Luo Xueyao carried the memories of her past life, yet the familiar faces had not yet fully aligned in her mind. Following the direction Lin Yue pointed, she saw four familiar faces—the very uncle's family that had seized her family's property in her second life!
Luo Xueyao gnashed her teeth in fury. No wonder the damn system claimed it had everything—it turned out her enemies from her second life were here too!
Even though they had already died once in the apocalypse, they had just perished, and she herself had died of illness shortly after. How could Luo Xueyao possibly vent her hatred?
Luo Xueyao hated the Lin family because of their familiar faces. Yet the Lin family cast venomous glares at the Luo family, as if the two families shared a blood feud. This struck her as rather odd.
Teary-eyed, Lin Yue murmured, "Surely your uncle's family has also been implicated because of us... How innocent they are!"
Lin Zeng turned away in anger, unwilling to pay any attention to his sister, Lin Yue.
Madam Wan, standing beside him, could not help but march over and spit fiercely right in Lin Yue's face.
"Bah! You corrupt officials! If you hadn't colluded with Xirong and committed treason, how could we ever have suffered this torment!"
Luo Xueyao had set up a barrier the very instant Madam Wan charged over, preventing the spit from landing on Lin Yue, yet Lin Yue still wept heartbrokenly.
"I'm sorry, I've dragged you all down..."
Displeased, Luo Xueyao pulled her mother behind her. "Why must Mother apologize to them? Uncle studied for a lifetime, yet couldn't even pass the preliminary county exam.
If Father hadn't recommended him, how could the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review have possibly taken him on as a clerk?
A clerk of no official rank, earning a mere two taels of silver a month—if it weren't for Mother's financial support, could they have ever lived such a comfortable life of luxury and fine food?
How is it that when they were reaping the benefits, Uncle's family never came to show gratitude, but the moment they are implicated, they want to turn around and bite the hand that fed them?
All the perks are yours, but the moment trouble strikes, you want to wash your hands of it? There is no such cheap deal in this world!"
Madam Wan pointed straight at Luo Xueyao's nose and cursed furiously, "You shameless little slut, how dare you talk back to your elders! This is sheer insubordination!
Didn't you cry and scream to marry the Fourth Prince? Now that the Fourth Prince has ascended the throne, why aren't you going into the palace to be a imperial concubine since you're so capable? You've caused us to suffer this misery, and you must compensate us!"
"Slap!"
Madam Wan clutched her cheek, staring at Luo Xueyao in sheer disbelief. "You hit me? You actually hit me?"
"Such a noisy woman. I hit you, so I hit you—do I need to pick an auspicious date for it? A mere concubine, nothing more than a plaything, yet you dare put on airs as an elder in front of me?"
Luo Xueyao shook her wrist as she mocked her derisively.
"You want compensation? You want a settlement? Fine, then first return every single tael of silver and supplies you took from our Luo family over the years, and then we can settle accounts one by one!"
"Bitch, you dare hit my mother!" A potbellied, acne-covered rake came running over, raising his hand to strike Luo Xueyao, only for his wrist to be caught in a firm grip by Luo Qingyu.
Luo Qingyu was a military graduate; dealing with a good-for-nothing like Lin Hongcai was easier than crushing an ant.
With a gentle twist of his hand and a push, Luo Qingyu shoved Lin Hongcai right back toward Lin Zeng, sending him sprawling face-first into the dirt in a most undignified tumble.
Lin Zeng had always wanted Lin Hongcai to marry Luo Xueyao to bring the two families even closer through marriage. Lin Hongcai had also repeatedly tried to cozy up to Luo Xueyao, always attempting to lay his grubby hands on her, and the Luo brothers had been itching to beat him up for a long time.
Lin Zeng cherished this son above all else. Seeing his wife and son suffer consecutive blows, he hurriedly helped his son up, intending to personally discipline these juniors himself, when several bailiffs strode over, cracking their whips and cursing as they came.
"What are you doing? What are you doing? Is there any respect for the rules left? You're a bunch of exiled criminals, and you don't even know if you'll make it to Ningguta alive, yet you still have the leisure to bicker and cause a scene here? Make another sound, and your lords here will make sure you don't even make it out of Shengjing!"
