Ch. 76..80: The Princess of Northern Land Chapter 76-80

Chapter 76: Chapter 76 Poor Mother’s Brother (2)_1 “How much silver is this?” As the box was opened, everyone was surprised to find that the boxes were filled with golden hairpins and other jewelry, as well as jade and gilded pieces. Two of the boxes even contained silver notes of one hundred taels each.

“This is way too valuable.” Lin Zige swallowed.

“Since it’s been given, let’s accept it.” Lin Ziyin suggested, “Sister-in-law, you and sister should divide the items into three portions, and set one portion aside for Changting in the future.” Lin Ziyin took the silver notes and handed them to the old man, “Grandfather, you keep these silver notes.”

“The gifts were for you, why are you distributing them?” Zige asked angrily.

“I don’t like these things, that’s the truth.” Lin Ziyin said with a faint smile, “It’s a waste to give them to me. Both you and sister-in-law don’t have much jewelry, so keep them. Changting is young, let the items be kept with grandfather.”

Lin Ziyin didn’t want any strain in relationships between brothers because of worldly possessions, thus he made himself clear from the start.

“I won’t take it.” Guo Huiniang shook her hands in alarm, “I have never seen such valuable things in my life, I still have to work in the fields, what use are these things to me?”

“You should all keep them, or I’ll get angry,” Lin Ziyin said seriously, “Also, from now on, you will join me in learning accounting and literacy at night. If our family business is to grow, you can’t depend solely on me if you don’t know how to keep accounts.”

“I’ll study.” Lin Changting, who had been anxious these days, felt like he was the least useful person in the family. He wanted to grow up and help his sister in business.

“Good.” Lin Ziyin patted his shoulder, “Once the new house is built, we’ll send you to school.”

“Really?”

Seeing his surprised face, Lin Ziyin nodded, “Yes, really.”

“What should we do?” Guo Huiniang looked helplessly at the old man as Lin Ziyin irresponsibly pushed the boxes towards them.

“Divide it into four parts, save one part for Ziyin.” The old man sighed, Ziyin had changed a lot after recovering from his illness, and had his own ideas.

In the end, Lin Zige and the others picked the best set to leave for Ziyin, and the rest was indeed split into three parts.

At noon, an unexpected visitor came to the house.

“Uncle, Auntie?” Seeing the people standing outside the yard, Lin Changshu called out in surprise.

“We heard Ziyin was sick, we’ve come late, haven’t we?” Standing at the gate was a humble looking couple, dressed more shabbily than the Lin Family.

“Please, come inside.” Lin Changshu invited them.

“Ah.” The couple came in carrying a basket and a load on their back.

Lin Ziyin noticed the man who came in was lame, with one leg longer than the other.

“Uncle, Auntie.” Lin Zige came out of the house, she was also pleased to see the couple.

“Ah.” The woman looked at Ziyin, who was silent. “Your Second Miss looks much better now, we?”

She started crying, “We have let your mother down.”

“Auntie, don’t blame yourselves.” Guo Huiniang also came over to attend to them.

“Did that old witch torment you again?” Lin Zige asked frantically.

“No.” The man waved his hand, “It’s your uncle who is useless. This little something is for Ziyin to nourish his body.”

After saying this, he pushed the things they brought forward.

Lin Ziyin had no memory of them and stood blankly.

“Auntie, you sit down, Ziyin and I will go to the back to pick vegetables.” Seeing her reaction, Lin Zige sighed and pulled her away.

“They are our uncle and auntie.” Crouching in the vegetable field and picking fresh vegetables, Lin Zige explained absent-mindedly, “Don’t blame them for coming to see us only now. They are pitiful too. During your illness, although they didn’t come in person, they sent a chicken and some food quietly to help us.”

“Quietly?” Ziyin asked with a frown.

