Chapter 48: Paying Respects to the Princess Consort Lin

Some people always show up at the most inappropriate times, completely ruining the mood.

And ruining good things, too!

Zhiyuan stood at the doorway, quietly watching the two people inside the room.

Her expression was cold and aloof, utterly devoid of emotion.

Inside the room, Lin Jiangnian still maintained his posture, leaning in close to Xiaozhu. One of his hands held her chin, slightly lifting her little face. The young maid's eyes were tightly shut, her cheeks flushed a soft pink, and her delicate body was tense, clearly nervous to the absolute limit.

It was an extremely frivolous and roguish gesture...

Lin Jiangnian lifted his gaze to glance at Zhiyuan outside the door. Her eternally unchanging, serene expression and her cold eyes seemed to be monitoring his every next move.

After a brief, one-second pause, Lin Jiangnian withdrew his gaze and looked down at the fair, delicate face of the little maid before him, and her soft, pouting, reddened lips.

Then, under the watchful gaze of Zhiyuan outside the door, he slowly leaned down and kissed the little maid softly on the lips.

A dragonfly skimming the water.

A fleeting touch and away!

He could distinctly feel the little maid's delicate body tremble violently, as if she had suddenly stiffened.

Lin Jiangnian pinched her little cheek and said playfully, "This Heir is heading out. Remember tonight!"

With that, leaving behind the blank-minded, trembling, and bewildered little maid, Lin Jiangnian walked out of the room.

Outside the door, Zhiyuan's gaze fell upon Lin Jiangnian without a word.

"Why are you looking at this Heir like that?"

Lin Jiangnian glanced at her sideways. "Let's go!"

Only then did Zhiyuan withdraw her gaze, cast a glance at Xiaozhu left standing in a daze inside the room, paused for a moment, and turned to leave.

Inside the room.

Xiaozhu remained frozen in place, not daring to move an inch of her delicate body.

It wasn't until the sound of footsteps behind her faded into the distance that she finally forced herself to open her eyes. Her once bright and spirited eyes were suffused with a deep flush of shyness.

Her face was burning hot!

She stared in a daze... The Prince, the Prince actually kissed her?

She, she had just been kissed by the Prince?!

Xiaozhu subconsciously reached up to touch her lips, as if she could still faintly feel the sensation of the Prince kissing her just moments ago.

Unforgettable.

The little maid bit her lower lip tightly, her eyes filled with shyness and a hint of bewilderment. Standing frozen in place, she remained lost in thought for a long time.

...

The Prince Lin Residence leaned against the mountains and rivers, nestled beneath two towering cliffs.

Beyond the cliffs lay a tranquil mausoleum.

The Princess Consort of Prince Lin was buried here.

In the early morning, the sun slowly rose, scattering its light halfway up the mountain and bathing the slopes in lush greenery.

Within the mausoleum grounds stood a burial mound.

It was a modest tomb, not extravagant at all. The area around it was impeccably clean, showing signs of frequent tending and sweeping.

Right before the tomb knelt two figures.

Today was the anniversary of the death of the Princess Consort of Prince Lin.

On this exact day more than a dozen years ago, the Princess Consort passed away due to illness. Afterward, Prince Lin had her buried here. The Princess Consort favored tranquility and possessed a gentle, unpretentious disposition, so her funeral was not held with grand extravagance; instead, she was laid to rest here quietly and without fanfare.

Situated behind the Prince Lin Residence, the grounds were guarded by specialized martial arts masters, forbidding anyone from approaching and disturbing the peace of the Princess Consort. On this day every year, the Heir of Prince Lin would come to pay his respects and visit her as a matter of routine.

No matter how debauched and profligate the Heir of Prince Lin might be, he had never once failed to show up for this occasion.

This year's memorial tribute was just as low-profile as ever.

Throughout the entire mausoleum, aside from Lin Jiangnian, only Zhiyuan accompanied him. There was not a single other soul.

