GD (QT) Chapter 30

Every seven days, Lin Yu entered the city to buy medicine and personally deliver the packets to the Eldest Lin’s house.

The monthly cost of two hundred copper coins was a crushing burden for ordinary commoners, but for the current Lin Yu, it was a mere pittance. After the waterwheel was presented, both the County Magistrate and the Prefect provided rewards. Although news from the capital had yet to arrive, Lin Yu was not short on cash.

The villagers saw this and praised Lin Yu’s filial piety. With so much money spent on medicine, Old Mother Lin remained in a state of living death; in many other families, they would have stopped the medicine long ago and left her fate to the heavens. Lin Yu only smiled whenever he heard this, continuing his deliveries on schedule.

On this particular day, when he arrived, he found all four members of the Eldest’s family present.

Lin Da sat under the eaves. When he saw Lin Yu enter, he merely lifted his eyelids and refused to look him in the eye. Eldest Aunt sat inside with a wooden expression; seeing him enter with the medicine, she said nothing, merely watching him with a ghostly gaze. The two phoenix eggs, Guangzong and Yaozu, were in the yard; they stood up to greet him with unusual, fawning enthusiasm.

Entering the room, Lin Yu saw Old Mother Lin. In just half a year, the sickness had drained her spirit. She had withered away, her hair turning entirely white.

Lin Guangzong accompanied him inside, explaining, “Grandma is always lying down, so her appetite is poor. She can’t eat, so she’s thinned out. Second Uncle, don’t worry, we will definitely take good care of Mother. We’ll look after her as long as she lives.”

Despite his pretty words, anyone could see that these “filial” grandsons rarely stepped foot in this room.

Lin Yu saw through it but didn’t expose them. He set the medicine down. “Mother always preferred Eldest Brother and you two grandsons. With you taking care of her, she must be very happy.”

“Ah…” Old Mother Lin struggled to speak, but she couldn’t form a single coherent syllable.

Lin Yaozu stepped forward to hold her down, whispering, “Grandma, rest well. That’s the only way to get better.” Pressed down, she lost her strength and drifted back into a groggy sleep.

As usual, Lin Yu didn’t linger and turned to leave. The Lin brothers felt relieved, thinking he hadn’t noticed anything unusual. If a scene broke out now, how could their plan proceed?

“Second Uncle, let me walk you out,” Guangzong followed.

Lin Yu waved him off. “No need. Just take care of your grandmother.”

Guangzong let out a low chuckle and suddenly asked, “Uncle, aren’t you going to ask why Yaozu and I are home at this time of year?” Usually, they spent the whole year studying in the city.

Lin Yu said indifferently, “That is your family’s business. It has nothing to do with me.”

Guangzong’s face darkened. “Uncle, the family is in trouble. We can’t afford the tuition. We’ve studied for over ten years; are you really heartless enough to watch us return to the fields as farmers?”

Lin Yu looked him up and down and sneered. “If you haven’t made a name for yourselves after ten years, it’s clear you have no talent. Returning to the fields is the proper thing to do.” He added pointedly, “One should keep their feet on the ground and live honestly. Delusions only harm oneself and others.”

These words of “kind advice” fell on Guangzong’s ears as pure mockery. He gritted his teeth. “Second Uncle, you watched us grow up. Are you really so heartless?”

Lin Yu didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at him. “When they were planning to sell A-Pan to the Widower Qian, did you know?”

Guangzong’s expression shifted slightly.

Lin Yu already had his answer. “You didn’t care whether your cousin lived or died. If a person like you entered officialdom, you would only be a corrupt official. Helping you would be aiding a villain.” He ignored Guangzong’s ugly expression and walked away without looking back.

Guangzong’s teeth ground together. His eyes were full of malice. “Since you were the first to be heartless, don’t blame me for being unrighteous.”

He turned back into the house. “We strike tonight.”

Eldest Aunt trembled, whispering, “Do we really have to? Murder is a capital crime. Lin Yu knows the Magistrate. What if we’re caught?”

“Mother, do you want to watch my brother and me become nothing but farmers?” Yaozu pressured her.

Guangzong added, “As long as we are careful and leave no clues, no one will find out. Father, Mother—once Second Uncle’s family is dead, all the benefits belonging to them will have to be inherited by us, his only nephews. Silver and copper won’t burn. Even if we can’t get it all, we can use his name to seek an audience with the Magistrate.”

Eldest Aunt kept saying she didn’t dare, but Lin Da suddenly stood up and slapped her hard. “Women are always so fussy! For the sake of our sons’ future wealth, we must do this.”

…

On the way home, Lin Yu thought it over and felt Guangzong’s expression was off. That look didn’t seem like someone begging for money; it looked like a final interrogation to clear his own conscience. Lin Yu narrowed his eyes, his vigilance rising.

Back home, he called his daughters. “Have you encountered anyone from that side lately?”

The three sisters shook their heads. “No. We heard Eldest Aunt is busy nursing Grandma and hasn’t left the house.”

Lin Yu felt it was strange and warned them, “If you see them, don’t engage. Try not to go out alone.”

“Father, what’s wrong with them?” Lin Lai asked.

“Hard to say,” Lin Yu shook his head. “I just feel they’re up to no good.”

Lin Lai pumped her fist. “Let them try. I’ll show them what I’ve learned.”

“Be careful. A careful boat sails for ten thousand years,” Lin Zhao pulled her sister back, telling the girl—whose confidence had ballooned after a year of training—not to be careless.

