"So, this is young Master Song? Truly as elegant as jade. I hear you have yet to take a wife?"
At the birthday banquet, Grand Tutor Lu looked at the young man with admiration. Even with the hall filled with dignitaries, the young man stood with an air of unyielding pride.
In her previous life, Lu Wanwan had been captivated by this very demeanor, throwing herself into doing all sorts of foolish things for Song Lin.
Just as she was about to stop Grand Tutor Lu from delivering the next sentence—which would have betrothed her to him—she heard a voice of rejection: "Second Young Miss Lu is spoiled and willful; she is not a suitable match. Besides, I already have a sweetheart and am only waiting to place high in the examinations to welcome her home."
Lu Wanwan looked at Song Lin sharply.
He had been reborn, too.
"No matter how you look at me, Miss Lu, I will not marry you," Song Lin frowned.
Lu Wanwan stared at the worn stitching on his cuffs—every single thread of this brocade robe had been a gift from her.
An ungrateful wolf is truly impossible to domesticate.
She let out a sudden, light laugh. "Your clothes, your jade pendant, your shoes—which of them wasn't a gift from me? If you despise me so much, how do you have the face to keep my things?"
Song Lin’s face flushed a deep red.
To protect his pride, Lu Wanwan had never made these things public; he had never expected her to point them out in front of everyone.
At that moment, he felt as if he had been stripped naked, exposed to the meaningful, scrutinizing gazes of everyone at the banquet.
"I—"
"Strip!"
Song Lin looked at Lu Wanwan in disbelief.
Lu Wanwan looked back coldly. "What? Is someone else’s clothing so comfortable that you can’t bear to take it off?"
"...It is just a set of clothes!" Song Lin gritted his teeth and actually began to undress.
Lu Wanwan watched him intently, her expression dazed.
In her past life, Song Lin had not refused the marriage because his sweetheart, Meng Wan, had fallen off a cliff and died on her way to the Capital.
And she, being a fool, had provided for him, as he had no family or support, helping him climb the ranks until he became a high official.
Once he reached the pinnacle of power, the first thing he did was register the two sons she had raised with such hardship under Meng Wan's name. He left his entire estate to Meng Wan—a dead woman—and petitioned the young Emperor to grant a marriage decree, giving Meng Wan the status of primary wife, just so they could be buried together in the afterlife.
Yet, even the Song family's wealth had been her own dowry. How laughable.
"I could have reached high office without you! Why did you have to use your family's power to force me to marry you after driving my fiancée to her death?!"
"Wanwan must have heard the news that you were forcing me to marry you, which is why she was so heartbroken she fell from the cliff! You stole her life, you stole her husband, and now being demoted from wife to concubine is your retribution!"
Only after the mask fell did she realize how much Song Lin had hated her for all those years.
He resented her "forced marriage and plunder" for taking Meng Wan's place. In the end, the woman he had officially married became a mere concubine. Later, he even spread rumors that Meng Wan was the true daughter of the Lu family, entering her into the Lu genealogy.
And she, the "imposter" who had usurped the nest, was naturally cast out.
After a life of superficial glory, she, Lu Wanwan, became the laughingstock of the Great Chu.
How could she endure such humiliation? So, she invited Song Lin to go mountain climbing, and at the edge of the cliff, she set a fire that burned him to nothing.
Ground to ash and scattered to the winds!
*Let them be buried together, then.*
...
She never expected to be reborn.
At this moment, Song Lin was standing in his undergarments, unable to take off any more.
He warned her in a low voice, "Lu Wanwan, know when to stop!"
Lu Wanwan’s gaze grew colder. "To dare address me by my given name—truly a depraved lecher! Strip him bare and throw him out!"
"Yes!"
The servants of the Lu Residence were obedient. Grand Tutor Lu had wanted to intervene—after all, it was unsightly—but his waist was being pinched so hard by Mother Lu that his face twisted in pain. To the onlookers, however, it looked as though he was incensed by Song Lin’s slander of his beloved daughter.
Thus, the servants tore off his clothes with even more vigor.
"Presumptuous!" Song Lin was nearly driven mad. "I am the future Marquis of Lin'an... No, I am a provincial scholar with academic honors! How dare you humiliate me like this!"
"Paying back debts is only right and proper," Lu Wanwan said. "The clothes were lent to you; what is wrong with taking them back?"
Unable to resist, Song Lin was stripped clean in front of everyone.
—Fortunately, he had kept his own undergarments, saving a shred of dignity.
The customs of Great Chu were open-minded, and since it was someone else's misfortune, the men present watched with great interest, while the women turned away, blushing and cursing Song Lin for his shamelessness.
The moment he was tossed out, Song Lin felt a metallic tang of blood in his throat.
