Chapter 101 Innocence Remains, Reputation is Ruined
Shen Moyan's face turned pale from her sarcasm, and cracks appeared on his gentle mask, revealing his embarrassment and humiliation.
But in the end, he stiffly stepped aside to make way.
"I... have overstepped my bounds." The words seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Xiao Lingxi didn't even bother to glance at him. She snorted coldly, raised her chin like a proud peacock, and led Su Xiaoyu past her.
Only after the figures of the master and servant disappeared at the end of the corridor did Shen Moyan slowly raise his head. The aggrieved look he had just had was gone, replaced by a twisted and sinister expression.
On the other side, under a magnolia tree in full bloom, two figures stood quietly, taking in the scene just now.
After Shen Moyan turned and left, one of the men, dressed as a servant with exceptionally sharp eyes, whispered to the distinguished young man beside him, dressed in a dark-patterned brocade robe and exuding an air of extraordinary elegance:
"Your Highness, the one who just left seems to be the second young lady of the Yongning Marquis's mansion, Miss Xiao."
The man addressed as 'Your Highness' was handsome, with an air of composure and nobility between his brows. Upon hearing this, his gaze shifted slightly. His eyes swept over the direction Xiao Lingxi had left, and a very faint smile appeared on his lips.
Just now, that little girl stood with her hands on her hips, looking like a little animal that had been provoked, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, which was quite amusing.
She was completely different from her upright and steady brother.
But when he thought of the sinister and resentful look in Shen Moyan's eyes when he left, his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"Jingheng's younger sister has a strong personality, but... I'm afraid she's unwittingly offended some villains."
"Go and investigate that student from earlier," the man ordered calmly.
"Yes." The servant bowed and replied without hesitation.
Just then, a servant from the academy rushed over and bowed respectfully: "Your Highness, the Dean has been waiting for you in Qinghui Hall for quite some time."
The man nodded slightly, concealing the thoughts in his eyes, and regained his usual gentle and composed demeanor.
"Lead the way,"
He then took a step and followed the servant into the depths of the academy.
——
Meanwhile, Lin Wan'er returned to the Lin residence with her mother, remaining silent the entire way, her face deathly pale.
As soon as she stepped into her courtyard, her long-suppressed anger and humiliation erupted. She suddenly raised her hand and swept the entire set of official kiln tea utensils off the round huanghuali wood table to the ground.
"Splash!"
Porcelain shards flew everywhere, startling the maids and servants in the courtyard, who all knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.
Lin's mother, who had just entered the door, was startled by what she saw.
She had never seen her daughter so distraught, and rushed forward to grab Lin Wan'er's arm, her voice trembling with tears:
"Wan'er, calm down. Now is not the time to lose your temper. Your grandfather will be back soon. If he finds out that your innocence has been tarnished and the Lin family has been disgraced, he will be furious. The family law... the family law will probably not spare you!"
The thought of her strict, rigid, and inflexible father-in-law caused Lin's mother immense heartache, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"I'm going to the Minister's residence right now to discuss the marriage with Madam Li. No matter what, we must finalize this marriage! We absolutely cannot let you be sent to the family temple to live a life of solitude, or... suffer family punishment and become an outcast..."
“Your mother raised you from a young age, not so that you would end up like this.”
Seeing her mother crying so hard she was almost fainting, Lin Wan'er's heaving chest gradually calmed down.
She took a deep breath, her voice unusually calm, even with a hint of eerie tranquility.
"Mother, don't worry, I'm fine."
As she spoke, under the astonished gaze of Lin's mother, she slowly rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair arms and the bright red mark on her wrist!
"this……!"
Lin's mother opened her eyes wide in surprise, staring incredulously at the spot of vermilion, both shocked and delighted.
"What... what's going on? Since you're still innocent, then what about Zuixianlou..."
Lin Wan'er lowered her sleeves, her eyes deep and unfathomable, as if she could see through the void the chaotic and thrilling scene from last night.
Last night, she was indeed drugged; she felt hot and weak all over, and her mind was confused.
Li Mo was also under the influence of the medicine, and his mind was clouded. With red eyes, he lunged at her and tore at her clothes, his breath reeking of alcohol spraying onto her neck, filled with nauseating desire.
But just as Li Mo's filthy hands were about to tear down her last barrier.
A sudden pain shot through Lin Wan'er's mind, followed by a flood of unfamiliar yet vivid images.
Adorned in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robes, with red candles burning brightly, she sat gracefully on the wedding bed covered with a large red brocade quilt in the shape of mandarin ducks.
