23. The Heir Who Climbed Over the Wall

"Yuejiao, Xu'er was in the wrong to you first, but I have already punished her. You are cousins, after all, both sharing the Lin family bloodline. Can you understand?" The Matriarch looked toward Lin Yuejiao.

Lin Yuejiao smiled faintly. "Of course. No matter what, Second Sister and I are family. Since Grandmother has already punished her, and she has now gone to Shuiyue Nunnery, by the time she returns, I may have already been fortunate enough to enter the Zhaohuang Academy and will likely never cross paths with her."

"It is good that you understand." The Matriarch smiled, relieved.

However, Lin Yuejiao knew deep down that the rift between her and the first and second branches of the Lin family was now irreparable; there was absolutely no room for reconciliation.

Upon leaving the ancestral hall, Jing Mingge learned that Lin Yuejiao had nearly drowned. Returning to Youran Courtyard, she held Lin Yuejiao and wept for a long time. Lin Yi followed suit, crying for quite a while before Lin Yuejiao finally persuaded them both to go and rest.

"Miss, the Matriarch is truly protecting you. Sending Lin Qingxu to Shuiyue Nunnery and redistributing the Madame's authority means you will no longer have to walk on eggshells in this manor," Tu Mi said with a grin.

Iris also laughed, "I heard that Shuiyue Nunnery is the most austere place; ordinary noble daughters would never be sent there unless they had committed a grave error. I actually thought the Matriarch would let Lin Qingxu off just to ensure she could participate in the Zhaohuang Academy selection."

"Grandmother's eyes are sharp; she knows that the conflict between Lin Qingxu and me is irreconcilable. If she kept her here, we would surely clash in the future. If we both ended up suffering, or if I fell into one of Lin Qingxu's traps, the loss of a refined lady like me—who has already obtained three ivory bamboo tallies—would be far too great. Or, should the conflict escalate and drag in Lin Qingliu and Lin Zijin, the Matriarch would fear the entire family's ruin." Lin Yuejiao sat before her vanity, letting her two maids remove the hairpins from her coiffure. "After learning about today's Xinzhou Literary Gathering, Grandmother made this choice because it best serves the interests of the Lin family."

If she were the one without utility, she would be the one discarded. Lin Yuejiao understood this well.

"Grandmother sending Lin Qingxu away is primarily for the benefit of the Lin family, but also to resolve the conflict between me and the second branch." A mocking smile curled at Lin Yuejiao's lips. "It is a pity that neither Lin Qingxu, the second branch, nor I will appreciate it."

Lin Qingxu had nearly caused her death, and Lin Yuejiao was not the type to let such a grievance go unavenged. The Matriarch had acted first to punish Lin Qingxu to prevent Lin Yuejiao from taking matters into her own hands. Furthermore, the six-month exile was a period of time that left much to be pondered.

"The Matriarch still wants to protect the second branch; her intentions are noble. But the second branch will not appreciate it, and her efforts will be in vain." Lin Yuejiao sighed softly and stood up to walk toward her bed curtains.

The two maids were confused—where was the protection?

The night deepened, and the candles in Youran Courtyard were extinguished.

The next morning, Lin Qingxu was sent to Shuiyue Nunnery. Yi Hanbing wept all the way there, especially at the gates of the Lin manor, where her wailing was so heart-wrenching that it moved bystanders to tears. Those unaware would have thought someone in the Lin family had died, nearly angering the Matriarch once more.

Qian Yaoxian took Lin Xueshu’s biological mother, Zhou Yubei, to the Si family to apologize in person, as it was Lin Xueshu who had caused Si Chengyu to consume an aphrodisiac, bringing him great shame. Lin Xueshu was locked in her room, awaiting her marriage.

Only two days later, people from the Liu family in Nanzhou arrived in person. It turned out that news of the Xinzhou Literary Gathering had reached Nanzhou. Upon hearing that Lin Xueshu was a promiscuous woman who had drugged a man, the Liu family came to break off the engagement. Not content with just that, they even tried to arrange a marriage with one of the other Lin daughters, causing quite a scene in the manor.

However, none of this concerned Lin Yuejiao, for she had fallen ill. After falling into the lake that night, she had failed to change into dry clothes in time while trying to frighten Lin Qingxu. Having caught a chill and struggling to return from the ancestral hall, she had developed a high, persistent fever.

It was now the third day. Jing Mingge sat by her bed, weeping. The manor's physician had seen her and prescribed medicine, but her fever would not break. On the third day, Sai Huatuo came to the Lin manor to check Lin Yi's pulse as usual. Jing Mingge knelt and begged him to examine her daughter, and only then did Sai Huatuo learn that the Fourth Miss was ill.

"Why didn't you call me sooner? The Fourth Miss has been burning for three days; are you not afraid she will damage her brain?" Sai Huatuo grumbled after taking Lin Yuejiao's pulse.

Jing Mingge's eyes were red and swollen, shimmering with tears. "The manor's physician said that as long as we used ice to cool her down, it would work. I followed his instructions, but it had no effect..."

