The mule market was surrounded by two hundred village braves, and Lin Zonghai, the commander of the village camp, rushed over to see him as soon as he learned that the master had arrived. Lin Zonghai also arrived just a moment earlier than Lin Tingxun, and he hurriedly came with the sweat on his forehead still not dry, but he didnt understand the situation either. The second son, Lin Xuzong, was still being held by Lin Lians hands, and those few rough outsiders who sold horses were helping Lin Lian to block the village braves outside.
Someone held a knife to Er Gongzis neck, and Lin Zonghai didnt dare let the village brave men rush up to grab him.
At this time, dozens of wind lanterns were hung again inside and outside the mule market. The night sky was bright with moonlight, and the mule market was as bright as day. All unrelated people had been driven out, leaving only two teams of rural soldiers surrounding Lin Xie and his men within the wooden fence. When they saw Lin Tingxuan coming over, they made way for him.
Lin Tingxuns face was deeply wrinkled, but his eyes were bright and spirited. Surrounded by guards, he walked up close and stared at Lin Xie: "Let him go, whatever it is, tell me, dont make a fool of yourself in front of outsiders."
Lin Xie naturally wouldnt let Lin Xu Zong go easily, saying: "After escaping from Baisha County, I stayed in Tinghu for a few days with the boat. This Wu Ye was selling horses in Tinghu at that time. I thought our village was short of horses, why not invite him to sell horses at Lins Ferry? But unexpectedly, when I went to the county today to help with something, I came back and heard that Wu Ye was surrounded by Zhao Neng, this beast, in the mule market and couldnt escape, wanting to force a sale. Baisha County still owes me an account, but he dares to treat my invited guest like this? Even if it wasnt me who invited him to Lins Ferry, when did our family ever force merchants to sell or buy at Lins Ferry? If word gets out, wont it ruin the reputation of Lins Ferry Grass Market? What kind of servant is this that I should be polite to? Even if he was still serving in front of the master, I would still want to bring him before the master for questioning. How could he have been dismissed by the master already? Just as I was scolding Zhao Neng, Second Young Master came over and punched me right in the face. I barely dodged it, but Second Young Master fell onto his butt into the horse dung, getting angry and humiliated. He even ordered people to tie us up and throw us into the river, insulted my deceased parents, and threatened to dig up our ancestral grave. After going through two near-death experiences in Baisha County, I understood a truth: being poor and downtrodden doesnt allow for bullying. Im no longer the timid child from before I went to Baisha County. I dont want anything else; as a Lin family son, how could I engage in self-destruction? Even if I killed Second Young Master, what good would it do me? I just want Second Young Master to apologize at my parents grave..."
Lin Xuans words were filled with a fierce and intimidating aura, leaving everyone in the scene speechless. No one present had experienced life-and-death struggles, let alone twice in a short period of time, so no one knew how much a persons temperament would change after going through such ordeals. All they knew was that the Lin Xuan before them was no longer the weak and timid Lin Xiucan he once was. Even without any physical strength to bind a chicken, he dared to make the second most important person in the Lin family kneel before him, holding a knife to his throat and threatening his life. This kind of audacity was something that no one present dared to claim they possessed.
Lin Tingxun narrowed his eyes and looked at Lin Xie, only to see that this time he had returned transformed, unlike before. He was still puzzled as to why Lin Xie had refused the Nanxi Village house yesterday, but it turned out that he had looked down on that little trick. This courage of his might be called reckless, but his words were well-connected, grasping the fundamental interests of the Lin family and the great righteousness of helping Lin Du. He publicly forced himself to punish Xuzong and Zhao Neng, and he also established his prestige in public. Unexpectedly, the White Sand County robbery case had produced a remarkable person for the Lin family. As for whether he was a loyal hunting dog or an ambitious wolf cub, it was still hard to say.