Lin Jiangnian knelt before the mausoleum, gazing quietly at the tombstone before him, a nameless, strange sensation stirring within his heart.

He had heard accounts of this Princess Consort from the woman in red. While the woman in red held no fondness for anyone in the Prince Lin Residence, she seemed to hold this Princess Consort in exceptionally high regard.

The Princess Consort came from a noble family in Jiangnan. More than a decade ago, she married Lin Hengchong in defiance of her family's objections, passing away just a few years after giving birth to the Heir of Prince Lin.

Her life was short, yet luminous. The Princess Consort was inherently kind-hearted, charitable, gentle yet easygoing, forming a striking contrast to Prince Lin himself.

Even though that Prince of a Different Surname was renowned across the imperial court and the Jianghu, striking terror into the hearts of countless people, he appeared extraordinarily docile and obedient in front of the Princess Consort.

During her lifetime, the Princess Consort had provided relief to numerous impoverished families and taken in many homeless children. Zhiyuan, standing behind Lin Jiangnian, was one of them.

Because of this, even though the current Lin Jiangnian was not the real Heir of Prince Lin, profound respect for the Princess Consort still welled up within his heart.

"Though I am neither the true Heir of Prince Lin nor your son, still..."

Lin Jiangnian lowered his gaze, his heart resolute. "I will inherit his unfulfilled wish and come to visit you every year. Furthermore, I will not bring shame upon the Lin family, nor upon you..."

Through a twist of fate, Lin Jiangnian had been forced to become the Heir of Prince Lin. At this point, he no longer had any path of retreat.

He had no choice but to walk this dark path to the very end, inheriting everything belonging to the Heir of Prince Lin and becoming the true Heir of Prince Lin!

Having silently resolved himself, Lin Jiangnian slowly stood up and turned around.

Not far behind him, Zhiyuan was still kneeling in place, her gaze lowered, her cold and aloof face seemingly touched by a hint of sorrow.

She stared blankly at the tombstone ahead, remaining silent for a long time without uttering a word.

Lin Jiangnian watched this scene quietly, saying nothing.

Until the joss paper before them burned down completely, and Zhiyuan kowtowed three times toward the tomb, she slowly rose to her feet.

Only then did she seem to notice something, raising her eyes to meet Lin Jiangnian's gaze.

Their eyes locked.

"Your Highness, it is time to return."

She spoke calmly.

Her face remained devoid of joy or sorrow, revealing not a shred of emotion.

It was as if the sorrowful expression from moments before had never existed at all.

Lin Jiangnian suddenly recalled what the woman in red had told him last night... Zhiyuan's weakness.

This maid was aloof by nature, yet unfathomable. In the years she had spent in the Prince Residence, she had almost never revealed any flaws or emotional fluctuations.

She handled matters impeccably, never making a single mistake. Even the former Heir of Prince Lin harbored deep resentment toward her yet remained utterly helpless against her.

Yet, she still possessed one fatal weakness... the Princess Consort!

The Princess Consort, who had taken her in and raised her since childhood, was Zhiyuan's greatest vulnerability.

At this thought, Lin Jiangnian fell into a brief silence. He turned his head to glance at the tombstone behind him, and suddenly spoke, "Mother... how did she pass away?"

Hearing this, Zhiyuan seemed to pause slightly. She looked at Lin Jiangnian and replied, "The Princess Consort's constitution was severely depleted after giving birth to Your Highness, damaging her foundation and leaving her extremely frail. A few years later, she unfortunately fell ill and passed away..."

As she spoke of this, Zhiyuan's tone carried a heavy weight.

"Is that truly the case?"

Lin Jiangnian, however, remained expressionless. He turned his head to stare directly at her, a glint of coldness flashing in his eyes. "Tell me the truth. My mother... did she really just suffer an ordinary, unfortunate illness?!"

Zhiyuan fell silent.

Faced with Lin Jiangnian's burning, interrogative gaze, she seemed to recall something deep within her heart. After a moment of silence, she shook her head.

"This servant does not know."