Lin Shikang put down his pen and stepped out of the house, only to see Lin Niu sitting on the ground, wailing loudly, "My son..."
Two bailiffs were standing in front of her.
"What happened?"
As soon as Lin Niu saw Lin Shikang, she scrambled over, grabbed his trouser leg, and cried out with snot and tears streaming down her face, "Shikang, you have to avenge Mingcai! Mingcai is dead! He's dead! Waaah..."
"What did you say?" Lin Shikang was taken aback.
The Lin clan members who came upon hearing the commotion were also dumbfounded and shocked.
Lin Qiu's face was also covered in snot and tears as she cried, "Mingcai died unjustly! What are we going to do, leaving behind only orphans and widows? Waaah..."
"What exactly is going on?"
"How could Mingcai have died out of the blue?"
"Is there some mistake?"
………
The crowd was buzzing with disbelief.
At this moment, the yamen runners respectfully said to Lin Shikang, "Lin Tanhua, last night, a fight broke out in the county jail, and Lin Mingcai was beaten to death in the chaos. We have come here today specifically to inform you to quickly retrieve the body, otherwise we will throw it into the mass grave."
The government only did so because Lin Mingcai was a relative of Lin Shikang; otherwise, if it were anyone else, they would have thrown him into a mass grave long ago and wouldn't have bothered to notify them.
"It's Yang Cui! It must be Yang Cui! That bitch killed my son, didn't she?" Lin Niu's eyes were filled with hatred as she screamed hysterically, "She must have killed my son! That bitch, she deserves to die a horrible death! She deserves to die a horrible death!"
After shouting, Lin Niu fainted from a fit of anger.
...
The news of Lin Mingcai's death quickly spread throughout Lin'an Village and Zhou'an Village.
Upon hearing the news, Village Chief Zhou rushed to tell Yang Cui.
"Lin Mingcai is dead? Is it true?" Yang Cui was also shocked.
Lin Mingcai, a ruthless character in the book, just died like that?
“It’s true. Lin Niu’s wife fainted from crying. The yamen runners came to inform her personally. It can’t be faked. Lin Shikang and Lin Mingfa have already gone to the county yamen to claim the body,” said Village Chief Zhou. “Now that Lin Mingcai is dead, your conflict will only deepen, so you need to be more careful. The Lin family will definitely not let this go. If anything happens, I will tell you as soon as possible.”
It is said that debts are settled upon death, but since Lin Mingcai and Lin Rongguang are both dead, the "debt" is probably even greater, and the hatred is even deeper.
"Thank you for informing us, village chief. We will be careful."
After Village Chief Zhou left, Cen Xiao noticed that Yang Cui looked preoccupied and asked, "Do you think Lin Mingcai faked his death?"
"I'm just a little worried."
Yang Cui felt it was too easy for the ruthless character in the original work, who had connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds and was like a local tyrant in Wan'an County, to die so easily.
"I'll send Dao San to check it out." After saying that, Cen Xiao sent Dao San to the county government office to investigate.
Dao San returned in the evening.
"How so? Was it Lin Mingcai who died?"
Dao San said, "The appearance is very similar. The deceased also had a missing leg and a knife scar on his shoulder. Theoretically, it should be Lin Mingcai without a doubt."
"What do you mean by that? Didn't you see what he looked like?"
"The day before the deceased died, while cleaning the riverbed, he encountered something that caused an allergic reaction. His entire face became red and swollen, and he was completely unrecognizable."
In this era, prisoners didn't just sit in jail waiting for food; they also had to work, such as cleaning river channels and digging ditches.
"Isn't this too much of a coincidence?"
"Many people have seen about the allergy. At the time, a doctor was consulted for him. I went to the clinic to find out from the doctor that Lin Mingcai's allergy was true."
After hearing what Dao San had to say, Yang Cui was relieved: "I was probably overthinking it. Thank you for making the trip."
...
Lin'an Village.
Because Lin Mingcai died outside the village, his body could not be kept in the village for the funeral. In addition, due to the hot weather, it was brought back to the village and buried immediately.
Lin Niu fainted from crying multiple times, and Lin Qiu also fainted multiple times.
His hatred for Yang Cui reached its peak.
"Shikang, you must kill that bitch Yang Cui and avenge Mingcai! Waaaaaah... Mingcai died such a tragic death. If it weren't for that bitch, how could Mingcai have died? How could Mingfu be so despondent now? Chunmei wouldn't be in jail. Our Lin family is what it is today because of her!"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. People can't come back to life. Try to think positively."
In fact, Lin Shih-kang also hated Yang Cui.
If it weren't for Yang Cui himself, he wouldn't be in such a passive position now. He has become the subject of gossip again, and he must do more to salvage his reputation.
But what's even more frustrating is that he can't do anything about Yang Cui and Cen Xiao right now.
After comforting Lin Niu, Lin Shikang, along with the two clan elders, Lin Qi and Lin San, left Lin Niu's house.
Lin Shikang repeatedly instructed: "My two great-grandfathers, it is really not advisable to cause any more trouble at this critical juncture. You must keep a close eye on the clansmen, especially Mingfa. You must keep a close eye on your mother. Yang Cui's fiancé is not simple. We must plan everything carefully, understand?"
Seeing Lin Shikang's serious expression, Lin San was also worried: "Shikang, don't worry, I will definitely keep them in check and not let them hold you back."
Lin Mingfa quickly assured him, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of my mother."
...
If it weren't for Ji Fenfang's incident, Lin Shikang could have gained a lot of goodwill by establishing a student aid group. However, given the current situation, simply setting up a student aid group might not be very effective.
Chen Shaoyun has returned to the capital. The emperor's mind is unpredictable. He dares not imagine what the consequences would be if the various incidents in Wan'an County were to reach the emperor's ears. Therefore, he must do more to salvage his reputation and gain the emperor's appreciation and approval so that the emperor cannot punish him arbitrarily.
With this in mind, Lin Shikang immediately bought a nearly new house near Nanshan Academy. He wanted to turn it into a free place for Nanshan students to read, study, exchange ideas, and make progress together.
He named it "Tanhua Study".
It's actually somewhat similar to a modern library.
Now we have the venue, but we lack books.
His actions were for fame, so he couldn't make his contributions in silence. He immediately spread the word, and soon the news that Lin Shikang was going to build a study hall for top scholars spread throughout the city!
The whole city was in an uproar!
What's even more remarkable is that the academy was short of books, and Lin Shikang was willing to pay high prices to invite students from poor families to copy them. In this way, the students could earn some money to supplement their family income, which was undoubtedly a timely help for those poor students.
People were still discussing his romantic affairs with the beautiful widow, but the news of the bookstore and the high price for copying books immediately overshadowed those negative impacts.
With the previous scholarship program and the current Tanhua Academy, Lin Shikang's past "bad" deeds are automatically ignored by scholars, especially students from poor families.
Anyone who says Lin Tanhua is bad will get angry with them!
Lin Shih-kang instantly became a role model for scholars!
Lin Shih-kang's status and prestige also rose rapidly.
It's not enough for him to be famous only in Wan'an County; he must let the people of Kyoto know about these things!
So he immediately wrote two more letters to inform Minister Wang and Princess Xilan, who were far away in the capital. After receiving the letters, they would naturally know what to do.
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