"Mistress, are you alright?"
Baizhi had wanted to hold on Lin Mengya to support her, but was being gently pushed away.
Lin Mengya shook her head and straightened her back as she stood up. She did not want anyone to realize that she was weak and strengthless.
After her intense negotiation with the elders, Lin Mengya felt her legs were almost going to give way. However, she trudged on and finally walked out of the ancestral hall.
"I"m fine. Let"s go pay a visit to the Yues now."
Although they had settled the matter with the Lins, the real challenge had yet to come.
"Don"t be too hard on yourself, la.s.s. If it"s too much for you, I can bring men with me to steal Yue Ting"s body, so don"t push yourself too hard."
Despite the boost of energy from the ginseng pill, her lips were drained of their colors by now.
However, she still shook her head, turning down Qinghu"s good intentions.
"In the past, it"s always Elder Sister Yue Ting who sacrificed herself to benefit my elder brother and me. Now that she had pa.s.sed on, I"ll make sure that she is the rightful daughter-in-law of the Lin Family."
Lin Mengya"s words sounded bright and powerful.
Not only was Yue Ting her elder brother"s fiancee, to her, Yue Ting was also her first true friend.
During the short period in her life as she was an imbecile, Elder Sister Yue Ting was the only person who treated her with motherly and sisterly warmth and love.
Today, however, this virtuous and gentle woman had withered after going through a terrible storm.
Given that she was still unable to take revenge for her now, she was determined to give Elder Sister Yue Ting the last bit of glory.
Once Lin Mengya was back in the horse carriage, she leaned on a soft cushion and closed her eyes.
Lin Zhongyu and her maidservants continued to be anxious over her. Lin Mengya knew very well that her feeble arms and legs were in need of more rest.
The horse carriage proceeded steadily on its journey to the Yue"s mansion, during which, thankfully, Lin Mengya could take a rest.
A cloud of misery was looming over the entire Yue Family.
Before they arrived at the gates of the Yues, Lin Mengya opened her eyes.
"How about let me go on your behalf, Elder Sister?"
Lin Zhongyu volunteered his help as he could not bear to see Lin Mengya being so exhausted from all the rushing around.
However, Lin Mengya shook her head, turning down his offer.
Su Meiyun would definitely try to stop what she was about to do, she had to carry out this task personally.
The Yue"s Mansion had lost its formal glory.
The two white lanterns hanging at the front door reflected the grievous atmosphere within.
Lin Mengya let out a sigh once again, and then instructed men to knock on the door.
"Has Elder Sister Lin come? How is she?"
Yue Qi, who had returned to her house, had some men to open the door as she came up to them with bloodshot eyes.
She ran up to Lin Mengya"s horse carriage as soon as she could and looked at the curtain to the horse carriage entrance with antic.i.p.ation and anxiety.
"I"m fine now. How are things in the Yue"s Mansion?"
At the hearing of Lin Mengya"s voice, Yue Qi started to weep again, as if she had finally found someone to rely on. In between her sobs, she began to tell Lin Mengya what had happened in the house.
"Elder Sister Lin, you"re finally here. My parents were engaged in a non-stop argument all day long. I"m at my wits end as to how to stop them."
After learning about Yue Ting"s death, Lord Yue plunged into deep sorrow and pain.
Mrs. Yue, however, refused to conduct the funeral for Yue Ting for the reason that Yue Ting brought shame to the family.
As a result, Yue Ting"s body had been placed in the house for five days, but still, no decision had been made regarding the funeral.
"My father has fallen ill from rage, so my mother has stopped making a fuss. However, she still prohibited people in the mansion to put on mourning clothes."
In fact, Lin Mengya had noticed that apart from the two white lanterns hanging at the door, the rest of the mansion looked as per usual.
Even Yue Qi was wearing normal clothes as opposed to mourning clothes.
Immediately, anger was aroused in Lin Mengya"s heart.
This Su Meiyun was outrageous! Not mentioning the fact that she had taken her sister"s place by force, she had even driven Yue Ting to her death. How dare she try to hinder Uncle Yue in conducting Elder Sister Yue Ting"s funeral?
She was truly a vicious and evil person.
"I"ve said it before and I"d like to repeat that Yue Ting was my daughter regardless of what happened. I"m not going to let her go on her last journey in such a miserable state."
Lin Mengya, together with her escorts, pa.s.sed through the front courtyard and approached the mourning hall which Lord Yue prepared for Yue Ting.
Before they entered the hall, they could hear Lord Yue"s voice filled with rage.
"Sir, I"m doing this for the good of our family. After all, Ting"er did not die an honorable death. It is very kind of us to even provide a coffin for her burial. If we conduct an extravagant funeral, wouldn"t we become everyone"s laughing stock?"
From Mrs. Yue"s tone of voice, there was not even a hint of grief.
In fact, she even sounded a little happy that things had to turn out this way.
Lin Mengya clenched her fists in rage at the thought of what this shameless woman had done. Elder Sister Yue Ting was essentially her niece, regardless of what had happened.
This woman was more despicable than the rogue in the streets.
"You—"
Lord Yue almost choked from his rage as he pointed his finger at his estranged wife.
He used to think that she was merely too harsh and demanding.
Now, he realized that this woman was actually extremely vicious and vile.
He had kept trying to convince himself that even if she was not Meiyi after all, at least she would have some emotional attachment to their two children.
Now, he realized that he was so wrong.
"You"ve got it all wrong, Mrs. Yue. Elder Sister Yue Ting had never done anything shameful to the day of her death. Some despicable, vile person had fabricated a story to twist the facts."
Lin Mengya strode into the all, wearing a cold and severe expression on her delicate face.
Su Meiyun might not be afraid of anyone else in the world, but she really felt a restraining fear towards Princess Yu.
