Chapter 57 An Eye for an Eye
The next morning, Lin Yiru went to her mother's courtyard to pay her respects as usual, only to find her younger sister being stopped outside the courtyard. The words spoken by the maid who was blocking her were chilling.
The maid looked down at Lin Sui with an arrogant attitude: "Young lady, Madam said that you don't need to enter the main courtyard from now on. Madam also doesn't want to accept your greetings, as she's afraid it will shorten her lifespan. If you're so willing, you can kowtow outside the courtyard. I will definitely tell Madam the truth."
Lin Sui couldn't get into the main courtyard yesterday, and her coming today is just a formality. They really think she's so eager to get up early every day just to see Yao Shi and Lin Ting's faces.
Lin Sui didn't argue with the maid. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a shout behind her: "How dare you! Who gave you permission to speak to the legitimate daughter of my General's Mansion like that?"
The maid was startled. When she looked up, she was surprised to see that it was the eldest young master.
Lin Yi came to Lin Sui's side and gave the maid a deep look: "You don't need to stay in the manor anymore."
The maidservant hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy: "Young Master, I was only relaying Madam's words, I did not lie."
Lin Yi didn't even glance at him, and said to a servant beside him, "Call the steward and sell him off."
“Young Master, I am Madam’s personal maid, you cannot…”
Lin Yi glanced down at her: "Perhaps we can also deal with you according to military regulations, twenty strokes of the cane, which do you choose?"
The maid immediately fell silent, not even daring to beg for mercy.
Lin Yi casually dealt with his mother's maid, then came to Lin Sui's side: "Let's go in with your brother."
Lin Sui didn't want to go at first, but when she saw Lin Yi looking at her intently, and when she thought about how he had stood up for her earlier, she didn't refuse anymore, even though she could already foresee what she would encounter once she went in.
Before even entering the main room, Lin Sui could hear people talking inside.
Madam Yao said, "Your uncle and aunt will be coming to the mansion tomorrow. You haven't seen them for many years, have you?"
Lin Ting said, "My daughter is almost forgetting what her uncle and aunt look like."
Then she said in a coquettish tone, "Mother, we have guests at home tomorrow, and I want a new set of jewelry. Would you come with me to the Gold and Silver Pavilion later?"
"Alright, alright, whatever you say."
Just as the two were enjoying a tender moment as mother and daughter were being affectionate, Lin Sui followed Lin Yi into the main room, and Yao Shi, who had been smiling, immediately turned cold.
"Who let you in? Get out! Where's the maid?"
Lin Yi frowned and stood in front of Lin Sui: "Mother's maid didn't know the rules and has already been sold off by her son."
This was the first time Madam Yao had faced her eldest son's cold face, and she was momentarily stunned: "Yi'er, how dare you interfere in matters of the inner quarters?"
“A mere maid dared to disrespect my sister. It’s already a sign of my kindness that I didn’t have her beaten to death. In the past, Mother was deceived by these ignorant maids.”
Even though Lin Yi looks gentle, he was someone who went to the battlefield at the age of sixteen. If he really had no temper, he wouldn't be able to manage an army.
"Mother, let it go." Lin Ting was also a little frightened by Lin Yi's sudden cold face, and quickly spoke up to persuade Yao Shi.
Not wanting to cause a conflict between Lin Sui and her eldest son, Madam Yao had no choice but to ignore Lin Sui's existence, neither looking at her nor speaking to her.
After sitting for a while, Lin Sui and his sister were about to leave when Yao called out to Lin Yi.
"Is there anything else you need, Mother?" Lin Yi asked respectfully.
Seeing that her eldest son's complexion seemed to have returned to normal, Madam Yao exchanged a glance with her second daughter sitting beside her before speaking: "Yi'er, I heard that Tingting asked you for a jade pendant yesterday, but you didn't give it to her?"
"Yes, that is my son's personal jade pendant, a gift from his grandfather, and it's not appropriate to give it away."
Madam Yao nodded slightly: "She told me this morning that she knew she had acted rashly, so she specially chose a jade pendant to apologize to you."
As she spoke, she instructed the maid beside her to give the jade pendant that Lin Ting had just taken out to her eldest son.
