His Peasant Wife : Yao Ling

Lin Jian nodded in satisfaction. After all, this was the first time there were so many troubles in their parts. Lin Jian could only laugh inwardly because the first time Yao Ying learning about Mi Hui, he heard so many reports that should be dealt with. Well... at least, he was still here to guide him.

After their business was finished there, they let the three women go out. The once bustling room became silent. Both of the men were deep in thought. Yao Ying decided to ask Lin Jian, "This is a chance for me to prove my usefulness, but this will include my wife. What should I do?" Yao Ying sought Lin Jian’s advice because he was the senior here.

"Actually, it should be fine. The store is a mixture of people who know about the organization and not. As long as she pretends to remain oblivious about the organization, it should be fine," Lin Jian said.

"Is it okay for you to lie about it too?" Yao Ying was confused because Lin Jian seemed to be a true believer of this organization, but why was he being lenient to him and Yao Ling?

"Haiyah~ I might be a bit biased toward you. It’s because I think of you as my best friend," Lin Jian grinned.

"Really?" Yao Ying was a bit doubtful and he somehow knew that the reason wasn’t as simple as that.

"That’s only one of the reasons. I believe Uncle Wang already knows that you told about it to Yao Ling, but he let her be. I trust his judgment," Lin Jian gave him the real reason. Wang Luo Hai was the actual leader of their Mi Hui -- he was above Lin Jian in rank, so the way Lin Jian trusted Wang Luo Hai was justified. After all, Wang Luo Hai always put the organization’s interest above all. He might also let one of his subordinates to monitor the couple --- the last part he didn’t say it out loud.

"Do you have a way to contact the organization, if Yao Ling is able to do it?" Yao Ying asked curiously.

"Hmmm... it should be Uncle Wang’s job. We can discuss it with him too."

"Then, we should go to Fu Rong. They are probably still there."

They didn’t forget to tell the servant to wrap the rest of the foods and it earned them the servant’s weird look, after all, why a wealthy person suddenly want to bring the leftovers home? The servant could only do his job and wrapped them nicely.

The leftovers were given to Xiu and Lin Jian’s personal servant - Ah Mao to take care of. They already knew what to do, so along their way back to Fu Rong, Xiu and Ah Mao gave the leftovers away to the beggars. Looking at the beggars’ happy face, Lin Jian knew that doing a good deed like this was quite pleasing for him.

"Lin Jian, why do you seem to be interested in the Han Princess?" Yao Ying asked curiously.

Lin Jian contemplated for a little while whether he should tell Yao Ying or not. "That woman... had a past with my father."

Yao Ying looked at Lin Jian in surprise. Was that princess’ mother the woman in the painting? Yao Ying vividly remembered about that scroll and he decided to ask Lin Jian, "I saw a painting of a woman at your house. Before I could see the woman’s face, your servant quickly covered it. It seemed like a dear painting to your father. Is that woman is... her? The Han’s Princess Mother?"

Lin Jian didn’t answer him, but his usual twinkling and mischievous eyes were full of sadness. "Oh... that painting?"

When Yao Ying thought he wasn’t going to answer him, Lin Jian opened his mouth and started talking once again, "That’s the painting of the woman’s that Father’s love the most."

"Your mother?" Yao Ying asked hesitantly. He wanted to know what made his cheerful friend suddenly became melancholic.

"Hmm... you can say that." Lin Jian’s answer was a bit ambiguous.

Yao Ying furrowed his eyebrows. ’What did he mean by saying I could say that? Was it because she wasn’t his real mother? Or he didn’t want to think of her as his mother because he felt that he was being abandoned? However, it seemed like General Lin only loved one woman his whole life. If Lin Jian wasn’t her real son... then who was Lin Jian’s mother?’ Yao Ying thought inwardly.

Yao Ying sighed and said, "You don’t have to tell me if it’s a painful memory." Judging from his sad face, Yao Ying assumed that this woman was the source of his sadness.

Lin Jian decided to tell him a little bit of the story, but the things that only involved him. He couldn’t tell him about his father’s matter. "I can’t say that it’s painful memories." Lin Jian didn’t know how he should start telling him, after all, he kept it bottling up for a long time.

"She’s not my mother and can also be said that she’s mine. I was three years old when I met her and at that time, she had just had her hairpin ceremony. At the same time, she married my father. To me, she’s a mother, a sister, a friend --- everything," Lin Jian started his story. His gaze was hazy and full of sadness.

Yao Ying wanted to ask more, but he held himself back. He sighed and patted Lin Jian’s shoulder, making the latter give him a forced smile.

"After a few years, she was gone and became the Han Emperor’s Concubine," Lin Jian said.

Yao Ying was in surprised! Huh? General Lin’s wife became Han Emperor’s concubine?! How could that happen? "Is she... the Han Princess’ mother? A Shu woman who ran away?" Yao Ying stuttered, feeling shocked because of the crazy news.

