Since the ancestral home wants to cast him out, he might as well make a clean break of it; he would give it a try regardless of the outcome.
Thinking this, Lin Zezu hesitated no longer. He picked up the brush from his desk and bent over his work, writing intently.
Before long, Fugui brought him his evening meal. Since the family was in mourning, no one in the Lin household was permitted to consume meat or animal products. The meal was simple in the extreme: a bowl of rice, a bowl of thin rice porridge, and a bowl of boiled cabbage—bland and austere. Lin Zezu forced himself to finish every morsel, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and then picked up the tea Fugui offered to rinse his mouth thoroughly.
Before the sky had completely darkened, he picked up the letter he had just finished. With a solemn expression, he said to Fugui:
"Fugui, in a while, take this letter and deliver it personally into the hands of the clan elder, Lin Shisheng. Do not let anyone see you, and do not ask or say a single word. Can you do this?"
Seeing the gravity in Lin Zezu's expression, Fugui understood that this was a matter of great importance and nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Young Master. I will certainly deliver this letter into the hands of the clan elder myself."
After Fugui left, Lin Zezu practiced his calligraphy while lost in thought. The talk of a family split that Fugui had mentioned today was not without foundation. Now that his father had passed, Madam Zhao, the mistress of the house, no longer had anyone to keep her in check. This talk of "splitting the family" was likely just a pretext to sweep him out the door.
Currently, the grandchildren of the Lin family had all passed the initial examinations and were expected to head to the prefecture city this year to sit for the *xiucai* exams. The mistress and his eldest brother would likely exercise some caution for the time being. Still, rather than living a stifled existence within this great mansion, a split would be a relief.
The question was whether the mistress and his eldest brother intended a loose separation or a total severing of familial ties. Knowing their greedy nature—always wanting to have their cake and eat it too—they would surely want to kick him out while still keeping him under their control. A clean break would be difficult for him in the short term, but in the long run, it would be to his advantage.
He remembered that the original occupant of his body still possessed fifty-two taels of silver; this was his leverage. Since the mistress and his eldest brother wanted to start this game, he would be the one to finish it. With this thought, Lin Zezu’s mind felt clear and resolved.
***
The following morning, just after Lin Zezu had finished the meal Fugui had brought him, Steward Zhao knocked on the door—though the door to the West Side Room was already left slightly ajar. Steward Zhao did not push his way in; he simply stood at the doorway, his voice at a steady, moderate volume that carried clearly into the room.
"Good morning, Fourth Young Master. The Eldest Young Master invites you to the study."
Lin Zezu rose quickly. He had always been extremely cautious in his dealings with the chief steward of this great household. Steward Zhao always wore an amiable, smiling expression, never once showing a hint of hostility or changing his demeanor toward him; on the surface, he always maintained the respect due from a servant to his master. Yet, when it came to doing business, he was ruthless. Everyone in the household knew it, and few were not afraid of him.
Steward Zhao’s confidence stemmed from Madam Zhao’s backing. Her maternal family were major grain merchants in Linjiang County with business reaching all the way to Huainan Prefecture City. Steward Zhao had originally been the chief manager of the Zhao family's grain firm in Linjiang. When Madam Zhao married, she had begged her father to let Steward Zhao come to assist in managing the household. The results proved his competence. After Lin’s father earned his *xiucai* degree, he failed to advance to the provincial level for over a decade. During this time, under the management of Madam Zhao and Steward Zhao, the Lin family had not only acquired hundreds of acres of prime farmland in Linjiang Village but also purchased several residences and storefronts in the county town.
Lin Zeguang, the eldest, and the second brother, Lin Zezong, had shown no academic progress after passing their initial examinations and had instead followed Steward Zhao to learn the trade. The third brother, Lin Zeyao—born to Auntie Qian—was not cut out for books and had stopped his private tutoring after a few years; before his death, the elder Lin had arranged for him to work under Steward Zhao managing the village estates.
"Uncle Zhao, thank you for making the trip!"
Lin Zezu stepped forward quickly, greeting the steward with a polite, measured smile.
Steward Zhao’s expression stiffened noticeably, though it lasted only for a flash—yet it was enough for Lin Zezu to catch.
"It is no trouble, Fourth Young Master. Please follow me. The Eldest Young Master has been waiting in the study for quite some time."
After speaking, Steward Zhao turned to the side, extending his right hand in a guiding gesture, and began walking toward the front hall.
As Lin Zezu stepped onto the bluestone steps of the front hall’s veranda, he felt a momentary sense of disorientation. He could not remember the last time he had stepped into this hall. Even during the days he spent keeping vigil for Lin Shitong, he had only been allowed to kneel on the veranda steps, never daring to cross the threshold. For over a decade, his predecessor had been cautious in every step, but instead of sympathy or care, he had met only with contempt, disdain, and neglect from family and servants alike.
The front hall was where the Lin family received guests. Directly above the center hung a landscape painting of pines and cranes, framed in exquisite sandalwood. On either side of the painting hung a pair of couplets written in regular script:
*Confucius and Mencius pass on the legacy for ten thousand generations,*
*The lineage of farming shares one root.*
Though the couplets were not perfectly balanced in tone, the sentiment was grand. The final characters of the couplets spelled out "Shitong," suggesting that Lin Shitong himself had written them.
Below the painting stood a long altar table holding two lamp stands with white candles burning. At the ends of the table stood cabinets carved with orchids and tigers. Inside the hall stood a large table for eight, with high-backed chairs on either side. Six square tea tables lined the room, each accompanied by lower circular-backed chairs. All the furniture was finished in uniform vermilion lacquer, and the floor was paved with blue-gray brick. The entire hall felt dignified and composed.
"It’s certainly good to be wealthy," Lin Zezu couldn't help but think.
He followed Steward Zhao’s footsteps closely, bypassed the screen, and crossed into the second courtyard. Steward Zhao stopped at the door of the east side room. Lin Zezu searched his memory and knew this had been his father’s study while he was alive; now that his father was gone, it was naturally used by the eldest son, Lin Zeguang.
*Knock, knock...*
Steward Zhao knocked on the door—a sound neither too light nor too heavy. Lin Zezu had to admire him; if he had been born in the modern era, Steward Zhao would surely have been an outstanding professional manager.
"Eldest Young Master... Sir... the Fourth... the Fourth Master has arrived."
Well, the Eldest Young Master had become "Sir," and he himself had become the "Fourth Master." Lin Zezu thought about it—it made sense. With his father gone, the eldest brother was indeed now the master of the house. Madam Zhao, the mistress, must have also been promoted to "Old Madame."
"Come in, Fourth. You may go about your business."
Steward Zhao stepped aside and gestured. Lin Zezu offered a faint smile and a slight nod to the steward, then took a step forward and pushed open the door, saying with a hint of a tremor in his voice:
"Zezu greets Eldest Brother."
Who didn't know how to act? Even Fugui knew how to play a part! From the moment he pushed open the door, Lin Zezu glanced briefly into the study and then kept his head bowed, his waist slightly bent, his body trembling just a little.
The desk stood by the window. Lin Zeguang sat behind it, his back to the light, his face cast in shadow, making his expression impossible to read.