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"Absolutely not," Fourth Master's tone was stiff.
Lin Zhiqing wasn't surprised. "Fourth Uncle, the Lin family should be decided by Eldest Uncle. I have suffered such great grievance, can't I even see the perpetrator?"
Her words were pointed, subtly stirring up the relationship between the two men.
Seeing Fourth Master speechless, she opportunely extended a favor:
"I have already promised Eldest Uncle that I will keep this matter confidential, so I will naturally not break my promise. My surname is Lin."
Her well-timed gesture of goodwill both indicated that she was a member of the Lin family and would not do anything to harm the family's interests, and also once again reminded the two men before her that she, too, had the surname Lin.
After this combination of moves, Lin Congli and Fourth Master exchanged glances, feeling very conflicted.
Lin Zhiqing was not in a hurry.
At this point, she already knew what needed to be known. Seeing or not seeing Lin Jingya wasn't important.
What was important was how to make Lin Jingya receive the punishment she deserved.
Lin Zhiqing was not some kind of saint; she only wanted to resolve those who posed a threat to her.
Directly proposing to punish Lin Jingya would certainly face obstruction.
Moreover, the Supervising Censor was set to visit tomorrow. If a drama of "siblings harming each other" broke out in the Lin family, it would be detrimental to the official careers of her uncles.
And... Lin Zhiqing glanced at Fourth Master.
Her money wasn't spent for nothing.
Those older momo (wet nurses or female attendants) had been in the Lin family for so many years; what didn't they know?
All Butler Mu did was give them some money and treat them to a few meals with wine, and she managed to inquire about all the major and minor affairs of the Lin family.
Indeed, no matter where, money was of great use.
Lin Zhiqing thought of what Butler Mu had told her and shook her head slightly.
If she hadn't inquired beforehand, she truly wouldn't have been able to connect the Fourth Uncle who was vigorously protecting Lin Jingya at this moment with the "indifferent" person described by the momo.
According to Butler Mu, currently, both the front and back courtyards of the Lin family were under Lin Congli's management.
However, logically speaking, the back courtyard should be managed by Lin Congli's legal wife.
But Lin Congli's wife had died young, and going further back, the Marchioness had also passed away long ago.
Lin Yangyang's temperament was too wild, Lin Zhiqing's status was sensitive, and the other sisters were still young.
Counting them up, there were really not many women to be found in the Marquis of Changan's residence.
Fourth Master's wife, on the other hand, was in good health, but came from a small family and was inherently weak, unable to support the role.
Furthermore, Fourth Master didn't have much affection for his wife and didn't often return to her courtyard.
Over time, this Fourth Mistress had almost no presence in the manor.
It was precisely because of this that the servants in the manor discussed it heatedly, saying that Fourth Master had a mistress outside.
Some had even seen a portrait of a woman hidden in his study.
Rumors of this kind were countless, but they all ultimately pointed to one thing: Fourth Master was very cold towards Fourth Mistress and her children.
Thinking of this, Lin Zhiqing already had a plan.
The reason Fourth Master was being evasive wasn't for the sake of his daughter, but for his own face.
In that case, things would be much easier to handle.
Lin Zhiqing's tone softened. "Eldest Uncle, Fourth Uncle, Zhiqing understands that this matter is significant, but precisely because of this, it should be handled as quickly as possible."
Da... da-da~
Lin Congli lightly tapped the table. "What do you mean by that?"
"I believe younger sister Jingya must have had her reasons, perhaps she was even instigated by someone."
"If we keep covering it up, the root of the problem won't be resolved. It's better to take this opportunity to figure out the whole story from beginning to end, to prevent future troubles, and also to prevent younger sister Jingya from doing any more foolish things."
The Lin family clearly intended to cover up this matter, but if that were the case, the original owner would have died in vain.
Lin Zhiqing had taken over someone else's body; she couldn't just let the murderer go.
Seeing Lin Congli and Fourth Master remain silent, she grew impatient and decided to add more fuel to the fire:
"The Supervising Censor is visiting tomorrow. The matter is now widely discussed, so there will inevitably be some loose tongues."
"If this matter is settled today and brought out into the open, it won't cause people to misunderstand and think that our Lin family is secretly trying to do something improper."
As soon as these words left her mouth, Fourth Master's fan closed, and his back straightened.
He leaned forward slightly, his lips tightly pressed, clearly a little angry. "Are you threatening us?"
"That's incorrect," Lin Zhiqing smiled slightly. "I am thinking for the Lin family."
Those words... were not entirely untrue.
Lin Congli narrowed his eyes and looked at Lin Zhiqing, then after a moment, spoke to Fourth Master. "Call Jingya over."
Fourth Master opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He could only lower his head and walk out without a word.
Looking at his retreating back, Lin Zhiqing had a premonition that he would not return.
Facts proved that a woman's sixth sense is indeed very accurate.
When Lin Jingya returned to the Lin family, she was accompanied only by Fourth Mistress.
The moment Lin Zhiqing saw the girl, she saw the hatred in her eyes.
And that hatred was directed at herself.
But before she could look more closely, Fourth Mistress sat down on her own accord, picked up a teacup, and drank it in one gulp. "Eldest Brother, may I ask why you called us back?"
Lin Zhiqing raised an eyebrow. Was she pretending to be foolish?
After speaking, Fourth Mistress even wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with her clothes.
She and the stern Fourth Uncle didn't seem to be on the same path.
Before Lin Congli and Lin Zhiqing could speak, Lin Jingya on the side impatiently blurted out, "Mother, how can you be so improper? You're simply embarrassing our Lin family!"
Her brows were tightly furrowed, her expression serious, like a little old man.
If she hadn't known, Lin Zhiqing would have thought she was Lin Congli's daughter.
Fourth Mistress touched her head. "Eldest Brother, please don't be offended. I was helping at my family's medical clinic and was called back before I could even drink any water. I am truly quite thirsty."
Lin Congli's brows were tightly furrowed; he also found it a bit hard to watch, but couldn't say anything, so he could only turn his head away:
"Jingya, you are truly too disappointing!"
Hearing this, Lin Jingya's eyes flickered, while a hint of confusion appeared in Fourth Mistress's eyes. "Eldest Brother, what do you mean by that?"
Lin Zhiqing carefully observed her expression and didn't see anything unusual. She seemed to indeed be completely unaware of Lin Jingya's actions.
"I want to ask younger sister Jingya, why did you harm me and my cousin?" she said bluntly.
To her surprise, Lin Jingya showed no signs of guilt on her face. "How strange. I have no grudges or animosity with either of you, why would I harm you?"
She was very impatient in her words, clearly not putting Lin Zhiqing in her eyes.
Fourth Mistress stood up and hit Lin Jingya's head heavily. "How many times have I told you, Zhiqing is your elder sister, you are not allowed to speak to her like that."
After speaking, she returned Lin Zhiqing a slightly apologetic smile.
This Fourth Aunt of hers was quite interesting... Lin Zhiqing just smiled.
Since they weren't saying anything, she would have to say it herself:
"Fourth Aunt, it is younger sister Jingya who should be apologizing to me and my cousin."
"A few days ago was my cousin's birthday, and younger sister Jingya gave her a set of excellent rhinoceros-hide lacquer tea set as a birthday gift, which my cousin liked very much."
"However, the raw lacquer wasn't properly sealed, causing my cousin to develop a skin condition."
"Not only that, but there was also excellent rhododendron tea placed inside the teacups. Fourth Aunt's family medical clinic has close dealings with merchants from Nanzhao..."
Lin Zhiqing paused. "Younger sister Jingya wouldn't not know that rhododendron flowers are poisonous, would she?"