Against the Current - Chapter 109

Chapter 109 - Caught in the Act (Part 2)

Lin Jinlou was momentarily startled, then burst into roaring laughter, his laughter growing louder and louder until he was bending backward and forward. Everyone looked at one another in shock and uncertainty. Hao Qing trembled uncontrollably, a puddle of urine soaking the floor beneath him. Once Lin Jinlou had finished laughing, though his face still wore a smile, it was laced with a bone-chilling, icy menace. He nudged Hao Qing with his boot and said, "She claims she was wronged. That means you must be the primary culprit, and a thousand cuts wouldn't be punishment enough."

Hao Qing wailed, "This humble wretch is wronged! The Zhao family has a cousin named Qian Wenze, who got acquainted with me over drinking and gambling. He told me that his cousin, the Zhao lady, possessed the beauty of a celestial maiden, and that even before her marriage she had engaged in illicit relations with him. Afterward, when she married into a family, she spent her days guarding an empty chamber, longing day and night for a man. He wanted us to bridge the gap and pull strings, letting me coax the Zhao lady into taking out silver to lend for interest. Once the profits were reaped, they would be split ninety-ten with Qian Wenze. He also claimed the Zhao lady had originally pulled out over ten thousand taels of silver to lend out. When I didn't believe it, Qian Wenze said the vast majority of this silver belonged to the Lin family's public coffers, and since the Zhao lady used to manage household affairs, she had been able to rake in massive amounts of grease money. Though she couldn't easily touch the official funds anymore, she could still manage to pull out three to five thousand taels. Lending it out would bring in at least seventy or eighty taels every single month..." At this point, he glanced at Lin Jinlou's expression. In truth, the moment Qian Wenze had mentioned all this, his heart had been tempted and he had agreed. But right at this very moment, he absolutely could not admit to that, so he gritted his teeth and fabricated a lie: "Even if this humble wretch had the courage of the heavens, I would never dare to seduce a lord's wife, and I stubbornly refused to agree. Yet, because I was burdened by gambling debts owed to Qian Wenze, I had no choice but to comply under duress."

Lin Jinlou sneered, "Who are you trying to fool? You're a tonsured monk, and yet you go out drinking and gambling?"

Hao Qing cried out, "This humble wretch is no monk! My surname is Hao, given name Qing, and I have a wife and children at home. It was Qian Wenze who made me shave my head and move into this temple specifically to make things convenient for my trysts with the Zhao lady." He continued his tearful, heaven-wailing lament, "If My Lord does not believe me, just bring Qian Wenze here and a single question will reveal the truth."

The faces of the Zhao father and son turned a patchy shade of white and red. They never expected Zhao Yuechan's audacity to reach such extreme heights—not only using her husband's family silver to run a usury ring outside, but also keeping two different men.

Zhao Yuechan, however, wept, "Qian Wenze forced me! Back then, I was ignorant and made a grave mistake before marriage, which he used to hold power over me. If I refused to comply with his wishes, he threatened to make a chaotic scene outside. I, I was also driven to no other choice..." Burying her face deep into the quilt, she wept heart-rendingly.

The complexions of the Zhao father and son were as dark and gloomy as the bottom of a cooking pot, and the room fell into a heavy silence.

Lin Jinlou cast a glance at Zhao Xuede and taunted, "Things have reached this pass, does my esteemed father-in-law still have anything to say?" He bit down with crushing weight on the words "father-in-law."

Zhao Xuede forced himself to speak, "Old Man is thoroughly ashamed..." Seeing Lin Jinlou fixing him with a look brimming with a murderous aura, and fearing he might fly into a berserk rage and cause bloodshed—while also knowing this matter could no longer be swept under the rug—he asked, "What is it you want?"

Lin Jinlou replied, "The matter is simple enough. It boils down to three paths: first, I issue a letter of repudiation, divorcing her on the grounds of committing the crime of unchastity."

The members of the Zhao family chimed in unison, "That must never happen!" If Zhao Yuechan were sent back home under such a disgraceful charge, the Zhao family's reputation would truly be dragged through the dust. For generations to come, their descendants would find it difficult to hold their heads up in society, and since Zhao Xuede still had two unmarried daughters, they would likely never find proper marriage matches.

Zhao Xuede tried to persuade him, "Why must my good son-in-law push things to such a fatal extreme? The Lin and Zhao families are, after all, joined in amicable relations, and besides, this won't look good on your own face either..."

Lin Jinlou sneered, and continued, "Second, the Zhao lady dies of a sudden illness. The Lin family will naturally take care of her funeral rites, but her coffin will not be permitted to enter the ancestral burial grounds."

