Chapter 35: The Entire Martial Family Walks

  Lin Mengyan's heart was like a cat scratching as soon as she heard that He Huan was at the Shen's house, and Shen Jinglun might marry her out of gratitude. She didn't care about distinguishing between true and false anymore. In recent days, she had already suffered losses from He Huan twice, and her intuition told her that she must quickly cut through the tangled mess and thoroughly eliminate this "love rival".

  She pulled Wu's hand and walked to Lin Guoqin's side, whispering: "Father, two years ago, if you had made a decision at that time, now you would be the father-in-law of your elder sister's husband. How could he leave you here for more than an hour? This time, you can't be as soft-hearted as before."

  Lin Gu looked at his daughter and didn't say a word. He really couldn't bear to tell her that when the Lin and Shen families first discussed their engagement, Shen Jinglun had clearly told him that he was marrying Lin Xiyuan, not a daughter of the Lin family. At the time, if he had done as his daughter said and ruined Lin Xiyuan, letting her take her place, the Lin family would probably be in the same situation as the He family by now.

  But to be honest, Shen Jinglin looks cold and unfeeling on the surface, only loving romance and not tolerating mundane chores, but when it comes to doing business, he is very astute. In recent years, in the eyes of outsiders, it seems that the Shen family has been supporting the Lin family, but in fact, Shen Jinglin has been killing two birds with one stone, marrying a beautiful wife while also making a fortune.

  Lin Mengyan saw that her father was not speaking, so she shook his sleeve hard and said in a spoiled tone: "Father, this time you'll listen to me, we're still like last time..."

  "You still dare to mention last time." Lin Guqing's face was displeased, and he scolded Wu Shi in a low voice: "Meng Yan doesn't understand things, that's fine, but you're so old, why don't you think about it? The few little rascals you found are recognized by many people on the street. That day, He family's daughter had just left Shen's house, if something really happened, could Shen's family not care? Those little rascals were caught by the government office, and they would immediately give you away..."

  "Now we are at the Shen's house, what are you bringing this up again for? Be careful, there may be ears on the other side of the wall." Wu said with her mouth, but in her heart, she was somewhat anxious and hastily opened the door to take a look. Seeing that the corridor was empty, she closed the door and secretly let out a sigh of relief.

  On the day, at Lin Xiyans funeral, her daughter wanted to teach He Huan a lesson. She didnt take it seriously and thought her daughter just wanted to scare her, so she agreed vaguely. Afterward, when her husband mentioned it, she felt a lingering fear. If those few maids were caught by the authorities, their mother-daughter reputation would be ruined.

  In the brief silence, Lin Mengyan bit her lower lip tightly. As soon as she thought of He Huan's clear and elegant features, which were similar to Lin Xiyu's eyes, she felt a surge of hatred that made her teeth ache.

  "Knock, knock." Along with the knocking sound, Shen Zhihua respectfully called out "Lin Er Lao Ye" outside the door, personally bringing a servant girl to replace their hot tea, repeatedly apologizing and claiming that Shen Jinglun was busy accompanying the doctor to treat Shen Nianxi and couldn't leave.

  Lin Mengyan took advantage of her parents' inattention and quietly slipped out of the house. Shen Zhihua glanced at her back with the corner of his eye, a faint smile flickering across his lips before quickly replacing it with a look of worry and concern.

  In the small flower hall of Shen's outer courtyard, He Huan lay on the soft couch, his eyes tightly closed, his eyebrows furrowed in worry, an abnormal flush spreading across his face, and a low moan escaping from the corner of his mouth from time to time.

  "Doctor Bai, it's been a long time, why hasn't the young lady woken up yet?" Bai Zhi's eyes were red and unfocused, anxiously looking at the white-haired doctor.

  Doctor Qian smiled kindly and comforted her, "Miss He just caught a chill, she'll wake up once the fever breaks."

  Cao sat on the side eating tea and snacks, displeased with Bai Miao: "You just got a little rain, don't make a fuss over there, disturbing Dr. Qian's treatment." She had long made up her mind to stay at the Shen family until He Huan's illness was completely cured before returning.

  "Nothing, nothing," said Qian with a smile. "Since Shen's steward has already sent someone to fetch the medicine, I should be going too." He slowly stood up.

  Cao heard this and hastily threw down the yellow peas in his hand, saying loudly: "Qian Daifu, what's the point of diagnosing gold? You can ask the Shen family for it, we don't have any silver."

  "This young lady is joking, I'm so old, how could I not know who to ask for a diagnosis fee?" Master Qian didn't lack silver, he came to the Shen's house to diagnose out of kindness.

  Cao was already past the age of blossoming flowers, but was extremely delighted by Mr. Qian's address of "young lady", hastily nodding and smiling: "Mr. Qian is indeed a scholar, not only skilled in medicine, but also kind-hearted and knowledgeable about books and reason..."

  "Hey, Aunt Cao, do you know what it means to be knowledgeable and understand reason?" Lin Mengyan pushed open the door with a "bang" and sneered at Cao Shi.

