As soon as Lin Dan and Madam Qi had settled in the inn, a noisy group of people arrived outside, clamoring to find them. The innkeeper, fearing the group might cause trouble and damage his property, firmly blocked the group’s entry. Unable to get inside, the group began wailing outside the door, drawing a crowd of onlookers.

Lin Dan cracked open the window to peek outside and saw that the leader was an old woman dressed in a faded garment and with no jewelry in her hair, looking very down-and-out. Yan Shouye was supporting the other party by the arm, calling her ‘mother’ in a sorrowful tone.

It seemed this was Yan Bo’s wife, Lin Baotian’s master’s wife, which meant Lin Dan should call her ‘Grand Master’s Wife’ out of respect. However, Lin Dan found herself unable to utter the title, as the old woman’s current behavior was enough to destroy the reputation Lin Dan had painstakingly restored for Lin Baotian.

The old woman pounded her chest and wailed, “That damn Lin Baotian! It was bad enough that he bullied us, a widow and an orphan, but now his daughter has come to torment us too! She claims that he cared for my husband in his old age and that he was filial. Phooey! Do you even believe those words? My husband was bedridden for months and not to mention serving him, Lin Baotian didn’t even bring him a cup of water. I had to take care of everything inside and outside the house myself. I asked Lin Baotian to send a letter to my son, but he was afraid my son would come back and fight him for the family inheritance. So he agreed to send the letter on the surface and then burned it as soon as he left, causing my son to miss seeing his father one last time. Tell me, isn’t that heartless? My son, as the rightful successor, should have inherited the family legacy, but what right did Lin Baotian have to stop him? After my husband died, with no son to perform the rites, Lin Baotian blackmailed me, demanding all our money or he wouldn’t let my husband be buried. What could I do, alone and helpless? My husband’s coffin is still at home. I can’t leave him without a proper resting place……”

The old woman’s heartbreaking cries moved the onlookers to tears. If this continued, Lin Dan feared that Lin Baotian’s restored reputation would be ruined once more.

Madam Qi, who had just managed to close her eyes, was now wide awake and indignant. “She’s lying! She’s making it all up! When your grand master fell ill, your father wanted to send a letter to Yan Shouye right away, but your grand master’s wife refused, saying Yan Shouye was about to take the imperial exam and couldn’t be distracted. She had no idea that your grand master’s illness would progress so quickly and that within less than half a month, he would be delirious and unable to take care of himself. By then, it was too late to contact Yan Shouye as he had already left for his studies and no one knew where he was. Your father took care of everything, from tending to your grand master’s needs to supporting the family. Your grand master’s wife found it all too dirty and tiring, so she stayed far away. When your grand master died, she claimed she had given all their money to her son for his education and couldn’t afford to arrange the funeral. She cried and begged your father to help, and your father used up all his savings and even borrowed fifty taels of silver at interest just to ensure your grand master was properly buried. To repay the debt, your father worked tirelessly, leaving for the capital the day after the burial. For years, he kept sending money back, but unfortunately, he left no receipts. Even if we had a hundred mouths, we couldn’t clear his name!”

Madam Qitook out two memorial tablets from her bundle and wept. “Your father was a good man, but why is it that good people never get their due?”

She wanted to rush out and argue with the old woman, but given that the other person was Lin Baotian’s master’s wife, who had ‘raised’ him since childhood, her status and ‘kindness’ were undeniable. The more Madam Qi argued, the more it would appear that she was disrespecting her elders and being sharp-tongued, which would only worsen her position. Such was the way of the world. Elders could criticize the younger generation as they pleased, but the young were not allowed to defy them. A single ‘filial piety’ could crush a person. Furthermore, Madam Qi wasn’t good with words. She feared that she might end up being misled and only add to her late husband’s disgrace.

