Chapter 25: Eradicating Evil Slave Lin's Old Grievance (Part 1)

  Before one's eyes, early spring has arrived. The spring in Jiangnan is like a bride-to-be, who must dress up beautifully before going to her husband's home. In the Lin family's large mansion, there are green bricks, white walls, small bridges and flowing water, with slender willows on the banks and clean stone slabs under the trees. Every now and then, there is a peach blossom tree, half white and half pink, half open and half closed, making people linger and stop in their tracks.

  Family members have already changed into spring clothes, the plum blossoms in Meigui Pavilion are in full bloom, Jiangmei, Gongfenmei, Dahongmei, Yudiemei, Zhushamei, Sajinmei, Huangxiangmei, Zaomei, Xingmei, Zhao Shuimei, Longyoumei, densely packed, like a snowy sea.

  Daiyu was sitting in the outhouse teaching two children to read and recognize characters. Since her younger brother and sister came, her life had become more fulfilling and interesting. Her brother often advised her not to write those melancholic poems and also invited famous doctors from Jiangnan to treat her. Daiyu's illness was getting better day by day. In the past spring and autumn seasons, Daiyu would inevitably have a cough, but this year she didn't even once, which delighted Xiangyun who said it was the blessing of the Bodhisattva.

  Daiyu gazed at the two children's small heads, feeling an extra tenderness towards them.

  After the night of the lunar eclipse, Xue Qi and Rong Ze also knew that these two people were their cousins, treated them well, had food and clothing here, didn't go hungry, and wouldn't be beaten. The sister was still fragrant and taught them to recognize words. Children are the most innocent and pure, whoever treats them well, they understand clearly in their hearts.

  Xue Qi is already seven years old, but looks only five or six years old. She has been well taken care of lately and her face has become plump and rosy. After dressing up, she is a lovely young lady. At the moment, she is sitting at the table drawing red flowers.

  Rong Ze was too young, only four years old, and Dai Yu didn't want to restrain him, so she called him to play in the courtyard. However, today outside was drizzling with rain, making the small path in the courtyard slippery, and naturally Dai Yu didn't dare let him go out to play. She sat on the Luohan bed holding Rong Ze and told him the story of Meng Mu San Qian. The side room still had silver frost charcoal burning, and outside the sky was somewhat dark, so Zi Juan lit the lamps, making the room bright and warm. A wave of warmth came from the incense burner.

  Because it was raining, Daiyu ordered the servants in the garden to simply sweep today, and the old women who patrolled each place just needed to pay attention. Others who received this message were still okay, but the little maids in each courtyard were overjoyed. On ordinary days when the weather was fine, they had to sweep the big yard, clean the house, and the sisters in charge would order them to fetch things and run around everywhere. Today, the young lady showed mercy, and everyone gathered in groups of three or five, sat under the corridor, listened to the sound of raindrops hitting the ground, and did needlework while chatting and laughing under the natural light.

  The four third-class maids, Xianghui and Xiangshan, in the Meigong courtyard received a piece of satin silk handkerchief from their mistress the other day. The colors were bright and the workmanship was exceptionally fine. Sister Bidi said that this was a new style from inside the palace, sent by the young ladies of the Dongpinghou Mansion. The mistress thought these few pieces were too gaudy, so she only kept those simple ones to give away, and gave the rest to her personal maids.

  Zi Juan looked at these few people, small in stature and well-behaved on a daily basis, so she let the four of them go first. Xiang Hui and the others were clever and quick-witted, naturally choosing those that didn't catch the eye, leaving the good ones for the older sisters who ranked one or two.

  The four of them were sitting under the veranda discussing what kind of flower pattern to embroider when they saw a girl with her hair down and disheveled running into the Visiting Plum Pavilion, with two old women who guarded the courtyard chasing after her from afar.

  Xiang Wei and the others had never seen this girl before, but seeing her rush towards the main room of the maiden's house, they hastily got up to stop her. The four of them were stronger after all, and they actually pinned the girl to the ground. The two old women who came running from behind were so frightened that they trembled with fear, repeatedly thanking Xiang Wei and the others, saying: "Thank you, sisters! If it weren't for you, a great disaster would have occurred!" As she spoke, she still wanted to use her handkerchief to stuff the girl's mouth.

  Who would have thought that this girl actually had some strength, shaking her head and not letting the old woman stuff her mouth, shouting loudly: "Miss, save us, miss, save us, young master wants to kill my whole family! Miss!"

  The old woman took one look and kicked the girl in the back with one foot, her face fell on the bluestone slab, but fortunately didn't bleed. The two were just about to overpower her when they saw Zijuan walking out of the main house with an umbrella, seeing the looks on their faces, she frowned: "Xianghui, what are you doing?"

  Xiang Wei replied, "Sister Zi Juan, we were working under the corridor when this girl rushed in frantically. The mothers were chasing after her from behind, and she seemed to be trying to barge into the girls' room, so we stopped her."

  The magpie saw that these people were all drenched by the rain, so she said: "You go in and change your clothes, two mothers please come with me, miss has feelings."

  Zi Juan led the woman and the girl to the side room, while Xue Qi and Rong Ze had already gone to the warm silkworm shed.

  Daiyu sat upright on the white jasmine carved soft couch, looking at the two old women standing below and the kneeling woman. She asked quietly: "Who are you? Do you know what this place is? How dare you make a disturbance here?"

  The woman sobbed softly and said, "Miss doesn't know me, my name is Dou Yuexian, my grandmother was Master's wet nurse Dou Mama, I don't know if Miss still remembers or not?"

