Ch. 201..205: The Princess of Northern Land Chapter 201-205

Chapter 201: Chapter 201: The Showdown(2)_1

"Ziyin, you’ve just returned, there are some things you may not be clear on yet," said Yan, jumping up excitedly upon seeing Lin Ziyin. She hustled over to Lin Ziyin, planning to recount the matter once more. After all, talking more about it wouldn’t affect the reputation of the Ma family, only damaging Lin Zige’s reputation.

As long as Lin Zige’s reputation is tarnished, when she marries into the Ma family, the Ma family will have even more control over her.

"Are you referring to the incident where Ma Zhicai tore my sister’s clothes?" Lin Ziyin interrupted her sharply.

"Since you already know..." Yan was caught off guard by her casual demeanor, the situation was not evolving as she had planned.

"Try and spout more nonsense, see what happens!" Wu Dayou struggled to hold himself back.

"Fool," Lin Ziyin reprimanded Wu Dayou. "Martial arts is not meant for you to kill people."

"Dayou, listen to what Ziyin has to say." Lou Zheng also sided with Lin Ziyin, leaving Wu Dayou seething. He abruptly dropped the stick in his hand, but his eyes remained fiercely glued to Yan and Ma Zhicai.

"Ziyin, I was purely trying to save someone at the time. I didn’t think it through. I came here to clear things up with Brother Dayou, but who knew my mother would..." Ma Zhicai knew Lin Ziyin was difficult to deceive. Realizing her stance, he promptly came over to explain himself, absolving himself completely.

"Exactly, saving people is a noble act. Your mother though, she creates chaos out of everything. Even if she really likes Zige, she can’t ruin the girl’s reputation." Ma Danglang as a sly man perceived the cold smirk of Hei Yi, he immediately became anxious and followed Ma Zhicai’s narrative, shifting all the blame onto Yan.

"Brother Dayou, let me ask you, if today my sister’s reputation was ruined, would our marriage arrangement still stand?" Lin Ziyin asked in front of Wu Dayou.

"Of course it would! I’ll have my aunt pick a good day soon, and take Zige home. I don’t care about reputation, as long as I can treat Zige well." Wu Dayou, pressed to his limit, was even reduced to tears.

Upon hearing this, Lin Zige cried even harder.

"Why are you crying? You’re so weak." Lin Ziyin scolded Lin Zige, disregarding the fact that she was her elder sister. "It’s just your arm that’s been exposed, not your honor. Who are you crying for?"

Lin Zige, reproached in this way, could only stare at her in bewilderment with teary eyes.

"What’s there to cry about? Every year, the Tatars raid, and isn’t it true that they’ve hurt so many women at the border? As far as I know, many women in our kingdom didn’t die at the hands of the Tatars, but died of shame from being violated or exposed." Lin Ziyin looked at Hei Yi beside her, "Isn’t that right, Hei Yi?"

Hei Yi was befuddled by her statement but nodded in agreement nonetheless. "The Tatars are despicable. Many women on the border have met tragic ends."

The villagers were perplexed as to why she had steered the conversation from the incident with Lin Zige to the border situation. The border was five hundred miles away from Feng City, Shili village was typically safe. Indeed, Lin Ziyin seemed to be going off on a tangent.

"Maybe some people praise these women for their tragic and glorious deaths, calling them chaste. However, in my opinion, they’re a bunch of fools, ignoramuses." Lin Ziyin’s subsequent statement made the faces of everyone present twist with displeasure.

"Ziyin." At this point, even old grandpa felt compelled to interject.

"Grandpa, I know what I’m saying." Lin Ziyin stared resolutely at her grandpa. Some things had to be said sooner or later, might as well get it off her chest now. Even though she knew her views clashed with those of this era. "Why would the Tatars harm women? Will the Tatars be punished if these women die? Or will their families benefit in any way? If it were me, I would live on, try my best to kill a few Tatars. After all, it’s better to cheat death than to die honourably. Sister, you’ve only exposed your arm. What advantage could the Ma boy take? Suppose the Tatars invaded, and in the confusion your clothes were torn, wouldn’t that mean you’d have to marry a Tatar out of shame?"

Chapter 202: Chapter 202: The Showdown(3)_1

Lin Zige kept her head low, saying nothing. She knew that Ziyin was being protective of her, but the feeling of discomfort was still overwhelming in her heart.

"Brother Dayou doesn’t care and neither does our family. Why should we heed what others say? It’s absurd that just by seeing an arm, people call for the need to take responsibility. Apparently, when a woman’s arm is seen, one must take responsibility. Men are also humans, and they bare their arms. Should women also be accountable then? Look carefully, they are arms. They’re just a bit paler and slenderer, there’s no difference." Suddenly, Lin Ziyin made a shocking move. She rolled up her sleeve and revealed her white, delicate arm to all those present.

