Grand Tutor Lu said with deep concern: "Although as a father I only have you three children, your eldest brother's career has a promising start, and your eldest sister is married into Prince Ping's Mansion. If you were to marry even higher into the imperial family... I'm afraid the ones above might grow suspicious."
This was precisely why he favored Song Lin.
Academic talent was secondary; what he fancied was that Song Lin was both handsome and penniless!
If Lu Wanwan married him, she would basically be his ancestor—couldn't he just treat her like royalty?
Yet upon hearing his words, everyone fell into a long silence.
"Father-in-law, what kind of misconception do you have about yourself?" asked his son-in-law, the Heir of Prince Ping.
Eldest Miss Lu took a small sip of tea. "If you weren't the only legacy left behind by the late emperor, given your stubborn mule of a temper, the Eastern Depot would have raided your home eight hundred times over!"
"Exactly!"
Looking at her living, breathing family members right before her eyes, Lu Wanwan felt a poignant ache in her heart.
In her past life, her parents had died early, and her eldest brother and sister-in-law were banished by Song Lin to a bitter, freezing frontier. After the truth of the fake and real daughters came to light, they rushed back to the capital only to encounter a mudslide and lose their lives. Her eldest brother's servant had returned to the capital shouting that there was a hidden story behind the tragedy, only to be shot dead by Song Lin in broad daylight.
Her eldest sister had died young in difficult labor, while her eldest brother-in-law was sentenced to death in the celestial prison by the young emperor for brutally beating Song Lin.
Such a wonderful family, and yet she had ruined most of them.
At this thought, her heart ached terribly. She pulled Eldest Miss Lu into a tight embrace, her tears soaking a large patch of the latter's lapel.
The Lu family members looked at one another, at a loss as to how to comfort her.
Unwilling to let her family worry, Lu Wanwan wiped away her tears and sternly instructed them never to look at Song Lin again, nor to grant him any conveniences.
At last, she quietly instructed her maid: "Song Lin has taken so many things from me. Go have people spread the word about his reputation of freeloading, taking handouts, and biting the hand that feeds him... Oh, and... just say it was my eldest brother who gave them to him."
"Yes, Miss."
Only then did Lu Wanwan let out a pent-up breath.
How wonderful that Song Lin had been reborn.
Did he think rebirth was a chance to defy the heavens and change his fate? No, it was her chance to send him straight to hell with her own hands!
Every bit of pain and humiliation she had suffered in her past life, she would make him taste in full this time around!
Eldest Miss Lu comforted Lu Wanwan for quite a while before leaving with her husband, completely unbothered by her desire to marry an imperial prince.
No matter how wretched an imperial prince might be, there was always room to train him into shape.
Besides, the old emperor had been so fond of sowing wild oats, who knows—perhaps there was a reliable pearl lost in the sea among them.
Not long after they left, the steward hurried in, trembling: "Master, the Eastern Depot... Superintendent Xie from the Eastern Depot is here!"
The atmosphere instantly froze into dead silence.
Xie Yanxi—a living Yama King in the literal sense, a close minister of the Son of Heaven, second only to one, erratic in temperament, and fond of funeral rites: whichever family he went to feast at, he would send them off to their grave.
"Go get my spear!" Eldest Sister-in-law Lu stood up with trembling hands. "I swear to fight the Eastern Depot to the death!"
Eldest Young Master Lu scrambled over to grab her by the thigh: "Meeting the Eastern Depot is like meeting His Majesty himself, you mustn't..."
Grand Tutor Lu's heart was also pounding like a beating drum.
Had the dog emperor's filial piety toward the late emperor finally stopped right here?
The steward hurriedly steadied him, reminding him in a trembling voice: "Master, we've already finished eating our banquet guests' food."
Grand Tutor Lu paused, his legs suddenly regaining their strength. "Then... quickly invite Superintendent Xie in!"
"Ah... he has already arrived."
Everyone looked toward the figure outside the doorway.
Xie Yanxi possessed a pair of cold, stern brows and eyes, with a tall and slender physique. As he strolled leisurely into the hall, the aura of bloodshed and chill washing over him was palpable.
The hall fell into an instant hush.
The only person acting completely unconcerned was lightly twirling a white jade hairpin between her fingertips, a faint, ambiguous smile playing on his lips: "Miss Lu, you dropped your hairpin."
Lu Wanwan was startled. This was a gift someone had given her for her coming-of-age ceremony; she liked it very much and wore it frequently, so it must have fallen in the courtyard just now.
Just as she reached out to take it, Xie Yanxi flipped his wrist, and the hairpin was steadily reinserted into her hair.
His gaze swept over the delicate lotus carved into the head of the hairpin, his voice turning surprisingly soft and low: "A young lady's belongings should be kept safe. After all... not every time they are lost will someone bring them back."
"Thank you, Superintendent."
With that, Lu Wanwan hurriedly squeezed herself over to her sister-in-law's side.
She had once seen Xie Yanxi kill people; he chopped off heads as effortlessly as harvesting chives, and fresh blood splattered across his body only made his handsome face look all the more eerily mesmerizing... like a ghost.
Ever since then, she had never dared to look him straight in the eye.
What was more... in her past life, Xie Yanxi was Song Lin's close confidant, and had even died from severe injuries while trying to save him, serving as Song Lin's greatest backing.