“Yes, they sent it covertly. Our mother and uncle are siblings by blood, but there are other uncles and aunts from the step-grandmother. When they were young, to make sure mum had enough to eat, uncle went to chop wood on the mountain and fell, becoming lame. Mum was sold to our father by the stepmother, while they led a life of slavery. They had to feed the large family, but never had their share of meal. What was sent today might’ve been saved from their frugal living.” Lin Zige was angry when the situation at her uncle’s house was mentioned, “Their third cousin still doesn’t have a wife, all because of the oppression from the old witch.”

Chapter 77 Making Suggestions (1)_1 The two sisters symbolically pulled out the small vegetables from the field and returned to the courtyard.

“Has the wound on your arm improved?” As soon as he saw her, Uncle asked anxiously.

“Much better.” Lin Ziyin looked at his grey hair, wrinkled face and deeply calloused hands, and suddenly felt sympathy for him due to their blood ties.

“Such risky things, Ziyin, you must do less of in the future. If something happens to you again, your mother will not rest in peace.” Aunt couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

Lin Ziyin saw she had a soulless look in her eyes and her face was wax yellow. She sighed inside, thinking the filial piety in this ancient era was killing people.

“It’s so hard for Uncle and Aunt. Why not break away from those people and live independently?” Lin Ziyin said slowly, as if she had thought of something.

Aunt was so surprised to hear this she forgot to cry.

“Breaking away? Cutting off relations?” Uncle became even more anxious.

“Rather than suffering like this, why not separate? Once separated, it’s time to end the relationship. They don’t consider you family. Why treat them as such? They might be delaying your son and daughter’s marriages. Or they might have already planned to sell off your daughter. You are parents, you should be strong. If not for your sake, consider it for your child at least,” Lyn Ziyin said.

“Us?” Uncle stuttered, unable to speak.

What Lyn Ziyin said made him very upset. His children and his sister were his heartache. He was incapable, so what should he do?

“Best to cut off the relations and move to our village.” Lin Ziyin said, “We can help each other and will be able to make ends meet.”

She is not a saint and had no intent of becoming one. However, Lin Zige and Lin Changshu greatly respected this uncle. Years ago, the uncle was good to the Lin family. So Lin Ziyin wanted to give back a little.

“Move here?” Uncle stood up all of a sudden frightened.

“Yes,” Lin Ziyin nodded, “As long as you work hard, you will not starve.”

“We now have a small business at home.” Lin Changshu chimed in, “You won’t starve if you come live with us. We can help each other.”

“I can’t help much, but if you move here, I can get you a small grass house sufficient for you to settle in,” Lin Ziyin added, “Once away from the bloodsuckers, you will be able to live more peacefully.”

“Let me think.” Uncle began to sweat on his forehead.

Lin Ziyin didn’t want to say much more, and quietly retreated to the kitchen.

Guo Huiniang and Lin Zige wouldn’t let her lend a hand because of her wounded arm. Lin Ziyin sat on a stool watching the two bustling about.

At noon, the family ate a very rich meal. A large plate full of meats, fish and chicken, accompanied by rice and bone broth.

Uncle and Aunt were stunned at the sight of it.

“The tofu and fried tofu skin are homemade. We’ll be building a new house in a few days,” Lin Changshu commented.

“Good, good. We’re relieved to see you’re well-off,” Uncle and Aunt said, their eyes glistening with tears.

“Uncle and aunt, if you could focus more on your son and daughter, perhaps your lives wouldn’t be this bleak,” Lin Ziyin jabbed again, “Reputation cannot be eaten. I hope uncle and aunt won’t let my cousin brother and sister follow the path of their mother.”

“Ah.” Uncle’s eyes reddened when the topic of Lin Ziyin’s mother came up.

Chapter 78: Chapter 78 Making Suggestions (2)_1 Lin Ziyin let out a sigh, for there is truth in the saying that there is always something hateful about the pitied person.

The fools standing before her not only provoked pity, but also a desire to bully them.

After dinner at the Lin Family, the uncle and aunt-in-law made their excuses to leave.

