Old Madam Lin's gaze fell on Lin Yajun's face, and she was stunned. She saw the face of a familiar person.
That person was her cousin, who married a handsome general.
The men the matchmakers introduced to her were all lowly soldiers or small merchants, which filled her with resentment, and she vowed to steal her older cousin's marriage.
She took advantage of a visit to relatives to come to the general's mansion and conspired with Xiangtian, the head maid of her eldest cousin. She cleverly persuaded the maid, "Our Shen family only has two daughters, my cousin and me. If she dies, I will definitely be the second wife. At that time, I will make you my secondary wife, and we will serve the general together..."
She secretly handed her another packet of medicine, saying, "Put in a little at a time, and she'll slowly die."
In order to become half the mistress of the house, the maid made a move on the lady who had just given birth, putting a little poison in her tea every day.
The child was less than a year old when the wife died.
Shen Ernu thus became a second wife and married into the Lin family to take care of her cousin's young son. The first thing she did after marrying in was to push the maid Xiang Tian into a well to silence her.
Lin Yajun stared at Old Madam Lin with icy eyes.
Looking into those familiar eyes, it was as if they had seen through her thoughts, like an ice knife piercing her heart. She couldn't help but shiver and snap out of her reverie.
Madam Lin looked away and slammed the bamboo stick heavily on the table, trying to make Lin Yajun's icy gaze leave her.
She simply stood up, ready to personally smash and destroy Lin Yajun's appearance with bamboo blocks.
At this moment, Master Zuo hurriedly returned on horseback. He entered the hall and presented several copies of the letter of consent to sever ties with both hands. He said breathlessly, "Madam, General Lin, the government office has taken the letter of consent and returned it. It was Third Master who personally handled this matter, so it was done very quickly."
Lin Daowei was also afraid of being implicated by the people his brother brought back, so he personally took Master Zuo to the government office to obtain a consent form for his mother to sever ties with his brother.
To prevent any unforeseen complications from escalating, Lin Daowei sent Master Zuo back to the mansion on horseback to deliver the letter of severance of kinship and to persuade the eldest branch of the family to leave.
Master Zuo glanced nervously at Old Lady Lin, then at Lin Daoqing, before cautiously speaking, "Third Master had official business to attend to, so he couldn't come back with us. He asked the Old Madam to give Lin Daoyan some money so they would move out of here. He also specifically instructed that since we are all brothers from the same father, there's no need to strain our relationship and make ourselves a laughingstock."
Madam Lin ignored Master Zuo's words. Not only did she not intend to give him any money, but she also let out a heavy snort from her nose, a sound full of contempt and disdain.
Madam Lin suddenly stood up, walked quickly to Master Zuo, and personally snatched the letter of consent to sever ties from his hands.
As she shoved the letter of severance of kinship into Lin Daoyan's hand, she said with utter contempt, "What money? I won't give you a single copper coin! My son is a dignified captain of the guards and a constable; do you think he'd be afraid of a mere gatekeeper?"
After saying that, Madam Lin turned to the servants behind her and shouted loudly, "Guards! Throw this family out of here!"
At Madam Lin's command, Lin Daoqing quickly waved his hand, and in the blink of an eye, his men tightly surrounded Lin Daoyan and his family.
"Stop." A thin figure flashed in through the doorway. Zhao Canchen wanted to stop those people from driving away Lin Daoyan's family.
Lin Yajun quickly shook her head at him, signaling him not to interfere in the Lin family's affairs.
Zhao Canchen stood there, his hands clenched into fists, his face filled with worry and deep guilt. He knew that it was because of him that the Lin Daoyan family had fallen into this predicament.
Lin Yajun gave Zhao Canchen a reassuring smile.
She turned around and loudly announced to everyone, "I'm going to the Ministry of Justice to report that my grandfather and grandmother were poisoned and demand that their graves be exhumed and their bodies examined!"
While waiting for the severance of kinship documents in the hall, she thought about how her grandfather, who had always been healthy, had suddenly passed away in the night, and suspected that he too had been killed by Granny Lin. Because if her grandfather hadn't died, Granny Lin wouldn't have been able to control the household, bully the eldest son's family, or take over their courtyard.