The veil was lifted by a jade ruyi scepter, revealing Xiao Jingheng's incomparably handsome face, a face that was both aloof and gentle. He was also dressed in a bright red wedding robe, his posture upright like a pine tree, and his gaze toward her was one of unprecedented focus and admiration...
At that moment, Lin Wan'er was incredibly radiant, as if she were standing on a cloud...
It was this sudden fragment of memory that, like a bucket of ice water poured over her head, instantly brought her to her senses.
No! This shouldn't be happening!
Her future husband should be Xiao Jingheng! He is the powerful and noble heir of the Yongning Marquis!
Instead of the crude and vulgar Li Mo in front of him.
Lin Wan'er didn't know where she got the strength from, but she used almost all her strength to slap Li Mo across the face.
With a 'smack', Li Mo was hit so hard that his head turned to the side, and his movements froze.
Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Wan'er scrambled free and rushed to the basin of cold water in the corner of the room, burying her entire face and even her upper body in it.
A bone-chilling cold instantly swept over his feverish body. The remaining effects of the medicine were forcibly suppressed, and his mind finally returned completely.
But she had been drugged, and after all that ordeal, she was exhausted and eventually fainted.
When she woke up again, she was found in the same room as Li Mo, who was disheveled, and she had no way to explain herself.
"My daughter's innocence is still intact." Lin Wan'er pulled herself out of her thoughts, her voice as cold as ice.
"But his reputation is ruined."
Just then, a servant came to report, "Madam, Miss, the old master has returned to the mansion. Please go to the study immediately, Miss."
Lin's mother's heart tightened, and she subconsciously grabbed her daughter's hand: "Wan'er, Mother will go with you."
Lin Wan'er gently shook her head, her eyes unusually calm: "Mother, please don't go yet."
"You go back first and help prepare all the necessary items for the engagement with the Minister's family. The sooner the better, and make sure you act appropriately. I know what I'm doing."
Seeing her daughter remain composed, Lin's mother felt a pang of sadness, but she knew that there was no time to delay, so she could only nod through her tears.
"Alright, Mother will go and prepare now. You... be very careful and don't talk back to your grandfather."
...
When Lin Wan'er arrived at Jingxinzhai, her grandfather Lin Chengzong was facing away from her, admiring the painting "Snowy Landscape with Cold Forest" on the wall.
But the old man's tense back and his slightly trembling hands behind his back betrayed the raging anger he was suppressing.
The father, Lin Yuanshan, stood to the side with his head bowed, his face ashen, his eyes filled with worry and helplessness.
"Granddaughter greets grandfather and father." Lin Wan'er curtsied, her voice calm and composed.
Lin Chengzong didn't turn around; his aged yet authoritative voice echoed in the study. Every word seemed to be encased in ice shards.
"install?"
"My Lin family's century-old reputation has been ruined in a single day. How can I live in peace?"
Lin Chengzong turned around abruptly, his white beard trembling, his sharp eyes fixed on Lin Wan'er, filled with undisguised disappointment and anger.
“I have taught you poetry, literature, etiquette, and how to distinguish right from wrong since you were a child. I believe you are intelligent and resilient, far superior to the good-for-nothing men in the clan. I am counting on you to bring glory to the Lin family and earn a decent life and a future for our Lin family among the powerful and wealthy in the capital.”
"And what about you? You actually did such a shameless and degrading thing! You spent the whole night with that spoiled brat from the Li family, causing a huge scandal that everyone in the city knows about! Where will you put my old face in the future? Where will you put the faces of my ancestors in the Lin family?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuanshan quickly stepped forward, trying to persuade her: "Father, please calm down, Wan'er, she..."
"Shut up!"
Lin Chengzong sternly interrupted his son, his gaze sharp as a knife as he looked at Lin Wan'er.
"Such a disgrace to the family, if we do not enforce family rules, how can we uphold family traditions?"
"Whether you send him to the family temple to live out his remaining years, or punish him with thirty lashes, the choice is yours!"
Lin Yuanshan was so frightened that his face turned deathly pale.
Thirty lashes with a rattan whip—that's enough to take half a life and leave a scar that will never go away.
He knelt down with a thud, "Father, no! Wan'er, she..."
"grandfather!"
Lin Wan'er, who had been silent all along, suddenly looked up, interrupting her father's plea.
There was no fear on her face; her eyes were clear and bright, even carrying a strange calmness.
"Granddaughter, you have something to say."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com