“Why are you here!”
Faced with the horrified and angry rebuke of her legitimate mother, Lady Gu, Lin Yulan hurriedly curtsied and said somewhat anxiously, “Mother, I came to look for you. Younger sister insisted on going to the back mountain to enjoy the scenery and view the flowers, and wouldn’t allow me to follow her. No matter how hard I tried to dissuade her, I had no choice but to hurry and report to you, just in case…”
“Nonsense! What kind of elder sister are you? Of what use are you!”
Thinking of her own arrangements, Lady Gu’s expression changed drastically. Leaving behind a fierce “I’ll settle accounts with you later!”, she hurriedly took her maids and servants and rushed off.
Lin Yulan watched her flustered and anxious retreating figure and curved her lips. Let’s hope she was still in time.
When her legitimate younger sister, Lin Wei, dismissed Nanny Zhang and tooth-and-nail warned Lin Yulan to stay far away and not go to the back mountain, while she herself and her maid Huaping headed straight for the back mountain with an expression of excitement and urgency, Lin Yulan knew that her younger sister had been reborn just like her.
It was the same in her previous life. Her legitimate mother had brought them sisters to the Xiangshan Temple to offer incense. Nanny Zhang had lured Lin Yulan to the back mountain to enjoy the scenery, only to suddenly push her into the water. Coincidentally, several young men were also enjoying the scenery there, and one of them jumped in and saved her. Afterward, she was forced to marry him.
Those young men were all low-ranking minor leaders from the Five Army Governor’s Office, none higher than the subordinate seventh rank.
Many people could never be promoted in their entire lifetimes.
After all, she was the daughter of a fourth-rank bureau director in the Ministry of Revenue. For the sake of her reputation, Lady Gu could never let her marry someone without official rank or a post.
Neither would she feel at ease letting her marry a provincial graduate or metropolitan scholar—what if he placed high in the imperial examinations in the future and soared into the skies?
Only low-ranking minor leaders responsible for patrolling and maintaining security in the capital were almost guaranteed to never make a name for themselves or step on Lady Gu’s head for the rest of their lives.
For today, Lady Gu could be said to have plotted for a long time.
Everything had fallen naturally into place.
However, what she never dreamed of was that Meng Mingchi, the man who had saved her from the water in her previous life, was actually the long-lost legitimate son of the eldest branch of the Duke of Rongguo’s Estate!
The eldest branch of the Duke of Rongguo’s Estate had only one son, but unfortunately, he was frail and sickly, passing away shortly after.
Naturally, the eldest branch of the Duke of Rongguo’s Estate was unwilling to let the peerage pass to another branch. After finding Meng Mingchi and bringing him back, he logically became the Heir Apparent of the Duke’s Estate and later the Duke of Rongguo.
Lin Yulan naturally rose in status along with him.
Meng Mingchi showed respect to his principal wife, made his mark before the Emperor, and performed meritorious service several times, achieving great success. Who did not envy Lin Yulan for her good fortune?
The one who envied, was jealous of, and hated her most of all was Lin Yulan’s legitimate younger sister, Lin Wei.
Lin Wei had married the Marquis of Wuwei in her previous life. Had it not been for a fortuitous stroke of fate and friendship between the elders of the two families when they were still alive, such a good marriage would never have fallen to the Lin family.
However, after Lin Wei married over, she and the Marquis of Wuwei were in discord, and the relationships within the Marquis of Wuwei’s Estate were also complex. Lin Wei had a very bitter time of it.
Later, the Marquis of Wuwei, Shao Xun, met with an accident and became paralyzed in both legs, and then died in a fire. Shao Xun had no offspring, so the peerage naturally passed to the second branch. Lin Wei made a fuss to get a divorce and returned to her maiden home to live as a widow. Gloomy and sharp-tongued, from then on she resented Lin Yulan day and night and racked her brains to cause trouble and find fault with her.
It seemed that after her rebirth, Lin Wei had decided to marry Meng Mingchi and become that glorious, universally revered Duchess of Rongguo.
Lin Yulan’s gaze was mocking. The Duke of Rongguo’s Estate looked glorious on the surface, but inside, vicious struggles and dirty, underhanded secrets emerged endlessly, and Meng Mingchi was an utter fool. She did not know how much painstaking effort and energy she had spent, scheming bitterly, just to help Meng Mingchi establish himself.