Compared to the crowd outside, Lin Dan naturally trusted Madam Qimore. After all, in her memories, Lin Baotian was indeed a good man who had never done anything against his conscience. Since she bore the title of his daughter, she had to find a way to protect his reputation. But arguing was clearly not the solution. No matter how eloquent she was, her lower status as a grand disciple meant she had already lost half the battle. Moreover, winning an argument with an elder was nothing to be proud of.

“Mother, pack up your things, we’re leaving the capital.” Lin Dan resolutely decided. “Give me the memorial tablet and I’ll return it.”

Madam Qihanded it over without hesitation. Unbeknownst to her, her daughter had long become her pillar of support.

Lin Dan wrapped the tablet carefully in white silk and held it close to her chest as she walked downstairs.

“They’re coming out! They’re coming out! The Lin family’s mother and daughter are coming out!” Someone recognized Lin Dan and Madam Qi and shouted loudly. The already interested onlookers gathered even closer, eager to see what would happen next.

“Very good, you finally decided to come out!” The old woman wiped away her tears and rushed forward, ready to grab the two and argue with them, determined to ruin their reputation. As Lin Baotian’s master’s wife, she held the moral high ground, unafraid of whatever the mother and daughter might do.

Lin Dan raised the tablet to block her, and as the old woman reached out to grab her collar, Lin Dan quickly placed the tablet in the other party’s hands. Then she knelt down and kowtowed three times, slowly saying, “Grand Master’s Wife, my mother and I are leaving the capital. Please take care of yourself. Here is Grand Master’s memorial tablet, please take it back. My mother and I are no longer qualified to make an offering to him.”

The old woman hated Lin Baotian and his family, so how could she listen to Lin Dan’s words? Without thinking, she threw the tablet hard to the ground.

Madam Qicried out in alarm and rushed to catch it, but she was too late. The tablet hit the ground and bounced, causing the loosely wrapped silk to unravel and reveal the engraved characters. The crowd craned their necks to see and confirm that it was indeed Yan Bo’s memorial tablet. The base was blackened from incense smoke, yet it had a polished sheen, showing that someone had regularly offered incense and carefully wiped it with a silk cloth.

But now, this well-preserved tablet had been cracked by the old woman’s careless throw. What a great sin!

Next to them, someone immediately cursed, “Smashing the ancestral tablet too? Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”

The elderly woman froze when she saw the tablet and Yan Shouye was also momentarily stunned. However, Madam Qi was the first to pick up the tablet, constantly wiping it with a handkerchief. When she touched the crack in it, her fingertips trembled, revealing how deeply unsettled she was.

Lin Dan, who had remained expressionless the entire time, finally shed tears. She carefully took the tablet, then gently and cautiously wiped it with her sleeve before respectfully placing it on the steps. She then pulled her mother and they both kowtowed three times with great force before leaving the scene with unsteady steps.

Both of their foreheads were bloodied, leaving two bright red stains on the steps that were shocking to see. They didn’t say a word, yet their actions spoke louder than the elderly woman’s thousands of words. The onlookers, who had been filled with righteous indignation moments before, fell silent, no longer talking about helping the elderly woman drag Lin Dan and her mother out for a severe lesson. The truth was clear, and just from that tablet alone, one could see who was loyal and who was treacherous.

“O-old Man^[1]said of an aging husband!” The elderly woman finally came to her senses and her legs gave way as she collapsed to the ground. Yan Shouye didn’t know whether to kneel or stand, his face shifting between red and white in an embarrassed display.

No one noticed that the old steward of the Yongding Marquis’ residence was standing outside the crowd, watching the scene, while the young marquis was sitting in a teahouse across the street, observing the entire drama unfold. Staring in the direction where Lin Dan and her mother had departed, he let out a deep sigh, then took out several silver notes and handed them to his attendant, instructing him to follow them.

Naturally, Lin Dan declined the young marquis’s help. Her instincts told her that only by staying far away from the young marquis and Yan Langqing could she live a peaceful life.

