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Xie Yunzhi didn’t mind his wife being a little bit more capable. After all, if she wasn’t, how could she manage the household?
He was just surprised.
Initially, he had assumed Lady Xu was a naive and impulsive young lady sheltered from the world. He had misjudged her.
Lady Xu was far more mature and worldly than he had realized, a slippery fish who could not be easily caught. Even if people knew of her shrewdness, they wouldn’t find any fault with her.
That’s because she not only flattered those in power, but also genuinely treated the servants well.
At this point, Xie Yunzhi simply attributed Lady Xu’s behavior to her means of survival in the inner courtyard. He didn’t think much of it.
He didn’t know that Xu Qingyi’s ambitions went far beyond that. She didn’t just want to survive in the inner courtyard, looking up to others. Her goal was to become capital, to be the one who controlled the resources.
The first step to becoming the boss was to cultivate the three brothers.
This wasn’t exploitation, it was mutual growth.
The next day, Xu Qingyi delivered Lin’s essay to Shen Zhijie before leaving the mansion to check on Liu Gui at the medical clinic.
Liu Gui’s spirit had improved considerably. He looked at Xu Qingyi excitedly, his voice hoarse. “Report… report to the officials. He tried to kill me!”
“You want to report to the officials, accusing Lin of trying to kill you?” Xu Qingyi looked down at the scoundrel with a calm and composed expression, her face devoid of any amusement.
Liu Gui, his limbs bound like a rice dumpling, nodded, his eyes filled with fear and terror. He had clearly been badly frightened that night.
While Lin hadn’t killed him, he had certainly inflicted considerable mental torment, leaving Liu Gui unable to eat or sleep properly.
“Don’t even think about it. You have no evidence to prove that Lin injured you,” Xu Qingyi said coldly. “On the contrary, you behaved improperly, repeatedly extorting money from Lin. Do you think the officials will believe a diligent and virtuous student or a scoundrel like you?”
While this statement might seem to show contempt for the law, given the circumstances and the character of Liu Gui, Xu Qingyi had no hesitation in siding with Lin.
Liu Gui glared angrily but couldn’t find a word to refute her, for he indeed had no evidence.
It had been dark, and there were no neighbors… At this realization, Liu Gui finally understood. Lin had deliberately arranged for him to stay in that secluded house to kill him secretly.
“But you still need to report this to the officials. After all, the fact that you murdered your wife can’t just be ignored,” Xu Qingyi had promised Lin that she would continue to deal with Liu Gui. She believed that justice should be served, and since Liu Gui had committed murder, his crimes should be known to all.
Liu Gui was startled, his eyes revealing his panic, before he quickly composed himself. “What murder… Don’t slander me! You have no evidence!”
“Lin is the evidence, and so is everyone in Yangshu Village. They all know that you abused your wife,” Xu Qingyi believed that as long as Lin reported this to the officials on behalf of his mother, Liu Gui would certainly be imprisoned.
It would be best if he did so after passing the Xiucai examination. Unfortunately, this feudal society was so realistic.
Upon hearing this, Liu Gui’s face turned even paler with fright. He stammered, “I bought her from a human trafficker. There’s a deed of sale. She died because of her own poor health. It has nothing to do with me.”
“Human trafficker? I think you mean human kidnapper,” Xu Qingyi didn’t know the exact details, but that didn’t stop her from fabricating a story to frighten Liu Gui. “Lin’s mother was a young lady from a wealthy family. They wouldn’t need to sell their daughter to survive. It was the wicked human traffickers who caused this.”
Speaking of human trafficking, she looked at Liu Gui coldly. “You’re a habitual human trafficker. You even sold your own son for ten taels of silver to be someone else’s servant.”
“How do you know?” Liu Gui exclaimed in surprise.
“Not only that,” Xu Qingyi pressed on, “I also know that you are cruel and that you dismembered your victims.”
Liu Gui immediately retorted, “You’re slandering me! I didn’t dismember anyone!”
“So you admit to murder?” If he didn’t dismember the body, then someone else did. Xu Qingyi didn’t have time to think further, coldly laughing, “Lin and I returned to Yangshu Village yesterday to move his mother’s grave. While we were there, we thoroughly investigated your background. You’re going to prison.”
Liu Gui was terrified, staring at Xu Qingyi with suspicion and uncertainty. He demanded, “Who are you? Why are you helping that little bastard?”
“I am Lin’s adoptive mother.” This was the first time Xu Qingyi formally introduced herself. Her posture straightened slightly before she frowned. “What did you call Lin?”
That term was particularly striking. Even a father who hated his son wouldn’t call him a “little bastard.” Unless…
“Little bastard! What about it? I called him a little bastard, and he is a little bastard!” Since he was going to prison anyway, Liu Gui angrily and resentfully exploded. “I spent a lot of money buying that woman, feeding and clothing her well so she could give birth to a son to carry on the Liu family line. But she wasn’t a virgin, and she was already pregnant with a bastard! What’s wrong with me beating her?!”
His wife, driven mad by the hardship of her pregnancy, had given birth to Lin, damaging her health. After that, she never conceived again. Liu Gui had wasted money and so he beat her daily.
He had even wanted to kill the newborn Lin, but he saved face and kept him to raise as his son.
Having suffered since the womb, this explained why Lin was so frail since childhood.
Based on Liu Gui’s words, Xu Qingyi quickly pieced together the general outline of the story. Her immediate reaction was: It’s a miracle that Lin survived to adulthood.
She also understood his detached coldness. It wasn’t innate cruelty; there was a reason behind it.
Xu Qingyi sighed. In the original story, Lin killing his father wouldn’t be considered patricide.
A mother’s death, and a son avenging her—this has always been justified throughout history, and even before the law it was beyond reproach.
“Save those words for the officials,” But Xu Qingyi still didn’t want Lin to be burdened with the debt of taking a life. Let Liu Gui spend the rest of his days in prison.
“No! Please, Madam! Please!” Liu Gui cried and begged for mercy.
Xu Qingyi turned and went outside, calling for Abai. “How are his injuries?”
Abai clicked his tongue. “Young Master Lin severed his tendons. He’ll only be able to crawl for the rest of his life.”
He had been there when the wounds were being treated; they were horrifying.
Xu Qingyi shuddered, almost unable to believe that twelve-year-old Lin could be so ruthless. She said, “Well, since he’s disabled, you don’t need to stay here anymore. Just pay someone to keep an eye on him.”
Abai’s face lit up. “Yes, Young Madam.”
He had been cooped up here for a day and was almost going crazy. It was much better to be with Young Master Lin.
“Don’t tell your Young Master about what you heard earlier. I’ll tell him myself,” Xu Qingyi added, to prevent Abai from misrepresenting things and causing unnecessary trouble.
“Yes.” Abai quickly nodded, obediently.
After that night, he had complete faith in Xu Qingyi.
Anyone in the world might harm Young Master Lin, but definitely not the Young Madam!
Xu Qingyi returned to the mansion, while Abai went straight to the academy to continue serving his Young Master, pouring tea and acting as his errand boy.
Seeing him arrive, Lin frowned. “Didn’t she tell you to watch Liu Gui?”
Abai naturally knew that “she” referred to the Young Madam. He couldn’t help but inwardly criticize Lin’s awkward personality. He wasn’t as sweet-tongued as Young Master Zhen, nor as good at acting cute as Young Master Heng.
This kind of personality wouldn’t get him far.
“The Young Madam said Liu Gui is crippled and doesn’t need watching, and since you didn’t have anyone to serve you, she sent me back to attend to you.” Actually, Abai was quite skilled at delivering messages.