“We’ll keep this chicken for you for now, return it to you when you come back. As it seems, you can’t even keep the things we give you, we won’t take anything back with us.” Lin Ziyin spoke.

“No need.” The uncle and aunt-in-law hastily declined.

Guo Huiniang and Lin Changshu were taken aback by Lin Ziyin’s words. What she said was a bit too harsh.

“The ox cart is ready, uncle and aunt, please get in.” Wu Dayou had brought Lou Zheng’s ox cart.

“We’re leaving now.” The uncle called out.

“Consider what Ziyin said once you’re home. Once you’ve made your decision, you can come over.” The laconic patriarch finally spoke.

The crippled man started to shed tears, choking with emotion, he could not say a word, he could only nod vigorously.

On the third day, Si Si brought along a shrewd man.

“My surname is Yin, people call me Master Yin.” the man introduced himself.

“He’s a renowned house builder in the city.” Si Si chimed in.

“Let’s discuss this in detail.” Lin Ziyin said to Master Yin.

“Very well.” Master Yin knew who he would be building a house for. Being frank, he was initially unwilling, thinking what kind of house could a little girl afford? It simply wasn’t worth his effort.

“This is the house I want to build.” Lin Ziyin pushed the prepared blueprints over to him, “Calculate for me, how much silver for these three houses?”

Three houses? Lin Changshu and her grandfather looked at her, perplexed.

“Two sections, including wings.” Lin Ziyin continued. “We won’t provide room and board.”

“Interesting.” Master Yin was suddenly engrossed in the blueprints. “Let me do the calculations.”

Lin Ziyin waited patiently.

“At least one thousand two hundred taels of silver.” Master Yin declared.

“I also need a ‘heating dragon’.” Lin Ziyin added.

“What’s a ‘heating dragon’?” Master Yin inquired, surprised.

“Something to keep the house warm in winter.” Lin Ziyin replied.

“Does such a thing exist?”

Lin Ziyin remained silent, confronted by his eager curiosity, “I can provide you with the blueprints, but you can only make it for us and keep this a secret. This will require a contract.”

At these words, Master Yin was taken aback.

“If you don’t agree, I can find someone else to do it. In fact, my grandfather and brother can do it.” Lin Ziyin said with a smile.

“Alright then, if it’s as good as you said, I am willing to collaborate with you. From then on, for every ‘heating dragon’ made, I will give you 20 percent.” Master Yin was a sharp man, he promised her a deal even before seeing the thing.

“Okay. But the one for my house has to be free of charge, consider it an opportunity for you to practise.” Lin Ziyin cunningly said, “And we need to sign the contract first.”

Facing such a slick person, all Master Yin could do was smile wryly. “Aren’t you afraid that I might deceive you?”

“Not at all, you were recommended by the Si Family, I trust your integrity.” Lin Ziyin replied with a smile.

With Si Si witnessing their agreement, and with the help of Lou Zheng as a verifier, both sides signed a contract.

Then Lin Ziyin took out the blueprint of the ‘heating dragon’ and handed it to him.

Upon looking at the blueprint, Master Yin’s eyes instantly widened, “Excellent, this is wonderful!”

Certainly, with this blueprint, he won’t lose out this winter!

After finalizing the deal, Lin Ziyin gave him a silver note of six hundred taels to buy the materials.

“Ziyin, what do you mean by building three houses?” Lin Changshu finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

“One for you, one for your brother and sister. Since Changting is still young, his house will be temporarily connected to ours. When he grows up and is ready to marry, we can open a separate door.” Lin Ziyin answered.

Her words dumbfounded both her grandfather and Lin Changshu.

The next day, cart after cart continually hauled bricks to the wasteland fenced off by Lin Ziyin. Many villagers came over enviously, upon hearing that it was the Lin family who was building the houses, they were all excited.

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Brotherly Confrontation(1)_1 Earning money wasn’t easy for the villagers, and those who were astute had already started pestering Lin Changshu for work.

