Chapter 42: Absolute Chaos

When Lin Wanqing received the news, she was trimming a potted plant sent by the gardener.

A little maid whispered, "The Su family is in complete chaos right now. Old Madam Su is currently having people investigate what on earth is going on."

Lin Wanqing gave a light chuckle. "Have someone pass the news—that the Lin family secretly bribed the Su family's servants—to Su Chengde and that maid."

Because the Su family was poor, their household was small. For each married son, there were only two pageboys and two maids. Su Chengde had just one pageboy and one maid by his side. The concubine who had just been elevated was none other than that sole maid of his.

As for Madam Su, being the old matriarch, she was allocated two maids, an elderly matron, a pageboy, plus a gatekeeper and a coachman.

The servants outnumbered the masters.

When she originally wanted to plant people inside the Su family, Zisu had to go through a fair amount of trouble to pull it off.

This time, the servant bribed by the Lin family was the elderly matron from Madam Su’s side.

Since Su Chengde only had that one maid, now that she had been elevated to a concubine and was with child, Madam Su naturally would no longer let her wait on Su Chengde. Not only that, but she also had to be cared for with utmost caution. Therefore, Madam Su had reassigned her own personal matron to temporarily look after the new concubine.

That matron had served Madam Su for the better part of her life and should have been considered a trusted confidante. But who could blame the Su family for being poor?

When a person is poor, loyalty tends to fall short.

The Lin family didn't even offer a very high price to make that matron tamper with the food of Su Chengde's concubine.

Lin Wanqing snipped off a branch, the corners of her lips curling upward. Su Chengde held quite deep feelings for that maid; the two had accompanied each other for several years, and the maid had taken very good care of him.

Back when she first married into the family, that maid had even tried to put her in her place, though she had managed to push it right back.

Now that Lin Xianyun had caused her to lose her child—her greatest source of reliance—before even crossing the threshold, would that maid let the matter rest?

Given the childhood bond between Su Chengde and the maid, he undoubtedly placed great value on this child. Men were particularly obsessive when it came to heirs; they wouldn't care at all about whether a child was born of a wife or a concubine, seeing as they were all their own flesh and blood.

That was precisely why women were so eager to bear the eldest son: the significance of the firstborn child to a man was simply too immense.

Once Su Chengde learned that his very first child had been ruined and destroyed by Lin Xianyun, he would likely harbor bone-deep hatred toward her.

In an exceptionally pleasant mood, Lin Wanqing told Banxia to prepare some fine dishes, as she felt like having a couple of drinks.

Banxia was in high spirits as well and hurriedly went to make arrangements.

Just as the food and wine were laid out on the table, an unfamiliar maid was seen peeking around outside the doorway.

Zisu barked coldly, "Which courtyard are you from? Where are your manners?"

Frightened out of her wits, the maid dropped to her knees with a thud. "Madam, I am from the eldest young miss's courtyard. Please, Madam, go take a look—our young miss has fallen ill."

Lu Jinrong was ill?

Lin Wanqing’s hand holding the chopsticks paused for a moment, then she laid them down and stood up. "Has a physician been summoned?"

With a mournful expression, the maid replied, "He has, but the eldest young miss refuses to open the door to let the physician in to check her pulse, declaring that she wants to starve herself to death."

The moment Lin Wanqing heard this, she knew Lu Jinrong was up to her usual dramatic antics again. "I will go take a look," she said.

Banxia quickly instructed a maid to cover the dishes first, then hurried after Lin Wanqing as she stepped outside.

Before the group had even reached Lu Jinrong’s courtyard, the sounds of commotion could already be heard.

"Young Miss, please open the door."

"Young Miss, the physician has arrived. Please let him in to take your pulse and examine you. Your health is what matters most."

Several maids and matrons were standing out in the blistering sun, earnestly trying to persuade her.

From behind the closed door, Lu Jinrong shouted, "I won't open it! I won't be treated! I don't want to live anymore! Make Lin Wanqing come over here!"

Lin Wanqing spoke up, "I am here. If you have any last words to impart, spit them out quickly so you can be on your way afterward."

There was a brief silence from inside the room, and then the door was violently flung open. Lu Jinrong angrily raised a hand, pointing straight at the bridge of Lin Wanqing's nose. "What is the meaning of this?"

Lin Wanqing slapped the back of Lu Jinrong's hand away. "Didn't you say you didn't want to live, that you were going to starve yourself to death, and that you simply had to see me one last time before you died? I've granted your every wish and promised not to stop you."

Lu Jinrong was completely thrown off by this reaction.

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't people hear that someone was trying to take their own life and immediately rush to coax and comfort them?

Why was this woman fanning the flames instead?

Lu Jinrong bounded up and down in fury. "You vicious woman! I knew you were just wishing for me to die!"

Lin Wanqing gave a cold hum of laughter. "You're overthinking it. I am merely acting in accordance with your wishes. What? Could it be that you don't actually want to die, and were just using death to scare me?"

Lu Jinrong was instantly choked into silence.

Lin Wanqing said indifferently, "Then your calculations are terribly wrong. Aside from your mother and your brother, your life isn't worth much in my eyes. Whether you live or die has very little to do with me; at most, I'd just spend a little silver and go through the trouble of seeing you buried—plus, the silver spent wouldn't even be mine."

Lu Jinrong’s face turned green with rage. "Aren't you afraid that if I really come to some untimely end, my mother and my brother won't spare you?"

Lin Wanqing chuckled lightly. "Then you're imagining things even more wildly. First of all, you are the one who doesn't want to live. Second of all, you are dying in your own courtyard, surrounded by your own maids and matrons; if you die, the only ones who will suffer misfortune are them. Finally, even if your mother and brother were to abandon all reason and blame me, the worst they could do is have me divorced. Surely they couldn't possibly execute me to pay for your life?"

"Even though I might lose the title of a General's wife, you are the one losing your life. All things considered, I still wouldn't be on the losing end."

Lu Jinrong was utterly defeated by this logic.

Lin Wanqing looked at her with a gaze full of disdain. "Tricks like crying, making a scene, and hanging oneself only work on people who care about you. As for me, I will only look at you as a joke."

Lu Jinrong felt as though every word Lin Wanqing uttered was like a heavy, stinging slap across her face, making her feel so humiliated that she wished a crack would open up in the ground for her to crawl into.

Seized by impulse, she turned around, grabbed a length of white silk, tossed it over a roof beam, tied a knot, and stepped onto a stool. With a face full of bitter resentment, she declared:

"Lin Wanqing, do you really think I'm just trying to scare you? I'll die right here for you to see! I swear, once I'm dead, I won't let you off even as a ghost!"

With that, she slipped her neck into the white silk loop and kicked the stool away. The stool overturned, and her entire body was left suspended in mid-air.

Her airway was instantly cut off, and her entire body weight hung entirely from her chin. The sensation of suffocation grew heavier and heavier. Overwhelmed by the agony, Lu Jinrong struggled frantically, using her hands to grip the white silk desperately in an attempt to ease the pain.

However, the more she struggled, the tighter the silk cinched around her neck, making it harder to breathe and draining her of all strength.

Her maids and matrons were frightened nearly out of their wits. "Young Miss, no!"

"Young Miss, you mustn't do this!"

The maids and matrons rushed forward frantically to rescue her, but Lin Wanqing caught Zisu's eye, and Zisu immediately led the guards forward to block them off.

Lin Wanqing said calmly, "Since she is so bent on seeking death, we might as well grant her wish."