The Lin Family Rises Again

Lin Su took it, satisfaction showing on his face.

"Young Master Lin, what other conditions do you have?" Ding Hai felt reassured.

Lowering his head, Lin Su spotted Xiao Yao. The girl was holding her belly with both hands and leaning contentedly against the chair, seemingly unwilling to move for the moment.

"Xiao Yao, what do you want?"

Xiao Yao straightened up. "Two roast chickens!"

Everyone's eyes went wide...

Xiao Yao looked from one person to another, then sheepishly edged closer to Lin Su. "Or... one is fine too... Xiao Tao hasn't eaten yet..."

Lin Su rapped her on the head, left speechless.

Her horizons might have been a little narrow, but she still remembered her little sister had not eaten at a time like this. That was worthy of praise.

Ding Hai laughed. "Ten roast chickens, ten jars of good wine, and ten sheep. Send them to Lin Manor!"

"Yes!" The beauty smiled sweetly and turned away.

"Alright, Boss Ding. Have the poems delivered within three days!"

At last, Ding Hai's heart settled back into place, and he beamed with delight.

Lin Su turned to Bao Shan. "Mr. Bao Shan, give me that Golden Pearl... after all, it was a gift from a girl."

Bao Shan's eyes flew wide. "That's a Fox Demon!"

"She isn't an ordinary Fox Demon..."

"What?"

"She's a female Fox Demon!"

Pfft! Someone spat out the wine in their mouth.

Mr. Bao Shan raised a hand and passed the Golden Pearl to Lin Su.

"Boy, since ancient times, the sentimental have suffered most wounds. Why must hearts break again in this mortal world? Be careful—don't play yourself to death..."

Since ancient times, the sentimental have suffered most wounds. Why must hearts break again in this mortal world?

What a fine poem!

Did you write it yourself?

Had it reached five colors?

Light flickered in Lin Su's eyes...

It was already afternoon at the Lin Residence.

A group of servants in blue carried ten roasted sheep, ten chickens, and ten jars of wine to the gates.

The four imperial-bestowed characters, "Marquis of Dingnan's Estate," which had once shone for ten miles, were long gone. Only two lonely characters remained above the gate: Lin Residence.

Those two characters had been written by Lin Jialiang himself. With his attainment, he could originally have made them glow brightly enough to light the night, yet these two characters were utterly dim. Words followed the heart, and when he had written them, his heart had been blanketed in gloom. Thus, the words he wrote were equally bleak.

There was no gatekeeper.

What was there even inside the Lin Residence?

Thieves entered the gates in tears and left in tears. Who was there to fear stealing from them?

More than ten people simply pushed open the gates and entered the courtyard. Inside, weeds ran wild, and everything lay in ruin.

In the East Courtyard, Lin Jialiang lay quietly with his eyes closed.

He was not asleep, nor had he fainted. A figure had been lingering in his heart all along. That night at Jade Fragrance Tower, beneath the Mid-Autumn moon, fragrant incense curled through a room filled with spring's glow. Behind the thin smoke, her face was beautiful enough to topple kingdoms; affection brimmed in her eyes, and her voice was clear and elegant...

"Young Master, may I ask you something?"

"Go ahead!"

"A brothel can never be a home. Where should this body go?"

He had told her, "My father will return to the estate in March. When the peach blossoms bloom, I will open the side gate for you."

She had smiled. "Then my Ci Lou Banquet will be set for April." At that moment, the smile on her face had been as delicate and radiant as peach blossoms...

Time flowed on; flowers fell and flew. In the blink of an eye, March had arrived. His father had not returned to the estate, but had instead been escorted to the capital for execution. The marquisate had been stripped of its title, and the family had declined.

He had watched the peach blossoms bloom, then wither...

The woman of yesterday was holding her Ci Lou Banquet today. After the banquet, into whose household would the fallen flower drift...

Spring was waning, and he was ill. The past was beautiful in the end, but he could see no road home in the future...

The affairs of the world were ever-changing, leaving only melancholy behind. The marquis's estate today was a mess of chicken feathers scattered across the ground...

Madam Lin and Xiao Tao sat by his bedside. They did not disturb him or speak a word, for the entire morning...

Suddenly, sounds came from outside. Madam Lin was slightly startled. "Someone has come in. Xiao Tao, go take a look..."

Xiao Tao walked to the door. The moment she opened it, her gaze was drawn to the golden roasted sheep and roast chickens. Since trouble had befallen the Marquis of Dingnan's Estate, how long had it been since they had seen meat? Had she craved it so badly that everything looked like roasted sheep? Xiao Tao closed her eyes, shook her head, then opened them again. What she saw was still roasted sheep and roast chickens...

