Lin Nanhao had been standing to one side, watching his mother and sister suffer such humiliation.
Unable to hold back any longer, he stepped forward and swung his hand toward Lan Luoyun’s face.
But Lan Luoyun was no pushover.
She caught his wrist instantly and held it firmly in place.
Lin Nanhao was stunned.
He had never imagined she possessed such strength.
The sight left even Lin Nancheng dumbfounded.
Since when did my little wife become this formidable?
Of course, none of them knew that before transmigrating, Lan Luoyun had been trained in martial arts.
Seeing their mother being bullied, Dabao and Erbao rushed over and hugged Lin Nanhao’s legs.
No matter how angry he was, he couldn’t bring himself to lash out at small children.
The situation was on the verge of turning into a fight.
Then Prime Minister Lin finally spoke.
“Su Shi!”
“This is a prison cell, not our home!”
“How long are you planning to keep causing trouble?”
Normally, Su Yuping behaved arrogantly at home, and Lin Yixiao rarely argued with her out of respect for their years together.
But now Lin Nanxuan was seriously injured, and she was still acting unreasonable.
For the first time, Lin Yixiao felt deeply ashamed.
Third Madam could no longer stay silent either.
“Exactly!”
“All you ever do is bully people!”
“And now you’re still trying to throw your weight around?”
“You have no shame at all!”
The speaker was none other than Lin Nanxuan’s birth mother, Third Madam.
The other concubines quickly joined in.
Even the wives of the second and third branches of the family, who had long disliked Su Yuping, added their own criticisms.
Soon everyone was talking at once.
Some condemned Su Yuping.
Others discussed Lan Luoyun.
Only the Old Madam remained silent, seated beside Lin Yixiao and watching everything unfold.
Su Yuping had expected her mother-in-law to support her.
When that support never came, her face darkened.
In the end, she could only retreat with Lin Yaru and Lin Nanhao and sit back beside Lin Yixiao.
Once they left, Lin Nancheng helped Lin Nanxuan over to their corner.
Third Madam followed closely behind.
She wasn’t interested in claiming a seat.
She simply couldn’t stop worrying about her son.
Seeing his father and uncle approach, Dabao immediately climbed onto Lan Luoyun’s lap.
“Mother, let Father and Uncle sit. Dabao doesn’t need a seat.”
Lan Luoyun smiled warmly.
“Our Dabao is such a thoughtful boy.”
Not wanting to be left behind, Erbao quickly offered her own spot as well.
The contrast was glaring.
Moments earlier, Su Yuping had fought shamelessly over a place to sit.
Now two small children were voluntarily giving theirs up.
The comparison made her feel utterly embarrassed.
After helping his brother sit down, Lin Nancheng took a seat beside him.
Erbao immediately climbed into her father’s arms.
Third Madam sat opposite Lin Nanxuan.
Unlike Su Yuping, she was someone who always remembered kindness.
Looking at his wife, children, and younger brother gathered together, Lin Nancheng suddenly felt a sense of warmth.
Even inside a prison cell, this little family felt like home.
Silently, he vowed to protect them no matter what happened.
Lin Nanxuan had lost a great deal of blood after being stabbed in the abdomen.
Fortunately, the wound hadn’t been very deep.
Combined with the makeshift bandaging applied earlier, his life was no longer in immediate danger.
Still, both brothers were injured now.
One had a wound on his stomach.
The other had a severely cut hand.
Lan Luoyun couldn’t help feeling distressed.
As soon as the jailers moved away, she asked Third Madam to watch over Dabao and Erbao.
Then she prepared to treat the brothers’ injuries.
She also invited Chu Yi-niang over.
Technically, Chu should have been Lin Yixiao’s legal wife.
Unfortunately, years ago, the foolish Emperor had deliberately interfered.
Just days before Lin Yixiao and Chu’s wedding, he forced his own cousin, Su Shi, into marriage with Lin Yixiao.
The Emperor wanted to ensure the Lin family remained under his control.
Because of that imperial decree, Su Shi became the legal wife.
And since Chu refused to marry anyone else, she reluctantly became a concubine.
The Old Madam, meanwhile, had always favored Su Shi because she was related to the Emperor.
“Second Madam, come sit over here too.”
“Spend some time with your grandson and granddaughter.”
The moment Chu heard that, her face lit up.
She had long wanted to spend time with the twins.
At home, although Lin Yixiao favored her, she often endured mistreatment from Su Yuping to avoid causing trouble for him and Lin Nancheng.
In the past, Lan Luoyun had been close to Su Yuping as well.
But now everything seemed different.
“Luoyun, go ahead and do what you need to do.”
“We’ll take good care of Dabao and Erbao.”
Chu practically hurried over.
Soon she and Third Madam were happily entertaining the children.
At the same time, Chu couldn’t help feeling curious.
The Lan Luoyun she remembered had been nothing like this.
The changes had become obvious during the property confiscation.
Previously, Lan Luoyun had followed Lin Yaru everywhere and obeyed Su Yuping’s every word.
She had never been close to Chu.
Much less openly opposed Su Yuping and her daughter.
Perhaps the coma had finally opened her eyes.
Chu decided not to dwell on it.
As long as her relationship with her daughter-in-law improved, nothing else mattered.
After leaving the children with the two women, Lan Luoyun secretly pulled out some medicine for bruises and injuries.
Carefully shielding herself from the others’ view, she applied it to both Lin Nancheng’s and Lin Nanxuan’s wounds.
Then she tore strips from some old cotton cloth and bandaged them properly.
The brothers assumed she had hidden the medicine in her clothing and managed to keep it from the soldiers.
Neither found it suspicious.
When Third Madam saw her son being treated, gratitude filled her eyes.
She was about to thank Lan Luoyun when the latter quickly raised a finger to her lips.
Shh.
They couldn’t let anyone know she possessed medicine.
Who knew what kind of trouble that would cause?
Understanding immediately, Third Madam remained silent.
Lin Nanxuan lowered his voice.
“Thank you, Brother. Thank you, Sister-in-law.”
“I’ll protect you from now on.”
His impulsive actions earlier had stemmed from seeing his father humiliated.
The anger had simply been too much to bear.
Unfortunately, he was still just a teenager.
There was no way he could stand against someone like Xiao Yan.
Lan Luoyun sighed inwardly.
At least Lin Nanxuan was a good child at heart.
“Nanxuan, there’s no need to thank us.”
“You’re a good boy.”
“You must stay strong and keep living.”
“If you run into trouble, tell your sister-in-law.”
They chatted quietly for a while before settling down again.
Not long afterward, a jailer arrived and shouted:
“Time for dinner!”
The entire Lin family immediately stirred.
Because of the chaos caused by the robbery that morning, they hadn’t eaten all day.
By now, everyone was starving.
The moment they heard food was being distributed, they rushed forward eagerly.
But when they saw the meal…
Their enthusiasm vanished.
The food consisted of rock-hard steamed buns and sour, spoiled vegetable broth.
That was all.
Back in the Lin Residence, they had eaten delicacies from mountains and seas.
Even the servants wouldn’t have touched food this poor.
And now it was being served to them.
One family member couldn’t help shouting:
“You call this food?”
“Is this even fit for human consumption?!”