CH 164

Posted by NYXBIRD on FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Old master Lin could no longer be called old master Lin anymore. He had become the Taishang Huang (TN: father of the reigning emperor). He didn’t have to do anything every day, just put on weight indoors.

He barely even believed it himself. It seemed that in the blink of an eye, his son’s farmstead became bigger, and in the blink of an eye, his son captured and occupied cities, and in the blink of an eye, his son became the emperor, and he, a landowner, became the Taishang Huang.

How easy was it to be the Taishang Huang, he had never been the Taishang Huang before, and none of his ancestors had either. He wasn’t sure how to be one really.

But his son said that he could eat as much as he wanted, drink as much as he wanted, and play in any mansion and garden he wanted.

There were only two things, he couldn’t leave the palace at will, he had to report to his son wherever he wanted to go when leaving the palace.

He couldn’t play with women. Except for the previous Lin family maids, none of the maids in the palace could be touched.

At first, old master Lin was quite uncomfortable. He felt like he was the son, and his son was the father.

It was Yang shi who said to him: “For others it is the sons who rely on their father to gain high positions. Whereas you rely on your son. If you can’t tell the difference, I’ll strangle you now, so as not to make it difficult for our son in the future.”

When Yang shi said this, she was sitting on the couch, her aura clear and cold, not even sparing him a glance from the corner of her eye.

However, old master Lin’s heart suddenly became chilled.

His old wife was right, he was like a poor man who suddenly became rich, and got carried away for a moment.

Yang shi said to him again: “Manage yourself, the maids in the palace are all daughters with names and surnames. If you let them give birth to children, it will be the blood of the royal family.”

Old master Lin shuddered again.

He couldn’t even father children now…..But at his age, he might not be able to father children either.

Otherwise, why have there been no children since the birth of his youngest daughter?

Those Lin family maids who had served him in the bedroom were now all wives, but the youngest was already middle-aged, not yet old ladies, but did not have that kind of beauty any longer. Over time, he was more willing to stay with Yang shi.

Fortunately, Yang shi won’t drive him away. The two of them did their own thing together. At night, old master Lin would go back to his bedroom to rest.

“Princess!” There was a panicked call from a palace maid outside.

Guo’er was also a big girl now. She was in her early twenties, at the age of youth and beauty. Although women get married early, the recent years had been filled with war and chaos, and Lin Yuan didn’t want to make an unsuitable match for his sister. Now that the world was settled, it was Guo’er herself who was not willing to marry.

When she was young, Guo’er was very timid, but probably because her elder brother became the Southern King and then the emperor, and he spoiled her very much, she gradually became more daring.

“Mother!” As soon as Guo’er entered the room, she threw herself into Yang shi’s arms.

Yang shi’s cold face finally showed some expression. She patted Guo’er’s back, and asked softly: “What’s wrong?”

Guo’er looked indignant: “I’m not going to marry!”

Yang shi smiled: “If you don’t want to get married, you won’t get married, let’s ask your brother to open a princess mansion for you, and recruit a husband to marry into the family, alright?”

Guo’er didn’t expect her mother to be so agreeable, and she didn’t come back to her senses for a while.

Yang shi: “What’s there to panic about? You are the only princess, and your brother is the emperor. If you have children, they will take your surname.”

Only then did Guo’er realize that her face had become red, and she whispered, “I’m afraid brother will scold me.”

Yang shi shook her head: “Guo’er, your brother is the person who loves you the most in this world besides your parents.”

Guo’er grew up under Lin Yuan’s watchful eye, from a timid little girl to a slender young lady today.

A little willful and coquettish, but not spoiled or arrogant.

She also had never done anything that stepped out of the line. Every season, Lin Yuan would reward her with a lot of things. The rare jewels, silk and satin in her personal treasury almost filled it to the brim.

She wasn’t trapped in the palace either. Wherever she wanted to go play, she just had to tell her brother and bring some guards along.

The noble ladies outside would always send over invitations and entertain her.

At first, they would flatter her while looking at her with mocking eyes.

As if to say that no matter how her status had changed, a village girl would never become a real princess.

She noticed it and used her greatest perseverance to restrain her emotions. After returning to the palace, she threw herself into her brother’s arms and cried.

Guo’er’s eyes were dazed, as if she had returned to that day.

She was sitting on the sedan chair, holding back tears while inside. She was indeed a village girl. She came from the countryside. She had to flee as a refugee when she was a child, so she could only eat the rotten fruits from the trees by the road to survive. In order for her not to get sick from eating fruits that had gone bad, her mother would first take a small bite before giving it to her.

She became a princess, but she still couldn’t wash away the muddy smell from her body.

When she was a child in the countryside, their family was the landowner, and Guo’er was the young lady of the landowner’s family. She was happy every day.

But now that the family had become even better, and her brother had become the emperor, why did she feel that she was still the little girl who fled as a refugee, and not a master of the palace.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt sorry for her brother.

Was her brother the same as her?

She resisted the tears all the way, but finally couldn’t hold back when she saw her brother, like a little child who found an adult who could support her.

She heard her brother say, “What’s wrong, Guo’er? Come here, brother has some good snacks here.”

Then she rushed over and threw herself into his arms.

“Brother!” Guo’er cried, “Can I go back to our hometown?”

