Concubine Bai, coming from a modest household, treasured nothing more than these possessions. She kept them hidden away like precious jewels, and now, upon waking, they were all gone.
Concubine Bai clutched the empty boxes, sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath. When she dug deeper, she discovered that even her land deeds and property contracts were missing.
“My things! Where are my things?!” In her panic, she convulsed and fainted on the spot.
Grand Tutor Lin also stumbled his way to the storeroom where he kept his gold. Seeing his precious gold completely gone, he clutched his chest, his face turning ashen, and nearly collapsed to the ground.
Fortunately, his son caught him in time. “Father, what is going on here? Our storeroom has always been heavily guarded. How could a thief possibly have gotten in?”
Grand Tutor Lin looked up and scanned the sealed storeroom around him, unable to fathom how it had happened. Gripping his son’s arm, he said in a trembling voice, “Go—send people to investigate at once. You must find the thief!”
Lin Tianhai quickly replied, “Yes, Father. I’ll go right away.”
No sooner had he left than another servant came rushing in. “Bad news, Master! The Duke’s Residence has been raided and confiscated! The Second Miss has been thrown into prison along with her husband—they’re to be exiled to Qinan!”
“What?!” Grand Tutor Lin could barely stay on his feet this time. “Wanwan is to be exiled?”
The servant replied, “Yes, sir. I went to have a look just now and saw the whole family being loaded onto the prison cart. The Second Miss was only wearing a slip!”
Grand Tutor Lin’s pupils contracted, and he drew a deep breath. “How could this happen? Yesterday at the wedding everything was fine, and today the family is being raided? My Wan’er, my Wan’er.”
He slowly turned and began walking out, but halfway there, something occurred to him, and he looked back. “What about the Eldest Miss? What has become of her?”
The servant answered, “The Eldest Miss was fortunate. Last night, the Second Master of the Duke’s Residence presented the late Emperor’s pardon edict to His Majesty, and the charges were waived. He has volunteered to go to Qinan to serve as Xiancheng, so they were not raided or exiled. The whole family is now preparing to set off for his post.”
Grand Tutor Lin huffed and stroked his beard. “Ah! It’s all wrong, all wrong. This marriage should never have been swapped. My poor Wan’er.”
With that, he waved his sleeve and headed toward the front courtyard.
The servant let out a long sigh as he listened. Both were his daughters—the younger one couldn’t suffer, but the elder one could. What a failure as a father.
By the time Grand Tutor Lin reached the front courtyard, Concubine Bai had also learned of the matter. She was wailing and making a scene, demanding that he go before the Emperor and plead for Lin Wanwan.
In the end, Grand Tutor Lin simply couldn’t withstand her insistence, so he had no choice but to enter the palace.
Inside the palace, chaos reigned as well. Overnight, every palace hall had been stripped clean.
The Emperor didn’t even have a padded jacket. Draped in a thin robe, he sat shivering on the dragon throne. “Little Li, where are my clothes? Bring them to me at once!”
Eunuch Li hurried over with a padded jacket he had managed to find after much searching and draped it over the Emperor’s shoulders.
“Your Majesty, the imperial pharmacy in the palace kitchens has also been completely cleaned out.”
The Emperor’s trembling body froze. He jerked his head up. “All empty? Not a single thing left?”
Eunuch Li nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor’s face turned ashen, and he nearly lost his footing. Gripping the throne tightly, he said sternly, “Send men to pursue them! Find the bandits and recover everything!”
Eunuch Li hesitated, then said carefully, “Your Majesty, the bandits came and went without a trace. Their whereabouts are unknown.”
The Emperor frowned deeply, clenching his fists, and said sternly, “Even if you cannot find them, go tell the Yulinjun that I must have them found.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Eunuch Li hastily responded, then turned and withdrew.
The damned Emperor was about the same age as Duan Feng, also middle-aged, but he looked much older. Staring at the empty palace, he nearly choked on his own breath.
Not long after, he heard the young eunuchs report that Grand Tutor Lin had come outside the palace gates to plead for his daughter’s innocence.
“Your Majesty, Grand Tutor Lin says his daughter is innocent and begs you to spare her.”
The Emperor was already seething with rage, and this only made him angrier. He waved his hand dismissively and said, “Since Grand Tutor Lin misses his daughter so much, fine. Send someone to the Lin residence now and say that the Lin family conspired with the Duke’s Residence, colluding with the enemy and betraying the state. Confiscate all their property and banish them all to Qinan!”
The young eunuch froze, hesitating to respond.
The Emperor raised his cold gaze. “What, do you want to go too?”
The young eunuch lowered his head in panic and hurriedly replied, “This servant will deliver the message at once.”
With that, he immediately left the hall.
When Grand Tutor Lin outside the hall heard the message, it felt like the sky was falling—his plea for mercy had brought disaster upon the entire Lin family.
Panic-stricken, he fell to his knees and shouted toward the hall, “Your Majesty, this minister knows his wrongs! This minister will never dare do it again!”