Chapter 37 The Longbow He picked up the longbow and carefully wiped it clean...
In the courtyard planted with pomegranate trees, Lin Si's face was ashen as he kicked the man in front of him to the ground.
Although he hadn't practiced martial arts much in recent years, he still had the foundation he had in his youth. This kick was really heavy, sending the man flying more than ten feet away, and he couldn't get up from the ground for quite a while.
"Idiot! What kind of mess have you made?!"
He cursed in annoyance.
"Why did the Marquis of Cheng'an's mansion find that scholar surnamed Liang? Why did they bring his family to the capital? What exactly went wrong? Explain yourself clearly!"
The man's vision went black, his chest felt tight, and he had a faint taste of blood in his mouth.
He struggled to his feet, then knelt on the ground, trembling violently: "Your subordinate... Your subordinate really didn't..."
"Still saying you didn't!"
Lin Si kicked him hard again, interrupting him.
"So many students went to cause trouble on Imperial Street that day, and they didn't care about anyone else, so why did they only interfere with the Liang family's affairs?"
"From beginning to end, I only sent you to contact Liang Chengji. If you hadn't acted inappropriately, how could this have happened?"
After the disturbance on the Imperial Street that day, the Cheng'an Marquis's residence investigated all the students who had caused the disturbance, but ultimately found nothing.
Lin Si had always thought they were just being cautious, but now it seemed they were specifically targeting Liang Chengji. Their questioning of the other students was merely a cover for their true purpose, to lull him into a false sense of security.
The man lying on the ground was writhing in pain in his chest and abdomen, his voice broken and intermittent: "Your subordinate...does not know..."
This time, he didn't dare say he didn't have it; he could only say he didn't know.
He truly had no idea what he had revealed. He had clearly dressed the same way when he approached Liang Chengji and the merchant, wearing a veil, changing his voice, and even wearing clothes that could be found anywhere on the street. He had burned the clothes after wearing them just in case.
He was already so cautious, so how could someone still discover where the problem lay?
"I don't know what you don't know."
Lin Si kicked him again and again, his face contorted with rage.
"You say 'I don't know' so easily, but I might be losing my life!"
Last night he stayed at Fuxiang Tower and spent the night in revelry with his favorite courtesan. He left early in the morning satisfied, but when he got into his carriage, he found a letter inside.
There was a small ink stain on the envelope, which looked like it had been splashed on accidentally, but he knew it was actually a special contact mark.
He thought it was someone who had given him some important instructions, so he hurriedly opened the package to read it. Upon reading it, the lingering romantic feelings in his mind vanished instantly, leaving only fear, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
The letter asked if the student he had found was named Liang Chengji. If so, he was told to immediately deal with everything that needed to be dealt with and not to involve anyone who shouldn't be involved, or else his family's pomegranate tree would be cut down.
Lin Si is nearly forty years old, but he only has one child, who was born a couple of years ago and is now less than three years old.
In his early years, he thought his wife was infertile, so he took in several concubines and several maids. But even with a large number of wives and concubines at home, he still had no children.
Later, he finally realized that the problem might lie with himself, so he secretly went to see a doctor, and sure enough, that was the case.
Lin Si did not want to follow in the footsteps of the late emperor, who toiled his whole life to accumulate countless assets, only to have them ultimately benefit others. So he sought out famous doctors everywhere and even began to pray to gods and Buddhas, all in the hope of having an heir to carry on the family line.
To this end, he enshrined Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, in several of his houses and planted pomegranate trees. In short, he tried everything that might be useful and had a good meaning.
Ultimately, it's unclear what worked, but he did get a child, a boy, born from his legal wife's womb, the legitimate son of his principal wife.
He doted on this child so much, treating him like a precious gem, wishing he could give him the best of everything in the world.
Now... now this letter says they're going to cut down his pomegranate tree!
The pomegranate tree in question doesn't refer to a real tree, but rather to his son's fate.
Taking his son's life is taking his own life!
When Lin Si thought about how his only son was in danger of dying at any moment, he felt an urge to tear this incompetent subordinate apart.
"Think carefully about what you did wrong. If you explain yourself clearly, I might spare your life. Otherwise..."
He gritted his teeth and threatened the subordinate, demanding a detailed account of what happened that day in order to eliminate any potential problems.
After repeatedly trying to get any useful information from this person, his eyes darkened, and he waved his hand: "Take him away and clean him up."
The two men standing nearby immediately stepped forward and took the man away.
Only Lin Si and one of his trusted aides remained in the room. The aides asked in a low voice, "Fourth Master, what about Liang Chengji... do we need..."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Lin Si pondered for a moment, then finally shook his head.
"If the Marquis of Cheng'an's mansion had really found any clues, they would have come looking for them long ago; they wouldn't have remained completely silent."
"The fact that they've only brought Liang Chengji and his mother here means they haven't found anything else besides knowing that Liang Chengji has problems, just like when they found out about that merchant..."
"To take action against Liang Chengji at this time would be to hand them a handle to use against him. Rather than doing so, it would be better to remain still."
He guessed that his master had also guessed this, so he only sent a letter to threaten him and did not directly take action against his son. Otherwise... let alone his son, he might already be a corpse.
Lin Si took a deep breath, suppressing his agitation, and said, "Let's go back to the manor."
This is just one of his private residences; his real residence is in Yushu Hutong in the west of the city.
Although that person hasn't made a move against his family yet, he still needs to be on guard in advance to avoid any unforeseen events in the future.
