He suddenly looked at the prison guard who was pale, and asked, “when General Lin died, were you here?”
“Yes, I was.” The prison guard replied slyly.
“What’s going on?” Long Yin’s gaze became furious. The “prison break” of Lin Zhan made him angry, but he’d never thought of killing him, and after Lin Xiao died, Lin Zhan followed. In this case, the Lin family would surely be alert; how would he commit such an unwise act?
His cold gaze became a warning sign for the prison guard, who trembled even more, “I…I am going to reply to the Emperor. At night…Master Lin was shouting endlessly that he felt sorry to the Emperor. Then, he started…drinking something, and I had no idea that was poison. Otherwise, I’d…I know that I’m useless. I deserve to die…” He knew that he wasn’t making any sense, and his whole body was so weak that he almost fell to the ground.
“Well, since you’ve been careless enough to let him in prison. You do deserve to die, and you deserve to be cut open…someone come and kill him!”
The prison guard felt stiff all over his body, and his eyes widened. Although he had already anticipated that he’d be killed after being used, he had no idea that it would come so soon… Fortunately, it would be him only, and his family was left out.
“Emperor, wait…” Lin Kuang, who had been crying all the time, made a sound all of a sudden. He climbed out of the cell and said, “I request the Emperor to hand this person to me. I… I want to kill him myself.”
Long Yin just wanted to speak, yet Black Bear interrupted, “the Emperor, since one has passed away after another in the Lin family, why don’t we agree…” While he was saying, he wiped away the tears in his eyes.
Long Yin knew that Black Bear has always been filial, he looked at Lin Kuang who’d lost all his hope. After a long sigh and full of sorrow, he said, “although I was out of my mind yesterday, I’d never thought of making this heavy punishment. General Lin, why did you do this to yourself…Sigh, old General Lin, this is my fault. I am guilty, and I know what consequences this will cause to your family…”
“No, the Emperor, this is not your fault. It’s the fault of Zhan’Er. I didn’t expect him to feel so guilty, to the point that he ended his life. I am full of shame…and I want to bring the body of Zhan’Er back home.”
“Everything will be done according to the wish of old General Lin.” Long Yin said weakly. When he looked at the bottle of poison on the ground, he felt a bit suspicious. He didn’t understand why Lin Zhan had to take this euthanasia with him before being placed in the dungeon. What alerted him more was that the death of Lin Zhan would certainly create resentment of Lin Kuang. No matter what reason that could be, this incident didn’t make sense to Long Yin. And he wasn’t ready for this scene either. He’d never doubted the loyalty of Lin Kuang, and there were only a few people whom he could trust. Also, Lin Kuang knew too many secrets of the Palace, and he might now do something against it, after the death of his son.
“I have sent people to inform the Lin family. Someone will come in a while, General Lin, for the incident of today, we will definitely give you an explanation. People can’t resurrect; we still need your support. You must take care of yourself.” Long Yin tried to comfort him.
“The old minister thanks the Emperor for your concern…rest assured, my Emperor, I still have many things to take care of, and I can’t collapse now.” Lin Kuang said expressionlessly.
Long Yin nodded, turned around and commanded, “you all may leave now. The Lin family will take care of the rest, and none of you should interfere.”
The prison guards all retreated, leaving only the unfortunate prison guard who guarded Lin Zhan the night before. Before Black Bear left, he suddenly said to Lin Kuang humbly, “Old General Lin, although he made a mistake, I think he did not do it on purpose. Old General Lin, you will get rid of him alone, but there’s no need to hurt his family.” After he finished, he glanced at the prison guard with a gaze, and there was a flash of anger in his eyes, which was caught by Lin Kuang. Lin Kuang smiled bitterly, “the biggest misery in the world is an old man seeing his son pass away…if I put myself in his shoes, why would I cause any more sorrow to his family?”
Black Bear was satisfied with the answer, and he followed Long Yin To leave. After all, Long Yin believed that Black Bear had a kind heart, and he didn’t pay too much attention to what he said to Lin Kuang. The past few days, it was not only exhausting to the Lin family, but for Long Yin also. Ye Wuchen’s return and all the sudden changes were like a massive stab in his heart, and he couldn’t get over it. His last hope was on the Southern Emperor, and that’s why he’d been urging the marriage with Shui Mengchan. The Southern Emperor, Shui Yuntian once said, as long as they found Shui Mengchan, everything would be fine. And Long Yin hadn’t seen a hint of Shui Yuntian these years.
The Lin family members soon came, when they saw Lin Zhan and Lin Kuang who looked empty, they all rushed forward and started crying. Then, Lin Kuang suddenly shouted, “shut up, all of you! Bring Lin Zhan home…and bring that person too!” He pointed to the prison guard. After struggling to get up, he swayed a few times then fainted. After his grandson and son died, it was impossible for him to withstand anything anymore.