Everyone watched wide-eyed, "If anyone harbors indecent thoughts, go home and take a good look at your mother’s and sister’s arms," she calmly rolled her sleeve back down under the gaping stares of the crowd, "Don’t call the Tatars barbaric, their customs are robust because they treat women equally as men. Do not forget that whenever a man despises a woman, or casts lewd glances at her, remember, you were also borne by a woman. Without your mother, you’re nothing. As for women, if you look down upon your own gender, then you deserve to be belittled."

"Ziyin, what are you doing?" Zige tearfully rushed over to hold her, "It’s not worth it, not for my sake."

"Hear me out, this will be the last time I reiterate this. As a member of the Lin family, regardless of being man or woman, we are ultimately humans. Other’s opinions matter not, what matters is what our own family values. If you don’t love your own family, and you don’t love your home, then how will you ever profess love to your nation? You were just seen with bare arms, so what? Even if you were completely seen, how does it matter? If you feel taken advantage of, simply rip apart his clothes and let everyone have a look."

What kind of argument was this? The villagers were left agape, even the other members of the Lin family didn’t know how to respond.

"It was just a misunderstanding, Sister Zige, don’t take it to heart," Ma Zhicai clumsily responded, "I am at fault. I overreacted in the heat of the moment. And Dayou, don’t take it to heart."

Wu Dayou gave him a cold glance and reddening eyes, walked up to Lin Zige and earnestly said, "Zige, I genuinely don’t care. What I value is you, the person you are. The rest doesn’t matter. As Ziyin said, it was just an arm. You didn’t lose anything. Who doesn’t have arms? Those who indulge in idle gossips are simply unworthy. They don’t matter to me, all that matters is if my elder siblings care."

Lin Zige was silent, her tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

"If something were to happen to you, what would I do?" Wu Dayou’s eyes became more red. He didn’t have much family and had always had a soft spot for Zige. He would have proposed to the Lin family long ago, if not for the fear of his poverty.

Once Zige was engaged to the Ma family, he was so distraught that he didn’t even wish to survive.

But when the Lin family fell into hardship shortly after the engagement, he mustered up the courage to secretly aid Lin Changshu. Luckily, Zige eventually got engaged to him. These days, he lived heavenly days, fearing that Zige might be troubled and something might happen to her.

If anything were to happen to Zige, he would never forgive himself.

"Everyone, please wait a moment, I have something to discuss with you all. You wait as well." Lin Ziyin coldly instructed Ma Zhicai before he could react, leading Lin Zige away, "Sis, please come with me inside the room, I have something to ask you."

Lin Zige complied and silently followed her into the courtyard.

Chapter 203: Chapter 203: The Showdown(4)_1

Upon hearing what Lin Ziyin said to Lin Zige, Ma Zhicai felt his heart pounding. He had a bad premonition, and felt that Lin Ziyin’s words were aimed directly at him.

However, he considered that everyone had witnessed him saving Lin Zige, and even Lin Ziyin, with all her scheming, wouldn’t be able to deny that.

The majority of the villagers were not moved by Lin Ziyin’s words, but rather, they felt Lin Ziyin was overstepping her bounds. The rules passed down by generations in Shili Village were not for her, a woman, to rebel against. Women, after all, should know their place.

If all the women in Shili Village were as fierce as the men were, how would the men in the village survive?

Just as a heated discussion arose amongst the crowd, Lin Ziyin and Lin Zige appeared.

All eyes were once again upon them. The Lin sisters’ faces were like ice, the murderous intent in their eyes palpable to anyone.

"Come at him." Lin Ziyin pointed at Ma Zhicai and ordered Yu Shaohui and the others, "As long as you don’t kill him or cripple him."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shaohui and the others immediately went over and began to violently attack Ma Zhicai.

"Help!" Unable to bear the pain, Ma Zhicai screamed for help.

The Ma family were shocked by this sudden turn of events. Upon hearing their son’s cries, they came to their senses and fought their way through the crowd to save Ma Zhicai.

As trained fighters, Yu Shaohui and the others knew where to hit for maximum pain, but also how not to seriously injure someone. Despite not being allowed to kill Ma Zhicai, the punches landing on him were undeniably forceful.

Ma DaLang and Yan Family also rushed over, and they too were brutally beaten up in no time.

