Chapter 3

If someone had been willing to marry Lin Wei Xi 3 months ago, Aunt Lin would’ve happily sent her over already, but now…

Aunt Lin hesitated. She didn’t dare disregard Li Yuan Wai’s favour, but on the other hand, she was very unwilling to part with her brother’s property. She had married out of the Lin family, and thus couldn’t technically be counted as an elder of the Lin family. Even if she could pull some from Lin Yong’s estates, she wouldn’t get much. But if Lin Wei Xi were to marry her son, then all of Lin Yong’s rewards would belong to their family. Maybe they could even go to the government officials to request for the title of Marquis Zhongyong to be passed on to her son Li Da. This was a Marquis title! It was way better than the scholar next door. It was unthinkable if Aunt Lin wasn’t green with envy.

Aunt Lin and Matchmaker Wang each harboured ulterior motives, stuck in their tug of war, completely disregarding Lin Wei Xi’s opinion. Lin Wei Xi stood in the room and sneered once she listened to all of this. Then she pushed open the door with a grim expression on her face.

The wooden door slammed into the wall with a bang, thoroughly scaring the two people in the courtyard. Aunt Lin turned her head in shock and when she realized that it was only Lin Wei Xi, her fright immediately turned into anger, “What kind of crazy things are you doing so early in the morning? Can you compensate for breaking the door?”

“How could I not afford to compensate?” Lin Wei Xi straightened her back, and her clear eyes glimmered as she fixed her gaze onto Aunt Lin. Her black eyes shone brightly and distinctly, as if none of the bad things in the world could mar them, leaving all the dirty and sinister things with nowhere to hide, “Lin… Father died for the country, and the imperial court conferred him as the Marquis Zhongyong. Aunt, you’ve already seized so many of my father’s things, but you can’t even let go of this small wooden door?”

Matchmaker Wang saw the person in the room and heaved a sigh. She’d only previously known that there was an orphan living in Aunt Lin’s house. She’d heard that the girl was sickly and didn’t go out very often, so she had never seen Lin Wei Xi. It wasn’t until after the imperial court sent over the reward did Matchmaker Wang remember her. Now that the entire village was eyeing Lin Wei Xi, this loaded gold mine, Matchmaker Wang hurriedly came over to mediate after receiving money from Li Yuan Wai.

Matchmaker Wang expected Lin Wei Xi to be a sickly girl with a large inheritance who could die at any moment. This kind of person was definitely consumed by the disease, so she was certain that she wasn’t the only person rushing to marry her into their house. After seeing Lin Wei Xi did Matchmaker Wang learn that there really existed someone with a fairy-like appearance in this world, with the grace and god-like beauty from a play.

Matchmaker Wang was astonished by Lin Wei Xi’s beauty, and her desire to successfully conclude the marriage talks became more urgent. With an abundance of wealth, reputation as the only daughter of a martyr, and even the appearance of Chang’e, she would be a fool not to quickly take this girl back.

Aunt Lin was also stunned. She knew that Lin Wei Xi looked good, but previously, Lin Wei Xi always shut herself in her room without interacting with others; she always looked sickly and made those who saw her feel unlucky. Aunt Lin resented Lin Wei Xi’s cowering, so when her son proposed that he marry Lin Wei Xi as his wife, Aunt Lin could never agree no matter what. From then on, she loathed Lin Wei Xi even more. She fully believed that this child was a seductive fox with a short life, one who would only bring bad luck to their household. In spite of this, Aunt Lin raised Lin Wei Xi for several years, but she couldn’t let so many years of resources go to waste. Aunt Lin already planned it out, and she would sell Lin Wei Xi to a rich family as a concubine in the future. This was only fair.

However, after knowing that Lin Wei Xi had Lin Yong’s inheritance, Aunt Lin changed her plan. It’s just that she couldn’t overcome her prejudices, which caused her to be in conflict with herself. Even so, Aunt Lin looked down on Lin Wei Xi. But seeing Lin Wei Xi push open the door to question her now, she felt in awe for some reason, leaving her weak-kneed. It was as if she was looking at a high ranking lady.

Aunt Lin shook her head fiercely and chuckled at herself for thinking too much and being afraid of the sick girl in front of her. Aunt Lin narrowed her eyes and shot a glance at Lin Wei Xi, not leaving the bite out of her words, “What do you mean seizing? That’s originally what Lin Yong left me, and we have many things to buy for the New Year. Who knows how much money I’ve lost while raising you these past few years. Now my brother has an official title, what’s wrong with taking some things to replenish the family expenses?”