When the attendant returned with the untouched silver notes, the young marquis felt a mix of emotions. He had thought he understood Lin Dan well, but only now did he realize how stubborn and fierce she was. Even knowing that the road ahead was full of thorns, she would still tread it barefoot.

———pr


When the young marquis returned home in low spirits, the old steward reported everything to the old marquis in detail, “When this old servant arrived, that Madam Zhou was causing a commotion, attracting a large crowd. She kept throwing baseless accusations at Cook Lin, scaring Lin Dan and Madam Qi into hiding. They’re getting more and more outrageous as they speak and this old servant was just about to intervene when Lin Dan and Madam Qi were forced to come out. They didn’t offer any defense, just returned the tablet of Imperial Cook Yan to them and kowtowed three times each to Madam Zhou and the tablet before leaving. Madam Zhou, knowing full well that it was Imperial Cook Yan’s tablet, still raised it high and smashed it hard on the ground, causing a large crack……”

In truth, Madam Zhou had no idea it was Yan Bo’s tablet. She had been cursing so furiously at the time, and Lin Dan had deliberately slowed her speech and lowered her voice, so it was impossible for Madam Zhou to have identified it. Unfortunately, the others had been paying special attention to Lin Dan’s words, so they all knew that the item wrapped in white silk was indeed Yan Bo’s tablet, and naturally assumed Madam Zhou knew as well.

Upon hearing that, the old marquis sighed. “Smashing even her late husband’s tablet shows how deceitful Madam Zhou has been! She had no genuine affection for Imperial Cook Yan, so how could she have taken care of him during his illness? And let’s not even mention her unfilial son. If it weren’t for Baotian, the Yan family would never have achieved what they have today. In the end, it all comes down to greed. These people are so blinded by money that they’ve lost their conscience.”

The old steward agreed, “Exactly! If they didn’t slander Cook Lin, how could they justifiably seize the golden knife, the recipes, and the restaurant? Cook Lin worked so hard to establish the Yan family’s culinary reputation, and now they just want to reap the benefits without putting in any effort. Do they really think everyone else is too stupid to see through their schemes? No matter how they slander Cook Lin as heartless and unfilial, just that one tablet, which has been carefully taken care of for years, is enough to render them speechless! If Cook Lin had truly betrayed his master, would he dare to keep his master’s tablet at home? But look at Madam Zhou and Yan Shouye, they were so frightened at the sight of the tablet that their legs gave out. It’s clear they’ve done plenty of shameful things.”

“I know exactly what kind of person Baotian was. He would never do such vile things. Inheriting the mantle is not like inheriting a fortune. Once it’s yours, you can use it as you like, but first, you have to be capable. Being a disciple of an imperial cook is no easy task. Whether you have real skills or not becomes evident as soon as you start cooking. Unless Imperial Cook Yan was completely senile, he would never have passed on his legacy to the utterly incompetent Yan Shouye, which would only tarnish his own reputation.” The old marquis said, getting increasingly angry as he spoke.

“Exactly! The Yan family realizes that since Cook Lin is already dead, he can’t come out and confront them. Poor Lin Dan and Madam Qi. They had no way to defend themselves and had no choice but to leave in despair.” The old steward lamented, shaking his head repeatedly.

“Send someone to find them and bring them back. It’s not easy for a lone widow and her daughter to wander outside.” Unable to bear it any longer, the old marquis gestured with his hand.

The old steward hurried off, and only then did the old marquis notice his son standing at the door. Frowning, he said, “Go and send Yan Langqing away. We won’t keep people with such poor character in our residence. I can hire as many skilled cooks as I want, so we’re not missing out by losing one.”

The young marquis nodded, cupped his hands, and left without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Yan Langqing, who was preparing to make a name for herself in the marquis’s residence, couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams that her grandmother and father’s public outburst would not only fail to restore the Yan family’s reputation but would also cost her the excellent opportunity she had been counting on.