Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Born as a lone star 
 
 
Since childhood, Lin Yu’s body has been weak, and even though she wore an incense sachet, it couldn’t cover the bitter flavor of the medicine immersed in her bones. 
  
After taking medicinal food three times a day for these years, her body improved a lot, but she still looked weaker than ordinary women. She had a thin waist, soft bones, and pale skin; she didn’t look like a good childbearer. So when Lin Yu was twelve or thirteen years old and about to get married, people talked about who would come to the Lin family to propose marriage. The noble families considerate Lin Yu’s health would make it difficult for her to bear children in the future and were unwilling to marry her into the family as a principal wife; the small families did not dare to hope to climb the Lin family, and the Lin family would not marry their daughters into a humble family to suffer. So, Lin Yu’s future husband’s family has been a matter of discussion for a long time.
  
However, surprisingly, when Lin Yu turned fourteen, Li Heming’s mother couldn’t wait to go to Lin Yu’s mother and set up the marriage between Lin Yu and Li Heming.
  
Lin Yuan’s daughter, Lin Wan, entered the palace and became a consort, highly favored by the emperor. Lin Yu’s father and brother held essential positions in the court. Li Heming came from a family of generals. His father and brother died in battle, leaving him as the only son in the Lin family. When the engagement was made, Li Heming was only 19 years old but was already Imperial Guards Qian Hu (*). He had a promising future and was a perfect match for Lin Yu, so both families were happy about the marriage.
T/N: Qian Hu is the Imperial Guards’ leader, fifth rank.

Unsure whether it was because Li Heming’s mother saw that Li Heming’s marriage was settled and had fulfilled her wish; within a year, Mother Li followed Li Heming’s father and brother, and from then on, there was only a widowed sister-in-law left in the family except for him. After Li Heming mourned for three years, the emperor sent him to various places to handle cases, which made officials uneasy. He returned in March this year, and soon after returning to the capital, he became the Northern Imperial Guards Chief. However, misfortune and fortune depend on each other, and within a few days, the Lin family came to cancel the marriage between Lin Yu and him. The private reason was that Lin Yu was weak and had no luck to be his, Li Heming’s, wife.
  
Lin Wan was a concubine in the palace, and the Lin family was a royal relative, so what couldn’t Lin Yu do? The Lin family’s words seemingly implied that after Li Heming married Lin Yu, the next day, he would take in a few arrogant women of unknown origin as concubines to offend her.
  
The Lin family’s words were imprecise, and they insulted Li Heming. There were rumors that Li Heming was born as a lone star; otherwise, why was he the only one left in the Li family except for the widowed sister-in-law who married into the family?
  
He was wearing a flying fish suit, had blood on his hands, and had a murderous aura that Yama could not stop. Others said that the Lin family was worried that Lin Yu might not live for many years after marrying into the Li family, so they broke off the engagement. But only the people of the two families knew the details. However, when they met, there was always a burst of embarrassment. The atmosphere of silence spread in this long street. Zelan and Wenzhu looked at each other with an unspeakable look.

Lin Yu and Li Heming looked at each other for a moment, and finally, she lowered her head first and said softly: “Master Li.”
  
Lin Yu rarely went out. Today was the first time she had met Li Heming since he returned to the capital. She always felt that his aura was too violent and disturbed her breathing.
 
Li Heming didn’t respond, and Lin Yu didn’t care. She said softly, “My horse is timid and doesn’t dare to cross this road. Mr. Li, please ask your men to lead the horse further away and leave a path.”
  
She didn’t look at him when she spoke; Li Heming stared at her lowered eyebrows for a while, raised his hand to a guard sitting on the horse like him, and said, “He San, clear the road.” 
  
His voice was deep and cold, and Lin Yu was steady, but the man named He San’s heart trembled when he heard it, and he quickly glanced at Li Heming, saying: who messed with him? 
  
However, He San only dared to guess in his mind. He moved quickly to dismount, tugging on the reins of a dozen horses, and in a moment, he left the road open. He stood on the other side of the road and said to Lin Yu, “Alright, the road has been cleared, Miss Lin, please.” 
  
Lin Yu nodded slightly and smiled softly, “Many thanks.” She raised her hand and was about to close the curtain when she heard a bang. Li Heming reversed the knife’s hilt and firmly pressed it against the window. 
  
Lin Yu was stunned and looked up at him. He was sitting on the horse, holding the knife sheath. The hilt was tilted downward against the window. If Lin Yu let go of the window, the knife would fall straight into her carriage, so she had to hold the window. She frowned lightly, “What is Master Li’s intention?” 
  
Li Heming stared into her eyes, “Nothing else to say?” 
  
When Lin Yu heard his tone, she thought he would trouble her for withdrawing from the marriage. The withdrawal of marriage was not a small matter, no matter whose fault, in the eyes of outsiders, her Lin family had offended him. 
  
However, Lin Yu felt that what others thought was their business, and he, Li Heming, knew the whole story best, so he should not have the face to make trouble for her for this matter. Hence, Lin Yu looked at him for a long time before reacting with hindsight. She lowered her head and said, “Thank you, Master Li, for making way.” 
  
However, the smile on her face was not there like when she spoke to He San. Her thanks were not sincere, and Li Heming did not see a bit of happiness. After the Imperial Guards finished searching the Wang mansion, Li Heming moved his eyes away from Lin Yu’s pursed lips. He coldly retrieved the knife without saying anything and clamped the belly of the horse: “Back to the Imperial Prison!” 
  
The Imperial Guards mounted their horses and took Wang Changzhong away. Mud and dust flew into the carriage. Lin Yu frowned and thought: We shouldn’t have decided on this marriage in the first place.