Lin Zhan died in the dungeon. This incident was kept secret, and there were not many people who knew. Even within the family, it wasn’t widely announced yet. However, when his body was sent back home, the news spread crazily in the whole Tianlong City, almost everyone knew now about the scandal between Lin Xiao and the Empress, and that the Emperor assassinated Lin Xiao. Then Lin Zhan was the one who followed…
Meanwhile, the main door of the Lin family kept close, only a car containing funeral clothing’s drove in, proving that the incident was real. People who initially didn’t believe the rumor started to believe so. Lin Xiao died in agony, and after his death, he continued to be blamed.
After Lin Kuang woke up, he immediately saw a large group of people lingering in front of his bed. When they saw him waking up, several people quickly went forward and asked with concern, “Master, are you okay?”
Lin Xiao died, Lin Zhan died too. The whole family was flooded in the scandal. The only males left in the family were Lin Kuang and Lin Yu (who was useless). So, was he going to be alright?
“I’m fine.” Lin Kuang swayed his hand and sat down slowly. A servant said with anxiety, “Master, the funeral is ready, we are just waiting for your instructions.”
A person approached quickly and anxiously asked, “how did Zhan’Er die? With his character, I don’t trust that he’d commit suicide. Was there something else in this incident?”
The person who asked was clearly Lin Yan. His eyes were raging, and he had a serious facial expression. He pressed his left hand on Lin’s shoulders, but his right hand was slightly stiff, and it lifted, leaving only one thumb on his palm. His right arm was broken into four pieces by Black Bear ten months ago. All four fingers, except the thumb, were smashed. Although he’d used the best elixir and solicited the best doctor, he could only keep his arm, but he’d already lost half of his power, and he couldn’t move around as he wished. As for his four fingers, it was utterly impossible to recover them fully…
Therefore, Lin Yan hated Black Bear to the guts, and at the same time, he feared him the most. Since Long Yin treated Black Bear as a remarkable person and he fully trusted him, he hadn’t punished him for hurting Lin Yan. And all he had done was to comfort Lin Yan orally. For someone who had a bad temper like Lin Yan, he felt a lot of resentment, and he hadn’t entered the Palace after the fight.
Lin Kuang did not answer immediately, he looked up, “have you brought back the person I told you to?”
“Yes, Master, we did. He’s in the woodshed. We haven’t done anything to him, not without your instructions.”
Lin Kuang nodded, he got out of bed, waved his hand and refused the support of the person next to him. He said to Lin Yan, “second brother, let’s go to the woodshed, that person watched Lin Zhan dead.”
Lin Yan’s eyes flashed and nodded.
When they came to the woodshed filled with sapwood, they found that the man was tied and nervously sitting on the ground. Lin Kuang let all the people around him leave and told them not to get close.
After closing the door, Lin Kuang said nothing. His eyes were filled with sorrow and hatred. The prison guard was shivering all over, he pleaded, “Master Lin, I am useless…I only ask for a quick death…”
“Death?” Lin Kuang shouted, “after you die, you will be free, but have you ever thought about your parents and relatives? Your parents will be miserable, and your wife will be a widow and spend her days in sorrow. Your children will also be bullied. Do you really want to die?”
He was just an ordinary prison guard, not a wicked person. After what Lin Kuang had said, his fear of death had been magnified a thousand times. He could no longer say that he “only wanted a quick death.” He didn’t want to die, but his misery had also become a “tool” – if he weren’t killed by a party, he would be killed by another party anyway, and this is what will happen to anyone who’s powerless. In the face of people with power, they have no right to decide whether to live or to die.
Lin Kuang made a few steps forward and said in a heavy voice, “tell me… how did he die…once you tell me, you can survive!”
Lin Yan obviously didn’t have the patience of Lin Kuang. He suddenly stepped forward, grabbed his collar and lifted him. He said, “Zhan’Er has always been afraid of death. He didn’t even dare to go to the battlefield. It is impossible for him to commit suicide! Tell us! How did he die? And was he forced to die?”
“Master Lin, he…he really committed suicide, I saw it with my own eyes…” He recalled how Black Bear warned him about his family, how dare he speak the truth?
“You are talking nonsense!” Lin Kuang screamed, “it’s impossible for Zhan’Er to carry stuff like the Heart Sealing Powder with him. Also, it’s obvious that he had died for a long time, and you were staying there without saying anything. Something must have happened. It’s also obvious that you were lying…is it true that you have been threatened, so that you can act together with the person who planned to kill Zhan’Er?”
“I…I did not lie, if the Emperor had decided to kill Master Lin, then why would he hand me over to you?”
“Ha…” Lin Kuang sneered, “as the Emperor didn’t want me to become suspicious, he handed you over to me. He also knew that I’d send you to death immediately, but it looks like that his wish will not be accomplished this time…I’ve just asked you, how did Lin Zhan die, but I didn’t mention about the Emperor. In the end, you’ve given me the answer. So what else do you have to explain?”
The eyes of the prison guard enlarged with fear.
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