.
Her face turned ashen and she quickly replied saying, "I don"t understand a word the princess is saying. Please do not wrong a good person," she continued.
Lin Mengya sneered. She could not care less about such an evil woman.
The funeral hall was properly set up, although it was not very s.p.a.cious.
The black coffin had sealed in the Elder Sister Yue Ting, whom Lin Mengya missed very much.
After pa.s.sing on, she laid alone there helplessly, taking in all the humiliation Su Meiyun rained on her. Lin Mengya quietly prayed that her pitiful Elder Sister Yue Ting would never live a miserable life in the other world.
Lin Mengya took a joss stick, lit it using the candle flame, and plugged it into the incense burner.
"Elder Sister Yue Ting, please forgive Ya"er for coming this late. Rest a.s.sured that Ya"er will personally send you off on your last journey. Don"t be afraid, because no one could lay a finger to harm you from now on," said Lin Mengya softly.
The dejected Lord Yue leaned on his daughter"s coffin. At this moment, he was so battered that he had lost all the likeness of a gifted scholar.
Grief and despondency had devoured his pride.
At this instant, he was not an official in the imperial courts; rather, he was a pitiful father who had lost his beloved daughter.
"Please do not be over-grieved, Uncle Yue."
Lin Mengya went up to Lord Yue and helped him get on his feet and at that moment, Lord Yue burst into tears as if he were a little child.
He must be very certain by now that this Mrs. Yue was definitely not the same woman in the past, whom he loved so dearly.
His was overwhelmed with mixed emotions that he could not restrain himself from weeping.
"Sir, do you only know to cry? You"re an important official in the imperial court, is it worth crying over a girl who had brought shame to our family?" said Mrs. Yue viciously.
Every statement she made was like a needle that pierced into Lin Mengya"s heart.
Lin Mengya then whispered something into Baishao"s ear. Immediately, this pretty maidservant walked up to Mrs. Yue in big strides.
In a swift motion, she brought her hand up and it came down on Mrs. Yue"s cheek in a loud and crisp slap.
At the sound of the slap, everyone was stunned into silence.
"How dare you slap me, Lin Mengya?!"
Cupping her painful cheek with her hand, Mrs. Yue opened her eyes wide and glared at Lin Mengya.
"If you continue to be disrespectful, I will get her to give you more tight slaps. If you don"t believe, go head to try me."
Lin Mengya spoke with an a.s.sertive tone in her voice, but her face was expressionless.
Mrs. Yue was about to argue when unexpectedly, Baishao"s hand came down on her cheek so quickly that she did not even have time to react.
"Heavens! Where is the law? I knew you"ve all colluded with each other to bully me."
For the first time, Mrs. Yue starting wailing, but she was wailing to shirk responsibility and push blame.
"If you continue to make a scene, I"ll have your tongue cut off. Baisu!"
Baisu nodded and with a flip, she was standing right before Mrs. Yue in the next moment. In a flash, Baisu had hit her acupoints and immobilized Mrs. Yue.
"Master, which part should I cut?"
Baisu forced open Mrs. Yue"s tightly shut mouth and whipped out a shining dagger.
Lin Mengya turned to glare at Mrs. Yue in such a way as if she was looking at something dead.
"If she speaks again, cut off her tongue."
"Yes, Master."
Baisu hit Su Meiyun"s acupoints again to release the retrain on her and this time, Mrs. Yue learned her lesson and kept her mouth shut.
"Uncle Yue, I"ve discussed with the elders in my family of the Lins and we have decided to bury Elder Sister Yue Ting in our old home, considering that she was my brother"s wife. Elder Sister Yue Ting"s memorial tablet will also be placed in the ancestral hall of the Lins."
Upon hearing Lin Mengya"s words, Lord Yue began to weep even harder.
However, it was because he was filled with grat.i.tude towards the Lin Family.
He did not even dare to dream that his pitiful daughter would have her wish fulfilled after she died.
"Did you hear that, Ting"er? Your wish had been fulfilled, you are Nansheng"s wife."
Lord Yue"s weeping made Lin Mengya want to let out the deep sorrow she had been suppressing all this while.
Seeing that Yue Qi was all tears, Lin Mengya"s hearts was wrenched to the point of suffocation.
What she could do for them was insignificant.
If she had been more vigilant, could Elder Sister Yue Ting be alive still?
However, that was just a hypothetical question that was of no use now.
With Lin Mengya keeping watch, Mrs. Yue did not dare to hinder the plan.
Soon, all the people in the Yue"s Mansion put on mourning clothes on their own accord as they prepared themselves to send their beautiful and kind young mistress on to her last journey.
"Set out—"
Everyone started to weep when the steward gave the signal to start the last journey.
They were tears from sorrowful hearts, not tears of pretense which the people of modern days shed out of hypocrisy.
The faces of all the people were veiled with a layer of grief.
By this time, the servants had helped Lord Yue into his room.
It was too excruciating for him to accept the death of his child.
"Elder Sister, Elder Sister—"
Yue Qi burst out in loud cries as a few maidservants tried to restrain her.
In the past ten or so years, they were each other"s support and company. For the first time, this little girl had experienced the heart-rending separation through the death of a loved one.
Lin Mengya followed behind the funeral procession. Despite feeling completely drained of energy, she gritted her teeth and trudged on.
"Thank you for your shielding me in the last ten years and thank you for providing me with all the tender loving care," Lin Mengya said in her heart.
Lin Mengya wished that Yue Ting would go with peace in the heart because Lin Mengya would do her best to take care of all of Yue Ting"s worries and cares.
At the thought, Lin Mengya had finally sapped all her energy and she took her last step forward.
Baizhi and Lin Zhongyu cried out as Lin Mengya collapsed.