Chapter 35: Night Talk at Ji Pavilion

It was exactly You Shi (5 PM to 7 PM).

Dusk gathered all around.

Because Lin Hansu accidentally twisted her ankle when she got up last night, Lin Fuyao brought her son and daughter to the second floor of Ji Pavilion to eat dinner with her.

After dinner, Lin Fuyao was in high spirits, recounting recent interesting anecdotes from the capital to amuse Lin Hansu.

Lin Hansu usually paid close attention to the capital’s affairs, but tonight she seemed somewhat distracted.

Soon after, Granny Zhang entered and whispered into her ear, “Lady, please don’t worry. The Black Cavalry has left the City and returned to the capital overnight, and Squad Leader Ding and the others are also back at the Estate.”

Lin Hansu immediately felt a weight lift from her heart, but her expression remained calm. She leaned over and whispered to Granny Zhang, “Tell him to come over during Zi Shi (11 PM to 1 AM).”

Granny Zhang nodded slightly, stepped back, and left.

In the middle of the night, the cold was biting.

However, the south-facing window on the second floor of Ji Pavilion was left slightly ajar.

A rope made of two bedsheets tied together was fastened to a pillar at one end, while the other end passed through the window gap and hung down into the darkness outside.

At the beginning of Zi Shi, Lin Hansu, who was leaning against the soft couch, heard several extremely faint noises outside the south window and couldn’t help but turn her head to look.

Two or three breaths later, a pair of hands firmly grasped the window frame. In the dead of night, the sight was somewhat startling.

Following that, Ding Suian poked his head out from outside the window.

A slight smile unconsciously bloomed on Lin Hansu’s lips, and she whispered, “I left you bedsheets to use as a rope, yet you insisted on showing off by climbing up bare-handed.”

Ding Suian squatted on the window frame like a monkey, glanced back at the height of over ten feet, and replied softly, “I am at least Manifesting Elemental State. Do I need a rope just to climb a wall and enter a room? Wouldn’t that disgrace a Martial Artist of the Chenggang Realm if word got out?”

Lin Hansu chuckled softly, “Hurry up and come down, you look like a monkey.”

“Is your foot better?”

“It’s nothing serious. The doctor examined it; a day or two of rest will be fine.”

Lin Hansu supported herself with both hands on the couch and shifted her Buttocks, leaning inward slightly to make room. Ding Suian walked over and, completely naturally, sat down on the soft couch.

The cold surrounding him stirred up a thin layer of mist in the room, where a brazier was burning.

Lin Hansu’s gaze lingered briefly on Ding Suian’s white-knuckled right hand. She reached out, pulled his icy cold hand into the silk quilt, and then covered his palm and the back of his hand with her two slender, jade-like hands.

“Let me warm your hands.”

“Mm.”

The tenderness of the Older Sister was like aged wine, intoxicating the heart and body.

“Today, the Black Cavalry didn’t make things difficult for Chest Hair and the others. Just as we guessed, they were just going through the motions.”

Ding Suian began recounting the matter of being summoned by the Black Cavalry for questioning that afternoon.

Lin Hansu had warmed Ding Suian’s hand, but she still didn’t let go, playfully circling his palm with her index finger.

“But surely this matter wasn’t serious enough to alarm an Inspector from the West Yamen to personally handle the questioning?”

“An Inspector came?”

“Yes.”

“What is his surname?”

“Sun.”

“Sun…”

Lin Hansu murmured the name once, pondered quietly for a moment, and suddenly said, “It’s not surprising that an Inspector from the West Yamen came personally.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I heard some news: the Imperial Court intends to use troops against Southern Zhao. If they can reclaim the land seized by the Prince’s Estate and return it to the court before March, they can collect an extra season of Spring Tax to supplement military funds.”

“Using troops against Southern Zhao?” Ding Suian was surprised.

“Yes, in recent years, there have been frequent rumors that Southern Zhao is harboring Confucian Remnants. This summer, the Imperial Court sent a national letter to Southern Zhao, ordering them to search for and escort the Confucian Remnants to Central Heaven. But the other side has repeatedly shirked the responsibility.”

Southern Zhao had already declared submission to Great Wu more than forty years ago, and for years, their Imperial Princes served as hostages in Central Heaven.

But Ding Suian was skeptical of the information Lin Hansu provided. “Where did you hear that? Even if the Imperial Court is preparing to use troops against Southern Zhao, how much profit can they squeeze out just from the farmland seized by the Prince Lanyangs Estate relatives?”

Seeing his disbelief, Lin Hansu didn’t explain. She released the hand intertwined with Ding Suian’s inside the quilt and pointed to her Maiden’s Bed. “Go open the third secret compartment below. There’s a small box.”

Ding Suian stood up as instructed, walked to the bedside, bent down, and pulled open the hidden drawer beneath the bed.

Inside the drawer was a large expanse of colorful items. He casually picked one up. It was made of two pieces of thin, smoke-like black triangular lightweight silk, stitched together, with a rose-red bow on top. The four corners were attached to black ties, each ending with a small white warm jade bead.

Ding Suian, whose mind was full of imperial affairs, didn’t think much of it at first. He held the object and stared at it for a breath or two before suddenly realizing what it was—

Behind him, Lin Hansu’s embarrassed and annoyed low cry rang out, “What are you doing taking that! I told you to look at the letter next to it.”