Lin Si left the small courtyard, made several turns, and arrived at the back door of a gambling den, where he walked in without any hindrance.
He walked through the backyard to the front hall, greeted some regular customers with a smile, and then went out through the main gate.
With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, the weather is getting warmer and the streets are becoming more and more lively.
While the servants were getting the carriage ready, Lin Si stood at the door and casually glanced at the street. His eyes were filled with the vibrant colors of flowers and willows, and many young and beautiful women were dressed in light spring clothes, which was quite pleasing to the eye.
He usually loved watching street scenes like this, but at this moment he had no mood to appreciate them, only worrying about his beloved son at home.
Just as he was feeling irritated, he suddenly saw three young girls coming together. He recognized all three of them: one was the granddaughter of Grand Secretary Li, the third young lady of the Yongchang Marquis's mansion, and the other... was Shen Mingshan's daughter, Shen Yan.
Lin Sicai was threatened because of his poor performance, and the root of all this was Prince Ping and Shen Yan.
If Prince Ping hadn't inexplicably taken a liking to Shen Yan, and Shen Yan hadn't so shamelessly accepted his marriage proposal, none of this would have happened.
Prince Ping is a prince, the emperor's most favored son, so he dared not lay a hand on him, but Shen Yan...
A murderous intent suddenly rose in Lin Si's heart, and he stared intently at her for a long time without looking away.
Shen Yan was merely the daughter of a minor official from a humble family. Killing her was no big deal. Out of respect for Prince Ping and Shen Mingshan, the Emperor might investigate carefully, but he certainly wouldn't pursue it as thoroughly as he would the death of his own son. As long as he was careful in his actions, feigning an accident in the city, presumably…
"Master, Master!"
The Lin family servants rushed over to the carriage. Seeing that Lin Si hadn't moved for a while, they called out to him twice.
Lin Si snapped out of his daze and realized that he had been blinded by anger and had entertained inappropriate thoughts. He quickly composed himself.
Shen Yan is indeed not an important person, but she is about to become the Princess Consort of Pingjun.
Don't be fooled by the fact that she's only accompanied by those two maids; Prince Ping is definitely following her not far away.
If he tries anything now, he'll most likely be caught red-handed.
Remembering that person's instructions, Lin Si knew he should behave himself recently and not do anything he shouldn't. So he suppressed his anger, got into the carriage, and prepared to return home.
Across from the casino, a peddler was carrying a load of goods on a shoulder pole. One basket contained needles and thread, while the other held small trinkets like rattles.
A man stood sideways in front of the basket containing trinkets, picking and choosing, occasionally picking up a small item to examine it.
After browsing for a while, he finally shook his head, bought nothing, and turned to leave.
Before leaving, he "casually" glanced in the direction of Shen Yan and the others, and only after confirming that Prince Ping and his men were following not far behind her did he look away.
The streets were crowded, so the Lin family's carriage didn't move very fast.
The man followed at a leisurely pace until the carriage turned, at which point he quickened his pace to catch up. Once he was sure the carriage was ahead, he slowed down again and walked along the street at a leisurely pace like an ordinary pedestrian.
After traveling at varying speeds and occasionally taking shortcuts into alleys for about half an hour, he saw the carriage enter a large mansion.
The man was illiterate and didn't know what was written on the plaque above the door, but he remembered the location of the house and Lin Si's appearance.
He didn't pass by the Lin family's gate; instead, he turned into a small alley before even reaching the Lin family's residence, as if he had come here by choice rather than following the Lin family's carriage all the way here.
Walking through the alley back to the bustling street, the man returned to the vicinity of the casino.
He wandered around the area for a while but couldn't find Shen Yan. He guessed she had gone somewhere else to play. He slumped his shoulders, sighed, and walked back to the inn where he was staying.
The innkeeper recognized him immediately and greeted him with a smile, "Sir, you're back! Would you like to have lunch out or at the inn?"
The man pointed to the ground, indicating that he wanted to eat there.
The waiter understood and replied, "Okay, the same old way, I'll deliver it to your room when it's time."
The man nodded slightly in agreement, then went upstairs and arrived at a guest room.
He pushed open the door and entered the room. The room was simply furnished and not a nice room, but it was clean.
The tea on the table had gone cold, but the man didn't care. He flipped over an upside-down teacup and poured himself a cup of tea.
After drinking a cup of cold tea, the man came to the bedside.
On the bed lay all the belongings he had brought from the capital: a simple bundle, a longbow, and a quiver full of arrows.
He picked up the longbow and carefully wiped it, as if it were some rare treasure. He was very serious about it, wiping the longbow until it shone brightly. Then he gently plucked the bowstring and heard a soft hum. Only then did he nod in satisfaction and put the longbow back on his pillow.
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Author's Note: Oh my god, I'm so sorry everyone. The chapter I updated on the 30th was meant to wish you all a Happy New Year and also to ask for a break. I originally planned to resume updates on the 7th, but then I remembered that this year's holiday schedule seems different, so I checked the calendar, deleted the 7th, and changed it to the 9th. But I don't know if I deleted it but forgot to add it back, or what, the 7th is gone, the 9th is gone too, all that's left is "resume updates"... I just saw in the comments that I didn't ask for a break, and I only realized it after going back to check. I guess I coughed my brain out. I'm so sorry. I'll bow down to you all and wish you a Happy New Year and a prosperous Year of the Dragon...orz
This was yesterday's update, it's late, today's will be a separate post.
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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