Although one of the stone houses Wang Shi had assigned was partially collapsed, the other was still barely intact.
Lin Qianqian carefully inspected the remaining stone house. From the outside it looked unsafe, but the main structure was sound and unlikely to collapse anytime soon.
It could serve as a temporary residence. In any case, she had no intention of staying in the Lin Residence for long.
The sun was about to set, so they needed to clean the place up quickly.
“Hongdou, let’s clean the house together.”
Hongdou was extremely dissatisfied with the courtyard, but if her young lady wanted it cleaned, then she would clean it.
In the future, if anyone came to visit her mistress, they could see for themselves how Wang Shi was mistreating her, ruining Wang Shi’s reputation.
Xiaotao, who had been leading the way, did not leave. She rolled up her sleeves and helped clean the house.
She had volunteered on her own.
Besides sympathy for the newly returned Miss Qianqian, she was also deeply curious about her.
Mother Sun was Wang Shi’s most favored stewardess. Normally, she acted arrogantly and frequently beat or scolded servants like Xiaotao.
Yet after going to The Estate to fetch Lin Qianqian, Miss Qianqian had somehow subdued Mother Sun in a very short time, indirectly helping Xiaotao vent years of resentment.
Just as Xiaotao found a broken broom in a corner, an elderly woman with a limp entered the courtyard.
Though crippled, the old woman moved surprisingly quickly. She rushed before Lin Qianqian and immediately knelt down.
“Miss, I am Granny Wu.”
Though young, Xiaotao understood one important rule for survival: the fewer secrets one knew, the longer one lived.
She handed the broken broom to Hongdou.
“Hongdou-jie, I have something to do. I’ll be leaving first.”
Now that there were no outsiders present, Granny Wu’s emotions overflowed.
She cried bitterly while recounting the past.
“…Madam’s whereabouts remain unknown, but thankfully, Miss, you are still alive.”
Lin Qianqian understood immediately.
All of her mother’s attendants had been sold off by the Lin family long ago. Granny Wu had never served her mother.
Instead, she had been the servant ordered by Lin Qingyun to dispose of the infant. She had taken pity on the child and secretly saved her.
And Lin Qianqian was that unfortunate child.
A person with no blood relation had shown compassion.
Yet her own biological father had not.
Lin Qingyun was unworthy of being called human.
She would not see him today, but sooner or later she would.
When that time came, she honestly wasn’t sure whether she could restrain herself from simply killing that heartless beast.
Lin Qianqian casually twirled an arrow in her hand.
The moment she thought of Lin Qingyun, anger surged through her heart.
Crack.
The arrow instantly snapped in half.
Granny Wu blamed herself.
“It was all my fault. I couldn’t bear seeing Madam deceived, so I told her the truth. She became utterly heartbroken and went outside the city every day to pray at temples. Eventually, she disappeared.”
After revealing the truth back then, Granny Wu had been sentenced to ten strokes of the board by Lin Qingyun.
That was why her right leg was crippled.
Fortunately, she was distantly related to Old Madam Lin. Otherwise, she would have been beaten to death on the spot.
Lin Qianqian helped her to her feet.
“Granny Wu, Mother’s disappearance was not your fault. On the contrary, I should thank you for your kindness. Otherwise, I would have frozen to death in the snowy Mass Grave.”
Granny Wu was her benefactor.
The true culprit was Lin Qingyun.
Every evil act originated from him.
Lin Qianqian had returned to the Lin Residence for two reasons.
First, to search for clues about her mother.
Second, to make Lin Qingyun pay the price he deserved.
Back when his attempted murder of his own daughter had been exposed, Lin Qingyun shamelessly claimed he had believed the baby was stillborn and had merely asked Granny Wu to dispose of the body.
Not only had he escaped punishment, but after becoming the son-in-law of Left Chancellor Wang, his career had flourished.
But now she was here.
His path to glory would soon come to an end.
