In the early morning, sunlight streamed through the windows into the main courtyard. Zhao Canchen sat alone in the seat of honor in the main hall, while Lin Daoyan and his family sat around an eight-immortal table in a corner, quietly enjoying a simple breakfast.
After dinner, the group moved to the corridor and sat down, talking about what happened the night before.
Madam Xu was still filled with shock. She stared at Lin Daoyan with wide eyes and asked suspiciously, "Husband, how could Madam Cheng have suddenly passed away? Could it really be that she was so angry about her daughter's death that she died?"
Lin Daoyan lowered his eyes and shook his head, saying, "I don't know the specifics either."
Madam Xu blinked a few times and asked softly, "Cheng is dead, and her two sons are still young. Will the Cheng family remarry a daughter to Lin Daoqing as his second wife?"
Lin Daoyan snorted and said, "The Cheng family may want to, but Lin Daoqing's mother may not agree."
Madam Xu nodded. "That's true. When we were arranging a marriage for Lin Daoqing, the Shen family didn't have a suitable daughter."
Lin Yajun drank water and listened quietly to her parents talking. She was thinking about her own thoughts: Where can I find someone who can travel through time?
Madam Xu muttered under her breath, "That woman was always competitive and would jump around all day trying to snatch other people's things. I never thought she would end up jumping herself to death."
Zhao Canchen's lips curled up at these words, and he almost burst out laughing. He was holding a thick book in his hand, leisurely reading on a wooden chair, while Lin Songhao quietly stood guard beside him.
Ms. Xu did not notice Zhao Canchen's reaction.
She continued, "Husband, Chengshi is dead. Should we go to the funeral? After all, they sent someone to announce the death last night."
Mrs. Xu then looked at her daughter, Lin Yajun, and asked, "Yajun, what do you think, should we go or not?"
Since Lin Yajun drove away the second and third wives, Madam Xu has made her daughter the backbone of the family.
Lin Daoyan frowned, pondered for a moment, then decisively shook his head and made a decision: "Our two families have severed ties, and things were so tense before, so our family members don't need to go. Just send someone to deliver a gift to express our feelings."
Lin Yajun came to her senses and listened to her parents' words. She thought to herself: If the two families had fallen out like this, people in modern times would never associate with each other. But people in ancient times valued etiquette and face, and believed that they should not be too discordant with their brothers from the same father. Since the second branch of the family had sent someone to announce the death, she should go and give them a gift.
She placed the cup on the table and said softly, "Mother, we should follow Father's arrangements. It's definitely the best choice. Otherwise, that family will probably come and harass us again, just like before."
"Okay, I'll make the arrangements." After hearing her husband and daughter's words, Madam Xu breathed a sigh of relief and readily agreed.
Xu was originally worried that going to Cheng's funeral would bring her a lot of trouble and inconvenience, but now she immediately felt much more relaxed.
She thought to herself, "It's great that I don't have to do anything for the second wife's family this time. It saves me the trouble and effort, and I still won't get any credit in the end."
Thinking of this, Madam Xu stood up happily, turned around and quickly walked out of the room.
As she walked, Madam Xu instructed the old woman beside her to prepare a suitable gift and send it to the second branch of the family to express the eldest branch's condolences.
Mrs. Xu walked briskly in the courtyard, enjoying the tranquility and peace around her.
She couldn't help but sigh; it seemed like it had been a long time since the Lin residence had been this quiet. Without the disturbances of the second branch of the family, the entire courtyard seemed exceptionally peaceful.
The fourth day of the ninth lunar month was a dark day for Lin Daoqing's family.
On this day, his daughter Lin Jinghui, who had only been married for two days, was raped and murdered and thrown into the small lake in the Ren family mansion.
That day, after returning to the Lin family mansion, Old Lady Lin was haunted by a ghost and broke her back while running away. She is now recuperating in a small courtyard near the temple, and the doctor says she has at most a month to live.
As long as Old Lady Lin can hear the temple bells ring, she can live in peace and will not see ghosts coming to claim her life.
However, when Old Lady Lin was delirious from the pain, her mouth seemed to have lost control, and she kept revealing the truths that were buried deep in her heart.
"Cousin, stay away from me. Even if I killed you and took your husband away, so what? This way, you can die sooner and be reincarnated sooner, right? Wouldn't that be better for you?" Old Mrs. Lin's voice was filled with a hint of madness and smugness.
"Who told you to marry better than me? Why can you live a good life while I can only suffer in this dilapidated house?" Her words were full of resentment and bitterness.
"Besides killing you and becoming a concubine, I can't find a better marriage." Old Mrs. Lin's tone gradually became mournful.
"Master, master, how could you know that I killed the late Madam?" Suddenly, as if she had remembered something terrible, she cried out in terror.
"Master, it would be better if you died, then no one would ever find out the truth!" Old Mrs. Lin's voice revealed despair and resolve.
"Hahaha, you've finally died after drinking the poisoned wine I gave you, you old geezer!" Her laughter echoed in the air, sending chills down everyone's spines.
Wen Pozi, who was standing guard beside Old Lady Lin, heard everything clearly. Wen Pozi stared wide-eyed at Old Lady Lin in astonishment, hardly believing what she was hearing.
Later, because Granny Wen had to go to the city to get medicine from the shop, she relayed everything that Granny Lin had said in her half-awake state to the eldest daughter, Lin Yajun.
After listening, Lin Yajun took out a silver ingot from her sleeve, handed it to Granny Wen, and said, "You did a good job. Remember to send me any news in the future, and I will certainly not treat you unfairly."
Unbeknownst to everyone in the second branch of the family, Lin Yajun had secretly bribed Granny Wen, the old lady's most trusted servant, saying, "You send me a message, and I'll give you money."
On this day, in the dead of night, Cheng suddenly died tragically.
When Lin Daowei received the news that his second brother had sent a servant to deliver the death message, an ominous premonition immediately welled up in his heart. He hurriedly got up and rushed to the cloth shop, his mood growing heavier along the way.
When Lin Daowei arrived at the cloth shop, the scene before him stunned him. Cheng's body lay sprawled on the ground, her face contorted in a grotesque expression, clearly the victim of an extremely cruel murder.
Lin Daowei stared wide-eyed at the scene, filled with fear and shock.
He composed himself, walked to the body, and carefully observed the state of his second sister-in-law, Cheng Shi's, death. He saw that her body was covered with wounds, her eyes had been gouged out, her mouth had been cut open, her teeth had been knocked out, and her wrists had been severed. All these signs indicated that Cheng Shi had been murdered in a revenge killing.
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