Chapter 6: The Redemption Money for That Scoundrel

Lin Zhiyi opened the door, only to find Fang Mama standing outside.

Seeing Lin Zhiyi, Fang Mama’s eyes welled up with tears. “Miss, you have suffered.”

Lin Zhiyi quickly pulled Fang Mama inside, not wanting her to cry outside and draw attention.

“Fang Mama, what brings you here?”

Fang Mama wiped away her tears and said, “Just now, Da Lin ran into Chai Ya on the street.”

Da Lin was Fang Mama’s son.

After giving birth to Da Lin, Fang Mama’s husband fell ill and passed away. The Fang family then fell into extreme poverty. With no food to eat and their lives in danger, Fang Mama had no choice but to leave her son with her elderly in-laws and sell herself to the Lin family to become Lin Zhiyi’s wet nurse.

Lin Mu, Lin Zhiyi’s mother, did not mind that Fang Mama had sold herself. She still allowed her to take care of her younger son and elderly in-laws.

It’s a tragic story, really.

Upon asking, Lin Zhiyi learned that Da Lin had recognized Chai Ya rushing to the Qin family. He had noticed the injuries on her face and stopped to ask her what happened. She explained that Lin Zhiyi had just miscarried and was currently staying in a inn.

Fang Mama’s body stiffened with anger. “How can they treat the young miss like this? I’ll go find them and settle this.”

Yesterday, Chai Ya had come to look for Fang Mama, handing her a stack of property deeds and contracts, saying that the miss had asked her to sell them. Before Fang Mama could ask any questions, Chai Ya had already run off.

Fang Mama had a sense of what was happening.

At the time, she thought the young miss had finally come to her senses and realized the need to guard against the Qin family.

But who would have thought the Qin family would degrade her from wife to concubine?

Lin Zhiyi quickly stopped Fang Mama, saying, “Wait.”

She remembered from the book that the original Lin Zhiyi had refused to speak with Fang Mama. It was only years later, after the Lin family’s eldest son returned to the capital and refused to acknowledge her, that she learned that the Qin family had abandoned her. Fang Mama, furious, had gone to the Qin family to demand an explanation.

But the Qin family had found an excuse, claiming she had barged into their house and tried to harm them, and had beaten her severely. She died after returning home.

Fang Mama’s son could no longer accept the original Lin Zhiyi, and in the end, she was left to wander the streets.

Indeed, Fang Mama had been loyal in protecting her mistress.

“Fang Mama, don’t worry. I have already made up my mind. You go ahead and sell those estates and shops, and handle the Qin family’s servants. If the boy refuses, we can sell for eighty percent of the price.”

How could Lin Zhiyi stay in the Qin family and endure the mistreatment? Even if she couldn’t get a divorce agreement, a letter of dismissal would be fine.

As long as it allowed her to escape from the Qin family.

And as for the original dowry, she wouldn’t let these people take advantage of it.

Fang Mama nodded in agreement.

Fang Mama cried for a while longer, trying to persuade Lin Zhiyi to return to her small courtyard. However, Lin Zhiyi refused.

The reason was that the courtyard was too small, and it would be inconvenient with so many people.

She preferred staying at the inn, where she could continue her work.

Five days passed, and Lin Zhiyi’s body had recovered almost completely.

She had also ventured out a few times, buying a few things in the process.

She knew it was time to return to the Qin family.

Sure enough, because the Qin family was eager to curry favor with the He family and rush the marriage, everyone in the Qin family was busy arranging Qin Lang’s marriage, completely forgetting about Lin Zhiyi in the back courtyard.

One day, a maid told Lin Zhiyi that they were going to receive He Jiaojiao into the house as the legitimate wife, but it was only to inform Lin Zhiyi about it. Whether she agreed or not didn’t matter.

Every day, Chai Ya would return to the Qin family. Although Lin Zhiyi was stuck in this courtyard, she was fully aware of what was happening in the Qin family.

That night, Lin Zhiyi and Chai Ya crawled through the dog hole into the Qin residence.

When the night was deep and quiet, Lin Zhiyi took out the sedative incense that Fang Mama had prepared in advance and made her way to the main courtyard.

Looking at the red silk hanging on the main door, Lin Zhiyi couldn’t help but feel sarcastic.

Original Lin Zhiyi, how could you fall for such a scoundrel?

She pushed the door open and entered the courtyard, heading straight for the private treasury based on the original Lin Zhiyi’s memory.

The private treasury was locked, but with the moonlight, Lin Zhiyi took a piece of iron wire and inserted it into the lock. In a short while, the lock clicked open.