This was essentially demanding Zhao Yuechan's life. Her eyes widened abruptly, and she shrieked, "No! That won't do!" Tears rolling down unceasingly, she begged her father, "Father, you must never agree to this!"

With an unsightly expression, Zhao Xuede glanced over at Lin Jinlou, thinking inwardly: If a rebellious daughter like this dies, it would settle everything cleanly, preserving the Zhao family's reputation while also venting Lin Jinlou's anger. Yet, stealing another look at Zhao Yuechan huddled on the bed, his heart softened once more. After all, she was his own flesh and blood, raised and dotingly cherished since childhood—how could he possibly harden his heart enough to send his own daughter to her death?

Zhao Gang also chimed in from the side, "Father, this course of action is entirely improper. Sister may have committed faults, but she does not deserve to lose her life over them."

While Zhao Xuede was still hesitating, Lin Jinlou's voice rang out: "Third, I separate from the Zhao lady through a formal divorce. However, because she embezzled silver from the Lin family's public coffers, she cannot take her dowry farmland with her; everything else will be handled as she pleases."

Zhao Xuede clicked his tongue in thought. Because the Lin family was a prominent aristocratic clan of Jiangnan blessed with boundless wealth, Zhao Xuede had endured a painful pinch to his purse-strings back when his daughter was married off, purchasing a massive amount of dowry property and agricultural estates just to put on a grand display of prestige. Hesitating and hoping to carve out some room for maneuvering, he put on a fawning smile and said, "Why must my good son-in-law be in such a hurry? Right now, capturing the rebels is the most pressing matter. Once we catch them and record your first-class merit, we can discuss family affairs later without delay."

Lin Jinlou strode over to a chair, sat down, crossed one leg over the other, and gave a cold sneer. "I have already preserved the Zhao family's dignity out of regard for our allied ties. If this matter is not settled right here and now, I will immediately pull back my troops and retreat, dispatching a formal letter of divorce straight to your manor. I care little if the whole city is thrown into an uproar and everyone learns I've been made a cuckold. Even if I have to throw away my own skin and pride, I am going to tear this scandal wide open."

Zhao Xuede spun around in frantic circles. Zhao Gang pulled Zhao Xuede off to the side tea-room within the quarters and lowered his voice. "We might as well agree to the final option. Lin Jinlou refuses to listen to reason, and if we anger him further, who knows what retaliation he might unleash. Sister has committed such a colossal blunder that the Lin family will never keep her now. A separation by mutual divorce will at least preserve our face, and letting go of the agricultural estates will plug the Lin family's mouth. At the very least, our two families can maintain a thread of connection, leaving room to forge ties again down the line."

Seeing that Zhao Xuede was still wavering, Zhao Gang added a clinching argument: "Father, that concubine you keep outside—the daughter she bore will soon be turning fifteen..." As he spoke, he exchanged a meaningful look, gesturing with his chin toward Lin Jinlou.

Zhao Xuede had an epiphany. He did indeed keep an external mistress who had borne him a pair of children. The daughter, Zhao Yue’e, possessed the looks of a beauty, and once dressed up, though perhaps lacking Zhao Yuechan's natural flair, she was still remarkably attractive. Lowering his voice, he murmured, "Her background is a bit too humble."

Zhao Gang sneered, "Does Father still plan to arrange a proper, equal match for children? My point is to give her to Lin Jinlou as a concubine to save face for him. A fine alliance achieved with such effort shouldn't turn into a bitter blood feud later."

Zhao Xuede fell into deep thought.

Over on the other side, Lin Jinlou sat leisurely in the chair beneath the window, rolling his neck. The annoyance of unearthing the adulterous pair had gradually faded, replaced by the surging, internal ecstasy of finally shaking off Zhao Yuechan.

Zhao Yuechan clutched the quilt tightly to her chest, bit her lip, and choked out, "How cruel your heart is... Even if I made a mistake, you actually want my life!"

Fixing his gaze upon Zhao Yuechan like two bolts of freezing lightning, Lin Jinlou spoke with biting hatred, "I wish I could slice you into a thousand pieces! Every single time I remember that I married a woman like you, my regret surpasses all bounds. From the moment I brought you across my threshold, how many misfortunes were added to my household! Early on, I intended to take Furong—the daughter of a distant relative of the matriarch—as a concubine, and it was you who secretly lured someone in to rape and murder her!"

Zhao Yuechan's eyes widened abruptly, her complexion draining of color in an instant. Her heart pounded furiously against her ribs, paralyzing her completely.

