Chapter 22: The Inverse Scale of the Prince of Linwang
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Seeing the little maid grow even more nervous, her face turning paler by the moment, Lin Jiangnian was stunned instead.
He had merely decided not to have her warm his bed anymore. Why did she seem even less willing to leave?
“You’re called Little Bamboo, aren’t you?” Lin Jiangnian asked.
Little Bamboo lowered her head, twisting her tightly clenched hands together as she nodded uneasily. “Yes.”
“Your real name?”
Little Bamboo looked slightly bewildered. In a small voice, she said, “Little Bamboo is... is just called Little Bamboo...”
Lin Jiangnian found himself amused. This little maid was not only a little foolish, but astonishingly innocent as well.
“Tell me, how did you come to enter the prince’s manor?”
Lin Jiangnian studied the little maid, beginning to probe into her past.
Little Bamboo answered softly, “It was Sister Paper Kite. She saved... saved Little Bamboo and brought me here...”
“Saved you?”
Little Bamboo seemed to recall something. A trace of sorrow appeared in her eyes as she said quietly, “After my parents died last year, my aunt wanted to sell me to a brothel... It was then that I happened to meet Sister Paper Kite...”
“Sister Paper Kite is kind-hearted. She bought me and brought me back to the prince’s manor...”
At this point, Little Bamboo’s voice grew tense, and fear surfaced in her eyes.
She had nearly been sold to a brothel!
Those people had said she was very pretty, that she might become a courtesan queen, and all sorts of things she did not understand. She had only heard that the women in brothels were wicked and had to serve men in bed...
She had been terrified. She did not want to serve anyone in bed.
Her aunt had never liked her from childhood. After her parents died, her aunt had found her even more displeasing...
Fortunately, Sister Paper Kite had saved her and brought her to the prince’s manor. The manor was truly enormous. She never had to worry about food or drink, and she had beautiful clothes to wear. It was a life she had never even dared dream of before.
From that moment onward, Little Bamboo had secretly resolved to repay Sister Paper Kite properly and become a capable maidservant.
“I see.”
Lin Jiangnian nodded slightly. He felt a little more sympathy for the maid’s circumstances. At the same time, his opinion of Paper Kite, who wore a cold expression all day long, changed somewhat.
Who would have thought that she possessed such kindness?
But then Lin Jiangnian realized something else. He looked at Little Bamboo thoughtfully.
Perhaps Paper Kite had saved her after seeing the pitiful girl orphaned and being reminded of her own past?
The woman in red had mentioned that Paper Kite had also lost both parents at a young age. She had been adopted by the Princess Consort of Prince Lin and taken in as a maid, though in truth she seemed more like the princess consort’s adopted daughter. Otherwise, Prince Lin would never have trusted her so deeply or granted a mere maid such enormous authority.
Lin Jiangnian’s thoughts returned to what had happened in the teahouse that day, and his mind filled with a thousand considerations.
If Prince Lin was the one person the heir of Prince Lin truly feared, then the only person in this world whom the heir might truly care about was probably the late Princess Consort of Prince Lin.
The heir’s dissolute nature, twisted personality, volatile temper, and reckless conduct over the years were perhaps all connected to his lack of maternal love from childhood.
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Even so, the Princess Consort of Prince Lin still held an exceedingly lofty place in his heart. No one was allowed to profane or insult her.
What Li Qianlin had said might not have been entirely wrong. The heir of Prince Lin had indeed grown up without anyone to discipline him. Yet those words had also been an indirect insult to both Prince Lin and his consort.
He had been implying that Prince Lin was incapable of raising his own son—and, even more pointedly, that Lin Jiangnian was a motherless man.
The Princess Consort of Prince Lin was the heir’s greatest taboo. Everyone in the prince’s manor, and many people throughout Linjiang City, knew this.
Everyone, that was, except Li Qianlin.
Or perhaps he did know, but simply had not taken it to heart.
The last person who had dared publicly insult the Princess Consort of Prince Lin had been beaten to death in broad daylight by men sent by the heir. It was then that the heir’s evil reputation spread far and wide, eventually reaching the capital.