The wicked Old Lady Lin, having gained immense benefits from killing one person, will surely kill again in order to obtain even greater benefits.
Therefore, Lin Yajun boldly spoke out her guess.
"No!" Old Mrs. Lin cried out in terror. Realizing she had lost her composure again, she quickly said, "Anyone who dares to dig up the grave will be struck by lightning."
Judging from Old Lady Lin's outburst, it was probably really her doing.
Everyone was stunned by what Lin Yajun said. No one could believe that such an old and weak woman would dare to kill someone.
Lin Yajun sarcastically remarked to Old Lady Lin, "Ha, so this cousin stealing her older cousin's marriage is your family's secret recipe?"
"Did you teach Lin Qinghui to seduce Young Master Ren and offer herself to him, and then switch marriages to steal his dowry?"
Madam Lin stared at Lin Yajun in disbelief. She hadn't expected that her usually gentle and obedient eldest daughter would suddenly become so fierce and clever, and that she had even figured out that the idea of ​​exchanging brides was actually her own granddaughter's suggestion.
It was indeed Old Lady Lin who suggested the marriage exchange to her granddaughter, Lin Jinghui.
Her beloved granddaughter was betrothed to the illegitimate son of the general's mansion, while her despised eldest daughter was betrothed to the eldest legitimate son of the general's mansion. How could this not make her feel resentful?
If Lin Daoyan hadn't been demoted to a city gate post, she wouldn't have dared to take action, since her two sons and daughter all depended on the support of the eldest son's family.
However, before Lin Yajun got married, her eldest son Lin Daoyan lost his official position. So how could she not teach her own granddaughter to switch marriages and seize the dowry?
Old Mrs. Lin was certain that the eldest son's family was docile and could only swallow their anger after their marriage and dowry were taken away.
However, she never expected that Lin Yajun would be so intelligent and change so much. Yesterday, she made a scene and took back her dowry, and even threatened to file a complaint with the Ministry of Justice.
Old Mrs. Lin had decided to silence Lin Yajun, and she gave Lin Daoqing a meaningful look.
"Kill this wicked woman who defied her superiors," Lin Daoqing said fiercely. He believed that Lin Yajun couldn't press his pressure points unless he got close to her.
So he drew his long sword and lunged forward, attempting to kill Lin Yajun in one fell swoop.
Unexpectedly, Lin Daoyan was even faster, drawing his longsword and standing in front of his daughter, shouting, "Anyone who dares to step forward, I will kill him!"
Lin Daoqing knew, of course, that his skills were far inferior to his brother's. He quickly retreated a few steps to the door, turned around and thrust his long sword at Lin Yajun's brother, Lin Songhao, saying, "If you want to save your daughter, I will kill your son."
"Don't kill my son!" Xu cried out and lunged forward. Lin Daoqing turned his hand and pointed his long sword at Xu, preparing to take her hostage.
Suddenly, Lin Yajun rushed over without regard for the danger, took out a small bottle, and pressed it into Lin Daoqing's eyes, cursing, "I'll blind you!"
Lin Daoqing was caught off guard and sprayed in the face. His eyes felt like they had been filled with chili water, and he cried out in pain. His hand slipped and his longsword fell to the ground.
His face turned red, his eyes were swollen shut, and he screamed in agony, "It hurts so much, help me, call someone to help me!"
His men were stunned, then quickly stepped forward to support him and led him outside to see a doctor.
Lin Yajun stood protectively in front of her younger brother and said, "All of you, get out of here."
"Get out..." she waved her hand, and everyone backed away in fright.
"Let's go, let's go!" Old Mrs. Lin, still in shock, covered her face with her hand and ran out in a panic.
Lin Yajun, standing behind Old Lady Lin, said coldly, "You not only poisoned my grandmother, but you also poisoned my grandfather. They will come to haunt you every day."
"I still need to submit a petition, requesting the Ministry of Justice to investigate the case, exhume the body to deceive the authorities, and find the murderer."
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