Chapter 3

On my second day back in the Lin household, I did two things.

First, if Lin Langyue wanted credit for my good deed, she had to pay for it in hard silver.

One thousand taels, plus a letter of divorce for my mother.

Mother stood behind me. The word divorce made her uneasy.

A married woman was like a kite in the wind. Once her string was cut, she did not know where she might drift.

Mother was afraid, but she was willing to be brave for me. If she fell, I would be there to catch her.

She gripped my hand and waited for the future I had chosen for her.

Father considered it. “Once your sister has successfully married into the Eastern Palace, the two of you may leave quietly. In a few years, I will tell everyone your mother died of illness. That will be best for everyone.”

After speaking, he looked Mother over carefully.

“Rongniang,” he said suddenly, “I do not believe I have mistreated you all these years.”

Mother shuddered.

Tears streamed down her face as she stared at him. “You seduced me back then. You said you did not want me married far away in Shuzhou, that I should stay in the capital and become your second wife. But afterward, the entire capital said I was shameless, that I crawled into your bed and forced you to marry me. I have lived all these years beneath their contempt, and not once did you speak in my defense.”

Lin Chengyu and Lin Langyue looked stunned. They clearly did not believe her.

Mother was fair-skinned and beautiful by nature, with a gentle disposition. Though nearly forty, she still possessed a quiet stubbornness and an innocent charm.

Father watched her in silence, something complicated flickering in his eyes.

“Father, is it true?” Lin Langyue shouted, humiliated. “No wonder Mother hated you so much before she died. She told me that if she had not been the legitimate daughter of the Chen family, you never would have married her. You actually loved a lowborn woman like Chen Rongniang? She is only the bastard daughter of a songstress! Father, how could you…”

Lin Chengyu grabbed her. “Langyue, have you gone mad? How dare you accuse Father like this?”

She wheeled on me. “This is all because of you, you little bastard!”

I picked up a cup of tea, pinched her jaw open, and poured it down her throat.

“Wash out that filthy mouth. I don’t want to hear any more of your damned nonsense.”

Lin Chengyu reached for me.

I kicked him to the ground, planted a foot on his chest, and slapped him back and forth across the face.

Touching my own cheek, I said, “I’m beautiful, so you want to sell me as some powerful man’s concubine? You are handsome enough yourself. Why don’t you go sell your ass?”

His face swelled like a pig’s as he screamed for help.

Lin Langyue circled us, crying in panic. “Let go of my brother! Let him go!”

Father stamped his feet. “Why did you provoke her? You cannot outargue her or outfight her! Lin Yupu, stop at once and tell me your second condition.”

I used his sleeve to wipe my hands.

Mother hurriedly brought me tea for my throat, afraid I might have exhausted myself beating people.

I patted her hand. “My second condition is that you clear Mother’s name. Tell everyone she did not seduce you. You were the old lecher who took a fancy to her and lured her in.”

Father frowned. “That is ancient history. Who still cares?”

“I care,” Mother whispered through her tears.

Father was reluctant. The old bastard valued his reputation.

I waved a hand. “Forget it, then. I’ll become Crown Princess myself.”

Lin Langyue panicked. “Father! You are about to become the Crown Prince’s father-in-law. Why care about a little stain on your reputation? Once our family rises, no one will dare gossip about the past.”

Lin Chengyu chimed in anxiously, “He agrees! Father agrees to everything.”

“Such filial children,” I praised. “Well done.”

I received one thousand taels in banknotes, Mother’s divorce letter, and a confession written in Father’s own hand.

Everything was perfect.

Lin Langyue held the Crown Prince’s jade pendant, turning it over and over in excitement.

The three of them were already dreaming of their glorious future.

Father lowered his voice. “Do not antagonize Lin Yupu in the coming days. She is a mad fool with no sense of ritual. There is no reasoning with a fool.”

I tossed a peanut into my mouth.

It reminded me of something my junior brother had once said. “Senior Sister, everyone says you are a little foolish. But if answering an insult and fighting back when struck make a person foolish, then being clever in this world sounds exhausting.”

Propriety dictated rules for every human interaction. A person was expected to bend, compromise, and smooth things over.

But I had been born without that particular twist in my mind. I knew only how to walk a straight road to its end.

Anyone who cursed me would eat night soil. Anyone who hit me would be beaten to death. Even the King of Heaven would receive the same treatment.

I recognized neither rank nor propriety, so everyone had called me stupid since birth.

But fools had their own blessings.

Had I not always gotten what I wanted?

Mother hurried over. “Yupu, let us flee tonight. Once Lin Langyue becomes Crown Princess, she will surely take revenge on us.”

I yawned, half asleep.

Crown Princess?

She would be lucky if the Crown Prince did not kill her.

Before the two of us parted, he had said through clenched teeth, “I may not know what you look like, but I will find you. When that day comes, you had better not kneel and beg for mercy. I will not listen to a single word.”

Tsk.

The Crown Prince hated me to the bone.

I reassured Mother. “Why leave? Stay and enjoy the show.”