Had the current emperor not been unwell and withdrawn from court to recuperate, and had the court officials not feared Prince Lin’s influence and refrained from provoking him too severely, the heir would surely have suffered the consequences. Even so, memorials impeaching Prince Lin continued to pour into the court one after another.
The heir had also been placed under house arrest for half a year. It was during that time that Paper Kite entered the prince’s manor...
This time, Li Qianlin’s mocking words had clearly been deliberate.
But... Lin Jiangnian still had to act.
And so, the scene in the teahouse that day had unfolded.
Had the true heir of Prince Lin been there, he certainly would have fought Li Qianlin to the death.
Of course, he probably could not have acted with Lin Jiangnian’s decisiveness and personally cracked Li Qianlin’s skull.
As for Paper Kite’s unusual reaction toward him earlier, Lin Jiangnian naturally understood the reason as well.
The Princess Consort of Prince Lin was the heir’s greatest taboo, and she was equally important to Paper Kite. Nothing that happened in the teahouse could escape Paper Kite’s notice. She naturally knew what had caused the incident.
That made it easy to understand her change in attitude.
The prince she despised had risked himself and fought viciously to defend the person most important to her...
Her feelings must have been rather complicated.
...
The room fell silent.
Little Bamboo secretly lifted her head and cautiously glanced at Lin Jiangnian.
When she saw that the prince was gazing into the distance, apparently deep in thought, she blinked and quietly relaxed. Her lively eyes looked especially endearing.
Seeing that the prince had not noticed her, Little Bamboo grew bolder. The nervousness she had felt before gradually faded, and she quietly stole another glance at him.
Then another.
And a third...
The prince really was quite handsome.
Little Bamboo blinked.
Everyone said that the prince had inherited the lord’s handsome features and the princess consort’s otherworldly grace, making him one of the rarest beauties among men beneath the heavens.
It seemed... they were right.
Especially now, with the prince wearing such a serious, contemplative expression. Little Bamboo looked at him several times, gradually becoming entranced.
After a while, she came to her senses. Her cheeks flushed, and she panicked.
Little Bamboo, what are you doing?!
How can you secretly stare at the prince? What if he gets angry?
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She felt slightly flustered.
Yet for some reason, her heart was not filled with the same panic as before. The prince seemed... truly different from what the others had said.
Little Bamboo thought carefully. Although the prince sometimes looked frightening—especially when he wore a stern expression while lecturing her—he had never actually bullied her.
She had nearly been frightened to tears!
But the prince had never really mistreated her, had he?
Nor had he done what the other maids had described: forcibly carrying her to bed, violently tearing at her clothes despite her struggles, cries, and pleas for mercy, then pressing her beneath him and...
Little Bamboo’s face grew even redder. She hurriedly shook her head, trying to cast all those chaotic thoughts away.
It was all those older maids’ fault. They were always telling her strange and frightening things!
Once she had barely regained her composure, she noticed Lin Jiangnian looking at her strangely.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“N-nothing...”
With a guilty conscience, Little Bamboo’s pretty face instantly turned scarlet. Even her earlobes were translucent and flushed red.
She looked very lovely.
Lin Jiangnian stared at the little maid, who had inexplicably turned bright red.
What had happened to her?
“This prince is hungry.”
Lin Jiangnian glanced at her. “Go get me something to eat.”
After all the commotion at the teahouse, it was nearly dark. Only then did Lin Jiangnian remember that he had not eaten anything. His stomach was beginning to growl.
“Oh, all right!”
Little Bamboo lowered her head, her pretty face still flushed, and ran out of the room as though fleeing for her life.
She had fled in utter disarray.
...
By the time Lin Jiangnian had finished dinner and eaten his fill, night had already fallen.
The maids had prepared hot water in advance and were waiting to attend the prince during his bath.
The heir of Prince Lin’s uncomplicated life probably consisted of little more than having clothes brought to him when he extended his hand and food placed before him when he opened his mouth.
The moment Lin Jiangnian entered the bathing chamber, a maid who had been waiting there for some time stepped forward to help him undress.
“Wait.”
Lin Jiangnian stopped her. His gaze shifted toward a furtive figure hiding just outside the door.
“Let her come in.”
“...”
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