“It… it was Concubine Chen!” The most timid of the group finally cracked under pressure. Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit, pointing their fingers at her.
Concubine Chen’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.
“Concubine Chen, you are the one in charge of the Lin household. Your word is law,” Lin Yao questioned her sharply. “You’ve bullied my mother and me for years—I could let that slide—but now you’ve gone so far as to ruin her reputation? Were you trying to drive her to her death?”
Had there been no outsiders present, Master Lin would have certainly protected his favorite concubine. But with guests watching, any scandal would tarnish his own reputation. Master Lin loved Concubine Chen unconditionally, but he loved himself more.
He stood up abruptly and delivered a stinging slap to her face.
“I trusted you! I gave you the keys to this manor, and this is how you manage it?”
Concubine Chen immediately broke into tears, wailing that she had been deceived by the servant Li Da, putting on a grand show of trying to dash her head against a pillar to prove her innocence. Master Lin signaled a servant, who rushed to hold her back. It was a complete farce.
Lin Yao watched the scene coldly before asking, “Father, how do you intend to handle this?”
“Give Li Da a thrashing and kick him out of the manor. As for Concubine Chen… she is stripped of her household management duties and… and will be given thirty strokes of the board!”
Hearing “thirty strokes,” Concubine Chen promptly collapsed, pretending to faint.
“Oh! Why has Concubine Chen fainted? I hope nothing is wrong,” Lin Yao said with a mock-surprised expression. She hurried over to the “unconscious” woman and ‘accidentally’ stepped hard on her hand.
Concubine Chen let out a blood-curdling shriek.
“You’re awake! What a relief,” Lin Yao said, letting out a breath.
Unable to fake her way out anymore, Concubine Chen was dragged away by servants to receive her beating. Once the entertainment concluded, Lord Tang rose leisurely and took his leave of Master Lin. Listening to the screams of Concubine Chen in the distance, Lin Yao felt the resentment in her heart finally begin to dissipate.
When Lin Yao shared the news with her mother, Madam Zhao, the woman felt a surge of triumph. For years, Concubine Chen had bullied her while Master Lin looked the other way. This was the first time Concubine Chen had ever faced justice.
She knew this was all thanks to her daughter gaining the favor of the Prince.
“Yao’er, you must serve the Prince well back at his estate,” Madam Zhao urged.
Lin Yao nodded. “Don’t worry, Mother. The Prince dotes on me.”
Lin Yao wanted to stay longer to care for her mother, but she was only there on a home visit. Having already stayed an extra day, it would be improper to linger. Before leaving, however, she worried that Concubine Chen might strike back.
“Yao’er, I’ve spoken to my mother,” Lin Siyuan (the Eldest Sister) reassured her. “The elderly Nanny Xu, who serves my mother, will keep an eye on Madam Zhao.”
Lin Yao finally felt at ease. “Thank you, Sister.”
“If you truly want to thank me, then secure the Prince’s favor for real,” Lin Siyuan said, patting Lin Yao’s hand.
Lin Yao’s heart sank slightly. Everything she had achieved today was built on a lie. If anyone found out that the Prince actually ignored her, her newfound protection would vanish, and the bullying would redouble. She had to make the Prince break his icy resolve for her.
Only after receiving the thirty strokes did Concubine Chen realize how agonizing they were. As long as she held Master Lin’s affection, she could eventually regain control of the household, but the physical pain was very real.
As she lay in bed, wracked with pain, her hatred for Lin Yao and Madam Zhao burned. She wanted them dead. However, word had spread that Lin Yao was the Prince’s favorite, and Master Lin had explicitly forbidden anyone from touching Madam Zhao. She had no choice but to swallow her rage.
“Mother! Why did you beat Li Da and throw him out? My mother-in-law was hounding me since dawn to do the laundry…” Lin Shu (Chen’s daughter) complained as she burst into the room. Her husband was kind and gentle, but her mother-in-law and the rest of his unrefined relatives were a nightmare.
Concubine Chen hissed in pain as she moved.
Only then did Lin Shu notice the injuries. “Mother, what happened? Did you fall?”
