Chapter 952 - 946: Mentor
Even an outsider like Su Jin was worried for the Lin Mansion, not to mention Mr. Lin himself.
He rushed back home, hurrying to see Madam Lin in three swift strides.
Before he could ask what was wrong, Madam Lin asked first, "Did you mention anything about Mr. Xie marrying your sister?"
Mr. Lin was speechless, "..."
"Is this why Mother was in such a rush to have me come back?" Mr. Lin said, his mouth twitching.
Madam Lin didn’t answer, but asked again, "Mother is asking you a question."
"I haven’t mentioned it," Mr. Lin replied.
"That’s good...,"
Mr. Lin was confused.
Urging him to go, then urging him to come back, what exactly did Mother want?
Seeing Madam Lin breathe a sigh of relief, Mr. Lin asked, "Is Mother not satisfied with Mr. Xie?"
Madam Lin sighed, "It’s not dissatisfaction; it’s that our Lin Family can’t reach that high."
Mr. Lin was puzzled.
Madam Lin looked at the brocade box and said, "This Mr. Xie is quite generous; his family background is far beyond what our Lin Family can compare to."
Mr. Lin opened the brocade box and saw the scholarly four treasures inside.
Initially, he didn’t think much of it, but upon closer inspection, he said, "Is this... a Duan Inkstone?"
Madam Lin nodded.
She knew about Mr. Lin giving the guest room to Su Jin in Tongzhou Prefecture.
Just for a guest room, such an expensive gift was given as thanks.
Casually gifting a Duan Inkstone; even noble families in the Capital aren’t this generous.
If the Lin Family hadn’t been demoted, Madam Lin might suspect that Su Jin had ulterior motives for giving such an expensive gift. But it’s been three years since the Lin Family was demoted, and even if they hadn’t been, who in the Capital, with that kind of spending, couldn’t they get close to?
Madam Lin wants her daughter to marry well, but she also doesn’t want her to marry into a family so high that the Lin Family can’t provide shelter once she’s married off.
Such a family likely doesn’t have simple marriage arrangements, and if they really brought it up, Madam Lin feared her son would suffer a taunt.
Luckily, it was discovered in time, and nothing was said.
Mr. Lin said, "I’ll return such an expensive gift to him."
Madam Lin glanced at the sky and said, "It’s late today, return it tomorrow."
Mr. Lin’s personal servant looked at the brocade box and said, "It’s strange to give such expensive things so casually, yet his clothing is quite ordinary."
Thinking of the several glares he gave Xingxing, Mr. Lin’s servant felt a bit guilty.
Hopefully, he didn’t cause trouble for Mr. Lin.
The master was wrongfully accused, if Mr. Lin could make connections with some powerful individuals, perhaps the master could regain his official position one day.
In the inn.
Su Jin was having dinner when the coachman came in and said, "Princess Consort, I went to inquire, and Sun Prefect is notorious, the common folk dare to be angry but don’t dare say anything, and Lord Lin is known for being upright, with a good reputation in Su State."
Even though that vendor cursed the Emperor, Xingxing was unhappy.
But the Emperor really did seem quite muddled.
Not using good officials and instead using corrupt ones who oppress the people; no wonder the people speak ill of him, far away in the Capital.
Xingxing looked at Su Jin and asked, "Are we going to cut down that Sun Prefect?"
Xingxing still remembered that Su Jin carried a Jade Pendant, which would be more than enough to deal with a Prefect.
Su Jin said, "But doing so would reveal our identity."
"Then what should we do?" Xingxing asked with difficulty.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Xingxing casually responded, "Who is it?"
"It’s me," Steward Zhou said.
Xingxing quickly went to open the door, and Steward Zhou looked at Su Jin and said, "The things Steward Shen asked me to prepare are all ready."
Servants brought in two large trunks.
One trunk contained Cloud Brocade and Shu Brocade.
The other contained ancient paintings and calligraphy, along with supplements and a Jade Ruyi.
Su Jin picked them up and looked at them, the items were quite good.