The jade pendant is engraved with the character "Lin" (林), and on the back is a fierce tiger surrounded by cloud patterns. When the light changes, tiny characters seem to be faintly visible hidden within the cloud patterns.
Seeing that his mother and second sister were both looking at him, Lin Yi couldn't refuse them outright, so he accepted the jade pendant.
Seeing that he had accepted the jade pendant, Lin Ting immediately smiled and said, "Brother, you must wear the jade pendant I gave you every day."
Lin Yi neither refused nor agreed, but felt that her second sister was speaking inappropriately.
Boys and girls should not sit together after the age of seven. Even if the rules of the General's Mansion were not so strict, she should not have said such a thing to her brother.
But he was also worried that his words might be too harsh and upset Lin Ting, a thought that made him slightly uncomfortable.
After accepting the jade pendant, Lin Yi sat for a while longer before leaving with Lin Sui.
Lin Sui remained silent the whole way. Lin Yi thought she was upset because of her mother's attitude. After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke up to comfort her: "Mother is just angry with you because of your second brother. Don't take it to heart. If anyone in the manor bullies you, come to your eldest brother. He will stand up for you."
"Understood, brother."
Actually, Lin Sui wasn't sad; she was just a little confused.
Ever since Ah Chan pointed it out, Lin Sui felt that Lin Ting's every move was strange.
First, she went to ask for Lin Yi's jade pendant, and then she used Yao's hand to insist on giving Lin Yi a jade pendant. Could there be something wrong with that jade pendant?
Before the two parted, Lin Sui hesitated for a moment before asking, "Big brother, are you going to wear that jade pendant?"
Lin Yi glanced at the jade pendant in his hand; the jade was of superior quality and should be quite valuable.
He shook his head: "After all, it's my second sister's gift. We'll have someone put it away later."
"Oh, by the way, big brother, don't forget to come to my yard later and teach me how to play chess."
"I know, I'll go after I finish breakfast."
Lin Sui returned to her courtyard, ate a simple breakfast, and began to make plans in her mind.
After we finish burning incense today, I think my older brother will be able to get rid of his favoritism towards Lin Ting. If I ask him to do something for me, will he agree?
Lin Sui felt a little uneasy. She always felt that when her older brother was normal, he seemed to be a rather law-abiding person. Would her request be too much for him?
But she really couldn't find anyone else, so she could only take it one step at a time.
Just after 9 a.m., a maid came to tell Lin Sui that the eldest young master had arrived.
Lin Sui lit the incense seal he had prepared with incense sticks and personally went out to greet them.
As soon as Lin Yi entered the room, he smelled that familiar, rich aroma again; he was already quite used to it.
He shook his head, and went with Lin Sui to the low couch by the window to play chess with her.
Lin Sui made slight progress today compared to yesterday, probably because he listened to his advice and looked at a few pages of chess scores, but his progress was limited and he still lost miserably.
After playing two more games of chess and giving Lin Sui some pointers, Lin Yi suddenly felt as if something had hit him on the head, causing a buzzing sound in his brain. When he recovered, he saw his younger sister looking at him with a puzzled expression: "Big brother, what's wrong?"
Lin Yi glanced at the white chess piece between his fingers and shook his head: "It's nothing."
He secretly circulated his internal energy, realizing that there was no problem with his cultivation; the sound seemed to be just his hallucination.
He noted this down, thinking that if he had auditory hallucinations again, he would have to ask his father about it.
Lin Sui noticed when Lin Yi suddenly lost in thought that the incense she had lit had burned out.
"Big brother, could you do me a favor later?" Lin Sui asked tentatively.
"What kind of help do you need to be so hesitant about?" For some reason, Lin Yi felt an increasing sense of closeness to Lin Sui at this moment.
Lin Sui hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Shortly after I returned to the manor, you and Father sent me many gifts, saying they were for me. Among them was a pair of black jade bracelets that I really liked, but my sister liked them too. When we were arguing, one of the bracelets broke. Mother gave me the broken one and Lin Ting the good one."
She really liked those jade bracelets, but the reason she remembered them so clearly was because of Yao's favoritism and Lin Ting's attempt to take them from her.
The broken jade bracelet was deliberately smashed by Lin Ting. Even though a maid saw it, everyone accused her of fighting over the bracelet, causing it to break.
