The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 60

Sparse white clouds decorated a sea-blue sky.

Spring filled the garden.

Mother and daughter stood arm in arm among the winter jasmine, smiling in perfect harmony.

Lin Zhu stopped.

Lin Jiaoniang was already approaching with Zhao Yaoguang’s support.

“Father.”

Zhao Yaoguang smiled brightly as well.

“Grandfather.”

Looking at Zhao Yaoguang’s fair face, Lin Zhu stiffened.

Only after a pause did he say, “Yaoguang is here too.”

Zhao Yaoguang did not notice anything unusual and laughed with genuine delight.

Her grandfather Lin Zhu had doted on her since childhood.

When she first began her studies, he had personally held her hand and taught her to use a brush.

Zhao Yaoguang called to a maid.

“Huan’er, fetch the jar of snow water I collected last winter and brew tea for Grandfather.”

“Yes!”

Huan’er smiled and curtsied.

“Old Master, Young Mistress gathered that snow water bit by bit from the hearts of plum blossoms in winter. Her hands turned red from the cold, yet she collected only that little. You must savor it carefully.”

Zhao Yaoguang was highly favored by both the Zhao and Lin families.

Even her maid spoke with unusual boldness.

“You talk too much.”

Zhao Yaoguang wrinkled her nose, pointed playfully at Huan’er, and scolded her with a smile.

Lin Jiaoniang laughed along with them.

“Honestly, Yaoguang. Such things can be left to servants. You must be careful not to freeze your hands.”

“If Grandfather enjoys it, what would a little frostbite matter?”

Zhao Yaoguang smiled and glanced at Lin Zhu from the corner of her eye.

Normally, Lin Zhu would lavish praise upon such elegant conduct.

She looked at him expectantly.

Instead, his expression abruptly darkened.

Zhao Yaoguang was skilled at reading faces.

Since learning her true identity, she had become even more careful.

Her heart jolted.

Believing she had done something wrong, she concealed her reaction and quickly moved the conversation onward, urging Huan’er to fetch the water.

After seating Lin Zhu in the courtyard, she directed the servants from Lin Jiaoniang’s residence to bring refreshments.

She had just lifted her skirt to sit nearby when Lin Zhu spoke.

“Yaoguang, if you have matters to attend to, you may go.”

Zhao Yaoguang froze and looked at him in confusion.

Lin Zhu’s face showed no expression.

She remained frozen there in embarrassment.

Then she suddenly remembered that she no longer possessed her former identity, and her eyes reddened.

Lin Jiaoniang’s heart ached at the sight. She looked at Lin Zhu with mild reproach.

“Father, there is no harm in Yaoguang remaining. We are all family.”

She took Zhao Yaoguang’s hand.

Lin Zhu had not expected one simple sentence to cause such a reaction.

He fell silent while watching Lin Jiaoniang hold Yaoguang’s hand.

Seeing Zhao Yaoguang near tears, his emotions tangled.

“Yaoguang, go for now,” he urged more gently. “I have something to discuss with your mother.”

Zhao Yaoguang bit her lip.

On any other day, she would already have withdrawn.

Today was different.

After a pause, she said, “Grandfather, there is one matter… The Jingning Guard sealed the dowry estate I own south of Mount Jin. I hoped Grandfather might use your connections to resolve it.”

She would have been better off remaining silent.

The subject ignited Lin Zhu’s anger.

He nearly erupted, but forcibly restrained himself.

“Leave first.”

Zhao Yaoguang startled.

She no longer dared remain and walked out with tears in her eyes.

Lin Jiaoniang watched her go with a pained expression.

Once Yaoguang left, she frowned at Lin Zhu.

“Father, Yaoguang was only concerned about her dowry estate. Why were you so harsh?”

“That Shen fellow from the Jingning Guard listened to the wicked nonsense of that wretch Zhao Li and deliberately set himself against the Zhao family. What harm would there be in Father using a connection or two?”

Lin Jiaoniang had not noticed that Lin Zhu’s face was already black as the bottom of a pot.