Lin Jian merely nodded but didn’t say anything more.

"How... how come?" Yao Ying couldn’t help but ask. Why would General Lin allow another man to take away his beloved?! It didn’t make any sense!

"It’s because of me..." Lin Jian weakly said.

Yao Ying shut his mouth, knowing that this was a sore subject. Because of the heavy subject, they didn’t realize that they had arrived at Fu Rong. Their previous cheery mood became somber. Lin Jian tried to lighten the mood by saying, "We can talk about this later. We should go out for a drink and I will tell you all about it."

Yao Ying couldn’t believe that Lin Jian had such a painful memory. The man looked so cheerful and bright all the time, but he realized that he really couldn’t judge a book by its cover. And also... each family really had their own problems.

"Okay," Yao Ying agreed, after that, they didn’t talk about it anymore. Yao Ying knew that Lin Jian would tell him when he was ready. Yao Ying didn’t realize that he had accepted Lin Jian as his best friend long ago, otherwise... he wouldn’t be so comfortable talking with him and even felt worried about him.

When they arrived at Fu Rong, Wang Luo Hai and Yao Ling were still on the second floor. They were swarmed with many orders, therefore they didn’t have the time to relax. After knowing that Yao Ying was finally back from the hua lou, Yao Ling felt slightly relieved. It meant that nothing really happened there.

Wang Luo Hai asked them, "Why are you both coming back here?" He thought that they would go home straight away after visiting the hua lou. Yao Ling already mentioned to him that she wanted Yao Ying to rest for one more day and got back to work tomorrow, but it seemed like something changed Yao Ying’s mind.

"Father, we have a few things to discuss," Yao Ying said.

Wang Luo Hai saw the grim expression on Yao Ying and Lin Jian’s face, so he knew that this matter must be very important. With a little gesture, he dismissed all the servants and maidservant inside the room -- including Xiu and Xiao Yu. Wang Luo Hai had a guess that the matter was related to the organization. After all of the servants left, Lin Jian and Yao Ying quickly summarized the whole report that they had just gotten to Wang Luo Hai.

"Hmm... such a big thing happened?" Wang Luo Hai already heard about it, but he never thought that it was that severe. If the embroidery wasn’t so complicated, then they should be able to handle it, but The Empress’ request was actually very complicated.

"Yes, Father. I want to ask Yao Ling whether she is able to help to finish the order or not," Yao Ying said. "If she can... I don’t want her to join the organization. I can even drink the poison on her behalf if I have too."

Wang Luo Hai clearly understood Yao Ying’s sentiment. He didn’t want Yao Ling to drink the poison and Wang Luo Hai also agreed with him. Yao Ling is a woman and she will be the one who bears the next descendant of Wang Fu. He didn’t know the full effect of the poison and he was also afraid that it would affect her womb. Call him selfish, but they are already his family --- he had to think far ahead for them. Better be safe than sorry later.

"I will handle this matter, as long as Yao Ling agrees to do it," Wang Luo Hai said.

Yao Ling looked at them helplessly. Did they even give her any choice? They seemed to be very confident in her skills. She was honestly confident that she could do it, but she also needed the details first to make a decision. Yao Ling understood that this was a chance for Yao Ying to prove himself as a trustworthy and capable subordinate. In the long run, it would be helpful for them. Whether she liked it or not, she would always support her husband and she knew that she couldn’t refuse this job.

"Can you give me the details of the embroidery first?" Yao Ling asked. "As long as it’s reasonable, I can do it for you. The technique that you mentioned... I can do it. But what about after this matter is concluded? Father, you have mentioned that this technique is rare and will attract unwanted attention."

"Don’t worry... I will handle it. No one unrelated will know that the one who makes it is you, but the masters will know about it -- of course," Wang Luo Hai said truthfully. This kind of big problem... there was no way it would escape the princes’ eyes, especially Xiao Wang.

Yao Ling nodded in understanding. "When can I get the details? I heard the deadline is quite close."

"Give me a few shichen and I will give you all the information," Wang Luo Hai said. He could pull more strings to get the details and he also had to let the masters know that his stepchildren were able to solve it. He felt proud of his stepchildren and smiled softly.

Knowing that there was nothing else he could do, Lin Jian went back home. Yao Ying could still see his sadness and he felt guilty. If he didn’t ask anything about the Han Princess, Lin Jian wouldn’t be sad. But really... who would have thought that the Han Princess’ mother was probably General Lin’s wife?

Wang Luo Hai left to find out more about the orders, leaving Yao Ying and Yao Ling alone in the office. Yao Ying asked her softly, "Are you really okay for doing this? It will take most of your time to work on this and you also have to pull an all-nighter!"