Chapter 1703 - 1696: Lin Yu to Attend the Bedchamber

Chapter 1703 -1696: Lin Yu to Attend the Bedchamber

“Miss Chu is a knight-errant of the jianghu, a heroine among women, and someone Lin Yu deeply admires. Could you join me in trying to persuade Lin Yu again?” This was the real reason Ye Hongru sought out Lin Sisi today.

Lin Sisi pursed her lips; she wasn’t particularly inclined to visit the prince’s mansion.

But Ye Hongru’s sincerity was moving, and Lin Sisi eventually decided to accompany him.

She wanted to see whether Lin Yu still had any chance for a change.

Inside the mansion, when the two entered, they found Lin Yu washing clothes.

Her movements were clumsy and awkward, far from the clean skill she displayed when wielding weapons.

The sudden appearance of Ye Hongru and Lin Sisi startled her. “You… why are you here?”

They had been brought in by Madam Zhao on Uncle Guan’s orders. Viewing them as honored guests, Madam Zhao immediately chastised Lin Yu, “When esteemed guests arrive, what right do you have to question them? You’re just a maid! Wash the clothes properly!

Finish washing the maids’ clothes first, and later, you can wash clothes for His Highness! Make haste!”

“Oh, I understand, Madam,” Lin Yu replied listlessly, her face drooping even as she spoke.

Ye Hongru had come prepared with a host of persuasive arguments. He had assumed that Lin Yu, enjoying a carefree life in the mansion, might no longer be willing to return with him for rigorous training.

But seeing her now, dressed in gold and silver while squatting by the well with three wooden basins, constantly scrubbing clothes, he was suddenly struck speechless, overwhelmed by complex emotions—as if something weighed heavily on his chest.

“General Ye, have you come to mock me?” Lin Yu kept her head low, pounding clothes with a washing mallet. Her tone was muffled and dull. “Though I’m doing menial labor, my treatment here is far better than it was at Wangjiang Tower!

I can wear silk gowns and adorn myself with gemstone and gold jewelry now!”

Her tone was forced, so forced that Ye Hongru couldn’t muster a response.

“If you’re truly living well, why can’t you even hold your head up?” Lin Sisi asked coldly.

She was even more blunt than Ye Hongru, stabbing directly at the most vulnerable and fragile part of Lin Yu’s heart.

Angry, Lin Yu threw the mallet into the basin with a loud bang. “I am living well! I married His Highness, and even if I’m just a concubine… I don’t need to fight for myself anymore! In the future, I can enjoy a life being well taken care of!

I…”

Lin Yu wanted to growl to bolster her confidence, but the more she shouted, the more her eyes turned red.

Standing before her was Lin Sisi, her face partially veiled and hooded. Though Sisi’s figure was tall and upright, it felt like a mirror reflecting Lin Yu’s inadequacies.

The comparison was stark.

Lin Yu felt an overwhelming sense of inferiority.

Ever since coming to the mansion, she found herself far from being considered its master. Even among the many servants here, she was still inferior!

She was nothing more than a concubine, indistinguishable from a common maid—enjoying the mansion’s provisions but still subjected to labor and deprived of the grandeur she had envisioned through marriage.

The reality was far removed from the lofty expectations she had imagined for herself.

“In the past, you relied on your own efforts to get by all those years. Are you truly someone who wishes to be looked after?” This was something Ye Hongru couldn’t quite comprehend.

He had believed Lin Yu was someone like Lin Sisi, someone who could carve out a life with fists, feet, and a blade on the battlefield.

“Who wouldn’t want to be looked after?” Lin Yu laughed, her cheeks trembling as a tear quivered and fell from the corner of her eye. “General Ye, why don’t you ask your sister whether she wants to be a female general?

If not for being abandoned, left destitute and alone, what woman in the world would willingly fight and kill just to get by?”

Ye Hongru froze, utterly shocked by her words. “So… I was mistaken.”

He had been wrong all along.

He had mistakenly believed Lin Yu was the same as Lin Sisi. He had mistakenly believed… Lin Yu embodied the shadow of the woman he admired most in his heart.

He had mistakenly believed…

Ye Hongru’s eyes were filled with disappointment, as though the blazing sun in the sky had suddenly fallen into the crevice of a mountain.

Dispirited and defeated, Ye Hongru walked out of the prince’s mansion.

Lin Sisi, on the other hand, felt little disappointment. With the perspective of a fellow woman who shared a sense of determination and passion, she simply told Lin Yu, “If you continue to embrace this kind of life, you’ll find endless irritating trivialities.

Jiang Du City is the most prosperous place in the Great Cheng Dynasty, but its hierarchical views are extremely rigid.

Lacking power, status, and family, you might enjoy stability if favored by your husband. But as a concubine, should there be a stricter mistress overseeing the household, you’d find no sympathy should you be beaten to death or sold off.”

“What did you say?” Lin Yu was stunned. “The mistress could beat me to death? Wouldn’t His Highness protect me?”

“Since you married into the household, have you shared a room with him? Does he favor you? If he does, you might live well. If not…”

“The fate of women in the inner quarters is largely controlled by the mistress of the household—in this case, the future Princess.”

Terrified, Lin Yu shook her head. “His Highness hasn’t shared a room with me. I haven’t even spoken with him. He…”

“Who said I wouldn’t speak with you?” Chu Jinling appeared, clad in a Moonlight Long Robe and gently waving a folding fan. He exuded charm and gentleness as he approached them.

Lin Sisi stood with her hands clasped behind her, instinctively retreating two steps.

She feared being recognized by Chu Jinling.

But it seemed he didn’t even glance her way.

He walked over to Lin Yu and lightly wrapped his arm around her waist. “I’ve been preoccupied these past few days, which is why I’ve neglected you. Are you now upset with me?”

Lin Yu was stunned. As she came to her senses, she quickly wiped her tears away and smiled, shaking her head. “I… I’m not upset with Your Highness! It’s enough that Your Highness cares to see me!”

“Silly girl, of course I’ll treat you well!”

Chu Jinling tapped her nose gently with his fan, his gaze full of warmth.

Lin Sisi’s heart surged with a wave of great emotion, stirring restlessness within her as her fists momentarily clenched uncontrollably.

“Miss Chu, why did you come straight to the rear courtyard? I’ve prepared a banquet for you as a guest,” Chu Jinling said with a polished smile.

But the sight of him with Lin Yu was painfully jarring, prompting Lin Sisi to hastily make her excuses and leave.

“Miss Chu… why did she leave?” Lin Yu was puzzled.

She had a feeling that Miss Chu seemed afraid of His Highness.

Yet when teaching her, Miss Chu had been stern and commanding.

“Your Highness, Miss Chu… she…”

Lin Yu hesitated, confused.

When she looked up at Chu Jinling again, his eyes were already reddened.

As soon as Miss Chu left, Chu Jinling immediately set Lin Yu aside.

Lin Yu lifted her skirt and scrambled after him, tripping over its hem as she walked. “Your Highness… Your Highness, wait! Let me accompany you to dinner!”

“Go back and finish washing your clothes.”

Chu Jinling dismissed her coldly and left.

Madam Zhao immediately stepped forward, glaring at Lin Yu with strictness. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Frightened, Lin Yu stumbled backward. “Madam, His Highness told me to join him for dinner.”

“When did His Highness say that? Why wasn’t I informed?” Madam Zhao’s face turned icy as she shoved Lin Yu back. “Finish the clothes in your hands before you think about dinner!”

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