Chapter 58 Humiliation
Lin Ruzhen cried, "Brother, how can you say that to me? Didn't you always say that Lin Qingyue wasn't worthy of being your sister? Didn't you say that Zhen'er was the only sister you recognized? How come..."
"I'm talking to my father, how can you, an adopted daughter, interrupt?" Lin Rufeng ordered coldly, "Come here, send the young lady to the ancestral hall to reflect on her mistakes. She is not allowed to leave until she gets married!"
As the eldest son of the Lin family, Lin Rufeng had the right to deal with matters in the inner house. Therefore, when he wanted to punish Lin Ruzhen, Lin Xiao would not refuse his face.
After the servants took the crying Lin Ruzhen away, Lin Xiao said to Lin Rufeng:
"Although Zhen'er can only be a concubine, she is going to marry Prince Jin. Aren't you afraid of her..."
"Don't be afraid!" Lin Rufeng said nonchalantly.
Lin Rufeng had received Lin Qingyue's favor before, and he also knew how mean the Lin family had been before, so he would definitely help speak up at this time.
"As the saying goes, estrangement cannot separate family, but Lin Ruzhen repeatedly alienates the Lin family and their own daughter. Her heart is as evil as a snake and scorpion!"
"Father, you looked down on Sister Qingyue before, simply because you thought she was uneducated and lacked the aristocratic education, and you were worried she wouldn't be able to maintain her position as the Princess of Jin. But that day, I saw with my own eyes that the Prince of Jin treated her with respect, and even, for my sister's sake, he had a long and cordial conversation with me."
"This is enough to show how much the Prince of Jin values my sister! So what you should do now is to work hard to maintain a good father-daughter relationship with your sister. Instead of letting your biological daughter feel disappointed for the sake of an adopted daughter who is not related to you by blood."
Lin Xiao nodded: "That makes sense. So, how do you think we should handle the marriage between Zhen'er and Prince Jin?"
"Since she's a concubine, the standard must not exceed that of a principal wife." Lin Rufeng thought for a moment and said, "On that day, a sedan chair will be carried out from the back door."
"Isn't this too shabby?"
"What I want is shabby."
Lin Rufeng secretly sent someone to ask Lin Qingyue for permission. If she didn't want Lin Ruzhen to enter the palace, he would help her solve the problem.
But Lin Qingyue said: "No need."
Although Lin Rufeng didn't know what Lin Qingyue was planning, even if he wanted to marry Lin Ruzhen, he couldn't let her steal Lin Qingyue's limelight.
"Prince Jin has always valued order over hierarchy. Otherwise, he wouldn't have demoted Lin Ruzhen to a concubine after learning of her background. If father had made such a grand gesture, it would have been disastrous."
"Okay, that's it."
Lin Xiao is very satisfied with Lin Rufeng's current performance.
Ever since he was possessed by the snake demon, he stopped hanging around and started to behave more like a future head of the family. It was a blessing in disguise, wasn't it?
At this moment, Lin Qingyue was taken to Gu's house by Dami.
When she was standing at the door of Gu's house, she thought that Da Mi had taken the wrong path:
"Isn't the Gu family a royal merchant family, the richest family in Da Qi? Why is the body of the eldest daughter of the Gu family being kept here?"
Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans in Qi State, merchants had the lowest status, except for officials and imperial merchants.
For example, the trade of important materials such as salt, iron, tea, and rice was monopolized by the gentry, and the money they earned was inestimable.
The Gu family mainly engages in the tea business. From the fragrant tea on the tables of royal nobles to the tea foam in the cups of ordinary people in street teahouses and rural villages, all the good and bad teas in the world are included in the Gu family's business.
In addition to being rich, the Gu family is also very noble.
Twenty years ago, the Great Qi Dynasty was struck by famine, with the dead dying everywhere. At that time, Emperor Zhao of Qi had just ascended the throne, and the treasury was strained. In this critical moment, it was the Gu family who took the lead in donating money and supplies to help the country overcome this difficult time.
