Against the Current - Chapter 345

Chapter 345 - Exposure (Part 1)

Over here, Lin Changmin was like an ant on a hot pan. He never expected Lin Jinlou to find out so quickly. He wanted to send someone out to ask around, and he also wanted to find Su Meiru to discuss and figure out a plan, yet he didn't dare act rashly for fear of leaking the secret. But doing nothing made his heart pound even more frantically. Barely managing to wait until Lin Changzheng returned, he hurriedly rushed up to him, his heart in his throat as he asked, "What did Father say?"

Lin Changzheng only looked a bit dazed. After a long while, he shook his head, let out a breath, and said, "Nothing much." Then, turning to Lin Changmin, he added, "What about Xianglan? Have her brought back from the estate; the Grand Patriarch has spoken."

Lin Changmin was terribly startled: "Wh-wh-what? What do you mean he spoke?"

Lin Changzheng said, "What else could it mean? Oh well, after all, the Lin family owes her... Have them send her back." With these words, shaking his head and sighing deeply, he headed toward the front courtyard.

Lin Changmin's face turned ashen, his hands and feet grew ice-cold, and his internal organs twisted into a knot. He stood there pacing in circles, turning things over in his mind until he called his trusted long-term attendant, Lai'an, to his side. "Go and ask for news—has she been delivered?" With that, Lai'an left.

Having no heart to attend the banquet, Lin Changmin sat blankly on the cooling bed in the inner courtyard. Assuming Lin Changmin was merely keeping out of sight because he felt embarrassed after being dragged out by Lin Jinlou, Lin Changzheng paid him no mind and let him be. Until the banquet in the front ended and fruit and hot tea were served once more, Lin Changmin still had not received any word. Just as he was growing frantic, he saw Lai'an return covered in dust and hastily went to meet him. He saw that Lai'an wore a look of terror and urgency as he reported, "Master, it's bad. I went to ask, and they said the person was never delivered—not even a shadow of her was seen."

Lin Changmin was taken aback, exclaiming, "How can that be!" Looking around nervously for fear of being watched by others, he dragged Lai'an into a corner and lowered his voice. "How could she not be delivered? Where are Laixing and Bao'er?"

Lai'an replied, "They said not even a shadow of those two could be found."

Upon hearing this, a cold sweat broke out all over Lin Changmin's body. His hands and feet turned freezing cold, his face darkened to a sickly hue, and his limbs went limp as he collapsed slightly and muttered, "It's over, it's over. I said why my right eyelid kept twitching today; it turned out there was this catastrophe waiting for me..."

Lai'an hurriedly stepped up to support him, saying, "Master, don't panic. Later on, I'll go out and investigate further."

Lin Changmin chided angrily, "How can I not panic! She's been gone for so long; even if they had made two trips, they should have returned by now! Tsk... What I'm afraid of is that something really has gone wrong..."

Lai'an ventured, "That... surely not? Laixing is utterly loyal to you, and Bao'er is a gourd with his mouth sealed shut. You could say..."

Just as they were speaking, they saw Lin Jinlou walking over from outside. His face was stained with blood, his expression haggard, and even his clothes were wrinkled—completely devoid of his past vibrant and spirited appearance. Walking beside him was Jixiang, holding a riding whip in his hands. Lin Changmin had a guilty conscience, so he repeatedly tugged at Lai'an's clothes to stop him from talking further. Putting on an awkward, fake smile toward Lin Jinlou, he said, "Nephew has returned."

Lin Jinlou expressionlessly cast a cold glance at Lin Changmin before heading inward. Feeling a guilty panic in his heart, Lin Changmin hurried to catch up and squeezed out a question: "Did you find her? Eh?"

Lin Jinlou halted his steps, looked at Lin Changmin, and Lin Changmin licked his lips, saying, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm asking you a question, did you find her?"

Lin Jinlou curled the corners of his mouth and said, "Oh, Second Uncle, how is it that you're suddenly so eager to care about this matter?"

A jolt ran through Lin Changmin's heart, but he sneered instead, "You threw such a furious fit and acted against your superiors over this matter, so naturally I have to ask a couple of questions—just in case you baselessly pin the blame on an innocent person and then turn around and refuse to acknowledge it."