That man was even an ungrateful, cold-blooded, and heartless ingrate. Lin Yulan had not actually enjoyed any real blessings; while her surface was glorious, her heart and mind were exhausted inside, and her suffering was unspeakable.
Had she not exhausted her mental energy like this and suffered two miscarriages, severely damaging her vitality, she would not have fallen ill and died before reaching forty.
Dying of illness… perhaps it was for the best. She was finally liberated.
Perhaps heaven saw how much she had suffered, allowed her to be reborn, and gave her a chance to start over.
Lin Yulan took a deep breath. She could not stay here for too long and had to hurry and follow them.
Otherwise, her legitimate mother’s anger would be terrifying.
Lin Yulan took her maid Xiaoqu and hurried back to the small courtyard where they had been resting and offering incense. As soon as she stepped inside, she heard the fierce argument between Lady Gu and Lin Wei coming from the room, and she paused in her steps.
“You unpromising wretch, are you trying to plague me to death! That fellow surnamed Meng looks poverty-stricken and will amount to nothing more than that in this lifetime. Why must you insist on marrying him? Do you want to follow him and eat chaff and wild vegetables? I said I would handle this matter; why must you marry him!”
“Mother, do not bully a young man for being poor; for thirty years the river flows east, thirty years it flows west. Who knows which cloud in the sky will bring rain? I just feel that Brother Meng has an extraordinary bearing and will surely achieve great things in the future. Mother, listen to my advice, my judgment is definitely not wrong. I am optimistic about Brother Meng; he will definitely have a great future! When the time comes, Daughter will be glorious, and Mother, you will also share in the blessings. I will definitely be a good and filial daughter to you!”
“You! Incorrigible! Utterly incorrigible!”
“Mother, so many people saw Brother Meng holding me; it won’t do even if I don’t marry him. In short, Daughter feels this is heaven’s will! He is Daughter’s destined husband!”
“Ah!”
Lady Gu was so angry that she beat her chest and stamped her feet. This dead girl!
Listening to this, Lin Yulan wanted to laugh. She could well imagine how crazed Lady Gu must be right now.
Lin Wei and her maid emerged from the room. The sisters’ eyes met. Lin Yulan wore a look of unease and uncertainty as she nodded at her younger sister with a forced smile, while Lin Wei held her chin high and gave a light hum, like a victorious fighting cock.
She walked up to Lin Yulan with a swagger, sizing her up. Believing in her rebirth and seeing through everything gave her an overwhelming sense of superiority in front of Lin Yulan.
“Sister, congratulations, congratulations. Your younger sister here has an exceptionally good marriage to present to you.”
“What!”
Lin Yulan’s expression changed slightly.
Lin Wei covered her mouth and giggled, affectionately pulling on her sleeve and saying softly, “It’s the marriage into the Marquis of Wuwei’s Estate. Younger sister has decided to yield it to you; after all, seniority must be respected. For Sister, this marriage can be considered the absolute best in the world—something Sister couldn’t even reach for on tiptoe in the past! Once Sister becomes the Marchioness of Wuwei, you must remember Younger sister’s kindness and not forget to repay me!”
Lin Wei smiled very cheerfully, casting a deep look at Lin Yulan before leaving: This fool had no idea what she was missing out on in this lifetime! The wealth, glory, and outward respect that originally belonged to her would now all belong to herself. That hateful, picky old hag of the Marquis of Wuwei’s Estate, that vicious second branch family, and the cold-hearted, overbearing, and tyrannical Marquis of Wuwei Shao Xun—who had never treated her as a wife—let her go deal with all of them in this life!
All the suffering she had endured in her previous life, she would make Lin Yulan taste every bit of it in this life! Taste it a double dose!
In this life, it was finally her turn to enjoy the blessings.
Thinking of the profound foundation and monstrous wealth of the Duke of Rongguo’s Estate, Lin Wei’s eyes burned with excitement, and her heart grew piping hot. All of this would belong to her!
Lin Yulan was merely a concubine-born daughter who fell short of her in every way; by what right could her marriage be more satisfactory than her own?