Lin Yi frowned. He knew about the jade bracelets; they were spoils he had snatched from the alien race. He knew that his younger sister had been found, and although his father hadn't told him about the many twists and turns involved, he felt sorry for his younger sister, so he returned the bracelets to her.
"What do you want your older brother to do for you?"
Lin Suifei quickly looked up at Lin Yi before saying, "Lin Ting and Mother are not at home. I would like to ask my elder brother to take me to Lin Ting's room to exchange the bracelet back."
Lin Yi pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling that his younger sister was a bit of a worry.
“Brother, just this once. Lin Ting doesn’t like that bracelet at all. She’s never worn it since she got it. She just did it to spite me. I’m not reconciled.”
Lin Yi wanted to refuse, but this was the first time his younger sister had asked him for a favor. Although it was a bit much, it was just a conflict between young girls and nothing serious. Besides, the bracelet was originally a gift from him to his younger sister.
Lin Sui had already given up hope, but Lin Yi convinced himself.
“Just this once.” He held up one finger.
Lin Sui immediately replied, "I promise."
Then she ran to the dressing table and searched for the box containing the broken black jade bracelet.
Holding the black jade bracelet, Lin Yi led her past the maids and servants in the mansion to the courtyard where Lin Ting lived.
When Lin Ting went out, all her personal maids went with her, while the other cleaning maids in the courtyard gathered in one place to chat. The door to her room was tightly closed.
Lin Yi merely glanced at the surroundings before lightly leaping into a corner of Lin Ting's courtyard with Lin Sui. The maids talking in the front yard heard nothing.
Then he led her into the house through the back window.
"Go find it, I'll wait here."
Lin Sui quickly entered the inner room. She was determined to come to Lin Ting's bedroom, not for the bracelet, but to find evidence.
She might not find it, but she couldn't just give up trying.
Lin Sui first rummaged through Lin Ting's cabinet, which was filled with all sorts of novelties, some of which she had never seen before, and which she guessed were gifts from others.
Then she went to rummage through the dressing table and found a wooden box in the bottom corner of the jewelry box that looked just like the black jade bracelet in her hand.
Lin Sui opened it and took a look. Inside was a perfectly intact bracelet. She then took out the bracelet and put the broken one in.
There were many bottles and jars on the dressing table. She opened them one by one, but none of them were it. Then she went to Lin Ting's bed.
Finally, she found a jade bottle under her pillow.
Lin Sui opened the bottle, and a fishy smell wafted out.
She had previously asked Achan about the smell of Zhancao, and Achan said that Zhancao had a fishy smell that was hard to cover up. Now that she smelled it, it was indeed so.
The bottle contained many pills the size of soybeans. Lin Sui was worried that taking too many would be discovered, so she only took one pill, then wiped the bottle clean and put it back under her pillow.
Lin Yi waited only a short while before seeing Lin Sui tiptoe out of the inner room.
"Did you find it?" he asked in a low voice.
Lin Sui showed him the black jade bracelet in the wooden box.
Lin Yi nodded, then quietly left the courtyard with Lin Sui.
The brother and sister seemed to have grown closer after doing something naughty together. Lin Sui ate lunch in Lin Yi's yard. Although she was fed a lot of meat, she was in a good mood.
The next morning, Lin Cheng went to court, Lin Yi went to his duty, and Yao was busy preparing to welcome her elder brother's family.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Lin Sui went to A Chan's house again.
She showed the stolen pills to Achan, who glanced at them and confidently told her, "These are pills made from Zhan grass."
After getting the answer from Achan, Lin Sui felt relieved. She said to Achan, "My uncle's family is coming today, so I need to go and make some preparations. I'll come to see you again tomorrow."
"good."
Seeing Lin Sui's light steps as she left, Chen Hui, who came in carrying a tray of freshly steamed chicken soup dumplings, asked with some surprise, "She seems to be in a good mood. Did something good happen?"
Ah Chan sat at the table with her hands supporting her chin, smiling and saying, "She's probably happy to know that relatives are coming to visit."
“I see.” Chen Hui put down the soup dumplings. “That is indeed good news.”
At 1:15 AM, two carriages stopped in front of the General's Mansion.