"Please inform Madam that I am the shopkeeper of Haining Tower. Young Master Lin won first place at today's Poetry Gathering, so Haining Tower has sent these modest gifts as a token of respect!"

"What?" Madam Lin sprang to her feet, as though electricity had suddenly returned after a power outage. Color abruptly returned to her cheeks as well.

Lin Jialiang's eyes snapped open, filled with disbelief. Am I dreaming? Third Brother won first place at a Poetry Gathering? Third Brother? There might be a thirty-percent chance of him taking first place in cockfighting or dog racing, but what did a Poetry Gathering have to do with him?...

Roasted sheep, roast chickens, and fine wine filed in one after another, and Xiao Tao's saliva would not stop flowing...

Madam Lin, however, personally came to the door. "Shopkeeper Li, why is it you?"

How was the man before her some ordinary waiter? He was a middle-aged man with a commanding bearing. Before the Lin Family's fall, Madam Lin had accompanied her husband to a banquet at Haining Tower and met him once. This shopkeeper was no ordinary figure—why had he personally come to the Lin Residence?

Shopkeeper Li gave a slight bow. "Greetings, Madam Lin! Your son possesses peerless poetic talent. He has been Blessed by the Saints with a Literary Root, and one day he will surely be a figure soaring like a phoenix through the heavens. Li is fortunate enough to be from the same hometown as the Lin Family and should have visited long ago. Only arriving today is already discourteous; I hope Old Madam will not blame me."

How could this be possible? Madam Lin's lips trembled. "My son... my son... has poetic talent? And he was granted a Literary Root?"

"More than merely poetic talent—he is a peerless genius! When Third Young Master produced two Seven-Colored Poems, not only would Haining be remembered for a thousand ages, but all of Quzhou gained three more measures of spring splendor. Congratulations, Old Madam!"

With another bow, he withdrew.

Madam Lin shook from head to toe. Her illness seemed completely cured at that instant as she hurried to the bedside in a few steps. "Second Son, what... what is going on? Did you write poems for him?"

Lin Jialiang looked utterly bewildered. "No... Besides, how could I possibly write Seven-Colored Poems?... My Poetic Dao Attainment cannot even touch a Golden Light Poem..."

A shout came from outside. "Mother, Second Brother..."

"Third Brother is back..."

Madam Lin spun around sharply and saw Lin Su and Xiao Yao. Lin Su had left the house that morning looking limp and listless, yet now his face was glowing with health. Xiao Yao was too... Oh, no, hers was glowing with oil...

"Third Son, you..." Madam Lin threw out every question in one breath and immediately received affirmative answers.

"What exactly happened?"

Lin Su offered an explanation. "Mother, I... perhaps Father's spirit in heaven blessed me. I suddenly felt the path of literature open wide, as though divine help had descended..."

This was the one good thing about Feudal Society: if something could not be explained, simply attribute it to ghosts and gods, and an answer seemed to appear at once. Everyone in the room had an expression of sudden understanding...

Madam Lin's face was flushed with excitement as well. "Third Son, come with Mother to worship the Lin Family's Founding Ancestors and thank your father's spirit in heaven..."

They left. Lin Jialiang watched them go. A trace of heartache had just been pressed down by surprise, only to rise again...

There was something he had not had time to ask—or perhaps did not dare ask.

He wanted to ask what had become of Yu Lou...

In truth, he already had an answer in his heart. He simply did not dare confirm it...

The Lin Family had fallen to such a state. He had not even attended her Ci Lou Banquet today. Their promise of old had naturally become yesterday's yellow flowers. Since Zhang Xiu had already set his sights on her, who under heaven could escape his poisonous hands? Much less a helpless woman like her...

Lin Jialiang broke into another violent fit of coughing...

Suddenly, a figure appeared beside his bed. "My lord!"

Lin Jialiang abruptly lifted his head. Standing before him, smiling softly with tenderness in her eyes—if it was not Yu Lou, then who was it?

Lin Jialiang's entire body stiffened, and he could scarcely believe his eyes.

"Yu Lou... is it really you?"

"My lord, have you forgotten?... On the day Yu Lou left the tower, you would open the side gate for me!"

Her gentle voice reached him, and Lin Jialiang felt as though he were dreaming...

Yu Lou gently placed herself in his embrace. "Yu Lou left the tower today and dared not tell you. I had planned to come quietly tonight, but you knew after all, and even had your Third Brother bring me such a fine poem. With your heart being so true, why should Yu Lou care about the eyes of others? From this moment onward, I belong to you..."

Lin Jialiang was deeply shaken. A poem? What poem...

