My enemies became my companions

Chapter 318: Is it for the widow of Chen? (2k average)

Lin Wanheng's face, which had become thinner for a long time, turned visibly blue and white.

Her thin shoulders trembled slightly, revealing her sickly beauty. She was unable to answer Queen An's questions.

An Hou asked calmly: "How long do you want to recall?"

The cold wind blew from behind, and Lin Wanxiang shivered. She lowered her head even lower, almost touching the ground:

"Your Majesty, I find it difficult to answer this question."

There was a hint of appreciation in An Hou's eyes.

Compared to Min Ming's temper that could not be taught no matter how many times he tried, Lin Wanlang was a bit gentle on the outside but strong on the inside. With a little training, she could become a useful scabbard.

The scabbard is used to hold the knife.

"What's so difficult about answering? It's just a name." Inside Jingren Palace, the voice came down from above, hitting Lin Wanheng. "Besides, the name is only two words. You can just raise your tongue and spit it out, right?"

The body of the young lady from the Lin family trembled with each sound of the voice.

The Queen Mother stared at her from the shadows and asked calmly:
"Could it be that... you have only seen this man in your dreams so many times that you can no longer bear the loneliness?"

Lin Wanheng suddenly raised his head, cold sweat trickling down his forehead. Even in front of the royal family, he was a little angry and said:

"Your Majesty, I am not someone who does not observe the virtuous code of conduct for women."

"But have you ever dreamed about Lin Yan?"

"……I…"

Lin Wanheng was speechless for a moment, and his thin body stiffened in the cold wind.

After a long while, she spoke with difficulty:
"I dreamed about that person because I wanted him to die."

"Oh, I thought you were a widow for him..." Queen An said with a leisurely smile.

Lin Wanhang remained silent. Now in Cui's house, not many people cared about her situation. She was like a lonely ghost wandering in the yard. Lin Yan had long been forgotten, and even she was gradually forgetting him. The occasional nightmares seemed to have engraved that person into her bones.

Now that she thought about it, it seemed right that she was a widow for him... But Lin Wanheng didn't dare and didn't want to think about it further, as it would be too ugly.

And in the height of Jingren Palace, Jun's mother curled her lips and sneered, and said slowly:
"You really want that man to die, but what's the point? He just won't die, and keeps appearing in your nightmares. When you think about it like this, you become his widow, with no other man around you but him."

Lin Wanheng's heart trembled as he heard the words.

It is only natural for a woman to remain a widow after her husband dies. Even though she has never had any romantic feelings for Lin Yan, she still practices the virtues she learned from "The Rules for Women". But no matter what, she would suddenly miss that person from time to time... How is this different from being a widow for that man named Chen?

She suddenly felt that her soul was ugly.

She was startled and frightened, like many women who had been widowed all their lives and heard the voices of ghosts.

Lin Wanheng broke out in cold sweat on his neck, and he said subconsciously:
"As long as he dies...I will no longer dream of him..."

"You really want him to die?"

Lin Wanheng said with difficulty: “…I want to.”

"It's easy to say you want someone to die, but it's not hard to do it. As long as you put in a little effort, he will die in front of you. You have wanted to kill him for so many years, but you have never been able to kill him. Do you want him to die? Lin Wanheng, if you do, you'd better do it quickly, otherwise you won't be able to kill him."

As Queen An finished speaking, Lin Wanlang trembled even more violently, and his face, which had been pale for a long time, now had a hint of redness.

Her lips moved slightly.

Before she could blurt it out.

Queen An pointed her fingertips and smiled:
"The hardest person to guard against is the one next to you..."

Lin Wanheng suddenly became stiff as if dead.

What does this mean?

What this means is that…

This means!

Lin Wanheng's head was buzzing and her whole body felt weak. She was gasping for breath and it was difficult for her to catch her breath.

Inside Jingren Palace, Queen An stared at her with a sneer on her face.

..............................

A few days later, at Cui Mansion.

As the New Year was approaching, the maid Xiuhe and Lin Wanheng had already cleaned the yard early in the morning. Although it was called cleaning, there was actually nothing to clean. After all, since Lin Wanheng came back that time, she hardly ever left the house. Even if the ladies of the first and second houses came to invite her, Lin Wanheng would still stay in the yard.

Although no one knew what the two ladies were planning, they did not succeed for the time being. And as if to please Lin Wanheng, the accountant allocated a lot more money to the courtyard, and sent two old maids to take care of it from time to time, and also brought some gossip from the mansion.

It is said that Cui Kai from the third room got addicted to gambling. He made a lot of money at first and bought some clothes for his wife. The female relatives who were unaware of the situation were so happy that they could only smile at him and say that he was capable. But later he gradually stopped making money. He suffered a small loss at first, then a big loss, and then a big profit again, and then a big loss again. Not only did he lose all the money he had saved, he also sold many calligraphy and paintings and artifacts in his home. He even gave his marriage contract as a token of trust to a gambler.

As a result, the third house was in chaos. Cui Kai's wife cried almost all day long. She reported the matter to the first house and asked Cui Bu to seek justice.

