Chapter 077
Chapter 77: A Once-and-for-All Solution
Playing with the chopsticks on the table, Xia Meng Yan let her lips curve a little and said: “When you were tangled up with Huo Ying Zi, did you ever think about how I felt, or the child?” Her tone turned cold as she added: “Don’t act wronged. Everything now is the result of your own choices. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”
Blankness flashed in Lin Ye Lan’s eyes. He stared at her, unable to believe that the woman who once could casually bring out two hundred thousand taels to marry him had become so cold. He asked in a low voice: “What do I have to do for you to let me go?” He had worked hard for the honor he had now. He could not die.
Meeting his eyes, Xia Meng Yan guided him gently, almost careless: “That depends on why you called me here.” [He is Marshal Huo’s right-hand man. If he is about to die, maybe I can draw out something important.] Most of all, she knew Lin Ye Lan well. He was selfish and afraid of death.
At her words, Lin Ye Lan stood and walked toward her one step at a time.
She warned, calm and sharp: “You had better stay where you are. The child I carry is your only child. If something happens, I don’t care, but you will be left with no heir.” She tossed the chopsticks to the floor with a clack and added: “I came here already giving you face. If you have something to say, say it.”
Blood surged in Lin Ye Lan’s eyes, and he began to cough hard. Xia Meng Yan frowned. Catching that flicker of concern on her face, he felt a spark of hope and asked softly, gaze dropping to her belly: “You still worry about me, don’t you.”
Xia Meng Yan looked away and did not argue.
He said, voice husky: “Hate me if you want. I don’t blame you. But the child is innocent. If you raise him well and let him carry the Lin Family name, I will tell you a secret.”
Her heart jolted. Could Lin Ye Lan really know a secret about Marshal Huo? She covered it with a sneer and said: “What secret could you have? Don’t try to trick me.”
“I’m not lying,” he answered. “As long as the child is born with the surname Lin, the secret will be his life-saving charm from me.”
Xia Meng Yan pretended to think it over. He stood only a few steps away and did not press her.
She nodded at last and said: “Fine, I agree. But if your secret doesn’t interest me, don’t blame me for breaking my word.”
Relief loosened his shoulders. A small smile touched his mouth as he said: “You will be interested.”
He began, matter-of-fact: “A big reason we ended up like this is the two hundred thousand taels. But you don’t know, that silver was not what I wanted. It was what the Huo Family wanted.”
Xia Meng Yan’s eyes turned icy as she asked: “You’re saying the Huo Family wanted it?”
He nodded: “Back then I was only a nameless soldier under Marshal Huo. I returned to the capital once and met you. Later you chased me, and word reached Northern Fortress Pass. Soon after, I became Marshal Huo’s right-hand man. I had some luck. The battles I led kept winning. News reached the capital, and the emperor made me Marquis of Ping’an.”
She curled her lip: “Are you trying to say Huo Ying Zi helped you a lot?”
He shook his head: “Before I returned to be given my title, Marshal Huo called me over. He mentioned your maternal grandfather’s Lin Family and praised it as a house of great charity. If the Frontier Garrison got help from the Lin Family, he said, the border would be pacified sooner. Later, Huo Ying Zi came to me. She said your mother was the main-line first wife’s daughter of the Lin Family, and her dowry had been more than a princess’s. Yours would not be less. I did not believe it, so I tested it on purpose when I returned to the capital. I never thought your father would give a dowry of two hundred thousand taels.”
Xia Meng Yan asked, remembering her own foolishness and wanting to sink through the floor: “Were you proud then? Did you think I could not live without you?”
The corners of Lin Ye Lan’s eyes lifted with a small smile as he said: “Meng Yan, you cannot deny it. You really did like me once.”
She waved it off and said coolly: “Once is the right word. Keep talking.”