"Foolish. The Fourth Miss's fever is from within; cooling her from the outside only traps the heat, worsening the condition. Quacks, they can't even diagnose a simple fever. Never mind, I can't blame them entirely; such illnesses are subtle, and they treated it as a common fever, missing the root cause." After checking her pulse a while longer, Sai Huatuo said, "Bring me paper and pen. I will write a prescription. Boil four bowls of water down to one, and have her drink it to dissipate the heat. She will wake up by tomorrow morning."

Jing Mingge wept with joy and knelt to thank him. "Thank you, Divine Doctor, truly. You are a living Bodhisattva to our family."

"Get up, Madame. I see that if you continue like this, you will fall ill yourself. I will write a prescription for you as well; take a dose and get some rest. By tomorrow, the Fourth Miss will be well." Sai Huatuo said, looking at her haggard appearance.

Ruqiu said with red eyes, "Indeed, the Madame has not closed her eyes for three days and three nights."

At Yunsheng Water Pavilion, Rong Yu sat on a daybed before a delicate chessboard. His eyes rested on the board, but his thoughts had long since drifted away. On the night of the literary gathering, Lin Yuejiao had said she would come to visit and thank him personally. It had been three days; why hadn't she come yet?

Does this little woman think that because she stole the spotlight and secured her footing at the Xinzhou Literary Gathering, she no longer needs to pay any mind to this Prince?

Rong Yu realized his restlessness, his fingers clenching around a chess piece. He mocked himself, saying, "Am I still waiting for her to come?"

Just then, he saw Sai Huatuo walking into the courtyard, muttering about how the whole family had fallen ill. His eyes flashed.

"Sai Huatuo, what did you say?" Rong Yu asked.

Sai Huatuo turned around and bowed to Rong Yu. "Prince, I just went to the Lin manor to see a patient. I didn't expect that the Fourth Miss is ill, and the Third Madame is also ill. Now the whole household is lying in bed, ailing."

"What happened?" Rong Yu's brow furrowed, his gaze instantly turning cold. Lin Yuejiao was ill—who had harmed her?

Sai Huatuo said, "The Fourth Miss caught a chill and has been sick for three days; it is said that she caught a cold after falling into the water, and she is still running a fever. I prescribed a cooling decoction, and she should be better by tomorrow morning. Her mother has been watching over her for three days and nights without sleep and has fallen ill as well. It is a truly unlucky time for that family, with three of them falling ill at once. It is a pity to see all the maids in the courtyard weeping like rivers... Wait, Prince? Where is the Prince?"

Rong Yu had already left Yunsheng Water Pavilion, but just as he stepped out, he remembered the strict proprieties between men and women and paused his steps.

The night grew deeper.

Jing Mingge drank the medicine Sai Huatuo prescribed and went to rest. A gentle breeze swept through, and the two maids fell into a deep, unconscious sleep.

The next moment, a dark shadow appeared by the bed. He was dressed in a long black robe and wore a black mask. The mask was extremely ferocious, looking like a demonic spirit; had an ordinary woman seen it, she would have fainted from fright on the spot.

Rong Yu lifted the bed curtains, sat by her side, and reached out to press his hand against her forehead.

"Cold..." Lin Yuejiao murmured in her delirium.

Rong Yu did not hear clearly. He leaned down, bringing his ear close to her lips, and felt the girl's orchid-like breath, which held a peculiar allure.

"Cold..."

Rong Yu heard her clearly this time. He reached out and took her frail hand, finding it cold and without a trace of warmth. Rong Yu stood up and pulled the thin quilt that had been folded nearby to cover Lin Yuejiao.

Lin Yuejiao’s brows knit tightly, her body curling up instinctively, trembling. "So cold..."

Seeing this, Rong Yu hesitated before reaching out to lift the woman lying in bed and holding her in his arms. He circled her with his arms and wrapped the thin quilt around her.

Feeling a source of warmth in her cold world, the delirious Lin Yuejiao habitually burrowed into Rong Yu’s chest, curling up entirely against him. Rong Yu looked down at the pale woman in his arms and channeled his internal energy, his body instantly heating up to provide warmth for her.

The shivering Lin Yuejiao hugged him even tighter.

Perhaps it was the sudden change from cold to heat, but the delirious Lin Yuejiao blinked her eyes open, her bright, watery gaze narrowing slightly. "It’s you..."

Rong Yu looked back at her, expecting that this ferocious ghost mask would frighten Lin Yuejiao into fainting, but to his surprise, she reached out to clutch the corner of his robe, using her last bit of strength to say earnestly, "Thank you."

"No need—" Before Rong Yu could finish, Lin Yuejiao’s energy was completely spent, and she drifted back into unconsciousness.

Rong Yu watched the person in his arms and let out a low, involuntary laugh. He held her quietly, warming her like that for the entire night.

Who would have thought that Prince Rong Yu would sneak over a woman's wall in the middle of the night?