Inside the courtyard, Old Lady Lin was cursing angrily. “What do you mean you don’t fancy the daughter of Squire Chen? Do you really think you’re some kind of celestial scholar descended to earth? When Squire Chen sends a matchmaker again, you will marry that Miss Chen. The dowry the Chen family is offering is even more than your Second Aunt brought back in her day.”
“I won’t marry her! Grandmother, stop forcing me!” Lin Wenyao’s voice was thick with tears, humiliation, and a touch of bewilderment and helplessness.
“You say you won’t marry just like that? We’ve spent several taels of silver on you every year, and you haven’t even passed the county-level exam. What’s the point of continuing? If you refuse to marry Miss Chen, then come back and work the land. Stop wasting your time with this pointless studying.”
Someone outside the courtyard scoffed. “I heard in the village that Miss Chen was having an affair and gave birth to a son without a father. That old woman is willing to let her grandson play cuckoo just for the Chen family’s dowry? She’s completely shameless.”
Hearing this, Old Lady Lin hurled abuse toward the gate, “Go to hell, you lying bastard! Did you see Miss Chen give birth? You’re all just jealous that our family is becoming in-laws with the Chens. I’m putting this out there today: You’ll marry her whether you want to or not. Just because your teacher changed your name to Wenyao doesn’t make you above everyone else.”
“I won’t marry her!” Lin Wenyao gritted his teeth stubbornly, his fists clenched tight.
If it weren’t for the weight of filial piety pressing down on him, he would have torn apart Old Lady Lin’s hateful mouth. How could she, an elder, be so detestable?
Back when Second Uncle and Second Aunt were alive, the family wasn’t exactly harmonious, but there was always laughter. Even though his grandparents were sharp-tongued back then, they could still put on a kind and amiable face in public.
Now, she was utterly shameless in her pursuit of money.
“Heh, that’s not for you to decide.”
Lin Wenyao dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed heavily three times. “Grandmother, when I achieve scholarly success in the future, I will certainly not forget your kindness. I beg you to let me continue my studies.”
Old Lady Lin was completely unmoved. “It’s not that I don’t want you to study, but this family can’t afford to support a scholar anymore. However, if you marry Miss Chen, the Chen family has promised to fund your education.”
At that moment, the truth dawned on Lin Wenyao. Old Lady Lin wasn’t stopping him from studying because the family lacked money or because she wanted him to farm. She was using it as leverage to force him into this marriage with the Chen family.
If he wanted to continue his studies, he had no choice but to agree to the match.
But as a man with his own dignity, did he have to debase himself just to get an education? What was the point of studying the sages’ teachings if this was the cost?
He looked down at his hands. They were slender and pale, with only calluses on his fingertips from years of holding a brush—cleaner and finer than even the young girls in the village.
What kind of livelihood could these hands support?
Lin Wenyao tilted his head back, forcing the tears threatening to spill to flow back down.
At that moment, he felt he had no choice… Well, they say a man should marry a virtuous wife, but he was under someone else’s roof. Sometimes, you have to bow your head.
Bam!
The courtyard gate was kicked open from outside, startling everyone inside and out.
When they saw Lin Xiaoman was the one who had kicked it, Lin Wenyao breathed a sigh of relief.
He had come so close—so very close—to agreeing to that match, blinded by desperation. Thankfully, Lin Xiaoman had arrived just in time, before he could utter words that would leave him unable to hold his head up for the rest of his life.
Old Lady Lin was furious. “You little bastard! You’ve learned to kick down doors now? Is that what your mother taught you while she was alive?”
Lin Erhu followed close behind, and as soon as he entered, he yelled at Old Lady Lin, “You old hag! How dare you mention my mother? Tell me, how did she really die?”
“How did your mother die? She was crushed by a beam, of course. The whole village knows that!” Old Lady Lin’s guilty conscience flickered across her face; her gaze wavered for a moment before she quickly widened her eyes again. “Who are you calling an old hag?”