It had been many years since anyone had dared to treat him with such disrespect.
The high spirits of his rebirth had been completely extinguished by this humiliation! Even if he climbed to the imperial court in the future, today would remain his lifelong disgrace!
Lu Wanwan!
Burning him to death in his past life wasn't enough? In this life, just because he refused a marriage, she would humiliate him to this extent! He was right—she was a jealous, selfish, venomous woman!
He was humiliated and furious, but facing the insults and disdain of the passersby, he could only hide in a dark alley, naked.
A great man... must know how to bend and stretch!
Once he met Superintendent Xie, who had appreciated him in his past life, and formed an alliance, those who looked down on him now would naturally come crawling like pugs!
After that, the Second Prince, the Heir of Prince Ping, and even Lu Wanwan's own eldest brother would be conquered by his talent and willingly pave his way.
For now, he might as well go find Wanwan. She was almost at the Capital. With his warning this time, she wouldn't fall off that cliff. In the future, she would be the Marchioness of Lin'an, the matriarch of the Song family, and the true daughter of the Lu family.
In this life, he would help her take back everything that belonged to her!
...
At the Lu Residence.
Lu Wanwan’s eyes were red as she poured out her grievances to everyone. "My father merely asked if he had a wife, and he leaped to such conclusions, even slandering me as spoiled and willful... but what did I do wrong?"
She began to sob softly.
In the distance, a noble young lady tightened her grip on her handkerchief. "Second Young Miss Lu crying—it’s truly pitiful to behold!"
"I really want to wipe her tears for her."
Lu Wanwan’s voice choked with emotion. "My father invited him to the banquet because he appreciated his talent, yet he caused my father to lose face in public. I saw that my father valued him, so I gave him clothes so he wouldn't look wretched at the banquet, but he... he insulted my reputation in front of everyone."
She looked sad and angry. "With such miserable character, my father must have been blind to deign to invite him to the banquet!"
Grand Tutor Lu: "..."
These days, the price of pork was being driven up; even the good pigs were being snapped up by the cabbages. Who could have guessed that someone as talented and handsome as Song Lin would be an ungrateful wolf?
The guests were also swayed by Lu Wanwan’s words to dislike Song Lin.
Even if Grand Tutor Lu had truly intended to marry off his daughter, Song Lin could have simply refused. But to slander the girl—and while wearing the very clothes she had given him—was truly low.
Many veteran officials sighed and shook their heads. No matter how talented such a man was, he must not be allowed to rise to power.
If Song Lin still had the audacity to attend the imperial examination in ten days... then they would have to submit a petition to the Emperor. It would also serve as a favor to Grand Tutor Lu.
After all, Grand Tutor Lu held a first-rank position and served as Minister of the Ministry of Works. The Empress Dowager was his own elder sister—though she was the Emperor’s stepmother, not his biological mother, she was still very highly regarded by the Emperor.
After the banquet, the Empress Dowager also sent a message.
"Her Majesty says that a girl of the Lu family is not something a mere provincial scholar can afford to disdain."
Grand Tutor Lu said awkwardly, "I only saw that Song Lin was young and handsome..."
"The Second Young Miss's marriage will be decided by Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. Her Majesty says that if the Grand Tutor dares to act on his own authority again, do not blame her for not giving you face as your sister."
"..."
After sending away the Empress Dowager’s messenger, the Lu family surrounded Lu Wanwan.
"Little sister, didn't you quite admire young Master Song before?" Eldest Young Master Lu asked.
"I'm not blind anymore."
"But you previously—"
Before he could finish, Eldest Sister-in-law Lu smacked the back of his head. "Whatever little sister says, goes!"
"...Oh."
"I’m not marrying him!" Lu Wanwan said. "I want to marry a prince and become the Empress Dowager! Just like our aunt!"
In her past life, didn't Song Lin rely on being the teacher of the young Emperor to dare demote his wife to concubine?
She had watched from childhood what kind of good life her aunt, the powerful Empress Dowager, led. People said that no matter how noble she was, she was just a widow—but if one could be a *powerful* widow, who still needed a man?
They were all just "crazy tools" who were good for nothing!
Grand Tutor Lu frowned. "Setting aside the generations, just speaking of the Emperor's sons..."
Those students of his who were no threat to his political career but who had ruined his reputation in the literary world?
"There are only five who have reached adulthood. The Eldest Prince married early; the Second Prince is ruthless; the Third Prince only knows how to babble bird-talk. As for the Fourth and Fifth, they are one worse than the other. Which of them is a good match?"
Lu Wanwan was silent for a moment before saying deeply, "If you put in enough effort, you can pan for gold in excrement."
Trash is merely a resource in the wrong place.
If she were to send them out to face Song Lin, how would he respond then?