With that, a whip lashed out toward the Luo family, clearly intended to make an example of Luo Jingran, who held the highest former official rank, to frighten the rest.
Luo Xueyao's barrier could only deflect attacks from the inside out; attacks from the outside could not penetrate it at all.
Instead of hitting the Luo family, the bailiff's whip rebounded entirely off the barrier, its full force lashing squarely across Madam Wan.
"Oh, mother in heaven, it hurts to death!"
With that single strike, Madam Wan's prisoner garb was torn open, exposing the bloody, mangled flesh beneath. The whip scar extended diagonally from her right shoulder all the way across to her left breast, and she collapsed to the ground with a shriek of agony.
Dressed in a moon-white immortal-style dress that could not be concealed even by the prisoner's tunic worn over it, looking as ethereal as an exiled immortal, Lin Zhiyan finally stirred.
Calling out for her mother with tears brimming in her eyes, she weakly attempted to help Madam Wan up.
Alas, as a frail young woman with no strength to spare, she pulled several times in vain while Madam Wan remained sprawled on the ground, tumbling over a few extra times simply because of her clumsy attempts at support.
"Tsk tsk! Two lifetimes, and this creature is still acting like a green tea bitch!"
Luo Xueyao curled her lip in disgust and turned her face away, refusing to watch their farce any longer.
Lin Zeng was busy supporting his son and had no time to deal with Madam Wan, so he could only roar at Lin Zhiyan, "Useless girl, why aren't you helping your aunt up!"
On the surface, Lin Zhiyan appeared submissive and obedient, yet she did not exert even half an ounce of actual strength.
She was the daughter born to Lin Zeng's primary wife, Lady Liu. During Lady Liu's pregnancy, Lin Zeng had hooked up with Madam Wan and even brought her into the household, where she constantly sowed discord and stirred up trouble, ultimately causing Lady Liu's qi and blood to reverse during childbirth, leading to a fatal hemorrhage.
Afterward, Madam Wan successfully bore a son, causing Lin Zeng to hold Lin Zhiyan in even lower regard.
Lady Liu and Lin Yue had been bosom friends; if Lin Yue hadn't constantly blocked Lin Zeng from elevating Madam Wan to the status of a primary wife and forbidden him from taking a successor wife, it was likely there would have never been any place for Lin Zhiyan in the Lin family.
Now, seeing Madam Wan suffer at the hands of the Luo family, Lin Zhiyan was barely able to suppress her glee, let alone feel any genuine heartache for her.
Being hauled up by her only to be dropped again, hoisted up and dropped once more, Madam Wan tumbled a few more times, aggravating her wounds until the pain became unbearable. Unable to help herself, she swung her hand back and slapped Lin Zhiyan across the face.
"Little bitch, do you even know how to help someone up or not?!"
Pushed aside by Madam Wan, Lin Zhiyan seized the moment to collapse to the ground, looking as fragile as a swaying blade of grass in the wind.
A large, sharply jointed hand reached out before this blade of grass, caught her firmly by the arm, and hoisted Lin Zhiyan up from the ground.
Lin Zhiyan's gaze slowly traveled upward along the man's dark-colored robe hem, gliding past auspicious clouds and jade dragons embroidered in gold thread, before finally coming to rest upon his exquisitely carved face.
Her pearly white teeth bit gently into her full lower lip, her nostrils trembled slightly, and her long eyelashes fluttered like a pair of small fans, veering to conceal two pools of shimmering, ready-to-fall tears.
"Your Highness..."
Murong Jing paid no heed to Lin Zhiyan's performance, instead frowning as he looked toward Luo Jingran. "Is this how Lord Luo treats his relatives?"
Luo Jingran replied neither servilely nor overbearingly, "The Second Prince should choose his words carefully; this commoner has already been stripped of his official post."
Murong Jing let his appraising gaze sweep over Luo Jingran before letting out a soft, cold laugh. "This prince had assumed that Lord Luo and I were at least standing on the same side at this moment. After all, your daughter has already been betrothed to me; we can be considered in-laws of a sort."
Without changing his expression, Luo Qingyu pulled his younger sister behind him and slowly spoke up. "The imperial decree betrothing my younger sister was issued by the new emperor. Does the Second Prince's remark indicate your determination to submit and pledge allegiance to the new emperor?"