"For the Grand Tutor's birthday banquet, this supervisor has come specially to offer his congratulations."
Grand Tutor Lu accepted his congratulatory gift and took a look: "This collection of miscellaneous notes has been lost for a long time; my daughter and I have been looking for it for ages. Thank you, Superintendent, for parting with such a treasure."
"It's nothing."
Xie Yanxi picked up a scroll of calligraphy and painting instead, saying offhandedly: "I just heard this was a birthday gift sent to the Grand Tutor by a provincial graduate, so I happened to pick it along the way. I wonder if I might have a look?"
You're already holding it in your hands, why bother asking such hypocritical questions?
Grand Tutor Lu muttered inwardly, but still unrolled the scroll. The calligraphy upon it was wild and unrestrained, while the painting appeared rather mediocre.
"Just this?" Xie Yanxi let out a light sneer. "And here I thought it was some peerless lost masterpiece... Even the dog Miss Lu raises could crawl across paper and write better than this."
Lu Wanwan: "..."
Song Lin's handwriting wasn't that ugly; Xie Yanxi must have forgotten how he used to shower him with praise in their past life.
Fortunately, after a brief moment, they were finally able to send the plague god away.
"Safe journey, Superintendent." Grand Tutor Lu felt a great deal lighter.
Lu Wanwan kept her gaze lowered the entire time, yet she always felt as though a faint, lingering gaze was resting on the top of her head...
Was her head really that good-looking?
Surely it couldn't be that it looked particularly easy to chop off.
"I hear that every year on the Grand Tutor's birthday, Miss Lu goes to Jing'an Temple to light a lamp for him. Coincidentally, this supervisor is heading there as well; I can give you a ride."
Startled, Lu Wanwan raised her head, met his deep gaze, and quickly lowered it again.
"Thank you, Superintendent."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she almost wanted to slap herself across the face.
She had clearly wanted to refuse! If only her damned mouth had been just a tiny bit slower!
She was forced into the carriage. Unsettled, Eldest Sister-in-law Lu came along with her.
Although Xie Yanxi was a eunuch and didn't have to worry about the boundaries between men and women, those high-martial-arts psychopaths of the Eastern Depot were entirely capable of getting fed up halfway through escorting someone and sending them straight to the Western Paradise on a whim.
She had to protect her little sister!
Fortunately, the journey was relatively peaceful. Just as they were nearing their destination, a wave of shouting drifted in from outside.
Eldest Sister-in-law Lu glanced ahead. "It's the Heir of Yong'an Marquis. He must be heading to Jing'an Temple as well, but his carriage has collided with Song Lin's."
Lu Wanwan was stunned. Song Lin and her former brother-in-law?
Wait, had Song Lin found clothes and made it all the way to the outskirts of the capital this fast?
She lifted the curtain, and sure enough, she saw Song Lin standing beside a damaged carriage, supporting a delicately featured young woman. At that moment, both of them were glaring angrily at the Heir of Yong'an Marquis.
The latter was still sneering: "You two were too busy flirting to notice the world around you, and now that you've crashed into this Marquis's carriage, you still dare demand compensation? Beat them!"
"How dare you!" After barking that stern reprimand, Song Lin suddenly looked toward the rear with a pleasant surprise. "Superintendent Xie? The Heir of Yong'an Marquis is committing violence in broad daylight—please uphold justice for us!"
Xie?
Superintendent?
The Heir of Yong'an Marquis turned his head, locking eyes with a pair of deep, cold pupils. His legs went weak on the spot.
"This one is Song Lin. Greetings, Superintendent Xie."
The look Song Lin gave Xie Yanxi was exceptionally fervent, far more clinging and passionate than if he were gazing upon a long-lost lover.
Xie Yanxi's brows twitched slightly as he reined in his horse and stopped. "Are you the Master Song who attended the Grand Tutor's birthday banquet today?"
"Superintendent knows of me?"
Song Lin's tone was one of surprise, which quickly gave way to a hint of haughty pride.
So Xie Yanxi had already begun paying attention to him long ago.
No wonder in his past life he had been so quick to yield to his talent and promote him step by step up the official ladder.
Seeing that the situation was turning against him, the Heir of Yong'an Marquis forced a smile. "So Young Master Song actually knows the Superintendent? It turns out I was just a blind dog looking down on people."
Song Lin's face turned livid, and he let out a cold laugh. "Since you've humiliated me so today, don't come crying back with your bowels twisted in regret tomorrow begging me!"
He was waiting for the day the Heir of Yong'an Marquis would come crawling on his knees to beg for permission to marry his sister, and in this lifetime, he would never agree to let his sister marry downward!
Fear of Xie Yanxi ultimately outweighed everything else in the mind of the Heir of Yong'an Marquis. Without retorting, he hastily mounted his horse and galloped away with his guards, shouting, "My dog is about to give birth and I'm rushing back to deliver the pups—Superintendent, let's never meet again!"
With a gloomy look in his eyes, Song Lin went to complain to Xie Yanxi: "Superintendent, Second Young Miss Lu also publicly humiliated me today. I am a provincial graduate—how dare she—"
Without warning, Xie Yanxi flicked a flying dart. It grazed past Song Lin's throat, leaving a shallow streak of blood.
Song Lin instantly fell silent, his face turning pale.
Xie Yanxi turned his gaze to Lu Wanwan, offering a rare explanation: "This supervisor hates noisy chatter."