  "Miss Lin Er, is it knowledgeable and reasonable to barge into someone else's room like this?" Cao retorted.

  "Do you think this is your home?" Lin Mengyan sneered.

  "Could it be that this is the Lin family's place?" Cao retorted.

  ……

  Money doctor sees two people coming and going, gunpowder flavor is full, he wants to call Ya Niang to separate them, but sees only the house inside left guarding He Huan's side of White Peony, Shen family's servants have long since retreated out, he quietly walks out.

  Qian Daifu chose to avoid it, not because he was timid or afraid of trouble, but because he was older and didn't want to get entangled with the Shen family like Cao Shi did. In his opinion, He Huan's medical expenses were willingly paid by the Shen family, which showed Shen Jinglun's magnanimity and sense of humanity; if they hadn't wanted to pay, that would have been understandable too.

  Lin Mengyan and Cao didn't notice Qian Daifu going out to call someone, the two of them stared at each other like a pair of angry birds, as if they wanted to peck at each other.

  Next to her, Bai Shao heard Lin Mengyan's cold and sarcastic remark: "I've seen people with thick skin, but I've never seen anyone as thick-skinned as you..." She couldn't finish speaking when Cao Shi sneered: "We're thick-skinned? Then you're the one who has no face or skin!" Seeing the two arguing until their faces were red and their necks were swollen, Bai Shao sat on the edge of the bed, feeling helpless and could only look at her master who was sleeping soundly, wiping away tears with her head down, not daring to go forward to advise them.

  Lin Mengyan had originally wanted to take advantage of He Huan's illness to drive them out of the Shen family, best if she could make her give up on Shen Jinglun. She thought that no matter how much a person changes, their nature is hard to change, and He Huan was still a weak and timid little white flower at heart. Taking a step back, even if she couldn't drive away the He family's people, she could still thoroughly anger He Huan, best if she could anger her to death. Who would have thought that she would actually encounter this shrew Cao Shi?

  Although Cao was a timid and fearful person, Lin Mengyan would only shout loudly, unlike He Huan who chopped an axe on the table. The two were far apart in terms of momentum, and she wasn't afraid of her at all. Moreover, they stayed in the Shen family, drinking good tea and eating pastries, and just saving He Huan's medical expenses could save a lot. How could she possibly leave with He Huan because of Lin Mengyan's few words?

  Lin Mengyan glared at herself, her eyes wide with anger. She pointed a finger at her own nose and scolded: "How dare you! You're so shameless, flirting with your own brother-in-law in broad daylight... What kind of virtuous woman are you pretending to be?"

  "What did you say?!"

  "I'm talking about you!" Cao saw that there was no one else in the house, so she pushed Lin Meng's shoulder heavily and said, "Don't think you're some kind of good stuff. To put it bluntly, you're just a ***, can't stand men, and still a specialist in picking up old goods..."

  "I'll tear your mouth apart!" Lin Mengyan's face turned green and white, her eyes almost spitting fire. She and Lin Xiyuan had been fighting since childhood, but they were all "verbal fights", where had she ever encountered such straightforward scolding? She was so angry that she fainted, stretched out her hand to pinch Cao's neck, shouting: "Someone, tie up this shrew for me, I want to beat her to death with my own hands!"

  “Just you?” Cao's hand grasped Lin Mengyan's wrist, and with a swift slap, she struck her on the top of her head. She had originally wanted to hit her face, but since they were in the Shen household, she was afraid of leaving evidence, so she could only strike the top of her head instead.

  With her movement, there was a "pu" sound, and a jade hairpin fell to the ground, breaking into three pieces. Lin Mengyan's long hair also fell down, getting stuck between the back of her head and her neck.

  Lin Mengyan didn't have time to mourn her jade hairpin before she felt a pain in the back of her head, and Cao's wife had grabbed her hair. She reached out to scratch Cao's face.

  The Cao family did not dodge or give in, and she was secretly delighted in her heart. She was injured by Lin Mengyan at the Shen's house, and both the Lin and Shen families had to compensate her for medical expenses! She grabbed Lin Mengyan's hair and dragged her towards the door.

  Lin Mengyan gritted her teeth in pain, her fingernails digging deeper, and shouted loudly: "Mei Qing, where have you gone to die? Quickly hang up this shrew and whip her to death!"

  On the side, Bai Miao had already been frightened silly. Although Aunt Cao often scolded and beat her before, she never fought back with words or fists. Aunt Cao would scold for a few sentences, poke her forehead a few times, and that was it. When had she ever seen such a display of martial arts?

  "Auntie, the young lady is still ill." Bai Miao reminded timidly, hesitating whether to go forward and open the door, when she saw Shen Jinglin already standing at the entrance.

  *****

  Recommend Xie Zhen's joyful and warm article - "Cannon Fodder is Hard to Serve": A humorous writer becomes a cannon fodder female supporting character in her own story. [bookid=3095902, bookname="Cannon Fodder is Hard to Serve"]