“For the house construction, we are hiring contractors. We only need to pay them, and don’t have to worry about anything else. If any of you are looking for work, you should go to the site foreman.” Lin Changshu had become much smoother after doing business for a while.

“Contractors?”

“Yes, the Lin Family will only pay, we won’t handle any other matters.” Lin Changshu answered.

The villagers who heard this were all disappointed, they immediately rushed to find the site foreman.

Master Yin had just come to the village and was not familiar with the villagers. He had many regular workers under him, but he still needed local labor, plus, the Lin Family’s project was not small, so it definitely required a lot of manpower.

So, he went straight to Lou Zheng and asked him to help find some workers, paying twenty Wen per day, not including food.

This was such a great opportunity! Being able to earn silver without leaving their homes, Lou Zheng started pondering the kind of people he would need, the cunning villagers definitely couldn’t be used.

After gave it some thought, he selected about twenty strong young men, among them were his own two sons.

As for the people needed to cook, it was his daughter-in-law and two other young women from the village who went over.

The village began to bustle with activity.

“Aggravating.” Ma Zhicai sat in his house, irritably throwing down his book.

The rumbling noise of grounding works resounding from the end of the village rattled his mind for no apparent reason.

“These shameless people, who knows what shady business they must have done in the city to earn all this ill-gotten wealth.” Yan Family’s mistress was also fuming.

Seeing her son come out with an impatient look, Yan’s mistress hurried over to ask, “What’s wrong, are you feeling unwell?”

“Nothing, I’m just annoyed, it’s too noisy over there.” Ma Zhicai viciously replied.

“Pah, bragging for what, the money your family earns is all dirty money. It’s all from your sister selling herself in the city.” In the village, Ma Youcai was blocking Changting and Yanzhi, spitting insults at them.

Yanzhi was a bit afraid of him, after all, he was the one who hit him last time. He didn’t understand what Youcai’s abuse meant and just hid behind Changting, looking fearfully at Ma Youcai.

“Your mother is the one. Our family’s money comes from doing business and from the money my sister got for saving someone, it’s life-saving money.” Changting retorted.

Having stayed with Ziyin and practiced martial arts these days, the young boy had gained a lot more courage.

“Slut.” Ma Youcai used a term he got from Yan’s mistress, “So young and already sullied, ruining the morals of the village.”

“That’s right, my mother said, Lin Ziyin is a slut.” Ma Erlang’s son, Gouzi, also stepped forward.

“You’re the shameless one, you’re the slut.” Lin Changting was furious, but because Lin Yanzhi was still behind him, he didn’t impulsively rush over to hit anyone.

“Shameless, slut.” Ma Youcai had learned to be clever, last time, he started the fight and left evidence against himself, now he just relied on hurling insults, watching Lin Changting hopping mad made him happy.

“Who are you cursing?” Suddenly a cold voice came from behind.

“Lin Ziyin, of course.” Ma Youcai and Gouzi said smugly.

“Thud.” Lin Ziyin didn’t hesitate to kick them, she had been working out all these days, and with the food at home, she was no longer weak and frail.

Ma Youcai was kicked by her and rolled several times before he stopped.

“He deserved to be hit.” Zhang’s wife jeered.

“Exactly, he deserved it, his mouth is just too foul.” Granny Bai also jeered in agreement.

Quite a few girls from the village were also walking towards the open field to watch the commotion. Each of them had heard the insults Ma Youcai hurled just now.

Chapter 80: Brotherly Confrontation(2)_1 The talking was too offensive, and many people couldn’t bear to listen. As for you, Ma Youcai, a bad boy who tarnishes people’s reputation, no one feels sympathy for you when you get beaten.

“You dare not hit me.” Ergouzi looked at Lin Ziyin in fear as she approached.

Without saying a word, Lin Ziyin kicked him to the ground.

The two children, frightened by the number of people, started crying and ran away.

“I fear Bao Family and Yan Family will make a fuss.” Someone said with worry.