"Lou Zheng, Lou Zheng, save us!" Yan Family, taking advantage of her feminine status, rolled out of the crowd and started crying in front of Lou Zheng, "You’ve seen everything! The Lin Family are bullying us, you can’t just stand by! We must report this to the authorities."

"Lou Zheng, saving someone resulted in vengeance. Where is the justice in this? You must take our side." Ma DaLang, clutching his head, also found a way out of the crowd.

"Ziyin." Observing that many villagers were sympathising with the Ma Family and the severity of their beating, Lou Zheng walked over to Lin Ziyin and sternly said, "If you assault someone for no reason, you must give everyone an explanation."

"Alright, to make it clear why Ma Zhicai was beaten, I’ll explain it to you." Lin Ziyin said coldly. "Hei Guanshi, you’re here too, so act as a witness for our family."

"Alright." Hei Guanshi, who was standing aside, glanced at Ma Zhicai before agreeing to Lin Ziyin’s request.

Upon hearing this, the villagers perked up. Could there be some unknown reason why the Lin family was attacking Ma Zhicai?

"So, the assaulters are still justified." Yan Family didn’t let Lin Ziyin speak. In her opinion, since her family was suffering, the Lin family should compensate them.

"What, you want to be beaten too? Or perhaps, your Ma family is feeling guilty?" Lin Ziyin glanced at her coldly.

This look made Yan Family feel guilt indeed. Those pitch-black eyes of this girl, it was impossible to see through them. It was terrifying.

"Quit your fussing, let Ziyin speak." Lou Zheng glared at Yan Family. "If you make another fuss, I won’t intervene."

"Mom, no need to worry. Let her speak." Ma Zhicai’s face was swollen as if he were a pig. He was fuming inside.

"Sister, come." Lin Ziyin waved at Lin Zige.

Ever since she had stepped out, Lin Zige had been glaring at Ma Zhicai with wrath in her eyes. At Ziyin’s call, she walked over with a stern face.

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: The Showdown(5)_1

"Chunmei, you come over as well." Lin Ziyin instructed the maid, "Stand where you were standing behind Miss when the horse was coming."

Since the incident, Chunmei had been wrapped in guilt. If not for her negligence, Miss wouldn’t have been framed and her reputation wouldn’t have been ruined. Upon hearing Lin Ziyin’s command, she immediately positioned herself behind Lin Zige and said, "Miss, I was standing behind you, to your side."

Lin Ziyin located a spot and said, "Ma Zhicai, this is where you would have been standing, and this is how you would have positioned yourself, isn’t it?"

"Yes." Ma Zhicai looked, grit his teeth, and replied. He couldn’t concoct a story for this; many people had seen.

"In that case, it wasn’t unjust to hit you at all." Lin Ziyin landed a kick on his leg, "You being a bad person, how despicable is your heart."

"Why are you hitting people again? I’ve had enough of you!" Seeing Ma Zhicai being hit again, Yan Family’s lady flew into a rage and attempted to charge towards them. But before she could act upon it, she was restrained by the Qian Family’s ladies.

"Heavens, we can’t live like this any longer. The Lin Family is bullying us so badly, and there is no one to take our side, where is the justice?" The lady from Yan Family was so furious that she began to wail with despair.

The villagers glared with resentment at Lin Ziyin, considering her conduct as excessively violent. They waited for her to explain what had happened, but instead, she just positioned herself and resumed beating people. Even with the support of Ding’an Temple and the Prince, the power abuse was unacceptable.

"He truly deserves it. According to this humble one, Miss Lin should send this scum to the government offices for a while." The others didn’t understand, but the manager could see everything clearly.

Even the people from the Prince’s Residence agreed that Ma Zhicai deserved the beating. Though the villagers were discontent,

they dared not express discontent. However, their gaze was filled with sympathy towards the Ma family.

"Please enlighten us, manager." Lou Zheng was confused. Though he wished to see Ma Zhicai punished, as a village chief, he had to justify the situation to the villagers. If this situation were to be resolved ambiguously, the villagers’ image of the Lin family would also be affected.

"Please observe their positions." The manager began explaining with a faint smile, "Miss Lin and her maid were standing on the right side of the road, but that boy was in the middle. If he genuinely wanted to rescue someone, he would have pushed the person away, not pulling Miss Lin’s arm tightly. Moreover, there was her maid behind Miss Lin, who is skilled in martial arts, and naturally more agile than ordinary people. The fact that she failed to pull Miss Lin away indicates that boy had devious intentions and intended to pin this on the Lin Family."

Upon hearing the explanation from the manager, the villagers finally understood the situation.

It turned out Ma Zhicai, that young man, was not as good as he seemed. It seemed his intention was not to save a life, but possibly to deception for a marriage?