“Although I’ve been temporarily staying at Aunt’s house, I haven’t spent any of the Li family’s money. In all the years that father has served under Prince Yan, he sends back money every year, and I haven’t seen it even once. All of it should’ve been kept by Aunt. Not to mention, when the imperial court conferred the Marquis title posthumously, the box of silver ingots that auntie secretly hid, that alone should be enough to buy this little courtyard hundreds of times over, shouldn’t it?”

Matchmaker Wang was shocked. A box of silver ingots? Aunt Lin’s secret had been exposed; she was frustrated and her eyes twitched, “A child like you doesn’t know anything, don’t talk nonsense. Those aren’t silver ingots, they’re just a few pieces of shards. I am Lin Yong’s sister. He was rewarded by the imperial court, so is it a crime for me to take a few pieces of silver?”

A few pieces of shards… Lin Wei Xi sneered to herself. A family of farmers that frugally saved one years worth of hard labour couldn’t save more than two or three silver, and that was considered a prosperous household. Based on the Li family’s harvest, how could they even earn one silver? Before embezzling Lin Yong and Lin Wei Xi’s property, Aunt Lin and the others had never even touched a silver ingot before. But now, Aunt Lin could still self-righteously insist that she took nothing more than a few pieces of shards.

Lin Wei Xi wasn’t a stingy person who couldn’t differentiate right from wrong. She was raised as an eldest di granddaughter and was taught by Princess Royal Shou Kang from time to time. After that, she’d even become the mistress in charge of the Prince Yan Residence. She wasn’t a cheapskate; on the contrary, she was very generous with her own people. If Aunt Lin had treated Lin Wei Xi a little better, and was a little more considerate towards her, Lin Wei Xi would not possibly have kept Lin Yong’s astronomical inheritance to herself and not leave a single thing for Aunt Lin.

But in the past month, Lin Wei Xi had been watching coldly on the sidelines, and Aunt Lin’s performance was too disappointing. She’d never sincerely considered Lin Wei Xi as her niece. From the start, she only saw Lin Wei Xi as a sickly, unwanted step-child who constantly needed medicine. It was only after Lin Yong was conferred a title posthumously by the imperial court and left behind a large inheritance, did Aunt Lin remember her love for her brother.

What was the best way to justify embezzling her brother’s property? Of course it was to have Lin Wei Xi “voluntarily” marry Li Da, so that Lin Yong’s things could belong to Aunt Lin and Li Da. Lin Wei Xi’s health was also not very good, so they would be pleased if Lin Wei Xi died after marrying into the household.

Lin Wei Xi saw this clearly, and she seethed with anger. What kind of bullshit play was this? Each and every one of them preached about benevolence, righteousness, manners and trustworthiness, but they only thought about making money and harming others. Lin Wei Xi finally understood how the original owner died. The original host was timid by nature, but this Lin Wei Xi was not.

However, Lin Wei Xi thought of her mother’s teachings and felt that it wasn’t good to scold others, so she maintained her patience and politely said, “Aunt, I’m grateful for your kindness in raising me, but I haven’t finished observing my filial mourning to father, so I shouldn’t talk about marriage right now. Grandmother Wang, thank you for making this trip, but please go back and relay to the others that I, Lin Wei Xi, am grateful to my father for his kindness, and am determined to recite sutras and pray for him. I will not marry anyone in the future. If anyone asks you to act as a matchmaker again in the future, you don’t have to accept it for me.”

When Aunt Lin heard Lin Wei Xi say that she would never marry in the future, she was even more anxious than Matchmaker Wang, “How can this be? You are a little girl who doesn’t know anything, but as an elder I can’t watch you make mistakes. Our village doesn’t have so many rules, it’s enough for you to observe mourning for your father for a few months. You can rely on your youth now, and someone will be willing to marry you, so you should marry as soon as possible.”

Lin Wei Xi held back her anger and said, “I don’t want to marry anyone.” After speaking, she didn’t want to listen anymore and turned around to walk out of the room.

Aunt Lin jumped to her feet in anger, pointed her finger at Lin Wei Xi, and said acridly, “Right now you’re just pretending to be virtuous, arrogantly saying you don’t want to get married. Let’s see what you can do when you grow older and no one is willing to marry you!”

Lin Wei Xi suddenly paused in her step. In the gloom of the farmer’s house, her eyes almost glowed brightly.