With a grin that carried a ferocious edge, Lin Jinlou continued, "You thought you pulled it off without a sound and played me for a fool? There is no wall in this world that doesn't let the wind through. Furong died so miserably; how could I not go and investigate the truth of the matter for myself? Ever since that day, the mere sight of you filled me with nausea, and I couldn't even bear to touch you. Every time I looked at you, I saw Furong's dying face."

Zhao Yuechan clutched the fabric of the quilt until her knuckles turned white. Back then, after our wedding night, when Lin Jinlou discovered I was not a virgin, though he treated me with cold detachment, there were still occasional moments of marital intimacy. Yet I never knew when it started that Lin Jinlou stopped sparing me even a glance. No matter how much I dressed up or what schemes I used, he always wore an expression of utter disgust. So it was all because of that cheap wench Furong!

Lin Jinlou mocked, "Later on, whichever maidservant I looked at twice or spoke a single extra word to, you would resort to beating or cursing them, selling them off to distant places. You used household silver to run loan sharking rings, driving Qinglan to her death—a double homicide of mother and child. And now, you've even gone and clapped a lush, green hat firmly onto my head. Every single one of these crimes is etched deep into my memory, and I dare not forget a single detail... Tell me, is your heart cruel, or is mine? My Lady Lin, compared to you, I am still falling a bit short."

Zhao Yuechan spat back bitterly, "Even if I lacked chastity before marriage, after I became your wife I lived with you single-heartedly! It was you! On our wedding night you took in three maidservants just to humiliate me, and afterward you met me with cold shoulders and frosty glares, finding nothing about me pleasing. Once you took your childhood sweetheart cousin as a concubine, was there any standing room left for me in that manor!" Now that the Lin family was on the verge of divorcing her, Zhao Yuechan dropped all pretenses and threw caution to the wind. With disheveled hair and the quilt clutched around her, she sat upright on the bed, her eyes flashing with a venomous, terrifying malice. "You wouldn't touch a single finger of mine, yet you spent your days in hedonistic dissipation, embracing women left and right—courtesans from pleasure boats, concubines bought for outside estates, maids within the manor, and your newly wedded mistress—did you ever stop with any of them? Why should I have been forced to sit quietly in that manor and endure it all in vain? I only regret not giving you a few more green hats to wear! Me stepping out to take a lover was your just desserts! Your just desserts!"

The veins on Lin Jinlou's temples throbbed violently with fury. Taking a deep breath, he forcefully crushed down the boiling rage within him and said coldly, "After today, I doubt you'll ever have the chance to give me another. Why don't we put on a live performance of spring palace acrobatics right here and now for your Lord to watch, just to vent your lingering hatred!" With those words, he strode forward, scooped Hao Qing up by the collar like a dead dog, and hurled him straight onto the bed.

Terrified out of his wits, Hao Qing shrieked, "My Lord, I wouldn't dare! This humble wretch will never dare again!" Zhao Yuechan also shrieked uncontrollably, cursing, "You vile beast! If you have the guts, just kill me! Kill me!"

The Zhao father and son hurriedly emerged from the side tea-room, calling out in a rapid sequence, "What's going on here? What's going on?" Seeing the bed in utter chaos and catching sight of Lin Jinlou's grim, dark expression, Zhao Xuede opened his mouth to ask further, but Zhao Gang quickly tugged at his sleeve, causing Zhao Xuede to shut his mouth.

Zhao Gang spoke up, "We agree to the proposal made just a moment ago. Let's proceed with the divorce."

Weeping aloud, Zhao Yuechan protested, "I won't agree to a divorce! Why treat me this way!" Zhao Xuede dealt her a fierce, blinding slap right across the face, cursing, "You disastrous wretch, will you shut your mouth!"

Zhao Yuechan buried her head deep into the bedding and sobbed bitterly. She felt utterly unreconciled! Back when she was married into the Lin family, how many sisters, female relatives, and friends had looked on with envy. The Lin family was a renowned, elite aristocratic clan blessed with massive fortunes that would flourish for at least another fifty years without decline, not to mention that Lin Jinlou had achieved success at a remarkably young age, proving himself exceptionally heroic and valiant rather than some worthless parasite living off ancestral prestige. Even if Lin Jinlou didn't love her, she had already made up her mind to cling to the Lin family for the rest of her life no matter what. Yet facing cold treatment and breeding endless resentment, step by step she had driven herself into this desperate predicament. Look at Lin Jinlou now—he could easily take a charming new bride into his manor in the future, while she had already been married once and would undoubtedly become the target of endless malicious gossip. How was she supposed to survive the days ahead?

A thousand grievances and deep hatreds surged within Zhao Yuechan's heart, and she thought darkly, Lin Jinlou, you just wait and remember this! One day, I will surely return this vengeance tenfold!