Her brother’s voice was very soft and gentle: “What’s wrong? Is the capital bad?”

Guo’er cried bitterly: “They, they look down on me, they all look down on me…..”

Brother patted her on the back gently: “Such a beautiful little girl, you won’t be beautiful anymore if you cry like this, come, have a cake, brother will help you vent your anger, alright?”

Guo’er still remembered her brother’s expression that day, gentle and amiable.

But soon, those young ladies who once looked down on her and spoke with arrogant words quickly withdrew from the stage. Their fathers and brothers were not demoted, but they lost any real power.

She remembered what her brother said.

“Brother will help you vent your anger, alright?”

She began to feel uneasy again. She was afraid that she had affected the government affairs, and she did not dare to do that.

It was her brother who coaxed her: “Don’t be afraid, Guo’er, they should have gone down long ago.”

He explained to her in detail and although she didn’t understand much, she understood one thing——her brother wanted to place his own people in important positions, so those people were unlucky. As for the families of the young ladies who looked down on her, her brother just added them to the list on the way.

For the first time, for the very first time, she felt that her family was the master of this imperial city and that she was the princess.

Soon, someone else started to send her invitations and entertain her again.

As always there was someone who said to her at the banquet: “Princess, this is rose dew, you must have never seen it, let this official’s daughter explain…..”

Guo’er smiled and said, “I indeed don’t know. By the way, do you know the eldest young lady of the Zhou family? The one whose boudoir name is Wanrou.”

The young ladies below said: “I heard of her.”

“I’ve seen her before.”

Guo’er said again, “She had spoken to me like this before.”

“But now…..I don’t see her anymore.”

The young ladies held their breaths.

They looked down on her because of her background in the countryside, and thought she was just lucky to have a brother who was the emperor.

Such a village girl couldn’t even tell apart the sarcasm in their honey coated words.

They ridiculed the dynasty’s princess, and took proud enjoyment at it in private.

But now, they all bowed their heads and dared not speak.

Later, someone plotted against her, because she was the emperor’s only younger sister, so they tried to get their son to approach her, and to find a way to let the two be alone.

Guo’er was terrified, she shouted the maid’s name, but there was only the handsome young man in the room looking at her.

Rumors spread.

Guo’er wanted to hang herself.

As a result, after being discovered by her brother, her brother asked her mother to spank her, and her mother didn’t hold back when she hit her.

There must be many people outside scolding her, scolding her for having destroyed her chastity, and scolding her for meeting privately with men.

Later…..

Later, her brother summoned the young man into the palace. Although he did not have a clean body, he became an attendant. He could only serve the princess in the princess’s manor all his life and could not go out.

Those maids who served her that day were gone, and her personal maids had also changed.

As for the young man’s family, they were stripped of their official ranks and their home seized and confiscated.

Brother said that if the punishment was not severe, everyone would focus their wicked schemes on other members of the imperial family.

Only when the punishment was severe this time could they learn this lesson.

Her brother also said to her at the time: “You are young and lovely, and it is common for young people to fall in love. He is now by your side. If you like him, you don’t have to worry about anything else.”

She was very frightened at the time, very afraid, she was a woman, she must only give herself to one man from the beginning to the end, but her brother seemed to be encouraging her to find a lover?

Her brother also said: “You are my sister, the most noble and respected person in the world besides mother, father and myself. Now, even an ordinary woman can have one or two lovers before marriage, so how can you be inferior to an ordinary woman?”

Only then was Guo’er relieved.

Her temper had also gradually been encouraged, and she was no longer the little girl who was timid and unsure.

When she went out to attend a banquet, she would always bring that little attendant with her.

When someone asked, she would smile and say, “Oh him, his family tried to get me to share a room with him back then.”

The crowd exclaimed.

Then she said, “My brother said he is good-looking, so he had him come serve me.”

All the young ladies were dumbstruck.

They felt that the princess was too unruly, and at the same time felt that the princess was too carefree and unrestrained, they were so envious.

After recalling the past, Guo’er got out of Yang shi’s arms, and her emotions were much calmer. She said to Yang shi: “I heard the little palace maid in my room say, someone outside wants my brother to marry me off.”

Yang shi smiled and said, “It’s not that they want your brother to marry you off, they want to marry you.”

Guo’er was not happy anymore: “Marry me? I’m the princess, princesses do not marry into other families. Even if we are married, I am superior and the husband is inferior.”

Yang shi was stunned for a moment, she looked at her daughter who had a waterfall of silky black hair with a loving expression: “Guo’er has grown up.”

She had been worried that her daughter’s cowardly temper would harm herself.

Although she was a bit willful now, a willful princess was better than a cowardly princess.

The princess couldn’t interfere in government affairs. Her brother was the emperor and she would be a princess all her life. She did not need to depend on others’ whims to live a willful life.

Her daughter…..had a fate that was better than her own.

She was sold to the Lin family by her own father at a price, saying that it was a marriage, but one side wanted the Yang family’s book collection, while the other side wanted the Lin family’s money.

She knew at that time that women were born like this, and they couldn’t be masters of their own lives.

Even though women could recruit a husband to marry into the bride’s family and set up households of their own, how many women in the world could really be the masters of the household?

In this world where men were superior, her Guo’er need not be humble or inferior.