Chapter 32: Reassigning the Guards

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After returning from Zhai Jinchi’s residence, Lin Yuejiao found that dusk was drawing near and night was about to fall. Instead of hurrying back to the Lin residence, she sat down in a teahouse, deliberately choosing a seat near the edge.

The teahouse stood along the only road leading to the Chi residence.

Lin Yuejiao held a cup of clear tea and took small sips, her gaze drifting from time to time toward the street below.

After a while, a woman appeared in the distance. She wore a pale pink silk dress embroidered with roses. Her figure was graceful and alluring, and though her face was hidden behind a white veil, the sway of her movements revealed her irresistible charm.

Two maids followed behind her, carrying large and small bundles.

Lin Yuejiao’s gaze settled on the woman. The corners of her lips lifted.

The crucial person had finally appeared.

“Miss, shall we invite her upstairs?” Iris asked when she saw Lin Yuejiao staring at the woman.

Lin Yuejiao shook her head. “Let’s go. We’re returning home.”

A woman who had endured and hidden herself for the sake of revenge would not trust outsiders easily.

If Lin Yuejiao wanted the evidence in her hands, it would not be enough simply to ask for it.

She still needed to make a few arrangements. Today, she had only come to confirm that this crucial witness was indeed hiding in the Chi residence.

Lin Yuejiao was about to descend the stairs with her two maids when she unexpectedly encountered Chi Zixian and two young noblemen coming up.

“Fate brings people together even across a thousand miles. Who would have thought that I would run into you simply by coming out for tea? Miss Lin, we really are fated to meet.” Chi Zixian’s gaze fell upon Lin Yuejiao, his voice frivolous.

Lin Yuejiao’s brows drew together slightly. She stepped aside without answering, allowing him to pass first.

Unexpectedly, Chi Zixian took this as an invitation to advance another step, closing in on her with an obnoxious smile.

“Miss Lin, since we are so fated to meet, how can we not have a cup of tea together? My treat. Come, take the best seat.”

“It is getting late. I must return to the residence. I am sorry, but I cannot accompany you.” Lin Yuejiao refused him coldly.

The young nobleman beside Chi Zixian shouted rudely, “Young Master Chi invited you to tea, and you actually dare to reject him?”

“Silence!” Chi Zixian snapped. “Don’t you know that Miss Lin is the woman I favor? How dare you speak so disrespectfully.”

He placed one hand in front of Lin Yuejiao and narrowed his eyes.

“Meeting one another is fate. Miss Lin, do me the courtesy of having a cup with me.”

Lin Yuejiao took a step back and refused icily. “Young Master Chi, please conduct yourself with dignity.”

“What if I choose not to?” Chi Zixian sneered. He seized Lin Yuejiao by the arm. “What can you do about it? Whether you want to drink with me or not, you will drink.”

Iris and Tuberose hurried forward and shoved him.

“Let go! Let go of our miss!”

There had been several other patrons in the teahouse, but when they saw that the person involved was Chi Zixian, the notorious scourge of Xinzhou, none of them dared say a word.

“Chi Zixian, what do you think you are doing?” Lin Yuejiao struggled to pull her arm free, but she could not match the strength of a grown man. Her expression changed at once.

Chi Zixian spoke darkly. “Weren’t you bold enough to reject my marriage proposal? I would like to see how you intend to refuse a cup of tea today.”

He still harbored a grudge against Lin Yuejiao for rejecting his proposal.

At that moment, a man in a lake-blue brocade robe patterned with auspicious clouds came up from downstairs. He seized a long bench from the teahouse, swung it around, and brought it crashing down onto Chi Zixian’s arm.

Bang!

“Ah!” Chi Zixian screamed in pain.

“You miserable bastard, Chi Zixian! What do you think you’re doing?”

The man held the bench in one hand and pulled Lin Yuejiao behind him with the other.

“Which bastard dares interfere in my affairs?” Chi Zixian cursed furiously. But when he saw the man before him, his expression changed. Each word emerged through clenched teeth.

“Wen Zeye!”

Wen Zeye sneered. “That’s right. Your grandfather is standing right here. You dare lay a hand on the Fourth Miss? You’re asking to die!”

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“Wen Zeye, we have always kept out of each other’s affairs. Why are you interfering in mine?” Chi Zixian glared at him viciously, though a trace of fear had already arisen in his heart.

“You provoked my friend. Do you think the Fourth Miss is someone you can touch? You bastard, unless I loosen your bones today, you’ll never learn which people you cannot afford to offend.”

Wen Zeye lifted the long bench and smashed it into Chi Zixian’s shoulder once more.

