Chapter 62: Lin Yuejiao Turns the Tables

Wan Shangning pressed her lips together. "This heart-shaped jade stone was actually a token of our pledge of love back then. I had long wanted to throw it away, yet I kept it by my side to remind myself of what a ruthless man he was. So in the beginning, I wasn't lying to you either; it truly was an indispensable item. But now that I have seen devoted lovers willing to live and die together, I no longer need this thing. Consider it both compensation and a token of gratitude—thank you."

Years ago, Wan Shangning was merely an ordinary peasant girl, childhood sweethearts with the neighboring scholar, growing up together in innocent harmony.

Back then, the scholar's family was moderately well-off, and Wan Shangning was a renowned beauty across ten miles and neighboring towns. A talented scholar and a beautiful lady, their families knew each other well, and their marriage was arranged early on.

However, unpredictable are the winds of fortune. The scholar's father came into conflict with someone, beat a man to death, and was arrested and sentenced. Their family property was entirely sold off to pay compensation, and his mother died of grief and illness under the blow.

Wan Shangning's parents despised his impoverished state, but she remained steadfast and loyal to him, willing to sever ties with her own family to marry him as his wife.

The two lived a hard life exposed to the elements. When the scholar traveled to the capital for the imperial examinations, having no money and unable to borrow from anyone, he had no choice but to resort to high-interest loans.

He waited only to pass the examinations and return home, upon which he could pay off the debt.

Regrettably, that year he failed the examinations, and with the high-interest loan compounding daily, the original dozens of taels instantly snowballed into thousands.

The debt collectors declared that if the money wasn't repaid, they would break the scholar's legs. For the sake of her husband, Wan Shangning tearfully sold herself into the Rouge Pavilion.

She paid off the high-interest loan and gave the remaining money to the scholar, urging him to study diligently so that he might pass the exams in the future, live a good life, and part ways as husband and wife no longer.

Deeply moved, the scholar promised her that the day he passed the examinations, he would come to the Rouge Pavilion to take her back. In his heart, only she was his wife, and he would never look down upon her.

Never expecting the scholar to be so sentimental and righteous, Wan Shangning waited for him day after day at the Rouge Pavilion.

Yet three years passed, and the scholar never returned. When he finally passed the examinations that year, he married the daughter of an official on the very same day, stepping into a life of privilege and completely forgetting her.

Wan Shangning grew furious.

Thus, Wan Shangning sought revenge.

In her three years at the Rouge Pavilion, she had already become the courtesan supreme, charming countless influential aristocrats. Among them were a few arrogant scions who happened to be the superiors of the scholar. Through a series of maneuvers, the scholar suffered a miserable crackdown and nearly lost his official hat.

When the scholar discovered that all his misfortunes stemmed from Wan Shangning, he personally came to the Rouge Pavilion to plead for forgiveness.

After all, he was a man she had deeply loved. Wan Shangning's heart softened; she forgave him, instructed those influential figures to stop targeting him, and helped him stabilize his official position.

However, this time she was no longer the naive young girl of the past. Having struggled and climbed her way through the Rouge Pavilion for three years and seen too much, she wanted to test whether he truly loved her.

As it happened, she had inadvertently discovered the Heart-Testing Bridge, and knowing that there was a layer of iron net suspended beneath it, she used the excuse of searching for love-flowers—just as she had deceived Lin Yuejiao and the others today—and brought the scholar to the Heart-Testing Bridge.

As a result, at the threshold of life and death, the scholar revealed his true nature, pushing her off in order to survive.

Wan Shangning completely lost her mind, torturing the scholar to death by the most cruel means.

Before drawing his final breath, the scholar told her, "This is a choice any man would make."

Wan Shangning remained in the Rouge Pavilion. Every year, she would bring along a man who claimed he was willing to die for her. Yet year after year, a decade passed, and she witnessed only the fickleness and ruthlessness of men, never seeing anyone truly love a woman to the extent of leaving the chance of survival for her.

"Miss Lin, seeing that you possess sentiments akin to mine despite your youth, I wonder if you have once witnessed a similar story, and thus felt it deeply." Wan Shangning looked at Lin Yuejiao with envy in her eyes. "Yet now I know that people are different; with a different person, the ending of the story changes as well. Your husband treats you exceedingly well. If the tragedy that befell me years ago were to happen to you both, surely, given his cherished regard for you, he would never let you reach that pass."

Lin Yuejiao's expression turned somewhat unnatural.

"He is not my husband, merely a friend," Lin Yuejiao said.

The matter was already resolved, and there was no need for concealment.

Wan Shangning was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said, "So that is how it is. However, Miss, in this lifetime, it is exceedingly, exceedingly difficult to encounter someone willing to risk life and death for you, someone who regards your life as more precious than their own. He loves you deeply; if you let this pass, you will surely regret it in the future. This humble servant wishes that devoted lovers may find each other in the end."

Lin Yuejiao frowned. Rong Yu loved her?

"He does not like me. You have misunderstood. Say no more of this," Lin Yuejiao said coldly.

Wan Shangning smiled. "This humble servant has no other skills, but my eye for people is quite accurate. You are caught within the fog of the situation, while I am the clear-headed bystander."

"Miss Shangning," Lin Yuejiao interrupted her. "You said you have spent ten years in the Rouge Pavilion without meeting a devoted lover who truly loves you. That is because the men who come to this place do so merely for pleasure and merriment. How could you possibly encounter the right person in such a place? Redeeming yourself early and leaving this right-and-wrong laden place, you may yet encounter a devoted lover in the future. Farewell."