Lin Tingxun looked at Jia Shengzi Zhao, who was hiding in the crowd, and beckoned him to come over. With a loud slap, he shouted, "Kneel down! Who allowed you to force people to buy and sell in the donkey market, ruining the Lin familys rules?"
Zhao Nai only then realized that the several outsiders selling horses were actually invited by Lin Lian. He thought to himself, didnt these outsiders just insist that those horses were ordered by merchants from Jiangning? Even if everyone knew in their hearts that he was acting on behalf of Second Master, Zhao Nai also knew that at this time he had to stubbornly deny it and couldnt admit it, otherwise Second Master might really be forced to go to Lin Lians family tomb to kowtow and apologize.
Zhao did not dare resist and knelt down with his knees bent.
Lin Tingxun ordered in a low and stern voice: "Tie him up first and send him to the ancestral temple to await his fate."
The man took the rope and dragged Zhao Nai down, Lin Tingxun looked at Lin Fu again, seemingly not seeing that Lin Fus knife was still on his sons neck, and said with great comfort: "The Lin family is indeed lacking a son like you who takes responsibility. I think your parents in the underworld will also feel comforted. Since your mind is all about the Lin family and you consider everything for the Lin family, why did you refuse my kindness yesterday? This made me very disappointed."
The people around took a cold breath and thought that Lao Fazhu was indeed formidable, originally having valued Lin Xiuzai highly all along.
Lin Xuan handed the knife to Zhou Pu, who loosened his grip. Lin Xuan was still under Zhous control. He said to Lin Tingxun, who had already shown signs of old age but still had a sharp tongue: "The master values you highly. As the ancients said, No achievement, no reward. I understand this principle from reading the classics. I have not achieved anything in the Lin family, how dare I accept such a generous reward? When I was young, I studied at the clans charity school and grew up to receive financial assistance from the clan to take the imperial examination in Jiangning. Luckily, I passed, but I havent repaid the family yet. What face do I have to live in the mansion of Nanxi Village?"
The villagers of Upper Lin, the clansmen of the Lin family, all gathered around. Three clan elders also rushed over one after another. As usual, they first scolded Lin Mou for a while. After listening to explanations, everyone said that Zhao Neng deserved punishment, but no one mentioned the issue with Second Master Lin Xuzong. The other powerful families in Upper and Lower Lin heard about the commotion here and, although they couldnt show their delight at others misfortune on their faces, also sent people over to observe. Lin Tingxun was old and frail, his eyesight failing, he didnt have many years left to live. His eldest son, Lin Xuweng, had succeeded him in his official position in Yanjing. The youngest son was still a child, if the second son, Lin Xuzong, were to die unexpectedly, the Lin family would truly be in an uproar.
Lin Tingxun seemed to be considering Lin Xies words, and out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at his seventh wife, seeing that she had a concerned look in her eyes. He furrowed his brow slightly, realizing that Lin Xies composure and deep scheming far exceeded his expectations. He thought to himself, how could Xun Zong tolerate this humiliation today? How would this kid be willing to serve under Xun Zong in the future? If he were allowed to grow stronger, he might become a great calamity for the Lin family. Lin Tingxun genuinely felt that he had grown old, thinking that he was still in his prime, and yet their clan had produced such an outstanding individual, but before he could even feel happy about it, he already had such worries. However, at present, in front of the village braves and other powerful clans, he couldnt help but deal with this matter fairly.
Lin Tingxun furrowed his brow and looked at his second son, Lin Xuexiong, who was kneeling on the ground. "You will be the future head of the household," he said. "Not to mention that Lin Xugong has a reputation to uphold, even as an ordinary member of the clan, you should show sufficient respect. You have disappointed me..." He turned his head and ordered the people beside him, "Tie up the second young master and send him to the ancestral temple!" The people around him exchanged uneasy glances. The knife was still pressed against the second sons neck, so how could they possibly go and tie him up?
