Xun's smiling face:

"You... used a curse on my father and mother?"

At the dinner table, after Xiao Xun finished speaking, Lin Wu hissed, looked Xiao Xun up and down, and after a long while asked, "This young master, are you a matchmaker?"

Lin Yu choked on her water.

Lin Yuan's lacquered dagger also fell to the ground.

Even Madam Qin forgot to be angry: "Young master, you're so young, who are you talking to about betrothal?"

Xiao Xun's ears were bright red.

After Lin Yu and Lin Yuan had laughed so hard they were breathless and fell silent, he asked the two elders to move aside.

Upon reaching the empty room nearby, Lin Wu pulled Qin Shi aside and asked in a low voice, "By the way, how much did Liu De's mother tell you about the betrothal gifts?"

Qin held up two fingers.

Lin Wu had a plan in mind. He smiled at Xiao Xun and asked, "And what about you, young master? You've come to discuss the betrothal gifts. How much are you planning to give?"

They were well past the age of forty and considered themselves to have seen it all, but this was the first time they had ever seen someone come to their door to discuss betrothal.

Therefore, this question contained a degree of contempt and mockery, as well as a lot of doubt.

Xiao Xun also caught a glimpse of Qin's two fingers. Without thinking, he hurriedly said, "Twenty thousand taels of gold."

Lin Wu was shocked.

Qin was also greatly surprised.

He quickly invited them to sit down and then hurriedly brewed a pot of tea.

Lin Wu personally poured tea for Xiao Xun, and under the pretext of adding water and tea snacks, he sent Qin Shi away.

After Qin left for a while, he chatted with Xiao Xun about everyday matters.

The pot of tea was almost empty, and his hands were trembling so much that he couldn't get a drop out. He politely asked the young master to be patient and then hurried off to the kitchen to urge him on.

As soon as you enter, the heat from the stove and Qin's question hit you at once: "Twenty thousand catties of millet, how many shi is that?"

Lin Wu had already calculated it in his mind: "One hundred and sixty shi (a unit of dry measure)."

Qin squinted at the sparks in the stove: "A bushel of the finest millet, even if it's worth sixty coins, that's—"

Lin Wu picked up the conversation: "Sigh, less than ten thousand coins."

Qin threw a piece of firewood into the stove with a "thud," sparks flying everywhere: "That's not even worth the 20,000 coins that Ade's family contributed."

Lin Wu patted her back and sighed, "Ayu's mother, that child, I just asked him a couple of questions. He's only seven or eight years old, and he's already orphaned. His older brothers are all dead too."

"Now there is only one older brother left, who is a man who doesn't like to meddle in other people's business. He separated from the family a long time ago and is not close to him. Not only is he two cycles older than him, but he also lives thousands of miles away. We don't see each other for several years."

Qin paused as she added firewood, suddenly realizing, "Oh, no wonder... such a big matter as betrothal and marriage, no one makes the decisions. It turns out there's no one left in the family. So, no one teaches them. Who comes to discuss betrothal gifts on their own? And who can get a bride with 160 shi of rice? Even when Ajin got married, her mother still received 300 shi of rice."

She clicked her tongue twice.

Lin Wu sighed: "That young master looks well-dressed, but he's a pitiful person."

Madam Qin pondered for a moment: "They may be well-dressed and have no worries about food and clothing, but think about it, a child like this lost his parents at the age of seven or eight and is left to manage a family business. Aren't all his brothers, nephews, relatives, neighbors, and other family members eyeing him like jealous roosters?"

She became more and more emotional as she spoke, “A person grows up to this age, all alone, with no one to make decisions for them, no one to teach them, living a life of careful budgeting, so pitiful, so very pitiful.”

The firelight reflected in her eyes, and the more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she felt, almost to the point of tears.

The same applies to Lin Wu.

"So, let's just listen to what this young master said about betrothal and 20,000 catties of rice, and not take it seriously. And don't tell Ayu and Ayuan about these things, especially Ayuan, lest they be ignorant and make fun of him, hurting his feelings."

“Let’s not mention this matter again these days. This young master is the same age as Ayu and they are acquainted. With Ade’s mother’s mouth, there will definitely be gossipy people in the village asking about it in the next day or two. At that time, they will say that this betrothed young master is Ayu’s friend.”

“Let’s treat them like our own children. If they’re not good enough, so be it. Let’s treat them politely, let them eat and stay at home properly, and then send them away later. That’s all.”

When the tea in the ceramic teapot boiled for the third time, Lin Wu picked up the teapot and made the decision.

Qin nodded hurriedly, found some fine flour, and began kneading it while wiping away her tears.

Lin Wu stepped over the door frame, then turned around and said, "By the way, as for Liu De, I think what A Yu said makes sense. A De is not only physically weak, but also soft-hearted. If A Yuan were to enter the Liu family, she would inevitably be tormented by her in-laws."

“Even if the dowry list includes ten more catties of gold, we can’t let A-Yuan marry into such a family and go into that hellhole! We’re not the kind of family that sells its children.”

He sighed, pointed to the room opposite, the door was half open, and Xiao Xun was turning his head in this direction. Lin Wu met Xiao Xun's gaze, picked up the teapot that had already started to boil on the stove, shook it, and revealed a kind and amiable smile.

"I think it's all thanks to the arrival of this betrothed young master today. Liu De's mother was also quite sensible. Otherwise, the two of you would have settled such a big matter in no time. When I got home, I wouldn't have been able to stop you."

"Yes, yes, I was just flustered! Hurry up and go pour tea for the young master who is about to be betrothed!"

Lin Yuan looked out through the window.

Night fell.

Nine heavenly palaces, twinkling with starlight.

The grass and trees stretch for miles, reflected in the bright window, where a bean lamp flickers.

The tea smoke rises and then dissipates.

The room was very narrow, containing only a table, a couch, and a quilt.

The couch was just big enough for two people to lie down, the bed curtains were half rolled up, and there wasn't even a screen.

Xiao Xun stood facing a wall of books, and had been sitting there for the time it takes to drink several cups of tea.

I heard the rustling sound of fabric behind me.

"What are you doing?!"