Chapter 4: To Be Made a Concubine

Wang Mama came to inform Lin Zhiyi unilaterally. The Qin family had decided to demote Lin Zhiyi to the status of a concubine and marry He Jiaojiao, the illegitimate daughter of He Shilang, as the official wife.

This was also a request from the He family.

Lin Zhiyi let out a soft laugh, “Pfft~” and then her eyes turned cold. “What if I don’t agree?”

She had never seen such shameless people. How could they eat this soft rice with such boldness!

They planned to demote her from wife to concubine, just to take over her dowry, didn’t they?

Wang Mama advised, “Madam, I’m also from the Lin family, and my heart naturally lies with you. You should agree to this. If your husband discards you, you will end up on the streets.

At least your husband has only demoted you to a concubine and hasn’t driven you out of the house. You won’t freeze or starve to death outside; you should be grateful.”

Wang Mama’s words succeeded in making Lin Zhiyi laugh out of anger.

All these ungrateful wolves! The entire Qin family, from the masters to the servants, all ate and lived off the original character.

And now they had the nerve to shamelessly ask her to be grateful?

Wang Mama was deliberately distorting the truth, confusing right and wrong. It was clear that she was a servant trained by the Qin family’s old madam.

Lin Zhiyi couldn’t help but retort, “Wang Mama, you were bought by my Lin family. The monthly allowance you receive comes from my Lin family. I’ve never seen you show gratitude.”

Who didn’t know that the entire Qin family relied on the original character’s dowry to sustain itself?

Wang Mama paused for a moment, then realized, “Madam, you’re mistaken. I’m working in the Qin family now, so the monthly allowance I receive comes from them.”

“Since you are a servant of the Qin family, that’s fine. Go tell them I don’t agree.”

Lin Zhiyi didn’t want to say another word to them.

At first, she had felt a little guilty about selling these people, but now, she felt at ease.

Wang Mama’s face changed upon hearing her words. “Madam, I advise you to think this through. Whether you agree or not, the result will be the same.”

After Wang Mama left, Lin Zhiyi turned to Chai Ya. “Are you still going to try to persuade me to keep this child? To let him be a bastard, suffering here in this household with me?”

Chai Ya’s eyes were already filled with anger. “These people are really too much!”

She sighed and then said, “Miss, I’ll go brew the medicine right away.”

Chai Ya hurried off, and Lin Zhiyi lay on the bed, thinking about the plot in the book. It was just like now—Wang Mama came to inform the original character that the Qin family wanted to demote her to a concubine.

The original character had shouted and caused a scene, threatening Qin Lang with a hairpin, saying that if he dared make her a concubine, she would kill the child in her womb.

The Qin family valued heirs above all else, and knowing that the original character was pregnant, they feared that she might really lose the child if her emotions became too agitated, so they agreed.

But this only made Qin Lang hate the original character even more.

Chai Ya came back with the medicine and brought it into the room. She was about to try to persuade Lin Zhiyi to reconsider, but before she could speak, Lin Zhiyi picked up the bowl and drank the medicine in one go.

“Miss, it’s still hot.”

“It’s fine, it’s not that hot anymore.”

It was already the end of March. Although the weather wasn’t cold anymore, it was still cool in the mornings and evenings, so the medicine cooled down quickly.

The medicine was down, and Chai Ya knew there was no turning back. Her eyes reddened.

Lin Zhiyi teased, “Silly girl, why are you crying? Are you afraid you’ll go hungry with your mistress?”

“I’m just heartbroken for you, Miss.”

Chai Ya said, wiping her tears with her sleeve.

“Alright, it’s just a miscarriage. It’s no big deal.”

Luckily, the child was still early in the pregnancy, so losing it wouldn’t harm her body too much. A few days of rest would be enough.

But seeing the situation, she thought about how the Lin family would be exiled in seven days. She probably wouldn’t have time to recover.

Moreover, in these seven days, she still needed to go out and buy supplies. Otherwise, they would have a rough journey ahead.

Though she was a daughter married off and not part of the exiled family, and wouldn’t have to wear shackles or chains, she would still need food and water.

