Chapter 104: Urgency

Hurrying to the door, Dalang scolded, “Fang’er, why aren’t you staying inside? Be careful not to get heatstroke.”

Turning the fan toward Dalang and fanning him vigorously, Lin Fang complained, “Father, don’t scold me first. Where have you been in this scorching heat?”

Taking the round fan from Lin Fang’s hand, Dalang began fanning his daughter instead. Holding her small hand with his other hand, he walked back inside, saying, “I had something to discuss with your uncle, which took longer than expected.”

Lin Fang wrinkled her nose. “Father, did you fall into a pickle jar? You smell so sour and stinky.”

Dalang raised his arm to sniff his sleeve and underarm—indeed, the odor was unpleasant. Yet he bent down to pick up Lin Fang, laughing, “Fang’er finds me disgusting? Well, I’ll make sure you get a good whiff then.”

Lin Fang covered her nose and leaned back. “No! Father, you stink!”

Li Cuimei lifted the curtain and stepped out of the house, smiling. “I told you he must have been delayed by something, but Fang’er wouldn’t listen and insisted on waiting at the door. Now that you’re back, the two of you are already bickering. Come inside quickly, rest for a while, have some watermelon, and freshen up after you’ve cooled down.”

The three of them entered the house laughing. Today, the family was unusually complete, even Lin Cuiping, who usually avoided gatherings, was present. Everyone inside greeted Dalang warmly. Lin Cuili complained, “Elder Brother, really, what urgent matter had to be dealt with right now? What if you’d gotten heatstroke?”

Lin Cui’e nodded in agreement. “Exactly! Elder Brother never takes care of himself.”

Dalang smiled. “No need to worry. I was with Guicheng. Nothing could happen.”

“Elder Brother,” Lin Cuiping, who had remained silent since Dalang entered, stood up and said softly, “I’d like to go with Eighth Sister to her place. May I?”

Dalang looked deeply at his seventh sister and asked solemnly, “Is it because being around Fang’er every day makes you uneasy?”

“Elder Brother?” Lin Cuiping trembled, her voice shaking.

Lin Cuili was puzzled. “Uneasy? Why would Seventh Sister feel uneasy around Fang’er?”

Hearing her husband’s question, Li Cuimei sensed something amiss and quickly interjected with a smile, “Cuiping, as an elder, has to work for a child like Fang’er, managing over three hundred goats under the sun and wind every day. How could she not feel resentful? Cuiping, is that it?”

“Yes, Sister-in-law is absolutely right,” Lin Cuiping forced a smile. “Fang’er often delays paying my wages. As an elder, I can’t bring myself to demand them, so I’d rather not work for her anymore.”

Lin Fang inwardly scoffed. *When have I ever owed anyone wages? I’ve never even paid any wages! Adults always use children as excuses.*

Lin Cuili knew it was a joke but found it amusing. “So those herds of goats are actually raised by Fang’er?”

“Of course! Father and Mother said they’re my dowry. The woolen clothes made from them are sold for money, and the profits are mine.”

At this, Geng Yongqiang couldn’t hold back and spat out a mouthful of watermelon. After coughing a few times, he laughed. “I’ve heard my parents-in-law say Fang’er is young but thick-skinned. In the dozen or so days I’ve been here, I hadn’t noticed. Today, I’ve witnessed it firsthand.”

Dalang, however, couldn’t laugh. After a moment of silence, he sighed and said to Lin Cuiping, “Go ahead. Your sister-in-law’s hundred-acre dowry land—I’ll convert it to silver for you to take with you.”

“Elder Brother, I don’t want it.” Tears welled up in Lin Cuiping’s eyes as she spoke.

“Take it,” Dalang’s voice was unsteady. “This separation might mean we’ll never see each other again in this lifetime.”

With that, Dalang went to bathe. Lin Cuiping excused herself and returned to her own courtyard.

After Dalang finished bathing, Zhou Erxiao knelt in the courtyard, begging the master and mistress to let her follow Seventh Aunt. Dalang remained silent, but Li Cuimei told her to discuss it with her parents. If Zhou Yu and his wife agreed, she could leave with Seventh Aunt.

Geng Yongqiang remembered something. “Elder Brother, tomorrow Cuili and I will leave. We agreed earlier that before we go, the four teams we brought would compete in martial arts. When do you want to start?”

Dalang wasn’t in the mood. Shaking his head, he said, “Guicheng and I are busy with daily work. The four teams have mostly been trained by the two of you. A competition would just be between you two. What’s the point?”

Lin Cuili burst out laughing. “See? I told you there’d be no competition, but you didn’t believe me. Now that Elder Brother has said so, what else do you have to say?”

Geng Yongqiang sighed at the sky. Why couldn’t he have a little fun?

That evening, Dalang visited Lin Cui’e’s room. After a long talk between siblings, he left, leaving Cui’e weeping quietly. The next day, when Lin Cuiping left with Lin Cuili and her husband, Lin Cui’e didn’t come out to see them off.

Lin Cuiping knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to her elder brother and sister-in-law without a word.

Zhou Erxiao knelt and kowtowed repeatedly, while Zhou’s wife covered her mouth and sobbed softly. They were parting over a thousand miles, and she feared she’d never see her daughter again in this lifetime.

Lin Cuili repeatedly reminded Dalang not to let the medicinal herbs on the mountain go to waste—he must remember to gather them. Dalang kept agreeing.