How could this be difficult for her?

She had a childhood friend who was a locksmith, and she was often forgetful of her keys, so her friend had taught her this skill.

The locks in this ancient world seemed even easier to open.

She entered the private treasury and took out a flashlight from her space. Inside, the treasury was filled to the brim with items. She opened each chest to inspect them. There were silks and satin, gold and silver jewelry, antiques and paintings, famous inkstones, rare ink, spices, medicinal herbs, and exquisite tea and wine, among other things.

These were the dowry given to the original Lin Zhiyi by the Lin family, and it was quite a collection.

It also appeared that Lin Zhiyi’s jewelry and clothes had been neatly stored in the private treasury, likely under the orders of Qin’s mother.

Lin Zhiyi quickly stored everything in her space.

She left the chests behind.

Next, she moved to the outer courtyard and saw many redwood chests arranged in the yard. These were clearly He Jiaojiao’s dowry.

The two old women watching over the chests appeared to be asleep.

Lin Zhiyi quietly approached, intending to open one of the chests for a look, but just as she was about to do so, one of the women stirred. Startled, Lin Zhiyi quickly stepped into her space.

The woman opened her eyes, looked around, then lay back down and resumed sleeping.

After a while, Lin Zhiyi came back out. She wasn’t in a hurry to take anything yet. Instead, she lit some incense powder.

This incense had been bought by Fang Mama in advance, as Lin Zhiyi had instructed.

She held the incense near the woman’s nose for quite a while.

Once the woman seemed to fall deeper into sleep, Lin Zhiyi extinguished the incense and began collecting items into her space.

These dowries would serve as the redemption money for that scoundrel, He Jiaojiao’s price for him.

Dozens of chests filled with dowry were all taken into Lin Zhiyi’s space.

She left the chests where they were.

Since she hadn’t obtained a divorce document yet, she could only leave the chests there to confuse the Qin family.

After collecting everything, Lin Zhiyi returned to the back courtyard to sleep, and the Qin family remained unaware.

The next day, Lin Zhiyi slept until late in the morning.

Looking at the food Chai Ya had left on the table, it was still spoiled. Lin Zhiyi narrowed her eyes.

It seemed like it was time for her to meet the Qin family.

Lin Zhiyi went to the courtyard where Old Madam Qin resided.

She found the entire Qin family gathered there, including Qin Lang, his older brother and sister-in-law, and his younger siblings.

Qin’s mother was discussing the marriage arrangements for the next day. Upon seeing Lin Zhiyi enter, she frowned and asked, “What are you here for?”

In the past, the original Lin Zhiyi would have greeted her with the utmost respect, something that Qin’s mother took pride in.

No matter how noble a lady from the capital might be, they still had to show respect when meeting her.

And all the honor she enjoyed was because of her son, Qin Lang.

So, the saying goes, it’s better to be born well than to marry well.

But now, Lin Zhiyi didn’t show the slightest sign of respect.

Lin Zhiyi ignored Qin’s mother and directly turned to Qin Lang. “I’ve heard that my husband intends to take a new concubine, so I shall personally come to perform the proper ceremony.”

She emphasized the word “concubine.”

The difference between “marry” and “take” was immense.

Only a wife was “married,” while a concubine was “taken.”

Qin Lang furrowed his brows. Hadn’t the servants explained things to her clearly?

“He Jiaojiao is the daughter of the He family. How could she become a concubine?”

Lin Zhiyi’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Oh? So, husband, are you planning to dismiss me and marry again? What if I don’t agree?”

“If you dare, I’ll sue you for divorce tomorrow!”

Qin Lang’s face darkened. He detested the way Lin Zhiyi looked at him with that gaze.

Before he could speak, Qin’s mother spoke up first. “If you’re unwilling, our Qin family will divorce you.”

Her son was so talented. How could he marry the daughter of a traitor as his legitimate wife?

“This daughter-in-law is foolish. May I ask, mother-in-law, which of the Seven Reasons for Divorce have I violated?”

Lin Zhiyi was confident about this. After all, the original Lin Zhiyi would act like a frightened mouse in front of the Qin family. How could she possibly violate any of the Seven Reasons?

According to the laws of Great Qian, if a woman had no children, it would take three to five years before a divorce could be granted.

They had only been married for two years, so even if she had no children, it didn’t meet the Seven Reasons for Divorce.

Hearing this, Qin Lang’s expression grew colder. He slammed the table angrily. “Lin Zhiyi, how dare you!”