Dressed in finery, Yao Shi walked out of the gate with the exquisitely dressed Lin Ting's help. When she saw her elder brother and sister-in-law getting off the carriage, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Brother, you're finally back." Madam Yao stepped forward and shook hands with her elder brother, Yao Dingbang.
Her sister-in-law, Huang, watched coldly from the side, but when Yao turned her head, she immediately put on a smiling face: "Sister, you look even better these past few years."
"I have to thank Tingting. If it weren't for her constant comforting, I wouldn't be so at ease."
After Yao finished speaking, Lin Ting bowed to the two of them and said, "Greetings, Uncle and Aunt."
Upon hearing Lin Ting's address, Yao Dingbang and his wife remained expressionless, with a hint of satisfaction flashing in Yao's eyes.
As expected of the daughter she raised for many years, even though she was originally her sister-in-law's daughter, she is now just a girl from their general's mansion.
At this moment, two young men, one tall and one short, alighted from another carriage. The taller one was thin and about twenty years old. He looked more like Huang Shi, with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face. The shorter one was only sixteen or seventeen years old and looked more like Yao Dingbang.
Yao had never liked her sister-in-law's appearance, but Huang had been trying to please her in every way, so she reluctantly associated with her.
Now, she naturally doesn't like her eldest nephew's appearance very much, but he is the top scholar in the prefecture, so talented that even if he is not good-looking, Yao can tolerate it.
When her son Heng'er was young, he was very intelligent. She had thought about letting her second son take the imperial examination route, but who knew he would turn out like this.
Looking at her elder brother and sister-in-law, who were beaming with pride, Yao sighed inwardly.
"Greetings, Aunt." The two nephews stepped forward to greet Madam Yao, and she presented them with the writing implements she had specially prepared for them.
The two nephews accepted the gifts with delight, thanking them repeatedly.
As Madam Yao turned to lead Yao Dingbang and his wife into the mansion, the younger Yao Chengzhang whispered to his older brother Yao Feiran, "Auntie is really stingy. She only gave us the Four Treasures of the Study. Didn't they say the General's Mansion was very wealthy?"
Yao Feiran glared at her younger brother: "Shut up."
"Others can't hear me anyway," Yao Chengzhang muttered under his breath.
After entering the mansion with Madam Yao, Madam Huang suddenly asked, "Sister, where is your eldest daughter? Could it be that the child doesn't want to see us?"
Hearing her mention Lin Sui, Madam Yao was not pleased and simply said, "That child doesn't know any manners. I've already sent a maid to fetch him."
Lin Sui arrived late, after the Yao family had all taken their seats in the main hall.
As soon as they entered the door, they heard Yao scold them: "How can you be so rude? Your uncle and aunt are waiting for you here. Hurry up and greet your elders."
Lin Sui's gaze swept across Yao Dingbang and Huang Shi's faces. These were the two people who sent their daughter to the General's Mansion, thus changing her life forever.
"I've met your uncle and aunt," Lin Sui said indifferently.
Madam Huang glanced at Lin Sui and sneered, "My sister's manners are really poorly taught. Anyone who didn't know better would think we were her enemies. I heard rumors that she was openly involved with Tingting's fiancé. Her character is truly despicable."
Yao felt embarrassed, thinking that Huang used to fawn over her, but now Huang could use Lin Sui to mock her. She couldn't help but hate Lin Sui for making her feel awkward.
“This girl has only been back for two years, so her manners are a bit lacking. Of course, she is not worthy of being compared with Tingting.” Madam Yao paused for a moment. “Tingting doesn’t care about that matter anymore. I will find Tingting a better family in the future.”
Madam Huang said, “Of course, Tingting was raised with great care by my sister. She is such a good child, you can’t let her suffer any injustice. Now that your husband is a second-rank official, Tingting should marry into a noble family. But your daughter can’t marry up, otherwise she will bring trouble to the family.”
After thinking for a moment, Yao realized that Lin Ting's fiancé's grandfather was a third-rank official in the imperial court, and her fiancé had also passed the imperial examination. Such a family was already considered quite good. Now, after hearing Huang's words, she could reconsider.
These two people, right in front of Lin Sui, spoke freely about all her faults.