Dropping these words, Lin Yuejiao did not linger and turned to leave.

Wan Shangning was taken aback. Lin Yuejiao's words felt like parting the clouds to see the clear sky, leaving a profound impression upon her. "Miss Lin, a priceless treasure is easily found, but a devoted lover is hard to come by. Thank you, and I bless you."

Lin Yuejiao paused in her steps, did not look back, and walked straight out of the Rouge Pavilion.

At the inn.

Lin Yuejiao sat by the tea table in the outer room, twisting her embroidered handkerchief back and forth, feeling a slight trace of tension.

"All is well, all is well." Shanglu walked out from the inner room with a smile. "The Divine Doctor has administered the medicine to Lin Yi, and the medicinal effect is just right. He has just fallen asleep at this moment. I am going to brew the medicine, and the Fourth Young Miss may go inside to take a look."

Lin Yuejiao said, "Thank you, Young Master Shanglu."

She stood up and entered the inner room in a few strides.

She saw Lin Yi sleeping peacefully on the bed with a rosy complexion, while divine doctor Sai Huatuo was packing up his medicines nearby.

"You've had a hard time, Divine Doctor," Lin Yuejiao said gratefully.

Sai Huatuo stroked his graying beard and said, "The Fourth Young Miss is too polite. Being able to diagnose and treat such stubborn and complicated ailments is precisely my pleasure. Let me tell the Fourth Young Miss some good news: the combined medicinal efficacy of the five rare medicines is indeed extraordinary. From now on, Lin Yi's physical condition has recovered to the level of an ordinary person. He will no longer be bedridden as before. However, to completely cure this congenital ailment, we still need to find the final three medicinal ingredients. These two herbs merely provide temporary consolidation of his constitution and cannot last long."

"Thank you, Divine Doctor Sai." Lin Yuejiao was filled with joy.

Emerging from Lin Yi's room, Lin Yuejiao spotted Rong Yu standing under the corridor eaves, gazing at the scenery.

Clad in pristine white, he stood aloof from the mortal world, peerless and independent.

"Your Highness, why did you jump down?" Lin Yuejiao walked up to Rong Yu, raised her gaze to look at him, her eyes quite complex.

Ever since returning from the Heart-Testing Bridge, she had been pondering this question.

Rong Yu turned to look at her and said, "I faintly sensed that there was something beneath the bridge; it wasn't necessarily a dead end."

"Are you certain? You just leaped down like that?" Lin Yuejiao bit her lip.

Of course he wasn't certain.

Yet Rong Yu would not have chosen a dead end. With a fifty percent certainty, even if it truly was a cliff jump, death was not guaranteed.

With his martial arts, in the instant of falling, there might well have been other hopes.

Rong Yu asked, "Why do you ask this?"

"I simply feel that I am not worth Your Highness trading your own life in exchange." Lin Yuejiao turned her head away, her fists tightly clenched within her wide sleeves.

Wan Shangning had said: He loves you deeply.

People are different.

"You exaggerate. It was merely a decision made based on who among us jumping down carried a greater probability of survival." Rong Yu's deep eyes rested upon her face, and from her countenance, he could clearly perceive her resistance toward him.

She did not like him.

Lin Yuejiao did not know what emotion stirred within the depths of her heart, but she understood clearly that Rong Yu had treated her truly well.

So well that she did not know how to repay him.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, a wave of rumors and gossip ran rampant across Xinzhou City.

Word had it that Lin Yuejiao, the sole top-tier maiden of the Jiangnan province, had been abducted by a Jianghu flower-thief right after the Zhaohuang selection. The news was spread with vivid details, creating an uproar.

On the night of the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the night sky was as clear as if washed by pure water, and a full moon hung suspended in the firmament.

The Yueyue Pavilion in Xinzhou City was packed to capacity.

Centering around the rumor of Lin Yuejiao being abducted by a flower-thief, the townspeople's burning gossiping souls were thoroughly ignited, filling the Yueyue Pavilion to the brim.

At this moment, atop the Yueyue Pavilion, a woman in a white dress stood peerless and independent, a faint, captivating smile gracing her refined and delicate face.

"Lin Yuejiao, why are you here?" Shi Xianyue was dumbfounded.

Lin Yuejiao pressed her lips in a smile. "Hearing that you were hosting a Mid-Autumn banquet to help me clear my name, I was deeply moved and thus came. A few days ago, I was bedridden recovering from an illness and unable to leave my bed; today, having recovered, I am finally able to attend. Otherwise, had I been absent today, I truly would have disappointed you all too much."

Xinzhou's rumors had reached Rong Yu at the very first instance; the Loyal and Righteous Heir's spies were not for show.

Thus, the group rode at full gallop all the way back just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The city gates of Xinzhou had been sealed, yet naturally no one dared to inspect the carriage of the Loyal and Righteous Heir.

The expressions of Shi Xianyue and the others turned exceptionally unsightly.

Members of the Lin family also rushed to the scene.

Upon seeing Lin Yuejiao, Jing Mingge and the others finally set their minds at ease.

Looking at the crowd at the banquet, Lin Yuejiao smiled and said, "Thanks to everyone's concern, Yuejiao is indeed unharmed. I was merely bedridden with illness, and never expected it to stir up so many rumors and gossips, troubling you all."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. Seeing that Miss Lin is safe and sound, everyone is relieved. Today, we shall all bear witness for Miss Lin; if anyone dares to spread rumors and gossip hereafter, we shall collectively boycott them."

Most of these people were neutral parties unaware of the details, invited specifically to bear witness. Seeing that Lin Yuejiao had appeared, they offered their congratulations one after another.