She continued, “The estate is prosperous and well situated. Yaoguang is merely concerned about her dowry.”

“Enough!”

For the first time, Lin Zhu cut off his daughter so harshly.

Lin Jiaoniang flinched and looked at him without understanding.

Veins bulged at his temples.

She fell silent, unable to see what she had said wrong.

Then she remembered that she had already borne and raised children, yet her father still rebuked her in this manner.

Her eyes reddened.

Looking at her, Lin Zhu suddenly realized that Zhao Li shared perhaps seven-tenths of Lin Jiaoniang’s features.

But in the expression she wore when her eyes reddened, Zhao Yaoguang looked more like her.

“Did I teach you to call your own daughter a wretch?”

Confusion crossed Lin Jiaoniang’s face.

When had she called her daughter a wretch?

Then she understood that he meant Zhao Li.

Humiliation and anger flooded her expression.

“I have no daughter like that!”

Lin Zhu did not know about the slap.

His whole body shook. He had never imagined his daughter could speak such words.

Lin Jiaoniang continued, “She is a calamity who brings ruin to the household. Only Yaoguang is my daughter.”

“Is this how you treat your own flesh and blood?” Lin Zhu asked urgently after a pause. “Do you know how Zhao Yaoguang’s birth parents treated A-Li?”

Lin Jiaoniang avoided his eyes.

“What happened is in the past. The affairs of adults have nothing to do with the children. They have nothing to do with Yaoguang.”

Lin Zhu’s heart went cold.

Of course.

Zhao Li had lived in the Zhao residence for months.

She would have bathed.

How could the strange scars covering her body have escaped Lin Jiaoniang, her own mother?

His good daughter had concealed every detail without allowing a whisper to escape.

Seeing Lin Zhu’s furious expression, Lin Jiaoniang flushed with embarrassment and anger.

“I do not know where Father heard these things, but I had my difficulties.”

“If people learned the truth, how could Yaoguang live in this family? How would others look at her?”

“Then what about A-Li?” Lin Zhu demanded. “What about your biological daughter?”

The mention of Zhao Li made Lin Jiaoniang raise her voice.

“I have no daughter like that!”

Lin Zhu drew a rapid breath.

Only then did he understand what kind of person he had raised.

No wonder Zhao Li had constantly opposed Zhao Yaoguang while living in this house.

Yet all of them had blamed Zhao Li for being petty and refusing to live in peace with Yaoguang.

Petty?

Lin Zhu laughed bitterly at himself.

“You and Zhao Huai prepared an entire dowry estate for Zhao Yaoguang. What did you prepare for A-Li?”

“Father…”

Lin Jiaoniang did not answer.

Lin Zhu understood all the same.

“What excellent parents.”

He laughed coldly.

The sound seemed to stab directly into Lin Jiaoniang’s heart.

She bit her lower lip and defended herself.

“The Zhao family is a scholarly house of the Purist Faction. Putting together even one estate was difficult. How could we have had resources for another?”

“Besides, Yaoguang will marry into a good family. Without a substantial dowry, what standing would she have?”

“Then A-Li won’t marry into a good family? She needs no standing of her own?”

Lin Zhu closed his eyes helplessly.

Lin Jiaoniang remained speechless for a long time before asking, “What has happened to Father? Why do you keep asking about that wretch?”

“She rebelled against her family and threw in her lot with the powerful eunuchs. She has nothing to do with us now.”

“If we become connected again, who knows how badly that wretch may implicate us in the future?”

Lin Zhu no longer had the strength to argue.

He waved a hand, fell silent, and walked out without looking back.

Zhao Yaoguang watched him leave.

She stood timidly beside the door, twisting the sash between her hands.

“Mother.”

Lin Jiaoniang took her into her arms.

“Do not be afraid. Your grandfather is merely in a bad mood today.”

She stroked Zhao Yaoguang’s hair.

“Mother is here. Don’t be afraid.”

Yet for some reason, panic filled her heart.