Chapter 022
Chapter 22: The One Who Has Been Writing to Me Has Always Been You
“I know what I am doing. You do not need to worry,” Yun Wan Yao said with eyes lowered, a quiet sigh in her heart.
Prince Qi had come in person. How could she avoid him? Besides, the horrors in Little Fourth’s heart voice had not yet happened. Right now his eyes and heart were full of her. He had not wronged her. If she pushed him away without cause, her conscience would not allow it.
“Fine. As long as you know. Just do not be so foolish you cannot tell when you are being deceived,” Yun Wan Ye said as he rolled his eyes.
Since she had spoken, he could not keep preaching. He was only older by half a cup of tea. Nagging would only stiffen her spine.
That night, under a dark, windless sky, Lu Wu finally saw his chance after two days in ambush. He lured away the personal guards and delivered Yang Xin’er, her written confession, and Yun Zheng’s scathing letter to Lin Wei’an. He revealed how Yang Xin’er had used Madam Yun’s name to lure Lin Wei’an into secret letters.
Lin Wei’an read the confession with terrifying calm. His refined face did not stir.
“Our Lord says that since Madam Yang and Lord Lin are so affectionate, he kindly sent her to you. There is no need to thank him,” Lu Wu said with a smile that cut. “But never use our Madam’s name again. Our Lord is only a martial brute. He cannot compare to Lord Lin, who has read all the classics and possesses great wisdom. If our Madam’s name is harmed and our Lord, in anger, does something unfortunate that ruins Lord Lin’s name and throws the Lin family into chaos, that would be troublesome. Would it not, Lord Lin?”
On the words read all the classics and possesses great wisdom, Lu Wu pressed hard with vicious irony.
This Vice Minister, praised as a virtuous gentleman, had exchanged letters with a married woman. Though Yang Xin’er had baited him with Madam Yun’s name, Lin Wei’an had not held back. He wrote back and kept the string going. Shameless. No wonder his lord had cursed him across ten pages. If not to spare Madam Yun’s reputation, Yun Zheng would not have stopped at words.
Lin Wei’an finished the confession and folded it without expression. He looked at the filthy, haggard woman on the floor. Bruises marred the backs of her hands and neck. When she felt his gaze, she shrank into a trembling ball like a frightened bird.
“Is this confession true?” he asked in a level tone. “Has the one writing to this official always been you?”
The chill beneath that calm made Yang Xin’er quake. She pressed her lips tight and would not speak.
The air turned to ice. Lu Wu gave a rude chuckle and turned to go: “The message is delivered, and your old lover returned to you, my lord. I will not disturb your reunion. Farewell.”
Before he could step away, the guards who had been lured off came running back. Realizing they had been tricked, four of them drew their swords and blocked Lu Wu. Faces went dark with anger.
Lu Wu laughed lightly and looked at Lin Wei’an’s shifting expression: “Lord Lin, your men bar my way. Do you intend to fight?”
“Let him go,” Lin Wei’an said coldly. The guards hesitated, then sheathed their blades.
“Many thanks, Lord Lin,” Lu Wu tossed back, and vanished into the night.
“My lord?” Lin Wei’an’s trusted aide came near, drew a finger across his throat and whispered: “Shall I…?”
“No,” Lin Wei’an answered with narrowed eyes and an indifferent face. “Have you forgotten how you were drawn away? That man is Yun Zheng’s close hand. He surely has backup. You will not kill him.”
If Lu Wu had not been certain of escape, he would never have dared bait an imperial official.
Shame burned the aide’s face. “It was my incompetence that put my lord in danger. Please punish me.”
Lin Wei’an did not punish him. He only warned them to be more careful. He knew the fault lay not with his guards but with the caliber of Yun Zheng’s men. Replace them and the end would be the same.
He did not return to the Lin Manor that night. He took Yang Xin’er elsewhere. On the way he opened Yun Zheng’s letter. He had expected nothing good, but he had not expected ten full pages of curses, each more vulgar than the last. His face flushed with rage. He crushed the letter tight and hissed: “Crude, vulgar brute.”
He could not understand how Weiwei could have fallen for such an uncultured, unreasonable man.
At Ye Xi Wei’s name, his gaze went blank. A heavy stone pressed his chest until he could not breathe.
Back at his private residence, he questioned Yang Xin’er through the night. The result made him so sick with fury that he nearly spat blood. The person he had written to for a year was Yang Xin’er, not the Ye Xi Wei he had longed for day and night.
As his last hope shattered, the room spun. Despair swallowed him. Teeth grinding, eyes full of killing frost, he glared at the woman on the floor.
“How dare you toy with this official,” he said. “Speak. Why did you do this. Who ordered you.”
Yang Xin’er had grown up with her elder cousin and knew well how deep Lin Wei’an’s feelings ran. He had failed to marry her years ago for reasons beyond his control, not for lack of love. She did not dare admit she had done this to harm Ye Xi Wei. He might kill her in his rage. She snatched at a different line and spoke in a small voice: “My lord, no one ordered me. It was my own feelings. I have loved you for a long time and knew you would never look at me. So I used my cousin’s name.”
“My lord, I loved you too much. I acted foolishly. I was wrong, but it was only because my love was too strong.”
She crawled and clung to his leg, wailing, intent on fastening herself to him for life. She could not return to Duke’s Manor. That stubborn Yun Zheng loved only Ye Xi Wei and was immune to her charms. A lone woman in Haojing without shelter had a bleak road. Better to seize this chance and give Qingqing a powerful backer.
Lin Wei’an’s face twisted. He kicked her off with a snarl: “Shameless.”
She crawled back and clutched him again, sobbing and swearing devotion, while inside she sneered. Yes, she was shameless. But what of him? He was married and still pined for Ye Xi Wei. His mouth spoke morality and righteousness while his actions were base. Such hypocrisy was filthier than that stubborn brute Yun Zheng.