It could be said that Aunt Lin’s words poked at Lin Wei Xi’s sore spot. Lin Wei Xi was a noble di granddaughter of a Duke and Princess Royal in her previous life, but after marrying, her days as a wife were bad. Later she discovered that she was just an unruly ex-wife, a failed first marriage, a stepping stone to help Gao Ran justify marrying into the Prince Yan Residence, given her status as a shu daughter. This had become a thorn in Lin Wei Xi’s heart. Now, in front of outsiders, Aunt Lin said that Lin Wei Xi was pretending to be virtuous and no one would marry her in the future. This was truly poking a hornet’s nest.

Lin Wei Xi suddenly turned around with flames blazing in her eyes, “Is it any of your business if I get married or not? Who do you think you are? Also, wouldn’t you be happy if I don’t marry and end up tortured to an early death by you? If I die, the Lin family’s reputation and rewards will all belong to you.”

Aunt Lin sprung to her feet like someone had stepped on her tail, “Hey, what are you saying!”

“You still don’t understand even though I’m speaking so clearly, are you deaf? You really think I don’t know about your vicious plan? I will make it clear to you, I will not marry in the future. I, Lin Wei Xi, am someone of the Lin family, I will die as a ghost of the Lin family. Marquis Zhongyong’s estate will not have anything to do with you and your son!”

Lin Wei Xi rapidly spit out her words without letting anyone get a word in. She clearly didn’t use obscenities, but her words were sharp, like countless small knives that stabbed a person until they were full of cuts and bruises. Aunt Lin was so hurt that even her lungs burned and she trembled out “Yo-you, I-I” for half a day, but she couldn’t get out a complete sentence.

Matchmaker Wang’s mouth was agape with shock. This little girl looked delicate and fragile, but she could scold people this fiercely? She seemed very articulate, not at all like how Aunt Lin described, that she never spoke to other people. On the contrary… it seemed like she often instructed people like this.

Matchmaker Wang also didn’t know where she got this strange feeling from. So she shook her head, set aside this strange thought and said to Lin Wei Xi with a smile, “It’s good as long as Xi’er understands that we as outsiders feel distressed when we look at you, but are afraid of causing a rift in your aunt-niece relationship if we were to pull you into it. Xi’er, it’s good if you can now think this through yourself. It’s not a good fit for you to stay at your Aunt’s place. Although Li Da is sincere, the Li family are farmers after all, unlike Li Yuan Wai’s household, which is a household that has successive generations of high ranking officials that possess moral qualities. If you marry in, you will live the life of a young lady, and even have a maid dedicated to serving you! Xi’er, if you miss this opportunity, it’ll be gone forever. You can’t let it slip by!”

Lin Wei Xi was so angry that she laughed, “You want to talk about successive generations of high ranking officials with moral qualities in front of me? It must’ve been hard for you to memorize these two fancy lines. You and my aunt are just like the pot calling the kettle black. The Li family is full of wolves, and Li Yuan Wai’s household is like a tiger’s nest. Who can’t see through the vile plans that you’ve schemed? I’ll clearly tell you now, don’t even think about it.”

Li Yuan Wai was the local tyrant of this area, so Matchmaker Wang took pride in acting as matchmaker for the son of Li Yuan Wai’s family. Now that Lin Wei Xi had thrown Li Yuan Wai’s honour to the dirt and stepped on it, Matchmaker Wang was immediately annoyed and she lowered her head before saying, “Don’t be shameless, you’re just an orphan without any male relatives. We gave you some dignity and called you a ‘martyr’s daughter’, so you really thought of yourself as the young miss of a Marquis Residence? Let me tell you, it’s your fortune that Li Yuan Wai took a liking to you, so it’s best that you be sensible. Otherwise, you’ll need to marry even if you don’t want to! If you still insist on making a fuss, be careful that you don’t offend Li Yuan Wai and get reduced to a concubine. Don’t tell me you won’t become a proper young lady, and insist on being obstinate. When the time comes, even if you want to cry, you won’t be able to.”

“You’re just a second-rate matchmaker, you dare to say such big words and even force a normal girl to be a concubine?” Lin Wei Xi’s jade-like eyes glanced at Matchmaker Wang, and she let out a soft laugh laced with sarcasm, “What a grand speech. He is nothing more than someone who bought over his official position, and he really thinks himself a local tyrant? Those who know, know him to be from a wealthy family, but if you don’t know, you’d think his son is a prince selecting his imperial concubine.”

When Matchmaker Wang heard this, she was scared half to death, “You really don’t want to live, anyhow saying the kind of words that would get you killed!”

“Since you people dare to do it, why don’t you dare let people talk about it. It’s laughably ridiculous to play this trick of coercion on me. Grandaunt, you people know nothing about what I’ve experienced.” Lin Wei Xi gently raised her eyebrows, her thick eyelashes fluttering slightly and her voice like ice hitting jade. Her words were obviously condescending and a little harsh, but her voice was clear and cold, her tone, a little delicate. Combined with Lin Wei Xi’s quick and concise way of speaking, one would unexpectedly enjoy it even when she was scolding someone.