Seeing Lin Zhiyi speak so lightly about it, Chai Ya thought she didn’t understand how a miscarriage could harm her health. She was about to say something to advise her when she saw Lin Zhiyi clutch her abdomen in pain, her face covered in sweat. Chai Ya was startled.

“Miss, please wait here. I’ll go heat some water.”

Perhaps because the baby was early in the pregnancy, it passed quickly.

Heh~ Didn’t the Qin family value heirs above all? Well, when the time comes, she would return their bloodline to them.

When Qin Lang marries He Jiaojiao, she would send them a special wedding gift.

Lin Zhiyi instructed Chai Ya to place the fetus in a wooden box.

Chai Ya thought Lin Zhiyi wanted to bury the child, so she didn’t ask further.

“Chai Ya, put the box aside for now. I’m tired. Let me sleep for a while.”

Chai Ya helped Lin Zhiyi lie down and covered her with a blanket. “Miss, rest for now. I’ll go to the kitchen and bring back some food.”

“Mm.”

Lin Zhiyi’s original main courtyard had a small kitchen, and Chai Ya, who had worked as a firewood maid in the small kitchen, was familiar with Lin Zhiyi’s habits.

Whenever Lin Zhiyi got hungry in the afternoon, she would usually ask the small kitchen to prepare some snacks or light food to fill her stomach. Chai Ya, having spent so much time in the small kitchen, had learned how to cook and make snacks from the head cook.

But now the small kitchen was no longer available, and she had to go to the big kitchen…

Chai Ya sighed, fearing that she would be met with more difficulties.

She held the wooden box, feeling another wave of heartache. Their miss had never endured such humiliation in her life. Now, she had been forced to personally get rid of her own child.

As Fang Mama had said, the Qin family were truly not good people.

What would their miss do in the future?

When Lin Zhiyi woke up, she found that it was already dark. She touched her stomach and realized she was really hungry.

“Chai Ya, Chai Ya…”

The room was so dark that she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

“Miss, I’m here.”

Chai Ya hurried over to help Lin Zhiyi.

Suddenly, Chai Ya let out a sharp “hiss~”, and Lin Zhiyi paused. “What’s wrong?”

With the moonlight, Lin Zhiyi noticed that Chai Ya had injuries on her face. Frowning, she asked, “Who did this to you?”

“Miss, I’m fine. It’s just that those people went too far. The food they gave us was yesterday’s leftovers, and it was already spoiled. They were going to throw it out for the stray dogs, but they…”

Chai Ya, naturally strong, had fought with five or six servants. Though she was injured, the maids didn’t come out unscathed either.

“Then you fought with them?” Lin Zhiyi asked.

Chai Ya lowered her head. “Yes.”

“Silly girl, don’t do that again. It’s not worth fighting over a meal.”

“But, Miss, you’re still hungry…”

Lin Zhiyi sighed. “It’s fine. Just light the oil lamp for now.”

She could endure and bend when necessary. If the malicious servants were mistreating her, they could all wait. In a few days, they would be sold off, and then they’d get a taste of hardship.

Chai Ya hesitated. “Miss…”

Lin Zhiyi got angry. “No oil lamps either? This is really too much!”

Lin Zhiyi took several deep breaths, then calmed down. “Let’s go. You and your miss are going out to enjoy a feast. Let them eat the rotten food.”

“But, Miss, we don’t have any money…”

Lin Zhiyi lowered her voice. “Who says we don’t have money? I’ve been keeping those land deeds, so why wouldn’t I keep the silver notes as well?”

Chai Ya’s eyes immediately brightened. “That’s great!”

She knew her miss wouldn’t let herself be taken advantage of so easily.

However, she couldn’t help but feel that her miss had become smarter. She wasn’t like the old Lin Zhiyi, who would meekly bow to the Qin family and act arrogantly toward the servants.

The current miss had a calm and determined look about her.

Yes, and she was also much kinder!

This was the true Lin family’s legitimate daughter.

The two of them arrived at the dog hole in the east wall.

Chai Ya couldn’t help but ask, “Miss, are you really going to crawl out from here?”