But when Tang Zhuyun saw Linlin trembling slightly with nerves, motherly love immediately welled up in her.
Facing Tang Baixin, she raised her chin and said, "Big brother, you're back."
"What happened?" Tang Baixin asked with a frown as he came in. "How did I hear that there was a disturbance at Prince Rong's Residence, and that you even beat up the young commandery prince?"
"Father, it was my fault," Linlin said, scrambling to his feet. "It had nothing to do with Aunt. I..."
"What did you do?" Tang Zhuyun interrupted, meeting Tang Baixin's gaze without flinching. "Big brother, I was the one who hit him, and I was the one who decided Linlin shouldn't go to school anymore!"
"No, Father, it was all my fault. It had nothing to do with Aunt. If you want to beat or punish someone, do it to me."
"It was me!"
"Enough, both of you!" Tang Baixin cut them off, then walked over to a chair and sat down, his expression grave. "I took leave, so I have plenty of time to hear what you have to say."
Tang Zhuyun cleared her throat. She looked ready to face death, but she was actually panicking-she worried that Tang Baixin would suspect her intentions and think she had deliberately incited Linlin to neglect his studies.
Interfering with Linlin's chances of becoming the top scholar was probably a crime punishable by being torn apart by five horses in the Tang family.
"Big brother, Linlin was being bullied at the prince's residence, and I couldn't stand by and watch," Tang Zhuyun said. "Those children ganged up on him, and it didn't just start today. I don't think Linlin can learn anything good among a bunch of dissolute young masters like that. Father has the talent of a top scholar, and so do you. Why not teach Linlin yourselves?"
Tang Baixin looked at Linlin and asked sternly, "Is what Aunt said true?"
Linlin bit his lip and nodded.
Tang Baixin said nothing for a long while, tapping his fingers on the table. There was no telling what he was thinking.
Tang Zhuyun felt as though each tap landed on her heart, but she still steeled herself and said, "Big brother, he can't go back to that school, no matter what. I'm afraid something will go wrong if this continues."
"Then he won't go back." Tang Baixin settled the matter with a single blow of the hammer.
Disbelief appeared on Linlin's face, followed by overwhelming delight.
Tang Zhuyun said, "Big brother, you're wise and mighty!"
Tang Baixin shot her a glare, though his expression remained gentle.
He walked to the bed and said to Linlin, "Let Father see. Where are you hurt?"
A little bashfully, Linlin lifted his clothes, revealing the bruises on his body.
"Is this why you wouldn't let Father help you bathe?"
Linlin's eyes filled with tears. He lowered his gaze and said nothing.
"It was Father's fault," Tang Baixin said. "I neglected you. From now on, stay home with Aunt during the day. I'll assign you schoolwork, and when I come back in the evenings, I'll check it and give you pointers."
They had not left Linlin at home before because neither father nor son could trust Tang Zhuyun; they had been afraid she would sell him.
That was no false accusation. She really had done such a thing, and only gave up the idea after Tang Baixin gave her a severe beating.
Tang Zhuyun pressed her advantage. Blinking, she said slyly, "I knew you were the best, big brother! I'll take good care of Linlin. But could you be the one to tell Father? Hehe."
Tang Baixin glared at her again but did not object, silently taking the matter upon himself.
Tang Zhuyun was delighted.
Her father and big brother were both dependable, and her son was obedient. With three men covering for her, she could walk sideways wherever she pleased. Why had she been so unable to see sense that she insisted on having a man? Tsk, tsk.
"Father," Linlin said quietly, "about the young commandery prince... I'm afraid Prince Rong's Residence won't let us off."
Tang Baixin sneered, pride showing in his eyes. "As for what happened today, if the two of you haven't teamed up to deceive me, he won't dare do anything!"
Their father was the minister of the Court of Judicial Review and fiercely protective of his own, while Tang Baixin himself was someone known to the emperor. Many people might mock the Tang family for their modest means, but few dared confront father and son head-on.
Seeing how confident he was, Tang Zhuyun felt her heart settle back into her stomach. Playing along, she said, "Big brother, you're amazing! Then from now on, I can run rampant like a crab, walking sideways wherever I go."
Tang Baixin said, "Go cook. I'm hungry!"
"Don't tell me you haven't had lunch yet?"
Tang Baixin said irritably, "I was just about to eat when I heard you'd caused trouble, so I hurried back."
"All right, I'll go make something now." Tang Zhuyun went out, humming a little tune.
She had fought to her heart's content, Linlin no longer had to go and suffer, and her big brother had her back. It felt wonderful.
Tang Baixin watched her light-footed figure disappear, the corners of his mouth lifting involuntarily.
The smile did not last long, however. He turned serious and asked Linlin, "Are you willing to stay home with Aunt? If you don't want to, I'll find you another place to study. I have a friend..."
"I am," Linlin said quickly. "Aunt treats me very well."
Today he had seen that Aunt really had been willing to risk her life to protect him.
Ever since the flower-viewing banquet, Aunt had seemed like a different person. Though he did not know why, he very much hoped she would stay this way forever.
Tang Baixin patted his head. "All right. Stay home with Aunt for now. If you change your mind someday, tell Father whenever you like."
"Mm." Linlin nodded firmly. "I'll study hard at home too. One day I'll bring glory to our ancestors and let Grandfather, Father, and Aunt enjoy a good life."
"Good."
When Tang Mingfan came home that evening and heard about it, he agreed with surprising calm.
Perhaps Tang Zhuyun's astonishment was written all over her face, for Tang Mingfan smiled and said, "Before, we were worried you couldn't take care of Linlin. Now there's nothing to worry about."
Tang Zhuyun thought, Me again?
She looked at Tang Baixin with wide eyes. He nodded. That was exactly it.
Tang Zhuyun thought, *...*
All right, she was the weak link. She knew that now.
And so Linlin stopped going to Prince Rong's Residence and stayed home with Tang Zhuyun instead.
He was eager to learn, however, and could hardly bear to rest. If he wasn't reading, he was practicing writing large characters. It looked as though he wished he could become the top scholar the very next day.
Tang Zhuyun watched him practice and discovered, to her dismay, that out of a page of forty or fifty large characters, she recognized only one-"one." That was right, she knew only that one.
The characters here resembled seal script and were extremely hard to make out. Compared with them, never mind simplified characters-even traditional characters were their great-great-great-grandchildren.
The original owner of this body had never studied and was illiterate. Tang Zhuyun had transmigrated here, and she was still illiterate.
"Linlin, could you teach me to read?"
Linlin was more than willing, and he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being a teacher.
The only thing that disheartened him a little was that Aunt was somewhat slow.
Tang Zhuyun discovered that Linlin's memory could be described as photographic. He practically never forgot anything he saw, making him a true study god.
Supposedly, a dog's IQ was forty, and an ordinary person like her had an IQ of one hundred. Linlin's was at least one hundred and forty, and might even be one hundred and eighty!
The way Linlin saw her was like the way she saw a dog.
Under the circumstances, Tang Zhuyun concentrated and studied hard, trying to be a somewhat smarter "dog" so he wouldn't look down on her too much.
Alas, a study striver who looked impressive but turned out to be trash when actually compared with others was under mountain-high pressure.
A few days later, when the ten-day period she had agreed on with the pawnshop owner was up, Tang Zhuyun took Linlin out.
"Miss, you've finally come!"
The pawnshop owner had shed his earlier arrogance. When he saw Tang Zhuyun, it was as though he had seen his savior. He came out from behind the counter and bowed repeatedly, profoundly grateful to her.
The chronic ailment that had tormented him for years was finally getting better!