Lin Wei Xi didn’t realize that others enjoyed her admonishment. If she knew she would’ve been angered half to death. At the moment, she was still pointing at Matchmaker Wang and scolded, “I’m telling you, I will not marry, and no one in this world can force me to do what I’m unwilling to do. Today it’s Li Yuan Wai’s son, tomorrow will it be Wang Yuan Wai’s grandson? If you think of such nasty plans again in the future, I will go to the county magistrate’s office and hang myself from a white silk on the front beam. Anyway, my father’s Honorary Deed Medallion is still being held up; I will die and show everyone how you people persecute the daughter of a martyr! By the time this becomes a huge issue, the capital and Prince Yan will know about this, so don’t think a single one of you will have a good life!”

“Xi’er…”

“Go away! If you say another word I’ll throw myself into the lake immediately!”

Outside the courtyard, the county magistrate who was accompanying a young man was drenched in cold sweat. The man lightly caressed his jade thumb ring and asked indifferently, “Lin Yong’s Honorary Deed Medallion is being held up?”

“No, I was only… erm…, I was just holding onto it temporarily for safekeeping for Marquis Zhongyong. Sir also knows that the people in the countryside aren’t knowledgeable, aren’t educated, and there is no limit to the number of thefts. This subordinate is worried that Marquis Zhongyong’s Honorary Deed Medallion will be stolen by a petty thief, so it’s kept in the county office for safekeeping.”

These were all perfunctory pleasantries and empty words, and the man didn’t know whether he believed it or not. He glanced at the particularly lively farmer’s house and said, “When Marquis Zhongyong was still alive, he couldn’t stop worrying about his only daughter . Although she is only a little girl, she is Lin Yong’s legitimate successor. Hand everything directly to her when you’ve brought them back.”

“Yes sir.”

The man’s voice was flat but unquestionable. It could be seen that he’d been a high-ranking person for many years and was used to giving orders. After the county magistrate broke out in cold sweat on his face, he found that the man hadn’t moved. The magistrate was surprised, realized something immediately, and hurriedly turned around to walk towards Aunt Lin’s courtyard.

In the courtyard, Aunt Lin and Matchmaker Wang both felt suffocated. They’d quarrelled with their neighbours before, but it was a mutual exchange where each party had their wins and losses. Not like now, where they couldn’t get a single word in without being interrupted. The sound of Lin Wei Xi’s voice incessantly rang in their ears, it was truly infuriating.

Aunt Lin was so angry she wanted to hit someone. The beginnings of another scheme had barely formed in her mind, but she suddenly felt that the atmosphere was not quite right. She hurriedly turned her head and her legs turned to jelly the moment she saw the person who entered.

“Sir county magistrate… “

The county magistrate waved his hand in frustration. The large Buddha standing outside was still looking at him, who is your sir? Please don’t ruin his career as an official. After secretly warning the two village women, the county magistrate turned to look at Lin Wei Xi, his face immediately looked kind, “Miss Lin, I heard that you were ill again a few days ago. Are you feeling better now?”

Lin Wei Xi wasn’t an ordinary village girl; she recognized the uniform that the county magistrate wore was the most formal one, and that this county magistrate was trying to please her. Lin Wei Xi became more on guard. She looked at the other person defensively, greeted him with a salute first, then asked tensely, “We are honoured by the county magistrate’s presence, what is the matter?”

The smile on the county magistrate’s face deepened. After listening to the county magistrate’s words, Lin Wei Xi became more surprised.

The county magistrate actually wanted to return the Honorary Deed Medallion to her. Furthermore, the rewards sent by the imperial court would be transferred, completely intact, to Lin Wei Xi’s name. How could this be possible? This abnormal behaviour was suspicious, what did he want to do?

When the county magistrate saw Lin Wei Xi’s refusal to respond, he started sweating out of anxiety. He really had no choice but to turn sideways and point outside, then signalled to Lin Wei Xi with his eyes, “The lord from the capital is here, he wants to give it to you so you should accept it.”

Lin Wei Xi looked outside and she saw many horses tied to the crooked tree on the other side of the road. There were so many people standing there, but they stood there in complete silence, in awe of the one person they were standing behind.

Lin Wei Xi was already this old and had come and gone through many large events, but she was actually captured by this person’s aura. Lin Wei Xi stared blankly and asked, “Who is that?”

“Prince Yan.”