After an interminably long and extraordinarily complicated round of worship, Lin Su and his mother left the Ancestral Hall.

As they headed back toward Second Brother's East Courtyard, both suddenly stopped.

A woman emerged from the kitchen carrying a large bowl. Though she wore plain clothes at the moment, she was still peerlessly graceful.

"Yu Lou, Sister!" Lin Su said with a smile. "You're here!"

"Third Young Master!" Yu Lou said. "..." Her gaze fell upon Madam Lin, and her expression changed slightly.

She vaguely guessed the identity of the woman before her. This was the only obstacle to her entering the Lin Family—if there was still an obstacle at all. Back then, when Lin Jialiang had wanted to take her into the household, the Marquis and Madam had rejected her because of her brothel background.

Why? This era stressed matching social status. Great households often only formed marriages with other great households, so officials and their children rarely took brothel women as concubines. A brothel woman could be played with, but granting her a proper status would be a stain.

Though the Lin Family had now declined, it was still a great household after all. A starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Would Madam change her views? Yu Lou had no confidence...

"Yu Lou, Sister, this is my mother!" Lin Su introduced them.

Yu Lou gave a deep bow. "Yu Lou greets... Madam!"

Storm clouds shifted across Madam Lin's face. She nodded reluctantly but said nothing.

Yu Lou saw that expression. As a woman who had thrived amid the winds and moon of the pleasure quarters, how could she not understand? Her heart was already trembling with unease...

Lin Su said, "Yu Lou, Sister, take the soup to my brother first."

"Alright!" Yu Lou rose and left.

Entering the room, Yu Lou helped Lin Jialiang sit up and fed him soup by the spoonful. Steam rose before them, and her eyelashes trembled lightly...

"Yu Lou, what is it?"

"My lord... Madam... Madam is quite displeased. Yu Lou fears that in the end..."

What? Lin Jialiang's heart sank sharply.

In the courtyard, Madam Lin slowly turned her gaze toward Lin Su. "Third Son, this... this will not do!"

"Mother means Yu Lou, Sister, and Second Brother? It won't do?"

Madam Lin slowly nodded.

"Why not?"

Madam Lin sighed. "Third Son, you are still young. There are many things you do not understand..." She explained her thoughts from beginning to end...

Lin Su said, "Mother, there are indeed many things I do not understand, but I understand one thing: when a person stands in this world, character comes first. The Lin Family has fallen to this state, and even the household servants fled in droves. Yu Lou, Sister, could originally have accepted the Zhang Family's thousand taels of silver as bride price and lived thereafter in brocade and fine food, yet at this time she chose to join the Lin Family. How precious is that? If we turn her away at the door, whose heart in the world would not grow cold?"

Madam Lin was moved...

Lin Su continued, "As for her effect on Second Brother, Mother need not worry. Yu Lou, Sister, only wishes to remain with Second Brother until they grow old together. She does not care about status."

Madam Lin's eyes brightened. "As long as it does not affect your Second Brother, then naturally Mother will not be such a cold-hearted person! Tell her to come over. Mother will talk with her."

Lin Su entered Second Brother's room. Lin Jialiang and Yu Lou, both tense, looked up at him at the same time. Their eyes held some fear, some speculation, and some grievance...

"Yu Lou, Sister, my mother wants to speak with you."

Yu Lou trembled lightly. "Alright, I'll go at once!"

She looked deeply at Lin Jialiang, then lowered her head and left the room.

"Third Brother, Mother... what is Mother's opinion?" Lin Jialiang's hands were trembling.

"Second Brother, rest assured! Mother has already agreed!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Lin Jialiang suddenly felt a breath surge from the soles of his feet straight through to his brain. Every knot in his heart dissolved at once, and his illness was half cured.

Yu Lou, who had just stepped through the doorway, also shuddered all over, and her steps became light...

She spoke with Madam Lin for a long time in the Main Wife's quarters. When she came out, rosy clouds colored her face, and the knot in her heart had completely loosened...

Madam Lin's mood had improved as well, and she gave instructions regarding the household. Haining Tower had sent so much meat today that they could not finish it all, so they should send some to Mei Niang and Old He. Mei Niang and Old He were both members of the Lin Household. When the Lin Family's tree fell and the monkeys scattered, most of the household servants had run away, but Mei Niang and Old He were exceptions. When the Lin Family had no food, they left the household to reduce expenses and took odd jobs outside. Every so often, they quietly placed two or three cornbread buns at the main gate, deeply moving Old Madam Lin.

The Lin Family's brothers had not witnessed Old Madam Lin's grand deed of "when poor, quietly starve to death; when prosperous, aid all under heaven." They had much to discuss.