Chapter 7 Suicide Shield
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Lin Zhaoheng unfolded the repair list sent by the Wen family: two pine beams, three nanmu wood partitions, fifty rows of barrel tiles...
"Why should my Lin family pay for the fire at the Wen residence? My He'er isn't even married into the family yet!"
Wen Qi broke out in a cold sweat and knelt down with a thud: "Lord Lin, please calm down! My second young master said... you can ask Miss Lin for the reason."
Lin Zhaoheng couldn't understand. The marriage was for his eldest daughter, so how could it involve his second daughter?
Lin Zhaoheng, who hadn't set foot in the concubine's residence for a long time, suddenly appeared. Madam Min was overjoyed and stepped forward to greet him: "Husband—!"
"You've raised a fine daughter!" Lin Zhaoheng approached step by step, the oppressive aura emanating from him resembling the power of a rival in the imperial court.
Lin Zhirou, standing to the side, sensed something was wrong. Ever since the fire at the Wen residence, she had been worried about Wen Zhixu's safety and had sent someone to inquire about the situation. She learned that the cook had caused the disaster, and the cause of the disaster was the string of firecrackers she had given him as a reward.
Lin Zhaoheng was furious. Lin Zhirou took several steps back and protested in a trembling voice, "Father, it's not my fault! It's because Pinyan is too naughty..."
Lin Pinyan, standing to the side, was speechless.
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Lin Xihe took a sip of ginger honey drink and muttered, "It's not as strong as cola... Qingwu, what's going on outside?"
She was confined to Tinghe Pavilion by two doormen sent by her cheapskate father, her movements restricted to the main hall, inner courtyard, and backyard. No cell phone, no tablet, no internet, no snacks; her neck was twisted, and her cheeks burned with pain.
The noise outside is so loud that Lin Xihe can't even enjoy it.
I can't go on like this anymore.
Lin Xihe had no choice but to send someone to investigate.
The maid and servants left and did not return for a long time.
Outside Tinghe Pavilion, there came noises, cries, and scoldings... The sound waves seemed to have grown wings and lingered in the air above the backyard.
This makes Lin Xihe appear even more lonely and desolate.
"Boring, boring, hopeless." Lin Xihe paced back and forth around the courtyard wall with a gloomy face, but she could not escape the world that trapped her.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck my mind—
A system! Don't all transmigrators have systems?
She suddenly quickened her pace and rushed into the hall, her eyes fixed intently on the birdcage on the table.
"Boom!" Since no one was around, Lin Xihe blinked her eyes. "You tell me, I must have some kind of cheat code, right?"
The sparrow hopped lightly twice on its perch, letting out a soft, puzzled chirp: "Huh...?"
Lin Xihe rolled up her sleeves and exclaimed excitedly, "It's all about special abilities! Thousand-mile eyes, super hearing, system space... anything! If all else fails, I can even use some qigong!"
"Bu Bu, look at me closely." With boundless courage, Lin Xihe dared to dream, "Don't I look completely different?"
Bubu sat frozen on the perch, its little head filled with great confusion: its new owner was good in every way, except that... he didn't seem very bright.
Lin Xihe looked around and concluded, "This place is too small; I can't move around freely."
She flew into the courtyard like a butterfly, her mind and eyes filled with "host, system, cheat code, space".
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As Wen Zhi stepped into Yinquan Pavilion, the wind rustled in his ears, carrying with it a few words of the young woman's own murmur—
"System, I am the host."
"system."
Wen Zhixu pressed his throbbing temple; this woman had been giving him quite a headache lately.
"Alibaba, open sesame!" came another strange curse from the other side of the wall.
Wen Zhixu slipped into the shadows of the courtyard wall.
A gentleman does not retaliate when insulted; a gentleman stands under a wall; a gentleman… eavesdrops on the whispers of women in their boudoirs?
He is undoubtedly a virtuous and upright person.
"...Wait, something doesn't seem right. Amitabha, Amen, Mami Mami Hum?"
"No, no, there must be a formula, I just haven't found the key yet!"
"Don't panic, this is ancient times. Stay calm, I need to stay calm."
The courtyard fell silent for a moment, and fallen petals covered the young man's shoulders.
The people of Ningchao were open-minded, and noble ladies were no longer confined to their chambers all day long. They could freely go on outings to gardens and go shopping.
Many noble ladies in the capital harbored secret feelings for the Second Young Master Wen, often leaving behind their personal sachets under various pretexts. Some even dared to stop the Wen family's carriage in the street and openly express their admiration.
Wen Zhixu rejected all of them, citing "Wen's childhood betrothal to the Lin family's daughter" as the reason.
In this light, Lin Xihe's act of shielding us wasn't entirely useless.
But today is different; his shield seems to have gone mad…
On the other side of the wall, a deep inhalation was heard, followed by a long exhalation.
The brick wall blocked the view, but allowed two breaths to intertwine and resonate in the solitude.
Wen Zhixu unconsciously adjusted his breathing accordingly.
At that very moment—
Suddenly, a great commotion erupted from there!
The sound of Lin Xihe's running and sprinting footsteps struck Wen Zhixu's heart again and again.