Afterwards, Emperor Zhao of Qi appointed Gu Huai, the head of the Gu family, as "Marquis Wenshang". Although it was not an actual position, it was a manifestation of honor.
Therefore, when Lin Qingyue pushed open the old wooden gate and saw the simple courtyard and the crude mourning hall, she thought she had come to the wrong place.
She did not go wrong, Xie Shouzheng came out with his men to greet her.
He seemed somewhat helpless. "Another one who has become 'Li'. Earlier, Wang Ling'er at least made a request, asking us to know her obsession so we could resolve it. But this one, no matter how much I ask, refuses to answer. It's truly hard to understand what her obsession is."
"I have no choice but to ask Da Mi to invite you here. Deputy Envoy Lin, how about using your Dream Recalling to recreate the memories of the deceased so that we can have some reminders?"
Lin Qingyue nodded and walked to the coffin. She couldn't help but ask, "Isn't the Gu family very wealthy? Why would they let their eldest daughter live in a place like this? And the coffin is so flimsy, it's even worse than that of ordinary people with better financial conditions."
Xie Shouzheng said, "I heard that Miss Gu went crazy after she was divorced and returned home, always doing things that were out of character. She suddenly came to her senses a while ago, but she started having an affair with her own servant, which angered her father, Gu Huai, and she was kicked out of the house in a rage."
"This courtyard is the property Miss Gu bought after she broke with her family. She had originally planned to live happily ever after with her servant, but she was cruelly abandoned. Heartbroken, Miss Gu hanged herself."
Lin Qingyue asked again, "Where are her family? Why are there only a few maids and old women guarding her body?"
Xie Shouzheng said, "Marquis Wenshang has been away from the capital for a while now. Someone has been dispatched to report Miss Gu's affairs, and he'll probably be back soon. As for Madam Gu... she said it's unlucky for an elderly person to attend the funeral of a young one, so she won't be attending. Instead, she sent a few maids and servants to take care of things."
"It seems that Miss Gu does not have a good relationship with the Gu family."
It was normal to think that a woman who had been divorced and sent back to her parents' home would definitely not be welcomed there. And suddenly she was in love with a servant, which was simply a disgrace to the family.
The Gu family is willing to send someone to help with the funeral arrangements, which is out of consideration for their relationship.
Lin Qingyue gave a wink, and Da Mi hurried forward and pushed open the lid of the coffin, revealing Miss Gu who had been dead for seven days.
There were scratch marks on the coffin lid, and there were wood chips on Miss Gu's fingernails, but her fingers were blue and black, which were the marks left by the person's fingers being stiff but still pressing hard after death.
Lin Qingyue said, "She has indeed come back to life. The time was not right before, and her violent energy wasn't strong enough, so she couldn't break out of the coffin. She only left some traces inside. But tonight is the seventh day since her soul returned. If we don't handle it properly, I'm afraid she will be very dangerous."
Xie Shouzheng said, "That's what I meant as well. Send him away early to avoid any trouble."
Lin Qingyue was just about to use the Dream Recall technique when the courtyard door was pushed open with a bang and two middle-aged men came in.
"Who is it?" Si Wei asked.
One of them bowed to Xie Shouzheng and said, "You are from the Xuanjing Division, right? I am the chief steward of the Wenshang Marquis Gu family. The person next to me is a folk expert we specially invited to resolve the dark affairs. I am here to chant sutras for the young lady so that she can enter the reincarnation soon."
Xie Shouzheng said: "Please move aside for now. Once we have resolved Miss Gu's obsession, you can do whatever you want to help her!"
Butler Gu said, "My wife means that we should no longer trouble the Xuanjing Division with this matter."
As he spoke, he took out a bag of silver and presented it to him.
Xie Shouzheng took the silver and threw it at him, cursing, "What do you think we are from the Xuanjing Division? You can summon us and dismiss us at will? You actually use money to humiliate me. How despicable!"
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