“No need to fear.” Lin Ziyin said coldly, “It will be good when they come.”

She walked over to Changting and Yanzhi, touched the two children’s heads and praised, “You did well today. Practice more after we go back. If you get scolded again in the future, kick them out of your way.”

“Okay.” Changting nodded excitedly, he admired his sister so much. Lin Yanzhi was even clinging to her leg and refusing to let go.

Sure enough, soon after Lin Ziyin and the others arrived at the work site, the Bao and Yan families showed up looking for trouble, all fired up.

“How dare you, Lin Ziyin, using your money to throw your weight around. On what grounds are you beating people?” Mrs. Bao pointed at Lin Ziyin to question her, with such a vicious look like she was going to eat her.

Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou were on site and upon hearing the commotion, came over hurriedly to protect Lin Ziyin.

“Because they insulted me.” Lin Ziyin replied coldly.

“Just a few words from children. It’s not like you’ve lost any body part because of it, and now you’ve hurt them. You better compensate with silver.” Mrs. Yan thought of all the silver that Lin Ziyin took from her and hoped it was finally time to get some back.

“Silver? The silver you say comes from taking another’s life?” Lin Ziyin continued to sneer while looking at her.

Kill someone? Not only were Mrs. Bao and Mrs. Yan startled by this, but the villagers were also taken aback.

They had heard that Lin Ziyin saved someone, but they had no idea she killed someone.

Lin Changshu was anxiously pacing; why was Ziyin spilling the beans about killing someone? When the word got out, how would she ever get married?

“I killed three.” Lin Ziyin smirked as she watched everyone’s reaction. That’s right, it’s better if everyone is afraid of her. “One got his head severed, the other got his chest slashed open, and another was struck by a kitchen knife and died instantly. And I don’t know how many others were injured.”

“You’re lying.” Mrs. Yan shrieked.

The villagers also didn’t believe; how could a fourteen-year-old girl be capable of killing?

“It is true.” Master Yin testified, “Miss Lin has exemplary skills. The assassins that day were Tatar spies. It was fortunate that Miss Lin took action, or the young miss and young master of Si Family wouldn’t have survived.”

“Who are the Si Family?” Someone asked bravely.

“You don’t know the Si Family?” Master Yin looked at the person who asked with surprise, “The highly respected Si Family serving beside the Prince?”

Everyone was taken aback when they heard the response, as the Si Family was not someone they could mess with.

“Your sons said that I got my silver by selling my body, and called me a slut? I guess it’s you two who have been whispering behind my back, right?” Lin Ziyin was pleased to see the look of terror in Mrs. Yan’s eyes. The Ma Family is disgustingly shady and ruthless, she was tired of dealing with their persistent provocations. It would be better to make them fear her once and for all.

“We didn’t say anything.” Mrs. Bao was also scared stiff. In the countryside, trouble usually meant yelling and hitting each other, but murder had never happened before.

“You two seem to know a lot about the city. Your sons accuse me of being a prostitute. Does that mean you do the same thing in the city?” If it came to trash-talking, Lin Ziyin didn’t think she would lose to anyone, “I’m not afraid of trouble. Anyway, I’ve already killed three, haven’t I?”

“It’s different, we are good citizens. If you kill us, you’ll end up in prison.” Mrs. Yan exclaimed. “You are talking nonsense, we’re innocent.”

Seeing the villagers’ suspicious gaze, Mrs. Yan started to sweat heavily.

“Lou Zheng, aren’t the government offices lenient on people who defend themselves?” Lin Ziyin didn’t understand the laws of the time, but she knew how to bluff. “They started it by spreading false rumors about me and damaging my reputation. Was it wrong for me to fight back?”

“Who saw my son insulting people?” Mrs. Yan glared at her fiercely.

“We saw it.” Mrs. Bai stepped forward.

“Yes, we all heard it.” Mrs. Zhang also stood up. Following them were many of the younger wives who also stood up.

Mrs. Yan was dumbfounded.