Perhaps fearing Ding Suian would continue rummaging, Lin Hansu rolled off the couch, hopped on one leg to the bedside, snatched the mysterious item from Ding Suian’s hand, and quickly retrieved a wooden box from the side of the drawer.

“Look at this!”

Lin Hansu sat down on the edge of the bed and handed him the wooden box.

Inside was a thick stack of letters.

The top letter was a correspondence Lin Hansu had just received a few days ago from her second sister. Inside the envelope were two letters, personally written by her second sister, Lin Maimu, and her brother-in-law, Li Han.

Eldest Sister Fuyao is ‘Wind,’ Second Sister Maimu is ‘Rain,’ and the third, Hansu, is’Snow.’ The names of the three sisters originate from the same source and are quite meaningful, completely unlike the name of their father, Lin Dafu.

Lin Hansu told Ding Suian to skip the letter from her second sister and focus on the content of Li Han’s letter.

It was unclear what Lin Hansu had asked in her initial letter, but aside from a few customary greetings at the start, the rest of Li Han’s reply detailed the national financial situation without touching upon state secrets.

It mentioned that currently, of the national taxes, 40% went to the State Religion, 20% to the Noble Families, and the tax the Imperial Court could collect from farmland only accounted for 40%.

Li Han dared not complain about the nobles in the letter, but he subtly expressed dissatisfaction with the State Religion, stating: since the rise of the State Religion, when people fall ill they seek ritual rather than medicine, and when they argue they seek ritual rather than officials. To redeem their original sins, offering land has become a widespread custom, and they pawn houses and sell daughters to acquire wealth to offer to the Three Sages.

“My brother-in-law’s department, the Yuheng Department, is responsible for procuring minerals like copper, lead, saltpeter, and sulfur, overseeing mountain and marsh harvests, and auditing military expenditures and supplies across various regions.”

To corroborate the authority of Li Han’s letter, Lin Hansu specifically explained Li Han’s official duties to Ding Suian.

Ding Suian sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the Maiden’s Bed. It took him over a hundred breaths to finish the letter. He looked up, puzzled, “Why are you so concerned about Imperial Court affairs?”

“Sit on this. The floor is cold; be careful not to catch a chill and get a stomachache.”

Lin Hansu tossed a soft pillow for Ding Suian to cushion his Buttocks and said, “If I hadn’t paid attention to the court’s movements, I would have rotted in that bastard’s coffin long ago!”

This meant that if she hadn’t maintained the habit of inquiring about major court affairs, she wouldn’t have had the sharp insight to foresee the court’s plan to strip titles when the Du Family sacrificed her, thereby securing a chance to live.

That was true.

Ding Suian continued reading. The second letter had elegant handwriting and neat prose, but lacked a salutation or signature. The writing was filled with the undeniable authority of a superior.

The letter demanded, almost commandingly, that Lin Hansu must complete the reclamation of the land seized by the Prince’s Estate relatives before February, handing over at least 60,000 mu of wet and dry fields. It also stated that there would be “Imperial Court Loyalists” to help her succeed.

Ding Suian raised the thin sheet of paper. “Princess Xingguo?”

“Mm.”

“These nobles don’t want to shoulder any blame.”

Prince Lanyangs Estate was heirless and declining, turning into ownerless fat meat. The Imperial Court wanted to feast on it but didn’t want to dirty its hands, so they made him and Lin Hansu, two small fry, charge into battle.

This afternoon, Inspector Sun had made things very clear. As for the ‘Imperial Court Loyalists’ mentioned in Princess Xingguo’s letter who would help Lin Hansu succeed, it naturally referred to Ding Suian, the small Squad Leader.

The greatest advantage of driving minor soldiers to do the work is that they won’t feel bad when they discard the pawn.

Seeing Ding Suian furrow his brow in deep thought, Lin Hansu supported herself with her hands on the bed, hopped a step on one leg, and sat down next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

She then gently nestled against Ding Suian’s shoulder, looked at the flickering candlelight, and softly asked, “Do you regret it?”

Ding Suian stretched out his arm to embrace Lin Hansu’s waist, but misjudged the target. His ‘Lushan’s Claw’ landed on the latter’s rounded Buttocks, and he simply left it there. “What you said is as nonsensical as a bow on a pair of underpants.”

“…Pah!”

Ding Suian saved her initially on a whim.

But from the moment he tricked Steward Hou away from the West Courtyard, he was prepared to bear the Karma.

If he didn’t want to do it, he wouldn’t. Since he had done it, he would see it through to the end!

The word ‘regret’ did not exist for him.

“The matter of reclaiming the land after the New Year might not be that difficult,” Lin Hansu said slowly, leaning against Ding Suian. “Although the Imperial Court is using us as pawns, they have given us a little backing. I am the ‘Model for Women Under Heaven,’ and you are the Emperor’s Personal Army. Stop messing around, I’m talking about serious business.”

The large hand on her peach cheeks was getting restless, making her flustered and unable to concentrate.

Lin Hansu reached back and caught Ding Suian’s large hand. Her slender hand clasped his large one, pulling it up several inches and firmly pressing it against her waist, forbidding him to move it. Only then did she continue, “Young Master, if we want to live freely, we must seize the opportunity! The Imperial Court treats us as chess pieces, and we can use the court’s influence. From now on, you handle external affairs, and I’ll handle internal affairs. Who knows, perhaps the day will come when the Young Master rides the wind for ten thousand miles?”