Those who had been present at the scene started recalling the situation when the horse charged forward, pointing out the many inconsistencies.

"Yes, he was the first to see the approaching horse despite moving aside."

"The boy didn’t run away himself; instead, he pulled others towards him?"

"The servant of Lin Family was pulling from behind, but he was firmly holding onto Zige’s arm."

"No wonder Zige slapped him then; this boy is too despicable; he deserved the beating."

...

Upon hearing this, Yan Family and other people were dumbstruck. They were on the upper hand just a while ago, now they had become the target of everyone.

"There’s no justice." Yan Family’s Lady cried, "Lin Zige is an engaged woman, what could we have tricked her for? We had even called off an engagement with her - we hold no interest in her. If not for the fear of ruining her reputation, we wouldn’t have come today."

Chapter 205: Chapter 205: The Showdown(6)_1

Wailing and explaining to the villagers at the same time, she hoped to gain some sympathy.

Ma Zhicai’s face was ashen, his pig-like face looking monstrous. Amid the contempt of everyone, he also kept explaining, "When I saw the child rushing over, I was just worried about his safety, not whether he was in the middle of the road or at the side. Don’t wrongly accuse me."

Unfortunately, whether he was wronged or not was no longer up to him to decide, as could be seen from the angry stares of the villagers. In the countryside, breaking up a couple’s unions is considered a sin punishable by divine wrath, not to mention this young man who was trying to take advantage of the situation by pretending to be a lifesaver to trick his way into a marriage with the Lin Family. Thankfully, Lin Ziyin was smart enough to not be deceived by him.

"Beat this brat to death." Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou were so angry that they wanted to thrash the person in question.

"Forget it, we’ve done enough beating and vented enough anger. Sister, just think of it as getting licked by a dog. You were so foolish just now, shedding tears over a person like him, was it worth it?" Lin Ziyin scolded Lin Zige.

Upon hearing this, Ma Zhicai was furious to the point of nearly dying. Lin Ziyin dared to compare him to a dog? His face reddened with embarrassment, "Lin Ziyin, I saved a life out of goodwill, and your Lin Family...".

He stubbornly tried to save face, but before he could finish his sentence, Lin Ziyin threw him a cold glance. The pitch-black pupils were devoid of any warmth, frightening him into silence.

"Go on, why did you stop spinning your tale?" Lin Zige asked coldly.

"You think you can just get away with this after beating up a person? It’s not that simple. Didn’t you hear my son say that he forgot to move because he was too focused on saving someone’s life? This can’t be let off easily. Lou Zheng, you mustn’t be biased." The Yan lady panicked when she saw the Lin Family preparing to go into their house. She abruptly got up from the ground and ran in front of Lou Zheng.

Lou Zheng was startled by her actions and became even more annoyed after hearing her words, "What do you intend to do then?"

The Lins have injured a person, they must pay in silver. Five hundred taels of silver, not a single tael less." The Yan lady made clear of her intentions.

Five hundred taels? The villagers’ eyes widened upon hearing this. Everyone looked at the Yan lady as if she was a fool. Five hundred taels could buy a hundred people, and yet she dared to ask for such a sum. Moreover, it was the Ma Family who started it all, causing the Lin Family to retaliate. To put it bluntly, in the countryside, it was the Ma Family who deserved the beating.

"If the Lin Family refuses to pay, we will make an official complaint." Yan snapped.

"Go ahead, I’m not afraid of you complaining. Honestly, I don’t have time to waste on a lawsuit with dogs. Otherwise, why would you think we let you off so easily?" Lin Ziyin laughed coldly at Yan lady, "Do not think that because you’re a bitch you can bite anyone you want."

"Miss, would you like me to notify the county government about this?" the manager in black suddenly asked with a faint smile.

The furious Ma Family lost their arrogance upon hearing this. That’s right, how could they forget that there was a divine being from the Wang Residence here?

"Ziyin." Although Lou Zheng detested the Ma Family, he still didn’t want Lin Ziyin to escalate matters to the officials. After all, if today’s incident were to blow up, it would not bode well for the reputation of the entire village. "Can we consider this matter to be over since the person has already been punished?"

"Ziyin." Aunt Bai hesitated to support Lou Zheng. She was not speaking up for the Ma Family, but was worried about the reputation of Zige if the issue escalated.

"For the sake of Lou Zheng and everyone here, I’ll let you off this time. But if I hear any rumors that are detrimental to the Lin Family, don’t think that I’m afraid of stirring up trouble." Lin Ziyin looked at Yan coldly