But the New Year was approaching, and Cui Bu, as a doctor of the Ministry of Personnel, was very busy in the court. When he came back and faced this mess, he was even more worried. In the end, he had to beat ten slaps here and fifty slaps there, and tried to smooth things over. Xiuhe found these things interesting just by listening to them. After all, she was gloating over their misfortunes and letting them ignore her girl. However, when she told this to Lin Wanheng, the latter's reaction was even more indifferent. He just asked a few questions casually and then said "oh".

The gentle sunlight shone through the paper window onto the coffee table in the wing room. Lin Wanheng lowered her head and did needlework in the dim sunlight, embroidering peonies on the silk. A faint fragrance seeped out through the doors and windows, but her two curved willow-leaf eyebrows seemed inexplicably dull.

She was doing needlework day and night, and the embroidered silks were piled up like a mountain in the house. She neither gave them to the servants to make clothes nor sold them to earn a monthly salary.

"Madam, stop embroidering. Why don't you go out for a walk?"

Pushing open the door, Xiuhe saw Lin Wanhang at the Weaver Girl's Red, and whispered to him.

Lin Wanheng turned her head without stopping her hands. She was embroidering a half-finished bright red peony. Her face was so pale and thin that the tiny blood vessels were visible.

After being a widow for so long, Lin Wanheng's complexion has visibly deteriorated.

Moreover, Xiuhe keenly discovered that Lin Wanlang's eyes had lost a lot of their luster and were no longer as lively as before.

"Let's go out for a walk." Xiuhe advised again.

Lin Wanhang hesitated for a while, and then said, "There is nothing to leave."

Seeing her like this, Xiuhe felt a pain in her heart.

These days, the lady has been so worn out that she has lost interest in many things. Even when Xiuhe read her her favorite Peony Pavilion, she refused to listen, let alone The West Chamber, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.

It was like this every day. She weaved all day long and was almost emaciated, slowly torturing her life.

But the lady has changed in recent times.

Ever since the lady was summoned to the palace, even though she didn't say anything when she came back, it was as if the puppet had gained more life. She had more nightmares after removing the Weaver Girl's scarlet scar.

When the lady had a nightmare, she would look much more radiant. She didn't know who she dreamed about. When she woke up, her face would always be red. Then she would walk to the yard and secretly curse that person for a long time.

Xiuhe didn't know who the person the lady was talking about. In fact, she had asked, but the lady refused to tell her.

Once, she wanted to take the opportunity to persuade Lin Wan-hang to go out for a walk, so she asked:
"Madam, why are you just scolding him here?"

Lin Wanheng's face turned slightly pale, and then he said bitterly:
"Because I don't dare scold him to his face."

In fact, if possible, Xiuhe wanted to find that man and let him meet the lady, at least to make the lady less depressed.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she was just a little maid with no power or influence. How could she find that person? Even if she did find him, what could she do?

In addition to these, when the lady returned from the palace, she also brought a jar of wine.

That was a gift from the Empress Dowager. Xiuhe didn't dare to move. She could only look at the jar of wine from a distance and ask the lady the name of the wine.

The name of the wine is Forget-Your-Sorrow.

The lady said that drinking this wine would make her forget many, many troubles, and this is what the Queen Mother told her...

Xiuhe couldn't understand why the Queen Mother gave this kind of wine to the Madam.

Just when Xiuhe was persuading Lin Wanhang to go out for a walk, footsteps were heard outside the courtyard.

Xiuhe turned around to greet her, and it turned out to be the eldest lady.

Luo came slowly with a maid beside her. The eldest lady had a smile on her face, looking quite proud.

The eldest lady had arrived, and Lin Wanheng should have stood up to greet her, but he stood there like a piece of wood, just glanced at her, then lowered his eyes and never looked at her again.

Xiuhe smiled awkwardly, but although Luo looked unhappy, she was not angry. She just moved closer to the threshold, cleared her throat and said:

"In a few days, our mansion will hold a poetry gathering. Invitations have been sent to many officials, and many scholars will come. If you are interested, you may want to attend one."

After a long while, Lin Wanheng finally responded:

"Thank you Madam for your kindness, but I am a widow after all, and it is not good for me to show up in public like this."

Luo seemed to have anticipated this and said in a prepared tone:
"I will wear a veil and no one will be able to see my true face. This way I won't be considered as showing my face to the public. Many families are like this. Otherwise, wouldn't the widow be suffocated to death?"

Lin Wanheng did not comment, but shook his head slightly, as if he had made up his mind.

Luo paused, then said intentionally or unintentionally:
"If that's the case, then I can't persuade you any more. But we have sent an invitation to the Chen residence. The famous Captain Chen will definitely come."

Lin Wanheng suddenly turned his head, and the needle and thread in his hand fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

"Who?!"

It's him…

Will he come over?

It has exceeded 2k average. I would like to thank everyone here (tears). I will report after I finish writing this plot in a few days.

The lines of Dayin, the little widow, and the line leaving Beijing are intertwined.


(End of this chapter)