Chapter 155

Chapter 155

[After Zhu Yuanzhang Returned to the Great Ming – 6]

After paying one hundred fifty thousand taels so their promising only son could marry the daughter of a bankrupt merchant, the Lin couple could not bring themselves to feel happy. Even the wedding preparations carried an air of spite.

They settled everything within two days, bought an off-the-rack wedding robe from an embroidery shop, notified relatives and old friends, and hung two lengths of red silk outside the gates. With that, they brought their daughter-in-law home in the shabbiest wedding imaginable.

The most important day in a girl’s life had been treated as an afterthought. Tao Chuqing naturally felt hurt. Remembering her mother’s advice, however, she did not quarrel with Lin Hefeng. Instead, she laid her grievance bare for him to see.

Lin Hefeng adored her. His guilt would make him treat her even better and incline him further toward his wife in every future conflict between her and his parents.

The morning after their wedding night, the couple rose early and went to the main hall to greet his parents.

Their only son’s marriage should have been joyous, yet neither parent showed the slightest smile. Their mouths drooped and their faces were stiff as wooden dolls. Anyone unaware of the circumstances might have thought they had just suffered a death in the family.

Tao Chuqing’s heart sank when she entered and saw them. Fortunately, Lin Hefeng supported her arm with gentle strength, giving her the courage to continue.

A matron brought over tea with both hands. “Young Madam, please serve tea to the Master.”

Tao Chuqing took a deep breath, knelt, and reached for the cup. The instant she touched it, the scalding heat made her jerk. The cup slipped from her hand and shattered.

Mother Lin’s face changed. “Madam Tao, what is the meaning of this? You show us your temper on your first day here? This is the Lin Family, not the Tao Family. Such insolence will not be tolerated!”

Father Lin’s expression was equally hostile.

Tao Chuqing stared in aggrieved disbelief. “I meant nothing of the sort. The cup was too hot. I couldn’t hold it…”

Mother Lin sneered. “Matron Chen could hold it. Why couldn’t you?”

She rose and touched the intact cup on the tray. “Why doesn’t this feel hot to me?!”

Tao Chuqing cautiously reached over. This cup was pleasantly warm, utterly unlike the first. As she stared in confusion, she caught the unmistakable mockery flickering in Mother Lin’s eyes.

Understanding dawned. “You did it deliberately! The first cup was scalding and the second just warm enough. You meant to humiliate me!”

Mother Lin’s face became a blend of shock, hurt, and disbelief. “How can you think that of me?”

Tears appeared the next instant. “Fine, fine! A son grows up, starts a family, and suddenly his mother and father are eyesores. His new wife smashes a cup at us on her first day. How will we ever live in peace again?”

She dropped back into her chair, apparently devastated, while Father Lin murmured consolation.

“You!” Tao Chuqing was too furious to speak.

Lin Hefeng was caught between the parents who had raised him and the wife he loved.

He knew his parents resented the marriage and that its careless arrangement had hurt Chuqing. As both son and husband, he could only smooth matters over. He could not allow the family to break apart the day after his wedding.

He drew Tao Chuqing down to kneel before his parents. “Father and Mother raised me. Their kindness is as weighty as a mountain. How could I forget it? Chuqing is my wife, and her respect for you is no less than mine!”

Then he told Tao Chuqing, “Husband and wife are one. Father and Mother will cherish you as they cherish me. The servants prepared the tea too hot, and that is their fault. But breaking a cup before our parents on our first day of marriage is inauspicious. Let us kowtow three times and apologize.”

His words preserved his parents’ dignity while indirectly defending Tao Chuqing. Both sides remained dissatisfied, but the quarrel subsided.

The young couple kowtowed. Another matron prepared fresh tea. Tao Chuqing pressed her lips together and offered it to Father Lin. “Father, please have some tea.”

He accepted and sternly lectured them that only harmony between husband and wife could preserve a household. He gave her no greeting gift.

Tears swirled in Tao Chuqing’s eyes, but she forced them back and served Mother Lin. “Mother, please have some tea.”

Mother Lin acknowledged her and, after studying her, became surprisingly pleasant. “Now that you are a Lin daughter-in-law, you must observe a woman’s virtues, manage the inner household, bear children, and urge Hefeng in his studies. Also…”

Her voice sharpened. “When your late uncle and aunt were alive, they had ties of friendship with Prince Lu’s Estate. Now that Hefeng has married you, we will likely be too ashamed to maintain them. Your father and I know what befell your maiden family and do not wish to embarrass you by discussing it. But a married woman follows her husband. You should visit your maiden family as little as possible.”