Meanwhile, at the Shangguan family in Baishui Town, the two servants who had rolled down the slope that day were caught by trees and didn’t fall far. However, Lin Cuili’s whip had struck them hard, and the subsequent tumbles left them in too much pain to move. When they finally felt slightly better, they remembered their master was still on the mountain. Struggling back up, they found no trace of him or the six others.

The two servants were at a loss. They had accompanied their master on an outing but lost him. Seeing how mercilessly the whip-wielder had struck their master, they feared he was badly hurt—now he was missing, dead or alive unknown. How could they explain this to the master’s father?

Like headless flies, they searched the mountain fruitlessly before descending. They had no choice but to return, though they dreaded facing the master’s father. The priority was to gather more people to find the young master. If something truly had happened to him, they wouldn’t survive either.

After hearing their account, Old Master Shangguan immediately ordered them to lead a group to settle the score with the attackers. The Shangguan family was untouchable in the town—no, the entire county. Who dared whip his son and then hide him?

But the servants were at a loss. They didn’t know who those people were or where they lived. When they’d announced their family name, the other party had whipped them without hesitation. They hadn’t even heard the attackers mention their own family name. Where were they supposed to seek revenge?

Old Master Shangguan flew into a rage and beat the servants harshly, demanding a detailed account. After listening, he fell into thought.

Six women, all skilled in martial arts—clearly not ordinary commoners. Yet he hadn’t heard of any such powerful family in town. Were they new residents? Or visitors from elsewhere?

But the town was remote, unlikely to attract outsiders. His relatives had chosen him to manage their business precisely because the location was inconspicuous. Still, exceptions existed—he couldn’t let his guard down.

With this in mind, Old Master Shangguan sent men to search where his son had disappeared and dispatched trusted aides to investigate whether any wealthy newcomers or visitors had arrived. Though usually arrogant, he knew when to act tough and when to yield.

By then, it was already dark. The place where Young Master Shangguan had vanished was far from town, and the path was treacherous. The two injured servants, jostled along the way, couldn’t even recognize the route. By dawn, they still hadn’t found the spot—and now they were lost themselves.

Steward Qi, after leaving the Lin family, had sent a messenger galloping to Shengcheng. His master had ordered that any matter concerning the Lin family, big or small, must be reported. Today, Young Master Shangguan had harassed the Lin women, and Sixth Miss had nearly been harmed. Such a serious incident required the master’s decision on how to handle it.

Young Master Shangguan, slung over Lin Cuili’s herb basket, had passed out from pain and jostling. By the time Steward Qi took charge, he was unconscious. Back at the Qi residence, Steward Qi had him doused with water to wake him and questioned how he’d ended up in such a remote village.

With one eardrum pierced by Lin Fang’s thrown branch, Young Master Shangguan could barely hear Steward Qi’s questions. Seeing the unfriendly faces around him, he assumed another beating was coming. In his life, he’d only ever beaten others—who dared touch him? After Lin Cuili’s whipping, he was terrified. Babbling incoherently, he spilled everything he knew, regardless of what was asked.

At first, someone grew impatient with his rambling and tried to stop him. But after a few sentences, the listeners were stunned—this young master knew the inner workings of the Shangguan family’s business.

Setting that aside, the young master explained that his visit wasn’t planned. He and his companions had wandered on a whim, following the mountain range where their family’s secret workshop was located.

Three days later, the messenger returned with instructions: Since Young Master Shangguan had made advances and uttered obscenities toward the Lin sisters, he was to be rendered immobile, deaf, mute, and blind. Accompanying the messenger were two of the master’s shadow guards, assigned to Lin Dalang’s command. Weapons would follow.

The messenger also handed Steward Qi a small dagger, explaining that the master wanted it given to Sixth Miss Lin. Steward Qi recognized it—it had once been Eighth Miss’s weapon. After her death, the master had kept it close.

The Shangguan family’s search party never returned. Instead, their missing young master reappeared in the town’s main street—but aside from breathing, he was no different from a corpse, completely disabled.

Old Master Shangguan was furious. Though he had no shortage of sons, the family couldn’t afford such humiliation. He mobilized a large force, vowing to make the perpetrators die without a burial place. Even guards from the secret workshop were pulled into the search. But the servants who knew the way never returned. With the town’s rugged terrain and scattered population, where could they even begin?

Aunt Gu had been restless lately. She’d agreed to deliver eggs to a family in town every ten days. But for some reason, the Lin family, who usually sent goods to town every five days, hadn’t made a trip in over half a month. If she walked to town herself, she’d likely arrive by nightfall and have to spend money on lodging. The egg sales might not even cover the cost—hardly worth it.

Her family had accumulated over a hundred eggs. Even if she didn’t deliver them, the summer heat meant they’d soon spoil. Wealthy families were picky—they shook eggs by their ears, held them up to the light, and haggled fiercely if they weren’t fresh. If the eggs weren’t sold soon, all her effort would be wasted, along with the feed.

Like everyone in the village, Aunt Gu relied on the Lin family for survival—enough to eat, but no spare money for livestock or carts. Anyone needing to travel far would first take the Lin family’s free cart to town, then pay for another ride. As a tenant, she couldn’t expect the Lin family to make a special trip just for her eggs.

She’d asked the Lin family’s cart driver, who said they simply hadn’t needed to deliver goods lately. Though the Lin family treated tenants kindly, they wouldn’t go out of their way for her egg sales.