“Damn it, Wen Zeye! You still dare to attack me?” Chi Zixian glared furiously. “This is Xinzhou!”

“So what if it is?” Wen Zeye curled his lip in disdain. “If you have the ability, hit me.”

As he spoke, the bench in his hands did not stop moving.

He had practiced martial arts since childhood. Beating an untrained man like Chi Zixian was no more difficult than smashing a cabbage. Chi Zixian screamed and dodged as he fled from the teahouse.

A quarter of an hour later, Wen Zeye returned, apparently still unsatisfied with the chase. He casually handed the bench back to the trembling waiter, then turned to Lin Yuejiao and flashed a brilliant smile, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth.

“Fourth Miss, I taught that fellow a lesson for you. I guarantee he will not dare lay a hand on you again when he sees you next time.”

“Thank you, Young Master Wen, for coming to my aid.” Lin Yuejiao bowed in gratitude.

Wen Zeye waved his hand casually. “There’s no need to thank me. You helped me at the poetry gathering last time, so you are my friend. By the way, Fourth Miss, I heard that the Lin residence caught fire and your cousin was burned so badly that her face was disfigured. You were not hurt, were you?”

“Thank you for your concern, Young Master Wen. I am fine.” Lin Yuejiao smiled faintly.

Wen Zeye looked her over with a smile. “Now that I can see you really are unharmed, I’m relieved. Fourth Miss, Xinzhou’s security may be excellent, but there are all sorts of people here now. You should take more guards with you when you go out. Chi Zixian knows you, but there are many young noblemen from other prefectures who do not. If you run into them, something like what happened today could easily occur again.”

The talented young women of the thirty-six prefectures south of the Yangtze had gathered in Xinzhou for the examination of Chaohuang Academy. The city was overflowing with people.

“Young Master Wen is right. I will certainly be more careful next time. It is getting late, so I shall return first. I will invite you to a meal another day to thank you properly.” Lin Yuejiao smiled.

The main reason she had deliberately sent away her guards was that she did not want anyone at the Lin residence to know about the two places she had visited that day.

Wen Zeye smiled. “There is no need for a meal. I see that you have brought no guards, so come along. I will escort you home.”

Lin Yuejiao was about to refuse when Wen Zeye had already brought his carriage around. With a smile, he said, “To carry a beauty like the Fourth Miss, even the horse is smiling with joy. Fourth Miss, don’t disappoint the animal. Get in, or it will spend the whole night thinking of you and refuse to carry me home properly.”

Iris and Tuberose burst into laughter. They found the eldest young master Wen’s way of speaking thoroughly amusing.

Lin Yuejiao smiled as well and stopped being formal. She bowed slightly.

“Then I shall trouble you, Young Master Wen.”

At Cloudsong Waterside Pavilion, a man in a dazzling red brocade robe lounged half-reclined on a couch beside a folding screen. His slender fingers held a scroll of painting, while his deep, mesmerizing eyes remained fixed upon it without blinking, as though something within the painting had captured his attention.

Had Lin Yuejiao been there, she would have recognized it at once as her painting, Spring Scenery in the Hidden Valley.

The “thieving painter” was none other than the Heir of Loyalty and Righteousness.

“My lord, the matter you entrusted to me has been taken care of,” Yun Jian reported upon his return.

Rong Yu’s gaze remained on the painting. He pressed his lips together.

“Well done.”

Yun Jian was startled.

The moment news of the incident at the teahouse had spread, Rong Yu had sent Yun Jian out to find a sack.

Someone had dared bully Lin Yuejiao?

Tsk.

The next day, Iris told Lin Yuejiao about the rumor that was sweeping through Xinzhou: Chi Zixian had been beaten viciously after someone put him in a sack.

“Miss, Chi Zixian really got what he deserved. I wonder who it was that put a sack over him and beat him up in the middle of the night. Hee hee…”

“He has offended so many people. Who knows which righteous man it was?” Lin Yuejiao found it amusing as well. For some reason, however, Rong Yu’s figure surfaced in her mind.

She immediately shook her head with a laugh.

The Heir of Loyalty and Righteousness was hardly the sort of person who would stoop to quarrel with someone as insignificant as Chi Zixian. Besides, he had no reason to do such a thing.

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She simply did not know why, but somehow it felt exactly like something that dark and calculating man would do.

After that day, Lin Yuejiao stayed peacefully at home, never leaving through the main gate or the side gate.

Half a month later, in mid-May, the date of Chaohuang Academy’s examination drew ever closer.

Xinzhou, along with the nearby prefectures of Baozhou and Nanzhou, was already overflowing with people, because the examination’s main venue was Jinghua Palace.

