But what answered him was a swarm of guards rushing in.
Sure enough, Grand Tutor Lin, who had been anxious to enter the palace to save his daughter, was instead dragged straight into prison.
When Lin Shutang heard this news upon arriving at the city gate in her carriage, the house-sealers soon went to the Lin family.
Everyone in the Lin household was taken into custody.
She couldn’t help but sigh at the vicissitudes of life—Concubine Bai had driven Lin Shutang’s mother to her death, scheming for the wealth and status of a madam, toiling for half a lifetime, only to end up in exile.
Now Concubine Bai was lying on the ground, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.
“No, I don’t want exile, I don’t!”
But no matter how unwilling Concubine Bai was, she still had to hit the road.
For this reason, the entire Lin family hated Concubine Bai and Lin Wanwan to the bone.
If Lin Wanwan hadn’t married Duan Qingyang of Chongguo Fu, how could the Lin family have been implicated? Everyone said the eldest daughter, Lin Shutang, was the jinx.
But as they saw it, the second daughter, Lin Wanwan, was the real jinx.
Lin Wanwan wasn’t having an easy time of it either—the whole family was locked in prison, enduring the damp, cold cells and large rats scurrying back and forth.
The only thing better than being outside was that she now had a prison uniform and no longer had to go bare-shouldered.
Locked in with her were her mother-in-law, Madam Zhou, her three sisters-in-law, and First Master’s four concubines.
In the past, those four concubines had been utterly deferential to Madam Zhou.
But things were different now—they were all prisoners together, and one by one they put on airs, sneering at Madam Zhou and Lin Wanwan.
“Ah, sisters though they may be, how different their fates are.”
That remark stabbed into Lin Wanwan like a thorn. Furious, she strode forward and started brawling with those concubines.
“You concubines dare to gossip about me? Today I’ll teach you a lesson on behalf of my mother-in-law!”
The moment she said that, the concubine surnamed Xu stepped forward and slapped her across the face. “Don’t look down on us concubines—you’re no better, born of a concubine yourself.”
Lin Wanwan’s face instantly darkened, tears welling up in her eyes.
Madam Zhou snapped at her, “Enough! Do you think things aren’t chaotic enough already? All of you, behave yourselves!”
“Yes, Mistress.” Concubine Xu turned her head away in defiance.
Lin Wanwan’s tears fell in droplets, her heart filled with endless regret.
A year ago, she and her mother had gone to the temple outside the city to pray for a good marriage. She had drawn a very inauspicious lot, and asked the master how to change her fate.
The master had given her only two words: swap the marriage—transfer her bad fortune to her legitimate elder sister.
But she had swapped the marriage, and still things turned out like this.
Lin Wanwan’s eyes were swollen red from crying.
Unlike her, Lin Shutang was sitting warmly in her carriage, dressed in a padded jacket, taking her mother-in-law Madam Jiang’s pulse.
Second Master didn’t take concubines, so the household was small, with far less scheming and infighting.
Madam Jiang was gentle and easygoing, and fiercely protective of her own.
Those words Madam Zhou had said to slander Lin Shutang were still on her mind.
She looked at Lin Shutang, who was taking her pulse, her eyes full of tenderness and pity.
From the mansion gate to the city gate, Lin Shutang had taken her pulse several times along the way, and found that Madam Jiang merely had a depleted constitution—nothing life-threatening.
She felt something was off, so she examined her tongue and the area beneath it, her expression gradually turning serious. “Mother, besides your usual shortness of breath and weakness, is there anything else that troubles you?”
Madam Jiang thought for a moment, then replied, “There’s also my poor appetite—I don’t eat much, and I tend to vomit easily.”
Hearing this, Lin Shutang quickly took out a packet of silver needles from her bosom.
She pulled out a few of the finest needles and inserted them into Madam Jiang’s fingertips and wrist. “Mother, bear with it—there will be some pain.”
Madam Jiang said with a gentle smile, “It’s fine, I can endure it.”
Lin Shutang held the silver needles and continued inserting them. Before long, dark blood slowly seeped from Madam Jiang’s fingertips.
The onlookers were startled, especially Duan Feng.
“Shutang, what is this?”
Before Lin Shutang could answer, Duan Yanzhou said with cold eyes, “It’s poison.”
Madam Jiang’s hand trembled, and she exclaimed in shock, “Poison? How is that possible?”
Lin Shutang slowly withdrew the silver needles and replied, “Yanzhou is right. You have indeed been poisoned, and the poison runs deep.”
Duan Feng quickly pulled Madam Jiang into his arms. “Can the poison be cured?”
Lin Shutang had learned traditional Chinese medicine, poison identification, and poison-making from her grandmother since childhood, and later studied Western medicine. Although she lacked hospital examination equipment at the moment, based on her years of experience in making poisons, it wasn’t difficult for her.
She nodded. “It can be cured, but it will take some time—a month of medication.”
Upon hearing that it could be cured, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Shutang didn’t linger and pulled Duan Yanzhou off the carriage.
When they boarded the carriage again, they found that their eldest sister-in-law and third sister, who had been riding with them, had already moved to the carriage ahead where Madam Jiang and Duan Feng were seated.
They had deliberately freed up space for the young couple.
This was also convenient for them to enter the Kongjian to retrieve things.
After Lin Shutang and Duan Yanzhou boarded the carriage, she had him wait inside while she entered the Kongjian alone.
From the pharmacy she had moved out of the imperial palace, she found the medicine, packed it up, and brought it out. She then handed it to Duan Yanzhou. “Give this to Mother daily, decoct it, and take it for a month—the poison will definitely be eliminated.”