Against the Current - Chapter 221

Chapter 221 - Interrogation (Part 1)

How Xianglan fell ill can be set aside for the moment. Here, Lin Jingting returned from outside with a strip of cloth wrapped around his neck, frowning and swearing under his breath while repeatedly cursing his bad luck. As soon as he stepped through the main gates, he instructed an old servant woman, "Quickly go heat up some hot water for your young master. Damn it all, it is the first time in my life I've had some old hag scratch skin right off my neck. Later on, I'm going to go chop off her claws!"

Liu Xiaochuan followed right behind him, snickering, "Oh, drop it, Third Young Master. With your clumsy, flailing fists, if big brother hadn't protected you, that pretty face of yours would have been marked up long ago. Now that you've only gotten yourself scratched by a claw, you should just laugh it off in secret."

Lin Jingting reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His eyes went wide as he hopped on one foot and shouted, "What, what was that? You protected me? You rascal had malicious intentions all along, hiding behind my back and throwing sneaky punches while I took seven or eight blows in your stead! I haven't even settled this score with you yet!"

Liu Xiaochuan replied, "Big brother here is just showing you tender care. With a delicate little frame like a noodle strand such as yours, taking a few more beatings will help you grow up sturdy."

Furious, Lin Jingting turned red in the face, pointed straight at the main gate, and yelled, "Where on earth did a scoundrel like you crawl out from? Hurry up, get lost! Just looking at you puts me in a foul mood!"

With a cheeky grin, Liu Xiaochuan said, "Get lost? Not a chance. I came here specifically to see my Brother Lou."

While they were still carrying on with their commotion, Xie Yu and Chu Dapeng walked in together. Chu Dapeng said, "All right, you two have raised a ruckus until dawn already, can't you quiet down now?" With that, he waved his hand to summon Jixiang and asked, "How is your master doing?"

Jixiang smiled and answered, "He has returned and is currently resting inside. He has been at it for a good while now."

Liu Xiaochuan muttered under his breath, "I wonder which line of 'female cousin' this is? I've never heard of the Lin family having any female cousin in Yangzhou. Could she be the Tyrant Lin's old flame? Hehe, once this is over, I really must go take a look and see if she can compare to that Xianglan in his household."

Xie Yu lowered his voice and said, "This 'female cousin' is nine times out of ten Xianglan."

Taken aback, Liu Xiaochuan leaned over to whisper in Xie Yu's ear, "How is that possible? Then... then she's already entered a pleasure house, so why on earth is the Tyrant Lin dragging her back? Even if she wasn't defiled, her reputation is completely ruined anyway. Doesn't it stick in his craw?"

"Tsk, pig brain. If it really stuck in his craw, would he bring her back like this? Didn't you see how her head and face were completely wrapped up in a coat when they left? This one clearly isn't ordinary. In the dead of night, when he couldn't find her at the temple, he came straight to look for us. Didn't you notice even the Marquis of Yongchang was alarmed?" Xie Yu gave Liu Xiaochuan a light smack. "You better keep your mouth shut tight. If the Tyrant Lin says she's a 'female cousin,' then she's a 'female cousin.' If you let slip a single wrong word, watch out or he'll fight you to the death."

Rubbing his hands together, Liu Xiaochuan said, "Well, now that you put it that way, I'm even more eager to see this 'female cousin.' What does she even look like? What kind of stunning beauties hasn't our Brother Lou seen before, that he'd end up so utterly bewitched by this one?"

As it turned out, this was one of those coincidences that only happen in stories. Yuan Shaoren had been entertaining colleagues and drinking wine at the Yicui Pavilion when he happened to spot Du Bin. Knowing that Du Bin was originally Lin Jinglou's personal guard and that Lin Jinglou was currently issuing warrants everywhere to hunt the man down, Yuan had wanted to lend a helping hand. Fearing he might startle the snake and let Du Bin slip away, he had sent people to tail him quietly, never expecting to watch him scale a wall into the temple, abduct Xianglan, and haul her off to the Yicui Pavilion instead. Meanwhile, Lin Jinglou had arrived at the temple only to find it empty. Stricken with shock and fury, and terrified that making a massive scene would harm Xianglan's reputation, he remembered that Chu Dapeng and the others were currently stationed in Yangzhou on account of meddling in the Yangzhou salt administration. He had gone straight to their doorstep to enlist reinforcements, and upon hearing from friends that Yuan Shaoren was attending official business in Yangzhou, he immediately sought him out. Once the matter was laid out in the open and the pieces fell into place, Lin Jinglou had instantly led a detachment of men straight to the Yicui Pavilion and located Xianglan.

