Chapter Five: What Are You Staring At, Anyway?

Lin Yuanzhi: "......"

Lin Qingci: "?"

My goodness, my grandmother, my jacket, my coat, my brain is spinning! Is it true that Lin Zhaozhao is really that clever? Could it be that he actually became a eunuch?

Madam Bai clutched her handkerchief tightly, now utterly convinced of her daughter's heartfelt words.

Especially when she thought of the tragic ending where she might die of anger and her daughter perish miserably, her heart burned with fury, making her speak harshly.

"I'm truly puzzled. Our pure and kind Miss Zhao, instead of seeking a doctor when unwell, goes straight to Lord Hou. So it turns out Lord Hou even has medical skills!"

"But then again, the two of them have spent dozens of days together. Lord Hou treats Miss Zhao even better than his own daughter!"

Lin Yuanzhi felt unsettled by Madam Bai and her daughter's words, but as head of the family, he still sternly said, "Your words are far too sarcastic!"

[But what about what you’ve done? Isn’t that just as suspicious? Or should we just say all men are scoundrels!]

The real issue was that Madam Bai truly cared for the original father figure—otherwise, she wouldn't have been so despondent and faded away after her beloved Zhao Shuangshuang was married into the mansion.

However, in the past life, Madam Bai trusted Zhao Shuangshuang and did not follow her to the Frost Moon Pavilion.

[So the urgent matter is, I must follow my father to Frost Moon Pavilion to ensure his mind doesn't stray! But my dull-witted father might not let me go! What to do? How can I tactfully persuade my mother to sever this ill-fated bond?]

Lin Zhaozhao was perplexed, when suddenly Madam Bai stood up and said,

"I am no expert, but I do know some healing arts. Since Miss Zhao’s husband is injured, it is only right and proper for me to accompany her and take a look!"

With that, she took Lin Zhaozhao by the hand and headed toward Frost Moon Pavilion.

Lin Zhaozhao thought: Mother! You truly are the worm in my belly!

*

At this moment, inside Frost Moon Pavilion.

Lin Yuanzhi had just followed behind Madam Bai when suddenly he heard a woman singing inside.

He instinctively paused.

The song was gentle and tender, tinged with a faint sadness, spoken in soft Wu dialect. It immediately transported Lin Yuanzhi back to the water towns of Jiangnan where he grew up, leaving him dazed.

Madam Bai snorted coldly.

[Impressive! You were just complaining about aching waist and legs, and now you’re singing without even catching your breath. If the Chinese music scene lacked you, I wouldn’t watch it!]

Lin Yuanzhi: "......"

"Perhaps cousin is—" Lin Yuanzhi was about to find an excuse to ease the awkwardness, but unexpectedly, Zhao Shuangshuang inside heard his voice, immediately rose, opened the door, and rushed over saying—

"Cousin, my chest hurts so much!"

Dressed in an embroidered mandarin duck water play bellyband, Zhao Shuangshuang resembled a startled fawn. Her white, sheer gauze skirt clung to her legs, accentuating her slender, graceful figure. Coupled with her delicate, rosy oval face and bright red lips, she was dazzlingly beautiful!

Lin Yuanzhi was momentarily stunned.

[What are you stunned for? Haven’t you seen how my mother is trembling with anger!?]

[With three layers of foundation, bold red lips, and a hundred fake gestures per minute, I once thought she was a battle-hardened courtesan, yet you still can’t handle it!]

Lin Yuanzhi: Huh? Zhao Shuangshuang wasn’t supposed to be bare-faced?

That poetic line about clouds thinking of clothes and flowers imagining beauty, spring breeze brushing the balustrade and dewdrops shining brightly, all vanished the moment his youngest daughter pointed out the powder falling from Zhao Shuangshuang’s face as she moved—his enthusiasm instantly died.

At this moment, out of spite, Madam Bai had already moved ahead of Lin Yuanzhi by two steps.

Zhao Shuangshuang, dressed scantily enough to invite trouble, was unable to stop herself and leaned weakly into Madam Bai’s arms, pulling her hand toward her chest,

"Cousin, please rub it for me!"

‘Cousin’ Madam Bai: "......"

She was almost laughing with anger. "Shuangshuang, don’t you want to see who I am?!"

...That voice was so familiar.

Zhao Shuangshuang suddenly felt a bad premonition. As she looked up, she let out a sharp, piercing scream:

"Ah—!"

"Sister Bai! Why is it you?"

"Why can’t it be me?"

The favorite sister found her beloved husband being courted by her sister; Madam Bai’s blood ran cold—she couldn’t believe such a thing was happening to her!

What sin had she committed?

Seeing Zhao Shuangshuang still pitifully looking toward the scoundrel father, Lin Zhaozhao was furious,

"You say your chest hurts, but you’re just causing trouble! My mother treated you like a dear sister, and this is your thanks? How shameless!"

Lin Yuanzhi: "......"

Such a venomous tongue!

Anyway, with the atmosphere turning from flirtation to betrayal and so many eyes watching, Zhao Shuangshuang, still wanting to save face, hurriedly pulled out a small jacket to cover herself and choked out,

"Sister, things aren’t as you see them. Please listen to my explanation!"

*

"Fine, speak. I’m listening!"

"I—"

Seeing Madam Bai’s icy expression and Lin Yuanzhi’s clear unwillingness to intervene, Zhao Shuangshuang opened her mouth but found her mind blank as if filled with paste, unable to find a decent excuse.

Madam Bai became even angrier, "Miss Zhao, you wanted to explain, so why are you silent?!"

[She’s guilty! I wonder if my mother will have the heart to drive her away. After all, after she rose in status, to seize my mother’s dowry silver and other bridal gifts, she even schemed to trap me into bedding a sixty-year-old old man, took a thousand taels of dowry, and married me off!]

Lin Yuanzhi: "?"

Madam Bai: "!!!"

Fine, fine, the flesh and blood she carried for ten months she couldn’t bear to scold, but Zhao Shuangshuang? Such humiliation was unforgivable!

She declared, "My cousin has lived in our mansion for two years and is now of marriageable age. With so many men here, to avoid suspicion, I’ll give you three hundred taels. Today, you move out to a village outside the city!"

"What?!" Zhao Shuangshuang screamed, utterly incredulous.

"How can a village outside the city compare to Lord Hou’s mansion? I’m delicate and weak, this won’t do!"

[Why not! Just listen to your loud voice—I’d believe it if you said you had your father pinned down in bed fighting for three days and nights! Stop acting like a fragile little flower here!]

Lin Yuanzhi: "......"

He was puzzled how such a gentle and refined man could have such a wild daughter.

Lin Qingci: "......"

Dared to imagine—well done.

Madam Bai cleared her throat and said, "The village outside is no match for Lord Hou’s mansion, but if I recall correctly, before cousin’s family fell on hard times, they didn’t even have the silver to buy a village estate outside the city."

She said it like that, but it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, hard to go back. There’s no Lord Hou in the village!

Who would she be showing off to? The coachman?

Besides, "Sister, you have few close friends in the capital; how could you bear to leave me!"

[Not to brag, but if my mother left you, it’d be like a bird without water, a fish without a bicycle! Utterly helpless!]

*End*