Chapter 4: A Duel of Wits

  A group of young girls walked into the flower hall in a line, maidservants busily serving tea and pouring water, moving chairs and dusting them off, with fruit and sweets, everything was ready.

  Lin Jingming, the third daughter sitting at the top, whispered to her personal maid Yuntun: "Later you sneak into the side hall and listen to what mother and the others are saying."

  Sitting on one side, Da Fang Shu said with a smile: "Only San Jie has the guts to eavesdrop on Mother's private conversation."

  Lin Jinming raised his chin proudly, with a somewhat complacent expression.

  Lin Ruoyan said coldly: "Stealing and thieving is not what a gentleman does." She had always been disdainful of such sneaky and underhanded things.

  Lin Jinming's face changed, and she was about to retort, but then seemed to think of something. Her gloomy face suddenly lit up, and she looked at Lin Ruoyan with a sly smile: "Yes, yes, I'm just a little woman, not some kind of gentleman anyway. Who can compare to you, Fifth Sister? You were saved by a gentleman! Tsk tsk, those young ladies in the capital don't know how much they envy you!"

  Lin Ruoyan's face suddenly turned pale.

  Lin Jinming continued: "Sisters, do you know who saved our Fifth Sister when she fell into the lotus pond at Dong Chengxiang's mansion?"

  The girls at the scene knew and didn't know, but they all didn't dare to offend Lin Jingming, and said in unison: "I don't know, who saved her?" with a somewhat gossipy attitude.

  Lin Jinming smiled contentedly and raised his pitch, pretending to be envious: "He's the eldest son of Xiao Wangye! You guys say, how awesome is that!"

  "Is it him! Didn't they say he went to Shu?" Lin Xinming asked with feigned surprise, but his eyes couldn't hide a hint of schadenfreude.

  Lin Jinming kindly explained, "He's back, after all, he's the eldest son of Xiao Wangye. How can he stay in Shu for a lifetime? I heard that on the day Fifth Sister fell into the Lotus Pond, it just so happened that Young Master Xiao had just returned to the capital. You see, this is what they call fate in plays!"

  "It's actually, I only heard about it in operas before, who would have thought that today it happened to Fifth Sister." The two young ladies from the second house covered their faces and giggled, their mocking intention not needing to be said.

  Lin Ruoyan's face was getting uglier and uglier.

  Ke Lin Jingming still wouldn't let up, continuing to speak extravagantly, "That Prince Xiao's eldest son Xiao Qi is handsome and elegant, refined and dignified, the dream lover of many young women in Shengjing! He went to Shu a while ago, and many girls were crying tears of longing for him! Our fifth sister's luck is really too good! Ah, such a heaven-made match, why not hurry up and ask Third Aunt to propose the marriage?! In the future, who knows, our fifth sister might even become a princess!"

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  Lin Xingyan was from the third house, and by rights shouldn't have been helping others mock his own family members, but he couldn't help feeling a little smug.

  She is a concubine's daughter. Although she surpasses Lin Ruoyan and Lin Zhao in every aspect, this concubine's daughter will have her hat pressed down on her head and will never marry better than them in the future.

  Who would have thought that Lin Ruoyan actually got entangled in such a troublesome matter, and it was all because of Lin Zhaoyan's doing. It's really infuriating!

  The entire capital knows that Xiao Wangye's eldest son, Xiao Qi, is a romantic by nature and loves to linger in the land of smoke and flowers. Although he is the eldest son of Xiao Wangye, he has a charming appearance, but inside, he is a bundle of straw. In people's eyes, he is disobedient and unfilial, indulgent and unrestrained, and fundamentally useless.

  He had gone to Shu before, it was said that he also went there because of a fight with the son of Jingren Gong over a woman who sold fireworks, and as a result, he injured three of the other man's ribs. The Prince of Xiao was so angry that smoke came out of his seven orifices, and immediately demoted him to Shu, saying that he would cut off their father-son relationship and never let him enter the capital again.

  A renowned lady from Shengjing, whoever gets involved with him will have their reputation ruined for life!

  Such a spoiled young master, and no decent family's daughter is willing to marry him.

  Although Lin Ruoyan did not voluntarily get entangled with him, after all, she had a connection with him, it was the subtle relationship of a lifesaver often sung in operas. If someone with ulterior motives were to take advantage of this and make an issue out of it, Lin Ruoyan would never be able to marry into a good family again.

  "You're farting! Marrying you would be a great honor for anyone, even being your concubine!" Lin Ruoyan was so angry that she lost her composure and scolded Lin Jiaming with no regard for her words.

  This Xiao Yan is useless, and he's not even liked by the king and queen. Moreover, he has an outstanding younger brother with exceptional talent, unless the king loses his mind, he would never pass on the title to him!

  Lin Jinming deliberately patted his chest, pretending to be afraid and said: "Fifth sister is so fierce, Third Aunt is a descendant of a scholarly family, how can she not have any manners?"

  Seeing that it involved his own mother, Lin Ruoyan's rationality was finally exhausted. Regardless of three seven twenty-one, he grabbed the blue and white porcelain plate with honey on the table and wanted to throw it at Lin Jinming.

  "Be careful!" Lin Zhaoyan quickly grabbed her hand with a frown and said, "Think thrice before acting!"

  The two elder ladies, Da Fang and San Fang, were both born of the first wife, and normally didn't get along due to competing for favor. If Lin Ruoyan really did throw it away, wouldn't that be equivalent to delivering trouble right to Hou Furen's doorstep?

  "Get out! It's all your fault, you jinx!" Lin Ruoyan shook off Lin Zhaoyan's hand and slammed the fruit platter to the ground. Though her tone was strong, her voice was slightly choked with sobs.

