Lin Qu had long since figured out what he needed to do, but matters like this also required the right timing. Within this window, he also had to be on guard against his third uncle and third aunt.
Since this marriage had been called off, the primary fault lay with his third uncle and third aunt. Furthermore, Xu Qiu had never liked Lin Chong, having practically stated outright that once he sorted out his thoughts, he was willing to marry Lin Qu.
Although Xu Qiu’s mother was kind-hearted and soft, it was not hard to tell that she had already broken ties with his third uncle and third aunt. He guessed that if those two could have begged their way out of this, they would have done so already, without needing to fret so urgently now.
This meant it was impossible for his third uncle and third aunt to get the Xu family to agree to the match through proper, above-board channels. Therefore, they would only be able to resort to petty tricks.
When scheming like this, Madam Zhao and Old Third Lin always consulted with one another, but they had too much spare time on their hands, making it all too easy for them to gather. Lin Qu was different; if he spent too little time working in the fields, Old Madam Lin would never let him off.
Thus, he had no choice but to entrust this task to his two younger brothers.
He instructed his brothers to keep a close watch on the situation for him.
Since the two boys were still young and only handled sweeping and tidying chores around the house, as long as they kept their hands busy, Old Madam Lin would not pick on them. After all, if she targeted children that young too harshly, there was no telling how the villagers would talk about her.
In truth, he did not hold out too much hope for that part of his plan. His main focus was entirely on ensuring the villagers caught sight of Lin Chong together with that so-called imperial prince. He had already witnessed it previously, as Lin Chong and that man had been acting quite intimately, with Lin Chong even resorting to coquettish spoiled behavior toward him.
Their relationship was definitely unusual.
Combined with that conversation he had shared with Xu Qiu, it was glaringly obvious that something was amiss between Lin Chong and the prince.
He felt a deep resentment in his heart: already having a lover, yet refusing to let go of the marriage engagement with Xu Qiu.
They certainly had high hopes.
As for what Xu Qiu had said, that the man and the emperor were father and son, and might very well return to power one day, Lin Qu simply refused to believe it. Banished all the way out to this desolate backwater, dreaming of making a comeback? Impossible. They might not even live to old age, dying right here was much more likely. If that prince’s identity still carried any real weight, the man would not be living in such dire straits; surely someone in the village would have secretly tried to curry favor with them long ago.
In parts like these, plenty of exiles died off completely.
In his mind, compared to any prince, Xu Qiu was naturally the best, as no one else could possibly compare. Lin Chong simply refused to let go of the engagement because he wanted to hold onto Xu Qiu.
Yet, to Lin Qu’s surprise, his two younger brothers actually managed to overhear Madam Zhao and Old Third Lin plotting.
“Did you hear what time they mentioned?” Lin Qu asked in surprise.
Both brothers shook their heads. “Third Aunt only said within these next two days, to get it done as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late once Brother Xu Qiu and his family move into town.”
“Good.” Lin Qu nodded, speaking with utmost solemnity to his two brothers. “Next, older brother is giving you both a mission. You must, absolutely must, keep an eye on Lin Chong. The moment you see him heading toward the river to wash clothes, come find me immediately, understood?”
“Even if grandmother scolds you for staying around the house all day, you have to keep watch on Lin Chong. Just hold out for these few days. Once things succeed, older brother will buy you candied hawthorns to eat, all right?”
Privately, he had managed to save a few copper coins, not many, but enough to buy his brothers a couple of skewers of candied hawthorns.
At those words, the two little boys could not help licking their lips, nodding heavily. “Mn.”
“Brother, don’t worry, we will definitely keep watch!”
“I know Third Uncle and Third Aunt want to hurt Brother Xu Qiu. We will not let them get away with it!”
Brother Xu Qiu was so good, and had given them snacks several times already; they could not let Brother Xu Qiu end up with that villain Lin Chong.
Third Uncle and Third Aunt were no good either!
“Good.” Lin Qu smiled, reaching out to ruffle their hair. “Then it is settled.”
Madam Zhao and Old Third Lin planned to send Lin Chong down to wash clothes, stage a feigned drowning, and then have Xu Qiu rescue him. Once physical contact was made, calling off the marriage would become impossible. On the one hand, Lin Qu figured Xu Qiu did not like Lin Chong anyway and might not jump in to save him, but he still worried that Xu Qiu’s kind nature would get the better of him. If no one else was around, Xu Qiu could hardly stand by and watch Lin Chong drown.