Granny Wu prayed tearfully to the heavens.
“Madam was a kind person. Surely Heaven will protect her.”
Lin Qianqian missed her mother deeply as well.
Madam Liu had said that Jiang Shi was a gentle and wonderful woman who looked remarkably similar to her.
“Yes. We will find Mother one day.”
The two chatted for some time, and Lin Qianqian learned many things.
After Jiang Shi disappeared, Wang Shi entered the household under the title of an equal-ranking wife.
Once inside, she sold off every servant Jiang Shi had left behind.
Wang Shi had attempted to seize Jiang Shi’s dowry but lost the struggle against Old Madam Lin.
As a result, Jiang Shi’s dowry was currently under Old Madam Lin’s control.
Before Lin Qingyun passed the imperial examinations, the Lin family had merely been a declining family from Jiangnan.
Old Madam Lin had suffered many hardships in her youth and valued money greatly.
The moment Jiang Shi disappeared, she had taken possession of the dowry herself.
As for Lin Qingping’s position in the Five-City Military and Police Command, it had been arranged by Jiang Shi’s father shortly after she married into the family.
At that time, the Jiang family had not yet been exiled to the frontier.
Fortunately, Lin Qingping was a man who remembered favors.
His personality was completely different from Lin Qingyun’s.
“Granny Wu, stop crying. We should look forward instead of dwelling on the past.”
“Alright. I’ll listen to whatever Miss says.”
Lin Qianqian regarded Granny Wu as her lifesaving benefactor.
Without her, she would have died long ago in the snowy Mass Grave.
Not only was Granny Wu lame, but she was also painfully thin from hunger. More than half of her hair had turned white.
It was obvious she had suffered greatly within the Lin Residence.
Lin Qianqian made her a promise.
“Granny Wu, in the future, I will redeem both you and your family from servitude.”
Ever since her act of saving Lin Qianqian had been discovered, her son had been transferred to a farm outside the city and forced to perform hard labor.
Granny Wu hurriedly declined.
“No, no. My son was born a farmer. He’s still working the land now, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Miss, your survival was your own blessing.”
Kind-hearted people were always like this.
They did good deeds without expecting anything in return.
Granny Wu also warned her:
“Now that you’ve entered the residence, you must be careful everywhere. The Lin Residence is a den of wolves and tigers.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Granny Wu. I’ll be cautious.”
Working together, the three women finally managed to clean the house before nightfall.
When dinner time arrived, no one brought them food.
It was most likely Wang Shi’s doing.
But Lin Qianqian was unconcerned.
In fact, she would have been uneasy eating food prepared by the residence.
The schemes and intrigues of noble households were endless.
Poisoning food was one of the most common methods.
Since she had finally met her lifesaving benefactor, and Granny Wu refused to accept money, the least she could do was prepare a proper meal and some wine to thank her.
“Hongdou, go buy a jar of wine and a few dishes to go with it.”
As for oil lamps, bedding, and other necessities, they lacked nothing.
Everything had been brought from The Estate in their carriage.
Their coachman, A’Da, had already delivered the supplies before taking the carriage to a rented courtyard nearby.
“Understood, Miss. I’ll go buy them right away.”
Hongdou was delighted.
Back in the remote countryside, traveling to the Capital City had been difficult.
Now she was only separated from the bustling city by a single wall and could go out whenever she pleased.
The stable courtyard was located in the southwestern corner of the Lin Residence, where the walls were low.
With a light leap, Hongdou vaulted over the wall and left the residence.
After walking a short distance, she arrived at Drunken Immortal Tower.
The restaurant blazed with lights.
Rows of red lanterns swayed gently outside the entrance, making it obvious that this was no cheap establishment.
Most of the people living around Jade Bridge were government officials, so the nearby restaurants were all of high quality.
Knowing that her young lady wanted to entertain her benefactor, Hongdou purchased:
She bought two portions of each dish.