"Thank you for the trouble, Steward Zhou," Su Jin said.
Steward Zhou smiled and said, "I was just running errands. These items are available in the Zhou Family’s shop, it wasn’t troublesome."
Su Jin paid for the items, but accepting the money made Steward Zhou quite jittery.
Even if he pretended not to know, he couldn’t change the fact that he was facing Princess Consort Zhenbei.
Without Old Master Zhou’s instructions, he dared not refuse three thousand taels of silver.
Su Jin instructed Housekeeper Zhou a few more things before he left the room.
The Zhou family’s business spanned the entirety of Daqi, and Housekeeper Zhou had no shortage of places to stay in Su State, but for Su Jin’s safety, he stayed at the inn, in the adjacent room.
After dinner, Su Jin read for a while before going to bed to rest.
On the following day, it was supposed to be the wedding day of Sun Prefect’s daughter to Mr. Wei.
But yesterday, people from the Sun Mansion caused a scene at the Wei Mansion, and Mr. Wei was still in jail, so the joyous occasion was certainly not going to happen.
But even though the wedding couldn’t take place, it didn’t prevent Su Jin from sending a wedding gift to the Wei Family.
Su Jin asked Housekeeper Zhou to find two unfamiliar servants, who drove a horse carriage directly to stop at the entrance of the Wei Mansion—
Princess Consort Zhenbei heard of the junior master’s happiness and specially sent them to deliver two trunks of gifts.
At that time, people passing by the gate of the Wei Mansion stopped to watch the commotion.
Upon hearing the servant’s words, everyone was dumbfounded.
Princess Consort Zhenbei was the present Princess Jin Ning.
Mr. Wei was her junior apprentice brother...
So Doctor Wei was her mentor?
The Wei family’s servant was taken aback and said, "Isn’t our master the mentor of Princess Consort Zhenbei?"
The gift-delivering servant said, "Our Princess Consort is kind-hearted, and with Dr. Wei being innocently dragged into this, seeing that he is a decent person, she acknowledged him as a mentor."
"Could it be that the Wei family doesn’t want our Princess Consort as a disciple?"
The Wei family servant was terrified.
Is there any reason not to want this?
This is like smoke from the ancestors’ graves as a blessing.
The Wei family servant hurried to report to Mrs. Wei.
Poor Mrs. Wei was sick and bedridden, but hearing this news, she recovered much and, supported by her daughter, walked out.
The servant presented the gift list for Mrs. Wei to see, "This gift list was personally written by our Princess Consort, and there are words of congratulations."
Mrs. Wei wept tears of joy.
The servant looked around and asked, "Isn’t today supposed to be a happy occasion? Why is the place so quiet when a festivity is happening?"
The Wei family servant, feeling proud, said, "What festivity? The Sun Mansion has regretted the engagement and refuses to marry off their daughter, disappointing the Princess Consort’s kind intentions."
The servant, looking displeased, asked the Wei family servant in front of the onlookers what was going on.
The Wei family servant explained loudly, very loudly, the whole story.
The servant gave a cold laugh, "A minor Su State Prefect even dares to bully the small trainee of our Princess Consort. How brave!"
Mrs. Wei invited the servant inside to rest, and the news of what happened at the doorstep of the Wei Mansion spread like wildfire to the Prefect’s Office.
Upon hearing that Princess Consort Zhenbei had sent wedding gifts to the Wei family, Sun Prefect’s legs gave out in fear.
"How is Doctor Wei also a mentor to Princess Consort Zhenbei?!" Sun Prefect’s voice trembled.
No one dared to answer.
Prefect’s wife hurriedly came over upon hearing the news and said, "Could it be a trick to make us release the prisoner?"
Sun Prefect shook his head, "Who would dare impersonate Princess Consort Zhenbei to make me release someone?"
"Such a crime would get the entire family exiled; the Wei Family wouldn’t be so foolish."
"Quick, go to the Wei Mansion and set a date for the wedding!"
Sun Prefect started walking out, and after a few steps, he shouted, "What are you all standing around for? Quickly release the son-in-law!"