After requesting a long leave from the Ministry of War, Lin Daoqing rushed to the outskirts of the city and rented a secluded courtyard.
He was in a complete mess. His eldest son, covered in wounds from a dog bite, lay in bed crying, "My wounds hurt so much. Mother, you died so tragically..."
The second son was only ten years old, too young to help with anything. He wore heavy mourning clothes, knelt outside the house burning paper money, and cried out for his mother.
Lin Daoqing personally went to bring his mother back and settled her in the main room of the courtyard. He listened to his mother's incoherent ramblings, "I poisoned my cousin, and I also poisoned my husband..." He was terrified. Seeing that no one was around, he knocked his mother unconscious with a slap, stopping her from continuing to talk about poisoning his stepmother and father.
After settling his family in, Lin Daoqing began to deal with Cheng's funeral arrangements.
He bought a small plot of land at the foot of the mountain and decided to bury Cheng there.
After everything was arranged, Lin Daoqing sent servants to inform the Shen and Cheng families, who lived a hundred miles away, of the death. He knew that both families would come to mourn her, because they would be vying to marry their unmarried daughters to him as his second wife.
Before this, his mother, Madam Shen, had repeatedly told him, "When you got married, my family didn't have any adult daughters who could marry into our family. Otherwise, why would we have chosen that ugly and poor woman, Madam Cheng, as my daughter-in-law?"
In fact, Cheng was not entirely unrelated to them; she was the daughter of Shen's younger sister. However, Cheng was not only short and obese, but her dowry was also quite meager, which made Shen despise her.
Especially after Lin Daoqing was promoted to head guard of the princess's residence, Shen's attitude towards Cheng became even worse.
She would often stare at Cheng Shi with a sinister and cunning look, and she would also tell her son Lin Daoqing in private, "If Cheng Shi suddenly dies, you should marry your cousin from the Shen family as your second wife."
Upon hearing his mother's words, Lin Daoqing immediately understood her plan, but he quickly replied, "Mother, my two sons are not yet adults. Let's wait until they are a little older."
Seeing her son's response, Madam Shen was somewhat dissatisfied, but for the sake of her grandchildren, she had no choice but to temporarily put aside her idea of killing Cheng.
However, in order to quell her resentment, Madam Shen still rewarded her son with two maids as concubines, which made her feel a little better.
When Cheng learned that her husband had taken two concubines, she was struck dumb, bursting into tears and sobbing uncontrollably. As she cried, she listed her husband's faults and complained about his cold-heartedness.
Seeing Cheng's crying and fussing, Shen's anger was also ignited. Her eyes widened in fury, and she pointed at Cheng, yelling, "You jealous woman, shut up! If you keep making a scene like this, I'll have my son divorce you and send you back to your parents' home!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng turned deathly pale. She knew that Shen was always domineering, and her husband was quite filial to her. If she really angered Shen, she feared she would be divorced. Then, she would not only lose her husband but also be looked down upon by her own family. How could she possibly live like that!
Helpless, Cheng had no choice but to swallow her anger and stop crying. She knew she had no other option but to silently accept these two concubines.
Lin Daoqing did not dwell too much on the sudden and tragic death of Cheng, because he had more important things to consider—remarrying.
Lin Daoqing thought to himself that since Cheng Shi was no longer alive, he should remarry to take care of himself and his family. As for the choice of his second wife, he decided to choose carefully.
Lin Daoqing began to secretly compare the daughters of the Cheng and Shen families in his mind.
After much deliberation, Lin Daoqing finally made his decision. He would choose the daughter of the Cheng family or the Shen family, who was more beautiful and had a more generous dowry, as his second wife.
After all, Lin Daoqing would not receive a salary for being off-duty for the next few years, which meant he would lose his source of income.
Lin Daoqing thought to himself, "Without my salary, I can only rely on my second wife's dowry to make a living."
He suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "That's it! Mother got a lot of family wealth from Father and the eldest son's family! When she's nearing the end, I can just take all of it for myself." This thought flashed through his mind, making him feel excited and a little more relaxed.
While waiting for representatives from both families to come and handle the funeral arrangements, Lin Daoqing was not idle.
He went into the city again to the Ren family to demand the three thousand taels of silver that the Ren family had promised to compensate him after his daughter Lin Jinghui's death, as well as his daughter's dowry.
When Lin Daoqing arrived at the gate of the Ren residence, the gatekeeper was very indifferent to him because he was no longer wearing the armor of a guard and was dressed in plain clothes.
After Lin Daoqing explained his purpose, the servant said rudely, "Our general is not in the mansion." After saying that, he ignored Lin Daoqing and did not even bother to inform him.
Lin Daoqing stood at the gate of the Ren residence, reluctant to leave for a long time. He lingered there for several hours, his heart filled with anxiety and helplessness.
Finally, Steward Ren came out of the mansion. He took out several strings of copper coins, stuffed them into Lin Daoqing's arms, and said, "You should leave now, we don't have any money for you at the moment."
Lin Daoqing held the strings of copper coins, a hint of despair flashing in his eyes.
He raised his head and looked at Steward Ren pleadingly, saying, "I really need that money. My mother is very ill, and I need it to buy medicine and pay for my wife's funeral."
"And my daughter's dowry..."
When Steward Ren saw that Lin Daoqing was not wearing the uniform of a head guard, he knew that he was no longer the head guard of the princess's residence and lost his previous respect for him.
Butler Ren interrupted him impatiently, saying irritably, "I know your family is in trouble, but our manor is also struggling to survive! As you know, we lost all our wealth before, and now the two masters are getting married. The second master's betrothal gifts were borrowed, and we don't even know where we'll borrow the first master's betrothal gifts from."
He waved his hand, as if to shoo Lin Daoqing away, "You go quickly, once we find the lost valuables, we will naturally give you the silver."
Lin Daoqing then hurriedly asked, "When will the matter of my eldest son joining the Imperial Guard as a bodyguard be finalized, General?"
"The general is very busy. I'll let you know once there's news." Butler Ren said as he walked away, and then he was long gone.
Lin Daoqing sighed helplessly, knowing that pleading would be futile. He silently clutched the copper coins in his arms, turned and slowly walked away, his steps heavy.
At this point, Lin Daoqing finally agreed with what his third brother, Lin Daowei, had said: "Second brother, if you hadn't arranged the marriage back then, things might not have turned out this way."
Thinking this over, Lin Daoqing muttered to himself, "Now that things have come to this, I'll think of something else later."
In reality, Lin Daoqing had a good plan in mind: "Later, I will ask my brother for help again. Lin Daoyan has always been soft-hearted, and he will not abandon me. At that time, I will ask my brother to speak well of His Highness Prince Song and the Crown Prince. I will definitely be able to become the Crown Prince's bodyguard or even the head bodyguard. Then, I will have a better future than being the head bodyguard of the Princess's residence."
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