  Lin Zhaoyan looked at her slightly red eyes and understood in his heart. He knew that Lin Ruoyan was usually arrogant and never spared anyone with her words, but when it came to actions, she was extremely cautious and had never actually laid a hand on anyone.

  This time, Lin Jinming really touched her reverse scales.

  All the sisters were frightened pale, apparently did not expect Lin Ruoyan to have such a big reaction.

  Lin Jinming let out an "ah" and jumped up from the stool, looking like he had just seen a ghost. It took him a long time to recover from the shock, after which he pointed at Lin Ruoyan's nose with a flustered expression and scolded: "Don't think that just because you have your grandmother protecting you, you can do whatever you want! Wait for me, I'll make sure all three of you won't be able to leave without losing face!"

  Lin Ruoyan sneered, just about to retort, but heard Lin Zhaoyan's soft voice, "Third sister, even if this matter is made public, will it bring glory to your face? You are slandering Ruoyan's reputation, bullying her siblings, and hurting people with vicious words. Do you think grandmother will forgive you? If one stroke can't even write the character 'Lin', Fifth Sister's reputation is ruined, how good can your own reputation be?"

  Lin Jinming's face suddenly changed, and he coldly said: "What are you? Do you have the right to speak here?"

  Lin Zhaoyan smiled lightly, and a strange light flashed in his eyes. "Third sister, I advise you to speak less, you know that trouble comes from the mouth, if you say more..."

  "Shut up!" Lin Jin's face turned pale, and she was terrified of Lin Zhao Yan's ominous words. Heaven knows how accurate Lin Zhao Yan's predictions were! Not to mention the time when Lin Ruo Yu fell into the lotus pond, but even earlier, when Lin Zhao Yan warned that something bad would happen to Huan Dong in her courtyard, the next day Huan Dong was killed by a stone thrown from a high building while she was out shopping. Because of this incident, Lin Jin didn't dare look at Lin Zhao Yan for half a month.

  Lin Zhaoyan slightly curled up the corners of his lips, unexpectedly this crow's mouth still had some benefits, no one dared to provoke him.

  The other girls in the house also didn't dare say anything more upon seeing this.

  The atmosphere was tense when Yun Zhui, who had been sent out to gather information, returned.

  Lin Jinming suppressed his anger and said in a low voice: "What did they say? What did your mother and the others say?"

  Her face looked tense and excited, she lowered her voice and said: "It's said that one of us girls will be chosen to replace the Sixth Princess to accompany the Empress Dowager in the palace!"

  "What?" The girls in the house stirred up and immediately threw away the commotion just now.

  Going to the palace to accompany the Empress Dowager is no different from being a princess!

  The girls were all extremely excited, whether they were born to the first wife or a concubine, each relied on their own abilities, as long as they were chosen, it would be an honor for life!

  Lin Ruoyan wasn't interested in this matter, she was originally a proud person and never thought that she was inferior to the princess. Moreover, in this imperial palace where people were openly fighting for power and secretly scheming against each other, living with such caution, who knew when they would suddenly die like the sixth princess?

  Lin Zhaoyan's brow furrowed, she had never dreamed of this matter, nor did she know who came up with this idea and what purpose it served. She only knew clearly that the deep palace was not a place where one could go in peace.

  She subconsciously looked over at Lin Ruoyan, seeing that her expression was still indignant, not showing any excitement like the others, and she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to waste her energy dispelling Lin Ruoyan's notions, since she herself wasn't interested, it was all for the better.

  Out of Rong Sheng Tang, walking on the way back to the courtyard, Lin Zhaoyan still fell behind as usual, hiding his own tracks.

  Ke Lin seemed to be intentionally lagging behind this time.

  Lin Zhaoyan felt a sense of unease, just as he was about to speak up, Lin Ruoyan suddenly sneered and said: "You were delighted to see me being ridiculed by them just now, weren't you? And then you pretended to be kind and stepped in to mediate, it's really disgusting! Let me tell you, I, Lin Ruoyan, won't let you get away with this! If that Xiaoxiao really has a crush on me, you should be the one to marry him!"

  "What is Fifth Sister saying? Fourth Sister also has a good heart!" As soon as Man Shuang heard this, she became anxious. Although she was worried that Fifth Sister would be bothered, she even more didn't want her own sister to marry such a spoiled young master!

  "Kindness?" Lin Ruoyan sneered with a smile, "She herself knows what she's thinking! Lin Zhaoyan, you'd better wish for your own good fortune. If Xiao Qi didn't cling to me, I would have let it go. But if you really want to use this to curry favor, humph, then just wait to become a bridesmaid!" After finishing speaking, she didn't even want to look at her again and quickly ran forward.

  "Miss, slow down, the road is slippery!" Zisu Fu retreated and hastily chased after her with a worried expression.

  "Miss, just look at Wu Niang, she can't bully you like this!" Man Shuang's mouth twitched, as if she was about to cry.

  Lin Zhaoyan looked at Lin Ruoyan's back, shook his head helplessly and said, "You're also thinking too much, if others wanted to make use of that incident, they wouldn't have waited until now."

  She wasn't worried about Xiao Xi at all, that kind of man, who was promiscuous and in his late teens, hadn't had enough fun yet, where would he be willing to settle down? And the girls from their Hou Mansion, whether they were legitimate or illegitimate, weren't ones he could casually mess with.

  Lin Ruoyan's reaction was so big because she had someone in her heart and was worried that the person would find out about this matter.

  But what Lin Zhaoyan is worried about now is the matter of choosing a girl to be by the Empress Dowager's side.

  Nor does it know what kind of storm this will stir up.

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