Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Li Heming, this bad guy!
The Lin family never thought Li Heming would ask Emperor Chong’an to grant a marriage. When the golden imperial edict and the boxes of betrothal gifts from the Li family arrived at the gate of the Lin Mansion, the one with the gloomiest face in the Lin family was Lin Jing, who had been on guard against Li Heming.
Even Lin Yu’s expression was more decent than his, as if it was him, not Lin Yu, who would marry Li Heming. However, the grace of heaven was given, and the imperial decree could not be violated. Although Lin Jing was highly dissatisfied, he had to kneel with everyone to receive the decree and thank the Emperor for his grace without showing dissatisfaction on his face.
The people in the palace took the reward with a smile and returned joyfully to the palace. Li Heming did not show up today. Old Chen, the Li Mansion’s butler, led the servants to deliver the betrothal gifts. He handed the betrothal gift list to Wang Yueying with a smile and said, “Madam Lin, this is the list. Please take a look.”
Old Chen wrote this betrothal gift several years ago, and although it was delayed for a year or so, it still came in handy. Old Chen has worked in the Li family for decades. He watched Li Heming grow up and knew Li Heming’s thoughts better than others. He had already understood Li Heming’s thoughts when he asked him to find a hand warmer for Lin Yu at her last visit. Even the charcoal burning in the yard was prepared by Li Heming when Lin Yu came before.
In the past winters, Li Heming had never used those cumbersome things. As Old Chen thought about it, he subconsciously looked at Lin Yu standing under the eaves before the door. She was dignified and graceful, noble and also beautiful. Indeed, she was a ‘person made of jade.’
The Li family was happy, but the Lin family was worried. Wang Yueying couldn’t say what she felt in her heart. Previously, she and Li Heming’s mother decided on their marriage, and later, she broke off the engagement. But now, after all the twists and turns, the imperial edict had been issued, and the two were still tied together. As she thought about it, she looked back at Lin Yu, who was looking at the gifts in the courtyard. She wondered what she was thinking and sighed silently.
Forget it. Since it’s already happened, overthinking is useless. Since Li Heming wants to marry Qiqi, he can’t bully her.
Compared with Mother Lin, Lin Zhengqing, as a father, was very calm, as if he had expected this day, and he was not worried that Lin Yu would suffer if she married Li Heming. He has been in the court for decades, and the young officials were all promoted step by step under his watch. He knew their personalities very well. Li Heming became the Northern Leader in only a few years. Although he had a bad reputation among officials, he was a rare young talent. It was not a bad thing for Lin Yu to marry him.
Father and Mother Lin agreed to the marriage, but Lin Jing frowned. He approached Lin Yu and asked her seriously: “Qiqi, do you want to marry him?”
Although he was asking, he clearly disagreed with this marriage. Lin Yu, who held the imperial edict, turned her head to look at the brother who had been protecting her since childhood and said softly: “Who in Yingtian Prefecture has such power as him now? Do you think it’s bad for me to marry him?”
Lin Jing did not expect Lin Yu to use Li Heming’s power as an excuse. Lin Yu said: “I don’t like to use power to oppress people, but since I am from the Lin family, which ordinary family do you think I can look up to?”
Lin Jing said: “But when you got engaged, Li Heming is only a Qian Hu.”
Lin Yu shook her head: “He is different from others. His father, brother, and mother are deceased. He climbed this Qian Hu position step by step. Although I initially rejected his proposal, I must admit that he has achieved success at a young age. It is difficult to find a second young man with such talent as him in the capital city.”
She looked at Lin Jing and said, “Even if it is you, it is difficult to surpass him without the help of my father and sister.”
Lin Jing was momentarily silent: “I don’t know that you favor him because of power, but you can follow your heart and find someone you like. ”
Lin Yu smiled: “Not everyone is as lucky as my brother to find someone like sister-in-law. Was Eldest Sister looking for someone she likes? I remember she had a lover before entering the palace, right? Besides, I was born into a powerful family, so I must pursue power. Do you want the daughter raised by the Lin family only to follow love and ignore the rise and fall of the family?”
Lin Jing disagreed with this. He frowned and said, “But at least Sister is deeply loved by the Emperor. Is Li Heming sincere to you?”
Lin Yu thought of the wooden card with her name on Lingyun Mountain and wanted to say ‘yes,’ but she remembered that Zelan told her when they went down the mountain that Li Heming had been to the brothel, and she said uncertainly, “It should be… a little bit…”
“Liar!” Lin Jing pointed at the betrothal gifts in the courtyard and growled, “If he is sincere, why only use these things to marry my Lin family’s daughter? If you marry him, what good life will you have?”
He said these words loudly without any fear in front of Old Chen. It seemed that Lin Jing intended to send this to Li Heming’s ears, letting him know that Lin Yu was not someone he, Li Heming, could bully.
No wonder Lin Jing looked down on these betrothal gifts. The things in this courtyard looked insubstantial. At least when Lin Jing married Qin Mei’an, he had much more than these broken boxes. However, for some reason, after hearing this, Wang Yueying looked at him, coughed, and said, “Jing’er is rude.”
After hearing this, Old Chen bowed to Lin Jing slowly and explained, “The Li family has few personal connections, and there are few gold, stone, and jade artifacts in the warehouse, but the things are all top-notch. There are many calligraphy, paintings, and ancient books, but Master worries that the cold winter will damage the books during transportation, so the items sent look rough. After thinking about it, I sent some tacky things to make up for it.” As he said this, he asked someone to open a seemingly ordinary box. Lin Jing frowned and looked at it but couldn’t help but be stunned momentarily because the box was full of bills and land deeds.
Indeed, it was tacky but so tacky that people couldn’t say a word against it.
Lin Jing was so angry, but he had nothing else to say. He turned angrily to the house with his sleeves swung.
Lin Yu smiled at Old Chen: “My brother is too straightforward. Please forgive him.”
Old Chen looked at the future mistress of the Li Mansion and said respectfully: “I dare not.” As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something. He walked around the boxes in the yard a few times and took out a small, long box made of wood. He handed it to Lin Yu. He said, “Master ordered to give this thing to Miss Lin. Please take a look at it privately.”
Lin Yu asked: “What is this?”
Old Chen shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know.
Lin Yu was curious, so after Old Chen left, she returned to the room and opened the box. There was no lock on the box, only a loose buckle. Inside, it was something that seemed to be made of jade wrapped in white silk, and there was also a folded letter paper.
Lin Yu first looked at the paper’s content, and an inexplicable sentence appeared: sleep with it inside. The handwriting was Li Heming’s. Lin Yu had seen the marriage card he had written, so she recognized them but couldn’t understand the meaning.
She took out the thin cylindrical object wrapped in white silk in confusion. When she peeled off the white silk and saw what was inside, her face froze for a moment. Then, suddenly, she became annoyed and embarrassed, and her ears and face immediately turned red. She didn’t even want to touch the thing. She closed the box and slammed it against the wall in frustration. The box lid opened, and the thing inside fell out and broke into two pieces.
Lin Yu bit her lip and cursed in her heart: Li Heming, this bad guy!