He leaped up to the treetop, wanting to see what madness Lin Xihe was going through.
Wen Zhixu's line of sight was level with the artificial hill in the Lin residence. The scenery inside the courtyard was unobstructed: the white pebble path meandered, the spring grass was fresh and green, and the girl's light pink skirt swayed in layers, like clouds pouring down to the ground.
Just as he was lost in thought, Lin Xihe suddenly rushed to the edge of the pond, as if she was about to jump!
"!" Wen Zhixu almost jumped over the wall. Disliking her was one thing, but he didn't hate her enough to watch her seek death.
As her embroidered shoes touched the water's surface, Lin Xihe withdrew one foot, saying, "Wait, I can do the breaststroke, I won't drown."
Isn't that how it's always described in books? When the protagonist faces a desperate situation, the system activates! She's not a landlubber; falling into the water is like entering her comfort zone.
So, where exactly does Lin Xihe's predicament lie?!
The girl on the ground looked around blankly, while the young man in the tree was puzzled.
Wen Zhixu's legs were numb, and he was filled with regret when he saw Lin Xihe, who was still determined, lock onto the rockery. She paused for a moment, then sprinted away—was she going to crash into the rockery and kill herself?!
His hair stood on end. A madwoman! This madwoman!
In a moment of desperation, Wen Zhixu suddenly pulled out the folding fan from his sleeve and threw it at the artificial hill!
A dark arc flashed through the air, and the fan struck the rocks swiftly before the girl's head could react.
The fan ribs fell to the ground with a thud, and Lin Xihe stopped abruptly.
"System?!" she exclaimed with elation. "I finally forced you out!"
"..." Wen Zhixu was completely bewildered. Every step the woman took was precisely outside of his expectations.
She picked up the fan, blew away the dust, examined it for a moment, and then said to herself, "It's a fan? I get it! The system notification is on the fan surface!"
Suddenly—Linxi He unfolds his fan.
Lin Pinyan's painting skills were not good. His painting of "Linxi He" had uneven eyes, uneven eyebrows, and a flat nose... The half-dry ink smudged into two dark blotches on the cheeks of "Linxi He".
Sure enough, a girl's voice immediately echoed in the courtyard: "Who is this painting? An African?"
Wen Zhixu pondered to herself: Africans... Judging from what she said, they must be a distant foreign race, people with skin colors very different from ours?
He had always been able to communicate freely with Mo Hu, and if Cui Huang were present, he could also speak with her. Now, understanding Lin Xihe's ravings seemed perfectly natural.
A sense of smugness flashed through his mind.
"System, is this a hint from you?" Lin Xihe flipped through the fan, finally finding only a signature in the corner of the fan.
The handwriting is crooked and twisted, like an earthworm crawling through mud on a rainy day. Where is the Wang Xizhi we were promised?
She frowned and carefully examined the writing, barely managing to make out the characters.
【Forest】
【Stream】
【Holland】
That's her full name!
Tears welled up in Lin Xihe's eyes. The system may be late, but it has arrived!
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As the incense burned out, the last bit of ash quietly fell to the ground.
After finishing two dried earthworms, Bubu in the birdcage closed its eyes for a short rest.
Lin Xihe repeatedly rubbed the fan ribs, almost polishing them until they developed a patina.
There's no progress bar, no tutorial quests... it's just an ordinary folding fan.
"Young Miss," Qingwu lifted the beaded curtain, "the young master wishes to see—"
Before the words were even finished, a sturdy figure burst through the beaded curtain, causing the jade beads to crackle.
"Sister! They're all bullying me!" Lin Pinyan rushed to Lin Xihe's side and cried out, "You have to stand up for me!"
The person who arrived was Lin Pinyan.
Lin Xihe protected her fan and stepped back behind the table. The round rosewood table, like the Chu River and Han border, separated the half-siblings at both ends.
"Just stand there and talk." Lin Xihe has no feelings for her younger brother. "I'm not going to be a brother-supporting demon."
"Sister, it was wrong of me to set off firecrackers when you died, but it was my second sister who told me to do it! The fire at my brother-in-law's house wasn't my fault, it was all my second sister's idea! Why should I be the only one punished? Now Dad wants my mother to pay money to my brother-in-law..."
"Stop." Lin Pinyan's rapid-fire words gave Lin Xihe a headache. "Wait...you said Wen Zhixu's courtyard is on fire?"
"Sister really cares about brother-in-law!" Lin Pinyan instantly felt like she'd fallen for him, and nodded hurriedly, "Don't worry, sister, brother-in-law—"
"Still alive?" Lin Xihe asked.
"Hmm..." Lin Pinyan was puzzled as to why his sister looked so regretful when he mentioned that his brother-in-law was safe and sound.
Lin Xihe exclaimed in gratitude for God's mercy! If that guy had really been completely dead, she wouldn't have had to marry him.
However, life is often filled with disappointments, but fortunately, she had the system. She subconsciously tightened her grip on the fan.
Lin Pinyan stared for a moment, then asked, "Why is my brother-in-law's folding fan in my sister's arms?"
A note from the author:
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