“Thirty strokes of the board,” Concubine Chen snapped. “It was all because of that dog Li Da. Don’t you think he deserved to be kicked out?”
She recounted the morning’s events. Lin Shu was stunned. She couldn’t believe Lin Yao was behind this, let alone that she had won the Prince’s heart.
It’s impossible, Lin Shu thought. She remembered that man—cold as ice and completely indifferent to her charms. She was beautiful and shapely; she had even stripped in front of him, only for him to look at her with utter disgust and order his guards to throw her out. How could a man like that fall for a plain, vulgar woman like Lin Yao?
“Mother, Lin Yao is lying. She’s a fraud, and she’ll be exposed sooner or later,” Lin Shu said confidently. “Mother, Gao Lang will pass the imperial exams next year. He’ll rise through the ranks and become the Grand Secretary. Then, you’ll be the mother-in-law of the most powerful man in court! We’ll walk with our heads high in the capital, and no one will dare look down on us.”
Lin Shu beamed at the thought, but Concubine Chen wasn’t as optimistic.
“Mother, I want to sell that shop on East Street,” Lin Shu added.
The shop was part of Lin Shu’s dowry. Concubine Chen was confused. “The business is doing well. Why sell it?”
“Gao Lang needs money for books, tuition, and social networking,” Lin Shu explained. “Besides, if I provide the money, my mother-in-law will have to treat me like a queen instead of a servant.”
Concubine Chen felt a pang of doubt. Could a poor scholar who couldn’t even afford his own books really become the Grand Secretary?
With a mother-in-law that eccentric and demanding, would her daughter’s dowry not be bled dry at this rate?
“Shu’er, are you truly certain your husband can pass? Your dowry is your safety net; don’t let them hollow it out,” Concubine Chen advised earnestly, despite her pain.
Lin Shu, however, flared up in anger. “Mother, Gu Lang will definitely achieve his rank next year—he’ll be the Bangyan (the second-highest scholar in the empire), just you wait and see! I’m only telling you this as a courtesy. My dowry belongs to me, and I’ll do with it as I please.”
Lin Shu wished she could skip ahead to next year instantly. Once Gu Lang placed in the high exams, she would show everyone who doubted her—including her own mother!
Finding the conversation disagreeable, Lin Shu stormed out in a huff. Concubine Chen coughed in frustration, which agitated her wounds so badly she nearly blacked out from the pain.
After returning to the Prince’s estate, Lin Yao caught up on her sleep. The next morning, she headed straight for the Wuju Courtyard.
As soon as she entered, she saw Prince Yu sitting on a prayer mat, rhythmically tapping a wooden fish. The man’s posture was ramrod straight, his eyes closed, his expression cold and detached from the mortal world.
After a moment, Prince Yu opened his eyes. He caught sight of her, a flicker of surprise crossing his features.
“Is Your Highness about to ask why I’ve come again?” Lin Yao preempted him. “I know you find me annoying, and I truly tried to restrain myself, but I missed you far too much. I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. I endured it for a whole day, but today, I simply couldn’t take it anymore. As the Buddha says: When endurance reaches its limit, there is no more need to endure.”
Lin Yao noticed the veins on Prince Yu’s forehead throb slightly. She suppressed a silent smirk.
She was beginning to realize the perks of being thick-skinned; it was incredibly liberating. As long as she abandoned her sense of shame, no one could do anything to her. Besides, teasing an iceberg was far too much fun.
Unable to take it any longer, Prince Yu rose, grabbed a brush, and wrote a few words in a bold, sweeping script:
“The Buddha never said that!”
Lin Yao feigned shock. “He didn’t?”
She then turned toward the statue of Buddha with a look of devout repentance and bowed. “My apologies, Great Buddha. It’s all because I am poorly read. But surely the Buddha, in his infinite mercy, won’t hold it against me?”
Prince Yu: “…”
What a silver-tongued woman!
Fuming, he turned his back on her completely. Don’t listen. Don’t look.
Lin Yao looked at his broad back, finding the sight quite amusing. For all his power, this Prince could be rather childish when pushed—resorting to giving her the silent treatment and the cold shoulder.