Zhao Hu quickly understood the situation and saw the signal in Lin Xies eyes. He hastily took the rope and walked over to bind Second Master Lin Xus hands behind his back, tying a secure knot. Then, he directly pulled Second Master towards the outside of the wooden fence enclosure, still keeping him under his control. In reality, no one knew that he had already firmly decided to follow Lin Xie, even Second Master Lin Xu himself was quite cooperative and allowed him to bind him.
Lin Jingchang was able to guess a thing or two, and he hesitated for a moment before going over to help Zhao Hu take the second young master to the ancestral temple.
On this side, Zhou Pu also returned the knife to Lin Xie and sheathed it. Wu Qi, the crow, and two fake horse traders did not need to pretend any posture with Lin Tingxun, still holding their knives in hand, bowing to Lin Xie and saying: "We trusted Lin Xiuzai to come to Lin Du, but today it seems that Lin Xiuzai alone is not enough to make this deal happen. Well take our leave first. If theres any trouble in the future, just send a message... Well only take six horses away. Lin Xiuzai has already fallen out with his clansmen for our sake, and we hope that leaving the remaining ten horses behind can slightly alleviate our guilt."
Others exclaimed in surprise, thinking that Lin Xiūcái actually had such great ability to make friends with such a wealthy customer. To know that the second young master was worth over 3,000 taels of silver, and people were unwilling to sell even if they died, but at this time, he didnt say another word and instead gave ten horses as a gift to Lin Xiūcái.
Lin tied up early in the morning, Wu Qi nodded and left without staying.
Lin Tingxuns heart was crystal clear, and the three mens words undoubtedly revealed a deep connection with Lin Xuan. At this time, they could unhesitatingly offer ten fine horses as a gift, and in the future, if Lin Xuan encountered any difficulties, they would not stand idly by. This was equivalent to an implicit threat.
Lin Tingxun couldnt see through the true nature of these three horse traders from out of town, but just by looking at the horses they were selling and their lavish spending, he knew that they werent people to be trifled with. These horse traders usually traveled around selling horses, and it was possible that they were actually horse thieves. In any case, forcing someone to buy or sell against their will was wrong, and Lin couldnt help but wonder what kind of experiences Lin Xiu had after this ordeal.
Lin Tingxun waved his hand, indicating that the village braves should let them pass. Even if these three outsiders had no background, Lin Du had no reason to detain them. Watching the three outsiders ride their horses and disappear into the night, all he could hear was the sound of "deng, deng, deng" echoing from the horse hooves.
The sound of horseshoes completely disappeared in the night, and everyone came to their senses. Lin Xie, the mastermind behind todays trouble, was still standing in the mule market, and no one knew how the Lin family would deal with this thorn.
Lin Xie didnt hesitate, being tough when needed and soft when necessary, not giving Lin Tingxun an excuse to take control. He held out the knife in front of Lin Tingxun and said: "Even with many excuses, Lin Xie cant escape the blame for his impulsive mistake, startling the master is even more unforgivable. Even if the master doesnt punish Lin Xie, Lin Xie has no face to remain as a member of the Lin family, nor does he have the face to stay in Shiliang County... If the master thinks Lin Xies crime is unforgivable, this knife is Lin Xies willing offering."
Lin Tingxun suspected that if he really went to take the knife, wouldnt it be like Zhu Xun, being held hostage by this kid again. Moreover, although Lin Xuan had put the knife back in its scabbard, Zhou Pu still held a knife and stood guard one step away with a fierce gaze.
Lin Tingxun said: "You temporarily leave Linli, its better to expel you from the sect, you dont need to stay in Linli. When you leave Linli, remember that as long as the Lin family exists, you are still a Lin family disciple..." The sharpness that Lin Xuan revealed today shocked him, and Lin Tingxun was worried about letting Lin Xuan stay in Linli. When he grew up and became unstoppable, he feared that he would turn against his own sect. Since he wanted to leave himself, the outside world was vast and free, let him soar wherever he wanted. He wouldnt forget that he was a Lin family disciple after all.