During that half-month, Second Madam Yi Hanbing finally returned to the Lin residence. She dealt with the concubines who had tried to rise in rank while she was away and even began to regard Lin Xuelan with a little more favor, assigning her various tasks. After all, when Yi Hanbing had fallen from grace, Lin Xuelan had been the only one who still treated her as the Second Madam.

The fifth day of the fifth month was the Chaohuang Festival.

This festival had come into being only after the founding of Chaohuang Academy. On that day, the noble young women visited the Goddess Temple to pay their respects to the Lady of Chaohuang.

The Lady of Chaohuang was a figure from legend. It was said that thousands of years ago, an empress had founded Chaohuang Academy and established the Nine Ranks for the noblewomen of the realm.

For such a grand festival, the young ladies of the Lin family naturally dressed in their finest clothes.

The Old Grandmother attached particular importance to this prayer ceremony. She had prepared the carriage and guards early that morning, sending them to escort Lin Yuejiao, Lin Qingsheng, and Lin Zijing to the Goddess Temple.

Lin Yuejiao and Lin Zijing had an excellent chance of being admitted to Chaohuang Academy. As for Lin Qingsheng, she was merely going to try her luck.

The carriage clattered through the city gates. Yet the normally deserted official road was filled with the din of carriages and horses, no less lively than the city itself.

Inside the carriage, the three young women sat on separate sides. Several plates of delicate pastries and a pot of clear tea rested on the small table between them as they chatted idly.

“Fourth Sister, look at how many people there are outside. It is so lively. I don’t recognize the emblems on many of those carriages. They must be from outside Xinzhou.” Lin Zijing lifted the curtain and gazed at the scene beyond.

Lin Yuejiao smiled faintly. “The noble young women from all thirty-six prefectures south of the Yangtze have gathered here. Naturally, there are many people.”

Lin Qingsheng watched the two of them laugh and converse. Remembering Lin Qingliu’s plan, she deliberately touched her hairpin and put on an anxious expression.

“Oh dear, where is my golden hairpin? My mother paid a fortune to have it specially made. It is worth a thousand pieces of gold. I had it when we left just now, so how did it disappear? It must have fallen somewhere along the road.”

She lifted the carriage curtain and directed the guards outside.

“All of you, stop! Go back and search for my hairpin. It must have fallen along the road. Follow the road back and look carefully.”

“What does the hairpin look like?” the head guard asked.

Lin Qingsheng recited a rough description according to the script she had prepared long ago, then said angrily, “All of you go search for it. No one is to return until it has been found. You can forget about receiving your allowance this month otherwise.”

The wife of the eldest branch, Qian Yaoxian, was the principal mistress of the Lin family and handled all major and minor affairs. She was also responsible for paying the guards.

The head guard hesitated. “Shouldn’t a few guards remain behind to protect the three young ladies?”

“In broad daylight, what could possibly happen? Do you really need to protect us? Are you trying to shirk your duties? Hurry up and go find my hairpin. Don’t come back if you fail to find it! Go!” Lin Qingsheng snapped viciously.

“Zijing, Third Sister’s hairpin has fallen somewhere. Let’s help her search for it as well.” Seeing this, a flicker passed through Lin Yuejiao’s eyes. She rose to her feet.

The moment Lin Qingsheng heard that Lin Yuejiao wanted to leave, she hurriedly stopped her.

“No, no, you cannot go.”

“What? Third Sister is no longer anxious to find her hairpin?” Lin Yuejiao raised a brow.

Lin Qingsheng was never good at pretending. After hesitating for a long while, she stammered, “You are the person Grandmother has placed the greatest hopes in for admission to Chaohuang Academy. Zijing and I do not matter as much, but we absolutely cannot delay your worship of the Goddess, or Grandmother will blame me. How about this? Zijing and I will go search for it. Yuejiao, you continue up the mountain to pray.”

“Worshiping the Goddess must indeed not be delayed. The hairpin is important, but it is not more important than the ceremony. Third Sister, since the guards have already been sent to look for it, let us go and pray together. It would not be good for you to miss the appointed time.” Lin Yuejiao wrapped one arm around Lin Qingsheng’s and refused to let her leave.

Although Lin Zijing did not know what was happening, she could see that something was amiss. She took hold of Lin Qingsheng’s other arm.

“That’s right, Third Sister. If we miss the proper time for the prayer ceremony and anger the Lady of Chaohuang, it would be terrible. Once we finish worshiping, we can search slowly. We are family, after all. If we search, we search together; if we worship, we worship together. We must not distinguish between one another.”

Blocked by one sentence after another from the two of them, Lin Qingsheng found herself unable to respond. Anxiety immediately surged in her heart.