Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 371 - 368: Blood for Blood

Hong Yan cursed angrily, "What nonsense are you talking! Has my lady helped you only to earn enmity?

The cold melon seedlings worth ten gold pieces are sought after by outsiders hoping to buy them from my lady, yet she still considers it. But for the sake of taking care of clan relatives, my lady lent them to you without batting an eyelid and did not charge a single penny.

And now you’re biting us back! Do you find it uncomfortable living at the foot of the mountain and want to be the wolf of Zhongshan? If not for greed..."

"Hong Yan, stop talking." Lin Wanwan stopped Hong Yan. Going further would be inappropriate, as one must respect the dead, and it’s inauspicious to speak ill of the deceased in the memorial hall.

The grieving Lin Lu, who had fainted from crying several times, staggered over with a relative of unknown origin supporting her. She threw a burnt black clump at Lin Wanwan’s feet and wailed, "What a curse! What a curse! We never should have coveted this windfall, we can’t handle such fortune! Wanwan, you did a bad thing with good intentions!"

As she spoke, she began stomping on the ashes. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Lin Qin quickly shielded Lin Wanwan, saying to Lin Lu, "Auntie, you can’t say that! This has nothing to do with Wanwan, it has absolutely no connection to her!"

Lin Lu ignored her and lunged toward Lin Mengyi’s corpse lying on the door plank in the memorial hall, "My son, you were harmed at such a young age, leaving behind this group of orphans and old parents. How can we survive? How can we survive!"

Lin Sun also dragged her youngest son over to wail mournfully.

The child, still oblivious to the situation, didn’t understand his loss, but was scared by his mother’s crazed manner, crying and clinging to her, begging for a hug.

For a moment, the memorial hall was filled with sorrowful cries inside and out.

The scene was truly pitiful and wretched. Even if some Lin clan members found Lin Lu’s logic of blaming them unreasonable, they couldn’t speak up for now, with several women wiping their tears with them.

Someone murmured nearby, "Now without a strong laborer to earn money, leaving behind a lady with two sons and a daughter, what on earth can be done?"

"Oh, so pitiful, so sorry. The house is gone, the man is gone, alas!"

"Meng Zhong, you are the eldest in the family, your parents are old and confused, why didn’t you advise them a bit? Why keep such valuable cold melons at home where they attract attention? You could have sold them with everyone else, now look at this mess."

When the village had a dozen or so households with cold melons, the militia was particularly vigilant, patrolling through the night. Every household had someone sleeping outside to guard the melons, and they weren’t afraid of trouble.

But later, everyone sold theirs except for two households, and the village naturally let down its defenses. Even Lin Guofu’s own family wasn’t particularly alert, which is why they were taken advantage of.

Lin Wanwan silently stepped forward to offer incense for Lin Mengyi before leaving with Hong Yan.

Once outside the memorial hall, Lin Wanwan understood why Lin Qin had been chasing after her in such haste.

These blaming words must have been spoken for a while, which is why Lin Qin wanted to stop them, preventing her from hearing further annoyance.

If Lin Wanwan were a moral saint, she might really be manipulated by Lin Sun and her daughter-in-law now, but she is not.

Although when she first learned of the bloodshed she momentarily thought she wished she hadn’t taken the cold melon seedlings, it was just a fleeting thought.

She doesn’t feel she was wrong to contribute to her relatives. If there was any error, it was Lin Guofu’s family’s greed. Why insist on competing with merchants for profits?

A farming family selling to merchants, with merchants selling to nobles surely involves many markup differences, what is unfair about that! Insisting on finding buyers themselves, getting the door examined thoroughly.

As for Lin Mengyi who died untimely, Lin Wanwan feels some sympathy but will not blame herself.

If Lin Guofu’s family thinks they can morally blackmail her, they are gravely mistaken.

If they had tearfully begged her for help, maybe she would have softened and helped. But relying on accusing her to extort, they shouldn’t even think about it.

Lin Wanwan is not someone who willingly accepts misplaced blame; she only yields to kindness, not to force.

On the way back, Hong Yan was even angrier than Lin Wanwan. In serving her mistress, she felt her honor was demeaned, and unable to display a strong presence before Lin Guofu’s family, she was furious!

"My lady, you are still funding their children’s tuition and meals at the academy, yet they dare to falsely accuse you, it is infuriating. Are you not angry, my lady?"

Lin Wanwan tilted her head to look at the fiery girl, saying calmly, "Didn’t you just shout them down for me? I’m not angry."

"Oh, my lady, this family is really clueless." Hong Yan sighed deeply.

But she also knows that their family is somewhat different from other families in Lin Family Manor, after all, they have the closest blood ties with Lin Qingyu, the young lady of the house.

Lin Wanwan was thinking about whether to take young Qingyu to pay respects to her uncle once school let out, but after the recent uproar, she’s completely abandoned this thought.

Forget it, young Qingyu is my daughter now, and they are just distant relatives. Why go pay respects, she’s already offered incense, that’s enough.

Lin Wanwan doesn’t even plan to attend the funeral ceremony tomorrow.

At the third hour of midday, mute girls A Li and A Jing returned to the village leading a group of young men from Lin Family Manor, dragging a shady, bruised man.

A Li and A Jing naturally went home first; being mute, they couldn’t report any information. The others dragged the man to the memorial hall, and the informed Clan Leader went over.

Lin Wanwan did not follow, signaling Sun Chuyao to go listen carefully and report back promptly.

Sun Chuyao is the most clever of Lin Wanwan’s servants, with him listening for news, nothing could go wrong.

Before long, Sun Chuyao came to report, "My lady, it turns out last night the murderer was a cousin of Lin Mengyi’s wife. A few days ago, Mrs. Sun boasted too much at her maternal home and incited envy."

Lin Wanwan was shocked, "I recall correctly that Clan Leader forbade Mrs. Sun from visiting her maternal home, how come she could now go freely?"

"That was seven or eight months ago. How would Clan Leader keep watch on such small affairs? As long as their master didn’t oppose it, who could really stop her from visiting her maternal family? Besides, Dafeng Village is close to Lin Family Manor, unlike others in the village where returning home is difficult."

Lin Wanwan understood and asked, "What did they decide on how to handle the murderer?"

Sun Chuyao replied, "He will surely pay life for life; tonight, at midnight, he’ll be disemboweled and his heart and lungs offered as sacrifice to Lord Mengyi."

Lin Wanwan was silent upon hearing this. In the Great Tang countryside, the norm is exactly this straightforwardness: blood for blood.

Royal authority doesn’t reach the countryside; once the Clan Leader and Village Chief agree on such matters, the officials won’t investigate. What rural clan doesn’t have private punishments?

Lin Sun’s future will likely be more difficult. Previously deprived of her husband, now they’re discovering the murderer is her cousin.

Her cousin will soon be sentenced to death by Lin Family Manor, and her family will certainly resent her as well. In the end, she’ll probably have to survive in the cracks moving forward.