  Daiyu thought for a while, then remembered that there seemed to be such a person, who should have been guarding the old house in Suzhou, but when people came to pay their respects to her and her brother during the New Year, she had not appeared, and Daiyu had not paid much attention. Now this Duan Yueying suddenly burst into Visiting Plum Pavilion without reporting, and she was still a bit angry.

  Daiyu said: "If you have something on your mind, just say it."

  "Miss, have mercy on us. Considering that my grandmother nursed the old master, please save our family and don't let young master send us to the government office."

  Daiyu saw that she was only talking nonsense, begging for mercy without giving any reason, and also mentioning her brother, which made her even more displeased. She said: "Alright, I'm tired too, you can go down first."

  The two old women were about to drag Duoyue Cuilian up, but she struggled and was about to pounce on Daiyu.

  Just then, a loud shout came from outside the door: "Stop! Is this young lady's room a place where you can make trouble?" Lin Zhiyuan walked in with an iron face.

  Daiyu hastily got up to greet her.

  Dong Yueying, who was kneeling on the ground, saw Lin Zhixian and was so frightened that she trembled with fear, no longer resembling her frantic state when she had just escaped from her mother-in-law.

  Zhiyuan said: "Let sister be frightened. This matter was originally intended to be handled privately, but unexpectedly these few women were useless and actually let her run out."

  Two old mothers heard this and hurriedly knelt down on the ground, but did not beg for mercy. Daiyu then knew that her brother had set a rule for the servants: if they made a mistake, they would be punished, and they shouldn't think about begging for mercy.

  "Brother, what's going on?" Daiyu asked.

  "Let me tell you, sister," said Zhiyuan, "I was afraid that if I told you earlier, you would get anxious and flustered again, so I didn't say anything. But now that things have come to this point, I might as well tell you. This woman's grandmother was the wet nurse of your second uncle, and because of her seniority, she had gained a lot of trust from your grandmother. After your second uncle moved to Yangzhou, they were put in charge of managing the old mansion in Suzhou. Although I knew about the things that went on in the old mansion while I was living apart, my father being a concubine-born son made it difficult for me to say anything. This woman, Du Yuechan, has been living in our house and acting like the mistress, with all the servants and maids assigned by your second uncle to clean up Suzhou doing nothing but catering to her family's every need. You have no idea what kind of state this old mansion was in before!"

  Daiyu was greatly shocked and wondered why her brother's complexion had been poor.

  Zhiyuan continued: "This Duan Yuexian has grown up like a young lady, and the servants in her family are all proper and serious. There are four maidservants alone. They think that since the old house is spacious, each son and grandson or granddaughter should have their own courtyard. Humph! To tell you the truth, sister, it's likely that you've taken Duan Yuexian's courtyard!"

  "What?" Daiyu could hardly believe it, how dare the servants in their house be so bold. The Visiting Plum Pavilion was where the legitimate children of the Lin family had lived for generations, and a maid actually dared to enter.

  "Sister, there's no need to be surprised. This matter is probably known by everyone in Suzhou from top to bottom. Second Uncle has been in Yangzhou for a long time, and Duan Pozi was Second Uncle's wet nurse. It's just that no one told Second Uncle about this reason. As soon as Lin Zhiyuan took over the Lin family business, he sent people to the old mansion to capture Duan Pozi and her family. These slaves had been deceiving their superiors and bullying those below them in the old mansion, throwing their weight around. Duan Pozi used to be a trusted confidante of Old Lady Lin, and she was not unrelated to the death of Zhiyuan's father. She often gave advice to Old Lady Lin. Therefore, Lin Zhiyuan could never tolerate her."

  Daiyu thought that her father had been deceived for so many years, and her heart was as if being cut by a knife. Her brother said that everyone in Suzhou knew about it, and who knows how many people were secretly gossiping about the Lin family's shame behind their backs. Father, her father's reputation was completely ruined. Thinking of these things, Daiyu's tears couldn't stop flowing down.

  Zhiyuan saw that she was busy and said: "Sister, don't be sad. Now brother is going to deal with these slaves seriously. I just hope you won't watch and feel soft-hearted."

  "Brother, just do it. No matter how great the credit is for their family, that's still Duan mom's business. Brother only needs to spare Duan mom's life, and as for others, whether to sell or beat them, it's all up to you. Daiyu won't interfere in the slightest."

  Leave the Dowager alone! Zhiyuan coldly snorted in his heart, not that he didn't give face to his sister, but this family was so arrogant because they had an old man who had nursed the second uncle. A few years ago, when he hadn't yet passed the imperial examination, he happened to meet Dowager's eldest son, who was riding a horse and sarcastically said that even a bastard born out of wedlock like Zhiyuan wasn't worthy of reading books! At that time, Dowager's eldest grandson was studying at Longtai Academy.

  "Let her off with just a warning, but if we don't deal with such a servant strictly, I'm afraid the other servants in the house won't obey and it will lead to trouble later on. Mother taught me that sometimes one has to use severe measures. These past few days, I haven't taken action against them because I was hoping to wait until after the New Year's celebrations are over. Now, with several of the Lin family's stewards and accountants at Fei Yan Tang, if you're willing, sister, let's go together and settle this matter once and for all."

  Daiyu nodded in agreement and also called for Nurse Strict to accompany them. The group headed towards the Flying Swallow Pavilion.

  On the way, Daiyu told herself that no matter how her brother handled it, she would support him. The Lin family only had the two siblings left, and if they were to start another dispute over a wicked servant, they would be laughed at by others. Moreover, her brother was going to take the imperial examination next year, so everything should be done carefully for the best results.

  Wish everyone a happy weekend! Jinghe sent new chapters in the morning~~~ Hope today's click-through rate can break through 6,000!!!!! ^_^