Lin Jinlou let out a cold laugh. "I haven't found her yet, but this matter is far from over. I want to see her alive or see her corpse if she's dead. The moment I find out who is meddling behind the scenes to make a living person disappear, I'll pull out that dog's gallbladder and crush it to pieces." With that, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Lin Changmin quickly beckoned Lai'an over and instructed, "Go find Wubiao and ask him what should be done now that the person is lost." Lai'an acknowledged the order and left.

Unbeknownst to them, Lin Jinlou had entered the hallway, made a turn, and whispered to Jixiang, "Go assign men to keep an eye on Second Uncle and his usual trusted confidants, and see where they all go." Jixiang nodded and stepped back.

Returning to Changchun Hall, Lin Jinlou lay down heavily upon the bed. Although his father was somewhat snobbish, he ultimately understood reason; his second uncle, however, was entirely unpredictable. Today's abnormal behavior meant something fishy was afoot. What kind of character was Lin Changmin? A petty scoundrel with no real capability who vainly dreamed of climbing up to high places, driven by insatiable greed and stinginess. Since he was the one who sent her away and made her vanish, and now he was eagerly asking whether she had been found while his eyes darted about evasively, there had to be a hidden story. No matter how anxious Lin Jinlou felt inside, he had to suppress it now. Calm thinking gives birth to wisdom, and he must on no account mess up his own footing or alert the enemy before striking. Just as he was regulating his breath, Lady Qin walked in. Having been uneasy all along, she had been waiting in Changchun Hall; seeing Lin Jinlou's appearance, she knew right away the person hadn't been found. Spotting her son lying on the bed with his arm shielding his eyes in an attitude of utter dejection, her eyes reddened. She stepped forward, sat on the edge of the bed, and spoke in a soft voice, "Send people out to search again. Xianglan is a sincere child; good people enjoy heavenly protection."

Lin Jinlou said in a muffled voice, "Could my Father have had people murder her halfway? What I'm afraid of is that we'll end up retrieving a corpse..."

Lady Qin gasped in shock. "What nonsense are you spouting! Bite your tongue! How could your father ever do such a heinous and ruthless thing!"

Lin Jinlou sneered, "I was also pondering that his oldness shouldn't be so black-hearted and vicious."

Lady Qin softened her tone. "The most urgent task is to find the person quickly. Stop bickering with your father; he... he did it all for your sake..."

Lin Jinlou pulled a brocade quilt over his head and remained completely silent.

Knowing he didn't want to listen anymore, Lady Qin sighed, choked back a sob, and said, "The two of you... you're both my karmic retribution!" Thinking of how Xianglan's whereabouts were completely unknown, her tears fell in a rush. Fearing that crying aloud would make Lin Jinlou feel even worse, she hurriedly covered her mouth with a handkerchief and went out, sobbing.

Lin Jinlou yanked off the quilt and let out a long breath. The quilt was filled with that faint, lingering fragrance that belonged to Xianglan. In the past, he loved nothing more than inhaling it; now, however, it felt like pouring oil on fire, carving into his heart and sending sharp, agonizing pangs through his chest. Driven by a fierce impulse, he sat up, grabbed a random object nearby, and flung it hard to vent his frustration, but the item only drifted lightly down onto the floor. Looking closer, he saw it was a half-finished gold-threaded men's sock on a green background made by Xianglan. The size clearly showed it was meant for him. Lin Jinlou stared blankly at it for a long while, then slowly stood up, walked over, and gently bent down to pick up the sock. He examined it closely in front of his eyes for a long time before clasping it tightly in his palm.

Meanwhile, on Lin Changmin's side, having sent Lai'an away, he felt even more restless and uneasy. He made a trip to Su Meiru's quarters, but Su Meiru remained completely calm and composed, consoling him, "My lord truly ought to have the bearing of a great general. When a crisis is right before your eyes, how can you panic like this? In any case, you must stubbornly stick to the story that you were just following the Eldest Master's instructions to send the person to the estate; the blame can never be pinned on you. Hurry up and put your heart at ease. Acting all flustered like this—won't it make outsiders notice? What's pressing right now is figuring out how to wrap this matter up since the person is missing." Lowering her voice, she added, "Once Lin Jinlou dies, who's going to go around investigating where Xianglan went?" After offering some more comforting words, Lin Changmin's heart settled somewhat. He conferred with Su Meiru again, and after sitting for an hour, he was finally coaxed out by her.