“The emperor knew about the two hundred thousand,” Lin Ye Lan said. “He thought the Huo Family would soon send the silver to the Frontier Garrison. But Marshal Huo told me to hold it for now. I grew suspicious and looked into it. I found that in the towns around Northern Fortress Pass, there were Huo Family troops everywhere. Some ran inns, some escorted caravans, and some were important local merchants. Northern Fortress Pass was already the Huo Family’s world. When traveling merchants were attacked, people thought it was bandits. In truth, it was the Huo Family.”
Hearing this, Xia Meng Yan’s face stayed still, then she snatched up a bowl and hurled it at him, shouting: “Lin Ye Lan, what kind of man are you? Do you owe nothing to the people of Northern Fortress Pass? Did the Court raise you all these years just so you could squeeze the people?”
He did not dodge. The bowl struck his forehead, and blood slid down his cheek. He wiped it away and looked at the red on his hand. To his own surprise, he felt lighter and said with a crooked smile: “I knew you had a soft heart. You can’t stand it when people suffer.” Too bad that soft heart had nothing to do with him.
Xia Meng Yan could only stare; she had never seen anyone so twisted. She asked in a low, sharp voice: “If you tell me these things and Huo Ying Zi finds out, won’t my child and I be killed early for your sake?” After returning from Northern Fortress Pass last time, she had guessed the Huo Family planted bandits in the towns. She had not expected the so-called bandits were the Huo Family themselves. [No wonder I died at Northern Fortress Pass in my last life. The land for miles around was the Huo Family’s. How could I not die there.]
Lin Ye Lan bent, picked up a shard from the broken bowl, stepped forward, and scratched a few words on the floor: “The Huo Family has ledgers in many places. On the fifteenth of each month, someone goes to inspect them. The ‘shopkeeper’ who keeps the books is not always loyal to the Huo Family.”
Xia Meng Yan raised a brow and said, interest flickering: “Break them from the inside? Good idea. But why should I do this?”
Pressing his palm to the cut on his forehead, Lin Ye Lan lowered his voice and said: “Because there are Huo Family people inside the Lin Family.”
Xia Meng Yan shot to her feet and stared at him, shocked: “Huo Family people have mixed into the Lin Family?”
“The Lin Family is a great house of wealth,” Lin Ye Lan said. “If the Lin Family is destroyed, the Huo Family will not need to act for years. It is a once-and-for-all solution. Why wouldn’t they do it?” Seeing her finally tense, he let himself feel a small, mean pride and added: “I told you I would protect you and the child. If you can get even one set of ledgers, you’ll have a life-saving charm.”
Xia Meng Yan’s face went calm again as she asked: “Don’t you want to live?”
“The Huo Family wants me dead,” he said. He ran a hand over his thigh. Only a few days ago had he learned from Divine Physician Luo that his leg injury had been done on purpose, not to kill him. He had not understood at first, but after thinking through the way he had been hurt, all the small details lined up. They had gone to wipe out bandits and everything had gone smoothly. But on the way back, they were ambushed. He blacked out, and when he woke, his leg was injured. The men with him said it was the bandits’ remnant and that they barely escaped. After that, Huo Ying Zi escorted him back to the capital to heal. It all seemed reasonable, but now it was clear: the Huo Family wanted to send Huo Ying Zi into the capital. They had people pretend to be bandits and cripple his leg so she could enter openly. No wonder Huo Ying Zi treated him coldly after they reached the capital. He had been used and then kicked aside. This time, he had risked everything because he truly wanted to win Xia Meng Yan back. The Huo Family’s power was too great. He could not fight them. All he could do was keep playing dumb.
Propping her chin, Xia Meng Yan looked at him with open mockery and said: “If the Huo Family wants to kill you, why not go to Huo Ying Zi? Are you afraid of angering the Huo Family and having them take back everything you have?”
Flushed, Lin Ye Lan snapped: “Xia Meng Yan, must you put it so harshly?”
She ignored that and asked: “Does Huo Ying Zi also know about the Huo Family’s crimes?”
Lin Ye Lan nodded and said: “She should know.”
Xia Meng Yan pressed on, voice level: “The Frontier Garrison’s pay at Northern Fortress Pass has always been short. Why hasn’t the emperor suspected?”