Chapter Ten: Funeral Procession

  Fine snowflakes fluttered and fell, covering the ground in a thick layer. The winds that had stopped for a night began to howl again, whipping up another fierce snowstorm.

  Today is the day of the funeral procession for the Crown Prince and the Sixth Princess.

  Lin Zhaoyan sat properly on a small, purple sandalwood stool by the window, copying books. Through the brocade windows, she could faintly hear the mournful cries and wails coming from within the imperial city.

  "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows. Like dew drops and flashes of lightning, they should be viewed as such." The Buddha spoke thus, Elder Subhuti...

  Thick ink flowed onto the plain white silk paper, stroke by stroke, amidst the howling wind outside and the mournful tolling of the funeral bell, but Lin Zhao's heart was exceptionally calm.

  "All the heavenly and human beings in the world, as well as the Asuras, upon hearing what the Buddha had said, were all greatly delighted and faithfully accepted and practiced it."

  The last stroke fell, Lin Zhaoyan put down the white jade brush, picked up the paper, and gently blew dry the ink marks on it.

  "Miss." Man Er lifted the curtain and entered the house, holding a small red lacquer tea tray carved with lotus leaves and water chestnuts. She said sympathetically: "You didn't sleep well last night, and you got up early again today to copy, Miss, take a rest for a while and have some hot orange tea to warm yourself up."

  "Good." Lin Zhaoyan did not decline, stretched out his hand to take the teacup from Man's hands, and the warmth spread from his fingertips to his limbs.

  She took a light sip of tea, warm and sweet, and couldn't help but close her eyes slightly.

  "The old lady and the Hou couple, as well as our mistress, left at three o'clock in the morning. At this hour, they should have arrived at the palace by now." Man said, circling behind Lin Zhaoyan to massage her shoulders while speaking.

  "Hmm." Lin Zhaoyan nodded and asked, "Do you know which girls followed him?"

  "Third sister was placed under house arrest and couldn't go, the other few were also born out of wedlock, so only our fifth sister followed."

  Indeed.

  Lin Zhaoyan hooked up the corner of his lips, and his eyes hid a cold intent.

  No matter how much favoritism is shown, in the face of power it's just a moon in the water, a flower in the mirror; with just one touch, it vanishes into thin air.

  "Miss, let's appeal to the old lady, continuing like this won't work out. Even if we don't want to fight for a spot in the palace, can't we at least go out sometimes? Man Shuang thought of Lin Zhao Yan and Lin Ruo Yan being sisters from the same mother, one could enter the palace and enjoy glory, while the other had to copy books in an icy room, feeling wronged and unwilling."

  The girl has been diligent and well-behaved since childhood, knowledgeable about books and etiquette, and has never done anything improper, so why did she incur the dislike of the old lady and her husband?

  "There's no rush." Lin Zhaoyan said with an unhurried expression, "It will be released eventually, and it won't be too late."

  In the palace, mourning for the crown prince lasted for three months. Three months later, Empress Dowager could invite various young ladies from different clans to enter the palace for inspection. Her father, Lin Chen, would take at most a month and a half to travel from Yiling to the capital. By then, she was sure to be released.

  She has about half a month's time to take action, so there is no hurry.

  The more anxious you are, the easier it is to make mistakes, just like Wu Fang and Lu Shi.

  It turned out that Lin Zhao's words were not wrong after all.

  After she had copied seventeen Buddhist scriptures in her room, Old Lady Lin lifted her house arrest.

  It's even faster than I imagined, because after the 37th day, the whole government will go to Lingyun Temple to pray for blessings and transcendence for the crown prince and the sixth princess, as well as to dispel disasters and difficulties for the Jian'an Marquis Manor.

  The first thing after lifting the ban was to go and pay respects to Old Lady Lin, Lin Zhaoyan brought a thick stack of Buddhist scriptures to Rongshou Hall.

  After entering the house, in addition to Lin Jinming who was also unsealed, he unexpectedly found that Lin Ruoyan was also present.

  Lin Zhaoyan just happened to hear her say: "Although grandmother did not punish Ruòér for copying scriptures, Ruòér felt deeply ashamed. On that day, Ruòér also had an inescapable responsibility and should not have been provoked by San Jiejie's words. It was not the behavior of a virtuous woman, and it also implicated Si Jiejie who had kindly intervened to save the situation. Ruòér's mistake is indeed unforgivable, so for these past ten or more days, she has locked herself in the Qing Xiang Pavilion copying books, seeking forgiveness from San Jiejie and Si Jiejie."

  Mrs. Lin's eyes narrowed into a slit, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but praise, "If your sister can be so broad-minded and forgiving, knowing what's wrong and changing it, your third and fourth sisters won't be petty and calculating with you."

  Kneeling on the ground, Lin Jingming clenched his lips and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, "Yes, what did Fifth Sister do wrong? It was my fault that day, I'm apologizing to you now."

  Lin Ruoyan also bowed and returned a courtesy, her eyes happened to glance at Lin Zhao Yan standing by the door.

  "Fourth sister..."

  Lin Zhaoyan snapped out of his deep thoughts and hastily stepped forward to pay his respects to Old Lady Lin, presenting her with the copied scriptures.

  Mrs. Lin took over the thick stack of scriptures, flipped through them casually, and saw that the small characters were written neatly and rigorously, obviously the result of hard work every day, and couldn't help but raise a satisfied smile at the corner of her mouth.

  But in an instant, he became serious again.

  Siya actually is very good, just...

  Mrs. Lin didn't let herself think too much, raised her hand to signal the sisters to get up, and instructed: "This is right, one stroke can't write a word 'Lin', we are all family members, sisters should help each other, love each other, what kind of hatred can't be dissolved? This matter will end here, don't mention it again in the future."

  The sisters nodded in agreement and backed out of the room.

  As soon as they left Rongshou Hall, Lin Jinming, who had been forcing a smile, regained his arrogant demeanor. "Don't think I've really forgiven you guys; it was all just an act. From now on, the three of us are sworn enemies!"

  Then she said to Lin Ruoyan: "You want to enter the palace? There is no door, and I was also let out in the same way?"

  Lin Ruoyan however changed her usual sharp tongue, lightly laughed and said: "Then please third sister wait with bated breath!" After finishing speaking, she didn't care about her reaction, turned around and left.

  Lin Jinming gritted his teeth in hatred and turned to leave with a flick of his sleeve.

  "Really stupid." Lin Zhaoyan gazed at her back, muttering a sentence.

  Who says that letting her out means she can enter the palace? Although what happened that day only resulted in her being under house arrest for half a month, it had already made clear Lin old madam's stance.

  There is also Lu Shi, she must not want Lin Jinming to enter the palace, otherwise there would not be that farce, otherwise, Old Lady Lin would not give up on Lin Jinming. If Lu Shi did not want it, how could Old Lady Lin force her?

  Really stupid... Liu and Lin Ruoyan.

  Who says that entering the palace will necessarily be better? It's just a woman's benevolence. If you want to know how miserable Princess Liu died, see who dares to drill into the imperial palace one by one.

  Lin Ruoyan even changed her own nature in order to enter the palace!

  What else could it be?!!

  Lin Zhaoyan let out a low sigh and also stepped forward, walking ahead.

  Nothing is more frustrating than being forced to work overtime on a Saturday by the boss with back-to-back calls!

  I really want to write something ~

  Thank you for the blessing of peace from Tiankongyimianlan!

  Thank you for the auspicious Fu symbol of happiness and prosperity from Caimitu!