Father Lin’s heart throbbed whenever he remembered the fortune spent on this daughter-in-law. One hundred fifty thousand taels could have married a daughter of a fallen earl’s household in the capital, much less a bankrupt merchant’s daughter!

Since his wife had spoken, he added, “We also heard what happened with your former sister-in-law. Her reasoning was understandable: help people through an emergency, not permanent poverty. You understand my meaning, don’t you?”
Every sentence from her parents-in-law circled back to her maiden family’s recent disaster. Humiliation and fury scarcely began to describe Tao Chuqing’s feelings.

Whatever its faults, the Tao Family was still her family. Why should she stop visiting them?

Her husband was the Taos’ son-in-law, and the Lin and Tao families were related by marriage. Shouldn’t relatives help when one family faced hardship?

And her sister-in-law had abandoned them in disaster because she despised poverty and loved wealth. How had that become “understandable reasoning” in Father Lin’s mouth?

Tao Chuqing’s tears struck the floor tiles as she knelt and wept silently. Lin Hefeng’s heart ached. Helping her up, he patiently said, “Mother, why discuss this on the first day of our marriage? If Chuqing forgot her maiden family the moment she married, would you feel safe accepting such a heartless woman as your daughter-in-law?”

Her son had been intelligent from childhood and had never caused her concern in his studies or examinations. Since this little temptress appeared, however, he had held a knife to his own throat to force her acceptance and now contradicted her at every turn.

Mother Lin narrowed her eyes but knew that pressing harder would only drive him away. She sighed in feigned resignation. “Fine. You have a point. You insisted on marrying her. Since matters have come this far, I will say no more. If you are happy, then I am happy!”

Lin Hefeng was moved. “Mother!”

She ordered someone to bring her greeting gift: a rare set of bright ruby jewelry.

Lin Hefeng relaxed. Tao Chuqing was also surprised. She quietly thanked Mother and had her maid put it away.

Lin Hefeng indicated the poised girl of fifteen or sixteen seated nearby. “This is my cousin Lanyi.”

Lin Lanyi had watched the whole drama. Now the light fell upon her, she rose gracefully and curtsied. “Greetings, Sister-in-law.”

Tao Chuqing looked up. The girl was refined and elegant rather than dazzlingly beautiful, with an easy dignity in every word and gesture.

Tao Chuqing unconsciously composed herself and returned the greeting, then presented the gift prepared in advance: an inkstone.

Mother Lin deliberately lingered on it until she was sure Tao Chuqing noticed her contempt but her son had not, then leisurely withdrew her gaze.

Tao Chuqing noticed, and the slight made her deeply uncomfortable.

Yet she could not voice it. Her mother-in-law had only glanced at the inkstone, without a word or gesture. She had merely moved her eyes.

Still, Tao Chuqing unmistakably felt her disdain.

On her first day in the Lin Family, she personally learned the meaning of being put in one’s place.

…

After the new bride greeted her parents-in-law, the Lin couple withdrew. Lin Lanyi courteously nodded to her cousin and his wife, then departed.

The autumn air was crisp, and cicadas called through dense poplar branches.

One maid whispered, “The Young Master truly protects his wife!”

Another replied, “Judging by Madam’s face, the Young Madam’s life won’t be easy.”

Lin Lanyi remained silent until they rounded the corridor and reached her courtyard. Then her expression darkened. “Did Chunluo from Aunt’s courtyard truly ask Xiaoxia whether I’m still visiting Fu’an Temple the day after tomorrow?”

The maid became serious. “Absolutely. She asked in great detail. Xiaoxia thought nothing of it at first, but afterward it felt wrong, so she warned me.”

“Young Miss, I am not trying to sow discord, but there is something suspicious about the Young Master’s wedding. You understand this household’s circumstances better than we do. The old madam was a duke’s legitimate daughter and brought a rich dowry when she married down. When she fell ill, you went to the temple to pray and missed her final moments. Madam claimed the old madam left her entire private treasury to the Young Master. When one of the old madam’s attendants asked, ‘What about the Young Miss?’ Madam erupted, weeping and swearing to heaven that those were her exact instructions. You did not wish to quarrel openly with your uncle and aunt, so the matter ended there.

“As for this wedding, it is plausible that the Young Master produced seventy or eighty thousand taels, given the old madam’s wealth. But I don’t believe Master and Madam also contributed that much. It isn’t that they lack the money; they would never willingly part with it. Your mother left a dowry list that can be checked. But the property your father left is far harder to verify!”

Another maid said, “Minor discrepancies are one thing, but surely a large sum couldn’t simply vanish?”

The first maid snorted. “Why not? The old madam adored our Young Miss and raised her after her mother died. Would she truly leave the Young Miss not a single coin? Impossible! If Madam could do something that heartless, what wouldn’t she dare?”

