Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 348 Old events from those days
Lin Shuran felt a little dizzy. Shouldn't her mother and Ying Jiuque's mother—the same Ying Jiuque that many people said General Ying should be enemies? Because they were both wives of the same man, that status alone should have been enough to naturally place them on opposing sides. But what was the meaning of the seemingly gentle expression on her mother's face when she mentioned General Ying? She suddenly felt dizzy; all these years, she felt like she had never truly understood anyone in her family.

Madam Lin sighed, truly unsure how to explain to her daughter. She had waited over a decade for this day, and had rehearsed her words countless times in her mind. Therefore, without much hesitation, she uttered the words she had wanted to say for so many years. When she looked up at her daughter, the tiny flowers embroidered on the collar of her dress subtly reflected the light. Lin Shuran noticed the delicate flowers, somewhat bewildered; she seemed to have never seen flowers like them before.

However, these are all minor issues.

Because at this moment, Madam Lin Xu began to speak.

"I know more about Lin Wei and General Ying's affair than anyone else, because I have personally witnessed him gnashing his teeth in hatred because he could never compare to General Ying, and he couldn't sleep at night. Those unspeakable jealousies tormented him every night. To outsiders, he was a young and promising talent. They would envy him for winning General Ying's favor and marrying him. But how could a man like him be grateful for General Ying's help? He ate General Ying's food, used General Ying's dowry, and even used General Ying's reputation, he still wasn't satisfied. He complained that the food was spoiled, he blamed General Ying for not offering everything to help him rise to the top, and even resented General Ying for showing off."

"what!"

Lin Xu's voice was sharper than ever before, so frightening that Lin Shuran unconsciously held her breath.

"Back then, countless sons of powerful families in the capital vied for General Ying's favor. General Ying was exceptionally talented and handsome, with a cheerful and open-minded personality, and was first-rate in both civil and military affairs. Even the princes of that time offered her the position of principal wife. Lin Wei, with his handsome face, inexplicably acted like an actor. He pretended to be weak and pitiful, and tricked Sister Ying into taking pity on him!"

"That hypocrite is a real scoundrel, ugh!"

Lin Xu's voice gradually became more excited and higher-pitched, and Lin Shuran had to gently tug at her sleeve to prevent her voice from being too loud and overheard by those outside. However, it was precisely because of this that she realized her mother seemed to have let something slip: she had always addressed Ying as General Ying, so why was she calling him Sister Ying now? So all these years of respect and admiration her mother had shown her father were fake?

But why was that? She was really confused about it. Fortunately, Madam Lin had already decided to tell her daughter everything, so she didn't hide anything from her.

“I’ve known Sister Ying for much longer, and we’ve spent more time together. If Lin Wei hadn’t suddenly appeared and used those seductive tricks to bewitch Sister Ying, how could she have possibly married a man like that?!”

"Now, probably no one in the capital knows that I am a distant relative of Sister Ying, from Wufu. My parents died early, and my relatives wanted to marry me off to a man in his fifties as his second wife. That man's son was even older than me. How could I agree to that? I was young and ignorant back then. I escaped from the cell where I was imprisoned and came all the way to the capital. I heard that General Ying was an extremely fair person. If he had been willing to help, I wouldn't have ended up in such a tragic situation. Besides, I harbored resentment. My parents were kind and benevolent people when they were alive. They often helped relatives and friends in the clan. Which of them hadn't benefited from my parents' kindness? But how long after my parents passed away did they become so indifferent?" Even now, when she mentions those events, Lin Xushi still feels indignant.

Back then, she was a helpless and vulnerable woman who traveled hundreds of miles to finally reach the capital. However, her clan had already sent people to guard the city gates, as they were determined not to let Lin Xu Shi reveal the matter and cut off the Ying General's Mansion's support.

At that time, she was extremely weak and hadn't run far before she was captured by her clansmen. When they brutally dragged her back, she was filled with despair. Therefore, when she encountered a nobleman dressed in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse, traveling out of the city, a wicked thought arose in her mind. Even if it meant paying with her own life, she would make these people pay the price!
So she threw herself at him, smearing all her filth onto his luxurious clothes. The young man sent by the clan trembled with fear, thinking he was going to die. But to her surprise, the nobleman, whose features exuded a heroic air, was not angry at all; instead, he looked at her carefully with a hint of suspicion.

When the young men sent by the clan saw that things were not going well, they quickly explained that she was a runaway woman who had run away from home because she had an affair with an outsider and refused to be punished according to the clan rules. They were about to arrest her when the nobleman waved his hand, clearly not believing her.

"You say so? I don't think this girl is fifteen yet, how could she be married? I'd say you're human traffickers. Girl, can you still stand up? Can you still speak? If you can, please tell me why they arrested you. Don't worry, this is under the Emperor's nose, no one dares to use torture!"

To be somewhat embarrassed, this benefactor was like a ray of light shining into her life, which had suddenly plunged into hell. In her memory, that benefactor, who later became Sister Ying, was practically radiant.

"She saved me. Of course, she did more than just save me. After learning what had happened, Sister Ying immediately cut off all financial support to the Xu family. At the time, some pedantic scholars said that Sister Ying's actions were too arbitrary, saying that not everyone in the Xu family did this. Do you know what Sister Ying said back then?"

"What did you say?"

Lin Shuran had never heard of her mother's experience before, and now she held her mother's hand nervously, eagerly asking for more details.

"Don't advise others to be kind if you haven't experienced their suffering. How do you know those people didn't get involved? Even if they didn't personally arrest the child, does that mean it's right to stand idly by? When they coldly watched Minghui being imprisoned and forced to marry a man in his fifties who had killed three wives as his second wife, did they ever think about the kindness Minghui's parents had shown them? Yes, they were afraid, so afraid that they didn't even dare to write an anonymous letter and throw it into the government office or send it to the capital. Such cold-blooded people don't deserve the support of my General's Mansion. And they always say they're poor, but in all these decades, I haven't seen a single one of them actually starve to death!"

"Don't forget, it's a favor that my General's Mansion gave us this money, and it's perfectly reasonable if we don't. Don't ask why, because this money is what we earned ourselves! We have the right to dispose of our own money, so why are you, an outsider, interfering? Since you're so kind, why don't you just help them out?"