No, he still had to block it.
Those two scoundrels of an uncle and aunt were rotten to the bone. Xu Qiu’s constitution was so frail, and it had only been recently that word spread of him improving, so what would happen if he caught another illness from plunging into the water?
Even so, this also happened to save him some trouble. He would use this exact opportunity to bind Lin Chong and that prince together inextricably.
Besides, Madam Zhao’s little schemes could not be allowed to stay completely secret either.
He thought to himself that that prince really lacked any discernment. Living in such wretched poverty himself, he had still managed to take a fancy to someone as volatile and spoiled as Lin Chong, so the days ahead of them would surely be full of suffering.
Xu Qiu remained entirely unaware of these developments. Over the past two days, he had been constantly busy with the renovation of their new residence and medical clinic in town. His father and brothers had their own work, and since he was a grown man, he could not just leave his mother to handle everything alone.
To them, the town was still far less familiar than the village.
After bustling about for several days, things finally began to take shape. The cabinets, tables, chairs, and beds ordered from the carpenter would still take some time to finish, however. The property they purchased was completely vacant, holding nothing at all, meaning everything had to be custom-built from scratch.
During this waiting period, he was finally able to enjoy some free time.
Once the furnishings were completed, he could simply go pick them up from the carpenter’s workshop.
With some leisure on his hands, Xu Qiu stayed home to continue reading. Nowadays, he spent half his day studying and the rest helping the elder physician compound medicines. Since he was opening a clinic, he could not do without a stock of remedies. It was precisely on this day that a small head cautiously poked through the courtyard gate of Xu Qiu’s home.
In broad daylight, locking the front gate was unnecessary since people were constantly moving around inside and outside, so the Xu family’s gate was left half-open.
Xu Qiu was sitting in a patch of shade within the courtyard reading his book, with bright sunlight bordering the edges, creating a rather pleasant atmosphere.
Sensing something, he lifted his gaze toward the entrance. After a brief pause, he smiled and called out, “Is that Little Yi?”
He waved a hand. “Come on in.”
The child who had arrived was precisely one of Lin Qu’s younger brothers, the twins, Lin Chi and Lin Tang, whose names literally combined into a pond. Because they had not been given proper names when they were little, people simply fell into the habit of calling them Little One and Little Two.
The visitor was the older of the twins, Little Yi.
These two brothers also featured in the original plot. While they usually looked quiet and did not dare speak much, in reality, much like Lin Qu, they possessed considerable backbone and were part of the group that opposed Lin Chong. In fact, their resentment ran even deeper and harsher.
Only, being children, no matter how much they wanted to, they lacked the means and ultimately suffered defeat.
At that moment, the child obediently walked inside, stopping beside Xu Qiu, and piped up in a timid voice, “Brother Xu Qiu.”
His small hands were clenched tightly against the hem of his tunic, looking somewhat nervous and flustered, which made him appear quite endearing.
“Wait for me here a moment.” Xu Qiu smiled, patted the boy’s head, went inside the house to fetch some melon seeds and peanuts, and brought out an extra chair. “Sit down.”
The child took a seat.
Xu Qiu urged him to eat some seeds, but the boy shook his head and whispered, “N-no, thank you, Brother Xu Qiu, I will not have any.”
He looked terribly well-mannered and exceptionally adorable.
Xu Qiu thought to himself that he truly lived up to being a child raised by Lin Qu.
He did not force the boy to eat right away, knowing that with him sitting right there, the child would hardly dare crack open more than a couple of kernels anyway. Instead, he left the plate there, planning to grab a handful and stuff them into the boy’s pockets to take back and eat on the road when he left. Such treats held a strong appeal for children, and in this day and age, village kids rarely tasted any snacks.
He asked, “Did you need something coming to find Brother Xu Qiu?”
The boy shook his head, then nodded, and said, “Brother Xu Qiu, could I ask you to teach me a few characters?”
Back at home, Third Aunt was already talking about sending cousin Lin Chong down to wash clothes, so Little Yi had rushed right over to find Xu Qiu, hoping to stall him. This was an excuse they had prepared in advance, as after all, they were not particularly close to Xu Qiu, and showing up out of the blue without a reason simply would not do.