To cut a long story short.

Now, as for Xianglan, she had slept a long, deep sleep. When she finally woke up, she felt soreness all over her body and a heavy weight in her head, but her belly was truly starving and her throat parched with thirst. Surrounded by pitch-black darkness, she struggled to sit up in a daze when she heard movement beside her. A man was lying right next to her, and he asked in a raspy voice, "Awake?"

Xianglan gave a start, instinctively shrinking backward as her sleepiness vanished entirely.

Lin Jinglou rolled over, sat up, and reached out to pull back the bed curtains, hooking them onto silver hooks. It turned out that night had already fallen completely, though she had no idea what watch of the night it was. Lin Jinglou lit a candle, poured half a bowl of warm water for Xianglan to drink, and called in the drowsy little maid who had been waiting outside, instructing her to bring in a bowl of porridge brewed on the stove. The little maid was a local from Yangzhou and still wasn't very fluent in Lin Jinglou's official Mandarin, making him repeat himself twice before she finally understood.

Holding the teacup in both hands, Xianglan stole a timid glance upward at Lin Jinglou. The scoundrel was lounging with his inner robe unbuttoned and wearing ink-sprayed loose trousers, while cursing out loud, "How do they buy these maids? Every single one of them is as clumsy as a pig." Turning his head, he caught Xianglan staring right at him. The moment their gazes met, she immediately lowered her head.

Now that the person had been found and brought back, Lin Jinglou's anger had gradually subsided, but a bitter, unsettled feeling remained in his heart. Still wearing a stern expression, he walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Xianglan was so nervous she buried her head to drink water, but the water in the bowl had long since been drained dry by her.

Finding it amusing, Lin Jinglou reached out, pulled the bowl from her hands, set it aside, and said, "Since you're awake, you might as well honestly confess. How did you get from Jinling all the way to Yangzhou?"

Hearing those words, Xianglan panicked. This Lin Jinglou was ruthless and cunning; if he found out that Abbots Dingru had helped her, heaven knew what kind of methods he might resort to. If others were implicated because of her, how could her conscience ever rest? She might as well just slash her own throat and die right here. Yet for the life of her, she could not conjure up a better excuse on the spot. In her panic, she hurriedly reached out to grab Lin Jinglou's sleeve, pleading, "It... it was me. I lied to an old acquaintance of mine, tricking her into sending me to Jinling to find my master. It is all my fault, it has nothing to do with anyone else."

When Lin Jinglou heard this, his anger flared up once more. He brushed Xianglan's hand away, bit his teeth, and sneered, "Good, very good! You really know how to repay me!"

Had it been earlier, Xianglan certainly would not have begged Lin Jinglou. But now, in order not to implicate Abbots Dingru, she hardened her heart, reached out to tug at Lin Jinglou's hand once more, and spoke in a tiny, tear-choked voice, "It is all my fault, Master, I beg you... I was always being harmed in the Lin household, and nobody liked me there. I couldn't live a peaceful life, which is why I wanted to go out and make my own way... I didn't harbor any other thoughts, I only wanted to spend the rest of my life in a temple... I..." She could not finish, her tears falling anew as she used her other sleeve to wipe them away.

Lin Jinglou stared down at the small hand clutching his finger for a moment. After a long pause, he finally spoke, "Couldn't live a peaceful life? Was living alongside your master really that unbearable for you?"

Xianglan jumped in fright. Even though those words were the absolute truth, she could never admit to them. She hurriedly shook her head, stammering, "No, no, no, it wasn't like that..." Yet she could not force herself to say a lie that being with Lin Jinglou brought joy to her heart either, so she choked up, her tears cascading down.

Reaching out, Lin Jinglou reversed his grip to clasp her hand, pulled her into his embrace, and patted her back reassuringly. He lifted Xianglan's hand up to examine it under the candlelight, only to see that her once fair and tender hands had grown significantly rough from doing heavy manual labor in the temple, complete with a thin layer of calluses lining her palms.