Finally, seeing that Lin Sui was still standing, Yao said unhappily, "You only greeted your uncle and aunt, but didn't you know to greet your cousins?"
Lin Sui looked up at the Yao brothers sitting to the side, and the way the tall, thin man looked at her disgusted her.
She recognized that look; the village thug He Liuzi had looked at Yang Erniu of the Yang family at the village entrance with the same gaze. He even tried to lay a hand on her, but Yang Erniu's father and brothers broke his legs.
Yao Feiran's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Sui. He liked women with such a cold demeanor the most. There was a peasant girl in Qingzhou who was just as beautiful as him, but he had to return to the capital and had to abandon her.
This one is more to his liking than the previous farm girl.
Seeing that Lin Sui remained silent, Yao Feiran spoke up to help her out: "I suppose my cousin is just shy. We're all relatives, there's no need for such formalities."
He stood up and stepped forward to greet Lin Sui: "Greetings, cousin, I am Yao Feiran."
Lin Sui took a step back in disgust.
"Lin Sui, have I been too lenient with you in the past, allowing you to be so presumptuous? Your cousin greeted you, and what was your attitude?!" Yao finally couldn't hold back and pointed at Lin Sui angrily.
“I’ve always been like this. If you can’t stand it, then don’t call me over.” After saying that, Lin Sui looked up at Yao Feiran and said, “If you look at me with such disgusting eyes again, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
Yao Feiran's face darkened. He thought to himself, "This one's got thorns. No problem, I like this kind of person. Once the General's Mansion falls and she's in my hands, I'll definitely teach her a lesson in manners."
As soon as Lin Sui finished speaking, Madam Yao was trembling with anger: "Guards, slap him!"
“Mother, if you dare to hit me today, I will go out and let everyone in the capital know that your elder brother used his own child to impersonate me, and now he wants to force me to my death. At that time, I want to see if his two good sons will still be able to take the imperial examination.”
Yao Dingbang looked at Lin Sui with a hint of murderous intent, but then he turned to Yao Shi and said, "Forget it, the child is still young and doesn't understand."
"She's not young at all! She's just trying to drive me crazy!" Madam Yao was both angry and resentful, but she was also afraid that Lin Sui would really do it, so she could only ask the maid to kick her out.
After leaving the main courtyard, Lin Sui went straight out of the General's Mansion. Only after seeing her leave did the two maids go back to tell Madam Yao.
Madam Yao said bitterly, "It's fine if that wretched child goes wherever he wants, but it would be best if he never comes back."
Huang sneered from the side: "I told you before that this child is incompatible with you. Now look what happened, I was right. He's only a few years old, and he dares to disobey you like this. What will he be like in the future?"
“Your younger sister should be disciplined properly,” Yao Dingbang said in a deep voice.
Lin Sui still hadn't returned by noon.
After having lunch with her brother and sister-in-law, Yao went back to rest. Not long after Huang left the main courtyard, Lin Ting followed her out, and the two went to the garden of the mansion one after the other.
Seeing that no one was around, Lin Ting stepped forward to speak with Huang.
"I heard Lin Heng had an accident?" Huang asked.
"His leg is crippled and he's ruined. Lin Sui beat him himself," Lin Ting replied.
Huang asked, "No wonder, this Lin Sui is indeed no pushover; your medicine had no effect on her at all?"
Lin Ting's tone was full of complaint: "It's not that it's ineffective. I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but Lin Yi isn't as nice to me as he used to be."
Then, she said in a coquettish tone, "Mother, that medicine has a fishy smell, it's really awful. When can I stop taking it?"
"Wait a little longer," Madam Huang coaxed gently. "Now that your brother and younger brother have both achieved official rank, their luck is not enough. They need to borrow more. Have you given all the luck-borrowing magical artifacts I sent you to Lin Yi and Lin Cheng?"
"Father... we haven't had a chance to send it to Lin Cheng yet, but we have sent it to Lin Yi. I suppose it won't be long before our eldest brother and younger brother will be able to advance further," Lin Ting said with a chuckle.
Madam Huang was satisfied and said to Lin Ting, "You can stay in the General's Mansion and deliver the borrowed magic artifact to Lin Cheng as soon as possible. Make sure he wears it close to his body, understand?"