Lin Lanyi smiled. She cracked a pine nut from the fruit dish and placed it lightly in her mouth. “Perhaps Aunt is considering how to silence me right now.”
Lowering her lashes, Lin Lanyi beckoned her maid closer and instructed softly, “Your brother works outside and attracts less notice. Have him handle something for me the day after tomorrow…”

In fact, Lin Lanyi’s guess was perfectly correct. Mother Lin was discussing with her matron how to dispose of the niece left by the senior branch.

“Having her in this household was troublesome enough. Now Tao Chuqing has arrived too!”

Matron Chen massaged her shoulders and coaxed, “Madam, however unhappy you are, endure it for now-for the Young Master’s sake. You saw how he dotes on her. Even when striking a rat, one must take care not to smash the precious vase beside it! No matter how much the Young Madam displeases you, she’s your junior and daughter-in-law. As her mother-in-law, you can control her however you please. Make her observe rules or give the Young Master a concubine. There are countless ways to deal with her. The Eldest Young Miss is different. She’s old enough to have ambitions. Two years ago, she already incited her maternal relatives to cause trouble. Now that you’ve moved the funds left by the former Master, you must deal with her first!”

Mother Lin sat straighter and nodded. “You’re right. Hefeng is infatuated with Madam Tao. I can’t damage my bond with my son over that little hussy. Lanyi, on the other hand, must be removed as soon as possible!”

…

On the day Lin Lanyi visited Fu’an Temple, Zhu Yuanzhang rose early, opened his wardrobe, and began dressing himself up.

“This sapphire-blue robe is good. It improves my complexion!”

“Or should I wear the bright red one? It looks so spirited!”

“But Old Ma is going to pray for her late parents. Would dressing this gaudily be inappropriate?!”

The emperors: “…”

They sat around the table without expression and silently watched his performance.

Zhu Yuanzhang studied himself in the mirror for half an hour before choosing the sapphire-blue round-collared robe. With a jade belt and black boots, he looked like a saber drawn from its sheath-cold, sharp, and heroic.

After another look, he frowned. “Why does it feel as though I’m going to war…?”

Liu Che had grown impatient and rolled his eyes. “Why not shave your head and become a monk at Fu’an Temple? You’re familiar with the process.”

Still looking in the mirror, Zhu Yuanzhang fastened a jade pendant at his waist. “Do you also offer an on-demand fighting service?”

Every emperor’s gaze shifted toward one spot.

Liu Che: “…”

He obediently closed his mouth.

…

Pines and cypresses stretched for miles outside Fu’an Temple. Autumn had withered the flowers, but chrysanthemums lined both sides of the temple steps, golden as the summer sun.

Zhu Yuanzhang arrived early. Instead of entering, he pretended to admire the view and paced before the temple for over an hour. At last, a subordinate ran up. “Your Highness, the Lin Family’s carriage has arrived!”

She was here!

Zhu Yuanzhang relaxed, then immediately grew nervous.

Would it be her?

If so, what should he say?

*You were my wife in your last life, so you must be my wife again?*

That sounded like something a scoundrel would say!

His heart in turmoil, Zhu Yuanzhang cleared his throat and walked a few hundred paces behind the temple as if taking a stroll. After judging enough time had passed, he turned back toward the main gate.

He had already studied the distance from the carriage stop to the gate. When he returned, a procession of servants approached. Two matrons cleared the way. Behind them walked a girl of fifteen or sixteen, with gently rounded cheeks and almond eyes. She was dignified, bright, and composed.

It was her!

Their gazes met, and Zhu Yuanzhang stopped. Memories of the storms they had weathered through decades together surged within him. Lin Lanyi saw a thousand unspoken words in the young man’s eyes. He felt strangely familiar, and she stopped, momentarily lost.

Her maid gently nudged her. “Young Miss?”

Lin Lanyi recovered. Heat touched her face as she hurriedly looked away and climbed the steps.

After several steps, she stopped and glanced back.

The young man still stood in the distance, watching her steadily. When their gazes met again, sorrow and joy mingled on his face. He smiled and bowed.

Lin Lanyi did not evade him this time. She turned and gracefully curtsied in return.

“Young Miss?” her maid called again.

Lin Lanyi resumed walking and murmured in puzzlement, “How strange. I feel as though I’ve met him somewhere…”

Zhu Yuanzhang watched her slender figure disappear. Still staring after her, he whispered, “It’s her.”

After circling through two lifetimes, they had found each other again. From somewhere came the distant sound of poetry, stirring bewildering longing.

Meeting you for the first time felt like an old friend coming home.

Beneath the new moon at the edge of the world, I longed for you from dawn to dusk.