Lin Xiaoman’s gaze was sharp as a knife, completely undaunted by the old woman’s shouting. She stepped closer to Old Lady Lin with each word. “That’s not what our mother told us in a dream. She said you killed her. Is that true?”
“A d-dream? What dream? People who are dead can’t send dreams! Don’t you dare spout such nonsense here! Why would I ever harm Second
Son’s wife?”
Old Lady Lin’s lips trembled with fear at Lin Xiaoman’s words. These past few days, she’d constantly felt like someone was watching her from the shadows. By day she was paranoid, and by night she was plagued by nightmares—for several nights in a row, she’d dreamed of He’s coming to claim her life.
If what Lin Xiaoman said was true, could He’s spirit truly have come for her?
Lin Erhu planted his hands on his hips. “Our mother said she and Dad rushed in to save you and Grandpa. But you pushed her in front of a falling beam, and that’s how she got killed. Tell us, did that happen or not?”
By now, the onlookers gathered outside the courtyard wall were growing restless. Over a year had passed since the incident, and no one expected to hear such a horrifying truth today. Wasn’t this even more outrageous than Old Lady Lin forcing Lin Wenyao to marry Miss Chen?
“For her to send a dream after being dead for over a year, there must be a terrible injustice behind it.”
“Maybe Xiaoman’s mother couldn’t bear to see her children being mistreated, so she came to stand up for them.”
“Sigh, that old woman Lin is utterly heartless.”
Hearing the murmurs from outside, Old Lady Lin dug in her heels, insisting Lin Erhu was lying. “Ohhh, why is my life so hard? I struggled to raise my children, and now I have to watch the young die before me. And now these little beasts accuse me of killing their mother! Just because you got less when the family split up, you have to slander me like this? Saying I killed your mother—prove it! If you can’t, don’t blame me when I go to the yamen and report you for disrespecting your elders, for unfilial conduct!”
Lin Xiaoman said coldly, “Our mother is watching from heaven. If you didn’t do it, then swear on it.”
Old Lady Lin trembled. She wanted to swear to prove her innocence, but she feared divine punishment. Caught in a dilemma, Lin Goudan came running back.
“I can testify!” he declared. “That night, Grandpa and Grandma were talking in their room. Grandma said she pushed Second Aunt in front of a falling beam, and that’s how Second Aunt got crushed. Grandma was so afraid Second Aunt would come back for revenge that she even set up a memorial tablet for her in secret, burning incense morning and night. During the day, she hides the tablet in a chest. I’ll go get it right now so everyone can see!”
With that, Lin Goudan dashed toward the room where Lin Laotou and Old Lady Lin slept. Lin Laotou, who had been sitting by the door smoking, was too slow to stop him. Old Lady Lin screamed, “Are you dead? Don’t let him in there!”
Lin Laotou finally moved to block the way, but Lin Goudan had already slipped inside and bolted the door from within. Lin Laotou couldn’t push it open and hesitated over whether to kick it down.
Lin Xiaoman and Lin Erhu exchanged a glance. They stepped forward and blocked Lin Laotou. Lin Xiaoman asked, “Grandfather, if Grandmother could use our mother as a shield against a falling beam, what’s to stop her from pushing someone else when trouble comes? Aren’t you afraid?”
Lin Laotou slowly lowered his half-raised foot. He turned to look at the frantic Old Lady Lin and suddenly found her strangely unfamiliar—and terrifying.
In no time, Lin Goudan had found He’s memorial tablet in the chest. When he came out, he held it high in the air. “Second Sister, Second Brother, look!”
Everyone turned to stare at the tablet in Lin Goudan’s hands. Few in the village could read, but everyone recognized the characters “He’s” inscribed on it.
When He was alive, she loved to make food, especially pastries. During festivals, she’d steam decorative flower-shaped buns at home and sell them to villagers. Each bun was stamped on the bottom with the characters “He’s”—reportedly a mark from her family’s food business.
Why would a mother-in-law keep a memorial tablet for her deceased daughter-in-law? No one would believe it was out of anything but guilt.