Lin Yu even called little Lele over. “Don’t go out to play alone these few days. If you go out, take your Third Aunt with you. Remember?” The little girl nodded obediently. He was worried the Eldest’s family might kidnap the child for ransom in a final act of desperation.

…

Night fell.

Four shadows appeared outside the Lin house. Lin Da leaned against the back wall to listen. “They’re asleep. No more movement.”

Guangzong licked his dry lips. “Wait longer. Wait until the whole village is asleep.”

As the moment arrived, Yaozu and Eldest Aunt began to shake—one from excitement, the other from terror. Yaozu peered at the house. “I wonder where they hide the valuables. It’ll be a waste if they all burn.”

Guangzong glared at his brother. “Don’t do anything extra, or you’ll leave a trail.”

The four hid in the bamboo grove behind the house, enduring mosquito bites as they watched the building. Lin Da swatted a mosquito and cursed, “The Second is so rich, yet he won’t even build a new house.”

Guangzong smiled. “It’s better that he’s frugal. Silver won’t burn away. It’ll all be ours.”

At midnight, the village was silent. Guangzong whispered, “Now. Everyone take a bucket of oil. Remember, douse the doors and windows. If they run out, we’re finished.”

Guangzong carried his bucket—tung oil he had bartered for by hocking his own books. Once lit, the fire would explode. He didn’t want to risk knocking them out first because he feared Lin Yu’s martial skills. Fire was safer. He carefully poured the oil, a predatory smile on his face. It’s not my fault, he thought. It’s Second Uncle’s fault for not giving me money for my studies.

He pulled out a fire starter. The flame flickered in his eyes. With one flick of his hand, his uncle’s family would go to heaven, and his uncle’s fame would belong to him.

“FIRE!”

A shout thundered through the air, waking the entire village.

Guangzong flinched, dropping the fire starter. The oil ignited instantly. He scrambled back as the hem of his robe caught a spark. Before he could flee, the neighbor Liu Dazhu rushed over with a water basin. Seeing the scene, he roared: “HELP! LIN GUANGZONG IS COMMITTING ARSON AND MURDER!”

“It’s not me! I just heard the noise and came to help!” Guangzong screamed. This wasn’t the plan. He was supposed to be far away when the village woke up.

Liu Dazhu didn’t listen; he leveled Guangzong with a punch and a kick. “Tie him up! Quick, save the house!”

“It’s tung oil! Forget the house, save the people!” someone shouted, smelling the fuel.

Just then, several figures burst from the building. Lin Yu had soaked a quilt in water and wrapped his daughters and granddaughter in it, charging through the flames.

“They’re alive! Everyone’s alive!” Liu Dazhu shouted with relief.

Lin Yu unwrapped the quilt to check on them. The sisters were terrified, but little Lele was just rubbing her eyes, still groggy. “Father, I’m okay. Lele’s okay,” Lin Zhao panted.

“Lin the Second, your house is gone,” Liu Dazhu said. The fire had spread too fast; the building was already half-gutted.

Lin Yu sighed. “The house can be replaced. As long as the people are safe.” He looked at the neighbor. “This wasn’t an accident.”

Liu Dazhu dragged Guangzong over. “I saw him with my own eyes!”

Guangzong tried to lie, but the villagers soon caught the other three family members hiding in the grove with oil buckets. The evidence was undeniable.

…

“To the officials with them!” Lin Yu declared.

The Clan Leader and Village Chief were horrified. This was a capital crime in their village. The Clan Head slapped Lin Da. “You animal! Your own brother!”

Lin Da, knowing he was caught, began to scream in rage: “Lin Yu, you should die! You jinx! Mother should have strangled you at birth! If you hadn’t been so heartless, I wouldn’t have had to risk this! It’s your own fault, though it’s a pity I didn’t burn you to a crisp!”

On the way to the city, Guangzong whispered to his father, “Dad, we’re dead if we don’t do something. Take the blame. You’re the head of the house. Say it was your idea and we just followed orders because of ‘filial piety.’ You’ll get hard labor, but Yaozu and I can stay free to save you. If we all go down, the Lin line ends.”

Lin Da looked at his son in horror. This was the boy he had sacrificed everything for. And now, Guangzong wanted him to die so the sons could stay free. He realized then that his son was heartless—not just to his uncle, but to his own father.

However, the boys convinced their parents. By the time they reached the court, the plan was set.

Magistrate Cao was furious when he heard someone had tried to kill his protégé. “The evidence is clear! Confess!”

Lin Da knelt. “It was all my idea. I was jealous.”

Guangzong looked down, a smirk playing on his lips. But he had underestimated Magistrate Cao.

The Magistrate didn’t just accept the confession. He sent runners to the oil shops to see who bought the fuel. He brought in the bookstore owner where Guangzong hocked his books. He found witnesses who saw the brothers carrying the buckets.

“The evidence is conclusive,” the Magistrate thundered. “Lin Guangzong is the mastermind. Lin Yaozu, Lin Zhu (the Eldest), and the wife are accomplices. You are blood relatives, yet you showed no mercy, seeking only to kill for wealth.”

“The mastermind, Lin Guangzong, shall be executed after autumn. The accomplices shall serve twenty years of hard labor.”

Guangzong screamed, “I don’t accept this! He’s the head of the house, why kill me?!”

The Magistrate’s disgust deepened. A scholar who would kill his uncle and then try to frame his father? “Silence the court! Fifty strokes of the board for him!”

As Guangzong’s screams filled the air, Lin Da finally broke down. “Second Brother! I’m your brother! Mother will be so sad! Forgive me!”

Lin Yu stood there, cold and silent, watching the four of them be dragged away to their doom.