Volume One, Chapter 10: This Ancestral Tablet Is Wrong

“I didn’t.” Lin Qingwu closed her eyes briefly and explained calmly, “Whether you believe me or not, I was unaware of the arranged marriage beforehand. The way things have unfolded was completely beyond my expectations.”

“Do you think I would believe you?” Lin Qingyan’s tone was impatient and dripping with sarcasm. “You’ve reaped all the benefits but still pretend to be innocent. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re scheming against Qingying behind her back! How can you live with yourself, betraying the spirit of our mother?”

“Lin Qingyan, I blame myself deeply for mother’s passing back then, so I gave up everything to atone for three years.” Lin Qingwu looked him straight in the eyes and asked, “If there were another culprit, what would you say then?”

“Don’t recklessly accuse others. It was you who caused mother’s death, and you were nothing but a maid for three years. The household never mistreated you excessively; you lacked nothing in food or clothing. But our mother is gone forever.” Lin Qingyan was agitated, tinged with confusion. “So what exactly do you feel wronged about?”

“Enough!” Lin Wenyuan, already troubled, now had a splitting headache from their bickering. “This matter is in the past. Let’s not bring up the family’s sorrows again.”

After warning Lin Qingyan, he turned to Lin Qingwu. The usually stern Lin Wenyuan’s voice carried a rare trace of guilt. “Qingwu, because of your mother’s departure, your father has been living somewhat aimlessly. The punishment I gave you was a moment of rashness, and then I forgot about it, which caused you suffering.”

“From now on, everything will return to how it was. You are still a daughter of the Lin family. Qingying is your sister. You two must live harmoniously.”

Faced with her father’s rare kindness, Lin Qingwu instinctively stepped back. “Qingwu understands.”

For three years, she had been confined to the servants’ quarters without stepping outside. Enduring the Lin family’s cold glances and Lin Qingying’s resentment was her own punishment. She had never blamed anyone for it.

Yet, before she came to receive the imperial edict, she had already experimented with the blood taken during her treatment of Lin Qingying’s face and the bones retrieved from the grave. The results matched her suspicions perfectly—the blood and bones fused seamlessly, proving that Lin Qingying and that usurping corpse were blood relatives!

She did not believe her father knew nothing about this.

Lin Wenyuan, faced with Lin Qingwu’s obvious distance, looked both surprised and awkward. “Qingwu, are you still blaming your father?”

“Qingwu would never dare.” Lin Qingwu lowered her head slightly, speaking respectfully. “Today happens to be mother’s death anniversary. May I accompany you to pay respects at the ancestral tomb?”

“You still have some conscience left. Mother’s love for you wasn’t in vain.” Lin Qingyan’s expression softened somewhat when he saw that the first thing she wanted to do after restoring her status was to visit Bai Qiuyun’s tomb.

However, Lin Wenyuan hesitated. “Well…”

Early this morning, news came that Yang Bo, who guarded the ancestral tomb, disappeared last night. The lady’s grave was robbed, and even the body was disturbed. The place must be in chaos now.

That girl once tormented herself for three years thinking the medicine was flawed. If she learns something’s wrong with mother’s tomb, who knows what rash actions she might take.

Thinking of this, Lin Wenyuan glanced at Lin Qingwu uneasily, secretly deciding he must not let her go to the ancestral tomb.

Seeing Lin Wenyuan’s hesitance, Lin Qingwu asked bluntly, “What’s wrong? Father, are you unwilling to let your daughter go?”

“No, not at all.” Lin Wenyuan hurried to deny it. “Now that I have officially recognized your status again, Qiuyun is naturally still your mother. How could I forbid you from paying respects?”

“It’s just…” Suddenly, an excuse came to mind. “Last night’s heavy rain must have made the mountain paths muddy and slippery. You and Qingying are both weak in health and shouldn’t go. It’s better to burn incense at the ancestral hall in the backyard first, and wait for the weather to clear before visiting the tomb.”

“Yes, sister.” Lin Qingying chimed in gently. “Father is just worried about our health. Let’s listen to him.”

Lin Qingwu subtly avoided Lin Qingying’s outstretched hand trying to grasp hers. Then she smiled slightly at this woman who wore two faces before and after people. “Fine~”

Yet her smile never reached her eyes.

She smiled at those before her but was secretly plotting when to collect their blood for testing one by one.

Especially Lin Qingying and Lin Wenyuan—if they truly were father and daughter, then Qingying’s timing of appearance was far too coincidental.

Perhaps mother’s death was not as simple as illness...

Lin Qingwu kept smiling, kept obedient, but Lin Wenyuan felt an inexplicable unease as he looked at her.

To prevent any accidents, Lin Wenyuan immediately gathered the family to the ancestral hall in the backyard. He arranged Lin Qingyan, Lin Qingying, and Lin Qingwu at the front, followed by Lady Jiang and other concubines and the children born to them.

Though they did not visit the ancestral tomb, Lin Wenyuan conducted the impromptu memorial service with solemnity and order—the first time in years that the household had gathered so fully.

Lin Wenyuan stepped forward first, lighting three incense sticks with deep affection and placing them in the censer. “Wife, I have brought the children to see you.”

“Lin Qingwu, why aren’t you kneeling?” Lin Qingyan suddenly whispered sharply.

Lin Wenyuan turned to see everyone kneeling except Lin Qingwu, who remained standing.

He frowned in displeasure. “Qingwu, didn’t you say you wanted to see mother? What are you doing now?”

“I only kneel to my mother. This nameless tablet is unworthy.” Lin Qingwu looked coldly upward at the spirit tablet, which still read only “Beloved Wife of Lin Wenyuan.”

“Sister, this is mother’s spirit tablet. How can you be so disrespectful?” Lin Qingying said softly, on the verge of tears.

Seeing his sister being ‘bullied,’ Lin Qingyan immediately grew angry. “Lin Qingwu, do you have any conscience? If you’re not sincere in worshiping mother, then get out at once!”

“Mother?” Lin Qingwu sneered. “My dear brother, our mother has a name and a surname: Lin Baishi, Bai Qiuyun!”

She pointed at the tablet above. “Look carefully, is this her? Should mother be nameless?”

Lin Qingyan was stunned by her sudden question. Following her finger, he looked again at the simple tablet he had worshiped for three years, and for the first time, doubts crept into his heart...