"I know, don't worry. I'll give him the things when I get the chance, and he'll definitely listen to me." Lin Ting's tone was full of confidence.
Over the years, she had long been used to everyone doing whatever she wanted to do.
"Our family depends entirely on my Ting'er. If Yao hadn't taken you away, how could I bear to leave you in this general's mansion?" Madam Huang hugged Lin Ting tightly with a look of heartache.
"Mom, I miss you so much." Lin Ting's voice was full of longing.
She learned when she was five years old that she was not Yao's biological daughter. Her mother said that Yao saw that she was lucky and insisted on taking her away from her mother, so her mother had no choice but to send her over.
In her eyes, her family consisted only of her parents, brothers, and other relatives, not General Anxi and his wife.
She stayed with the Lin family for the sake of the whole family's future. Yao had caused her to be unable to grow up with her parents since childhood, and she owed her that debt, which she should repay.
The two lingered briefly in the garden before departing separately, and no one noticed anything amiss.
At Shenshi (3-5 PM), Lin Cheng and Lin Yi returned to their residence.
After the father and son met with the Yao family, they discussed the political situation in the court. Only then did Madam Yao smile and invite the whole family to take their seats.
She had the housekeeper prepare a banquet, and the whole family sat around the table. Lin Yi looked around and noticed that Lin Sui was not there, so he asked, "Where is my younger sister?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Cheng also looked at Madam Yao.
Yao's face stiffened. Before she could speak, Huang said, "Brother-in-law, you should have a good talk with that girl Lin Sui. Her mother only said a few words to her, and she talked back in public and even accused her uncle, saying that we sent Tingting to our mansion with ill intentions. Do you think that's reasonable?"
Yao Dingbang glared at Huang Shi: "Alright, stop talking nonsense to your brother-in-law."
After saying that, he smiled and said to Lin Cheng, "Lin Sui is still young, brother-in-law, you don't need to take it to heart."
“Even if she’s young, my cousin shouldn’t have talked back to her aunt and then run away from the mansion without a word. As a woman, how can she act so recklessly? What kind of behavior is that?” Yao Feiran also spoke up.
At that moment, the door was pushed open from the outside.
Lin Sui stood at the door, her gaze sweeping over the people at the table: "No matter what, I can't compare to you. You sent your own daughter to someone else's house to usurp their place."
"Lin Sui, how dare you speak to your uncle like that in front of your father? Where is your manners?" Yao Shi said shrilly.
Lin Sui looked at Madam Yao: "Mother, do you know that there is a saying among the people that if you send your own child to someone else's house, you can borrow the other family's good fortune?"
Ms. Yao was taken aback.
"I heard that my eldest uncle's cousin was originally quite dull-witted. How do you think he managed to become the top scholar in the imperial examination? Could it be that he got lucky with the Lin family's fortune?"
Madam Yao turned to look at her brother and sister-in-law, then turned to Yao Feiran.
She remembered that Fei Ran was really stupid when he was a child. When he came to the manor to play with Heng'er, the teacher asked the two of them to recite the text. Heng'er could memorize it in less than half an hour, but he could only remember a few lines.
Yes, how did he suddenly become the top scholar in the imperial examination?
Seeing that his sister had been easily provoked by Lin Sui with just a few words, Yao Dingbang slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly: "Don't talk nonsense. Brother-in-law, even if I have to lose face today, I will not allow your daughter to tarnish the reputation of my Yao family like this!"
Madam Huang concealed the panic in her eyes and chimed in, "That's right, has this child lost her mind? I only said a few words to her before, and she wants to ruin my son?"
"Father, you must do something about my sister. She's clearly trying to cause trouble in the family," Lin Ting said to Lin Cheng upon seeing this.
Lin Cheng looked at Lin Sui, about to say something, but his eldest son pressed down on his arm.
Lin Sui took in everyone's reactions and suddenly smiled: "Don't rush, Uncle, Aunt, cousins, and second sister, the show is just beginning. You gave me a different life, so I have to repay you in kind."
Just then, the Lin family's steward rushed into the hall with a deathly pale face.
"General, something terrible has happened! The Mingjing Division has sent men to surround your residence!"
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