As soon as he left, Su Meiru immediately ordered Mother Meng to quietly retrieve her valuables from the side room, and instructed her to open the chest and take out a few changes of clothing, thinking to herself, "Better safe than sorry. In the event that something bad happens, I certainly cannot stay here and throw my life away." While sorting things out, she also ordered Mother Meng to listen out for news.

To cut a long story short, as Lin Changmin skirted out from around the small temple and hadn't walked very far, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. Turning his head abruptly, he saw Lin Jinlou, Jixiang, and Shuangxi holding his arms on both left and right. Jixiang smiled and said, "Second Master, our Master invites you to come along. Please take a trip with us." Lin Changmin was terrified; just as he was about to cry out, Shuangxi stuffed his mouth with a cloth, twisted his arms backward, bound them with a rope, and carried him off tightly trussed up. They hauled him directly to a room in the corridor. Upon entering, Lin Changmin saw that the room was dim, and a person was tied to a chair, covered in blood—it was none other than Lai'an.

Lin Changmin felt half his soul scatter on the spot. Lin Jinlou sat off to one side, holding a riding whip in his hand. Seeing Lin Changmin, he smiled faintly, his gaze gloomy and chilling like the King of Hell. With a flick of his whip, it cracked sharply against Lai'an's body as he said, "Second Uncle is here. Quickly, repeat what you just told me to my good Second Uncle."

Lai'an let out a miserable cry and stammered, "Second Master colluded with Wubiao, using a counter-ploy to abduct Mistress Xianglan to another location to lure the Eldest Master away. Unexpectedly, the Eldest Master's brilliant calculations knew beforehand, and Mistress Xianglan genuinely went missing. Wubiao said that long nights bring many dreams, so he brought a letter telling Second Master to claim that on the way to sending Mistress Xianglan to the estate, they ran into kidnappers, and tonight he should trick the Eldest Master into going alone to the Medicine King Temple in the northern suburbs to ransom the person."

Hearing this, Lin Changmin was scared out of his wits. Jixiang removed the cloth gag from his mouth, and Lin Changmin immediately blurted out, "Good nephew, this has nothing to do with me! It's this slave talking utter nonsense, don't listen to his wild fabrications! You're my own blood nephew, we're family and share everything—how could I ever wish you harm?"

Lin Jinlou stood up and gave a cold laugh. "My good Second Uncle, I naturally won't believe that slave." Saying this, he stepped forward, grabbed Lin Changmin by the collar, and gritted his teeth as he said, "But I trust you even less. Let's go, come with me to see Grandfather." With that, he made to drag him outside.

Lin Changmin was terrified out of his wits. His knees went soft, and he dropped straight to his knees on the ground, pleading, "Good nephew, I—this truly has nothing to do with me! I am completely wronged! The Grand Patriarch has been in poor health these past couple of days; if this blows up into a massive scandal, wouldn't it be your and my grave sin?"

Lin Jinlou paused in his tracks, turned his head, and asked, "Then why doesn't Second Uncle tell me how to prove your innocence?"

Lin Changmin stammered and stuttered, unable to spit out a word.

With a slight, cold smirk, Lin Jinlou walked up to Lin Changmin, leaned down, and said, "If you ask me, it's quite simple. This matter of going alone to ransom the person can be handled by Second Uncle on my behalf. Once Second Uncle captures those scoundrels, you'll naturally prove yourself to be an entirely upright and honest man."

Lin Changmin was horrified. "Th-this, how can this do! I'm not going!"

The smile on Lin Jinlou's face slowly faded. Staring fixedly at Lin Changmin as if struggling desperately to suppress his boiling fury, his face gradually flushed red, and his eyes brimmed with ruthless malice. With his heart leaping into his throat, Lin Changmin watched as Lin Jinlou reached out, grabbed his collar, and hissed, "You motherfucker, get this straight: you don't get a say here, and I genuinely want to throttle you to death right this instant!"

Panicking out of his mind, just as Lin Changmin was about to scream, Lin Jinlou reached out and dislocated his jaw, shoved him sprawling to the ground, and commanded the guards on either side, "Take him away."