After being forced to leave the marriage, I became the wife of a top scholar.

Chapter 185 The Lin Family's Past

Perhaps Bai Wanqing hadn't let go of what was on her mind, because she sensed movement inside the room and suddenly opened her eyes.

Only after hearing Lin Yunche's voice did he slowly exhale.

She sat up and met Lin Yunche's gentle yet surprised gaze.

"Did I disturb you?" Lin Yunche asked gently, looking at Bai Wanqing who looked somewhat haggard.

Bai Wanqing looked at the somewhat thin Lin Yunche and gently shook her head, "No!"

"When did you get back? Why didn't you wake me up!"

Lin Yunche smiled wryly, "I just got back, not long ago."

Bai Wanqing hummed in agreement, picked up an outer robe and draped it over her shoulders, intending to light the lamp.

Lin Yunche lit the candle before she could, "Aren't you going to sleep a little longer? It's just dawn, there's still plenty of time."

"No! It'll be broad daylight soon, and there are some things I want to tell you, but it might be too late if it gets too late." Bai Wanqing rarely looked so serious, and Lin Yunche also became a little more solemn.

“Yesterday I took the Fang family to court, and the court obtained concrete evidence. I’m afraid too many people will be watching how the Fang family is judged.” Bai Wanqing raised her eyes slightly to look at Lin Yunche. She had gotten him into a lot of trouble this time.

Lin Yunche was slightly surprised, "You really sued?"

Bai Wanqing nodded, "Yes, I've filed a lawsuit!"

Bai Wanqing roughly explained her plan to Lin Yunche. Instead of being angry, Lin Yunche looked at Bai Wanqing with joy.

"She truly deserves to be the daughter of my savior, Lin Yunche."

"Wanqing, you did a good job. I will handle the follow-up with Magistrate Han. You don't need to worry about that."

"The Fang family will get what they deserve."

Eliminating the Fang family is equivalent to cutting off the Huai Prince's money supply. Although Bai Wanqing doesn't know what the Huai Prince did with the money, since she has taken action against the Huai Prince's people, she is going against the Huai Prince.

"I haven't caused you any trouble, have I?" Bai Wanqing asked, looking up.

"How can this be considered troublesome!" Lin Yunche told Bai Wanqing everything he knew from following the Fang family's assassins without holding back.

Bai Wanqing was slightly surprised. She was originally the daughter of a local gentry and lived a peaceful life. She never thought that someone would rebel.

"The Prince of Huai actually has such intentions."

Lin Yunche nodded heavily, "He's probably had this idea for a long time."

As for how long ago, Lin Yunche had no way of knowing.

Bai Wanqing suddenly felt that things were becoming more and more complicated, and that she and Lin Yunche were already caught in the middle and could not get out.

"So what are your plans?"

Lin Yunche frowned. "If we report this rashly, we might all die before we even leave Huaizhou City."

"So I plan to proceed slowly, pretend I know nothing, and wait for the right opportunity to report it."

Bai Wanqing tilted her head, her face full of question marks.

Lin Yunche laughed and said, "Do you think that just because we have evidence, the Emperor will believe us?"

Bai Wanqing nodded, "Isn't that right?"

"Isn't the weaponry of an entire estate the best evidence?"

"But do you know why the Prince of Huai declared himself king in this northern land?"

"Anyone can suspect Prince Huai about this, but it just can't be our Lin family, it can't be me."

Lin Yunche turned around and gently clenched his fists into his hands, which were resting on his lap.

"Do you want to hear it? To hear about me, to hear about the Lin family?"

Bai Wanqing nodded slightly and placed her hand on Lin Yunche's hand, which made Lin Yunche's tense body relax a little.

"Do you know that what I'm about to say might make it impossible for you to leave the Lin family?"

"In the future, if you don't want to stay, I'm afraid you won't be able to."

"If that's the case, do you still want to hear it?"

At this moment, Lin Yunche no longer had his usual carefree and nonchalant demeanor; instead, his face was filled with seriousness and sorrow.

Bai Wanqing's eyes flickered. "Go ahead and say it! From the day you accepted me, I never intended to leave the Lin family."

Lin Yunche turned his head and looked at Bai Wanqing's determined eyes, and couldn't help but smile.

"I'm not even as good as you, Madam. I've already brought you in! And now I'm acting all coy."

After Lin Yunche finished speaking, he sighed.

"Speaking of the Lin family, we were originally the Lin family of the Duke of Zhenguo in the capital."

The Lin family, the Duke of Zhenguo! Bai Wanqing was slightly taken aback. She had heard of them, but only heard of them, because the Lin family had already declined in power by the time she was born. It was said that the Lin family had committed a grave mistake, angered the royal family, and had their title of Duke of Zhenguo revoked, and their clansmen exiled.
Were they exiled to the North?

Seeing that Bai Wanqing was only deep in thought and showed no sign of disdain, Lin Yunche felt a warmth in his heart.

"To be honest, the Lin family's story goes back to twenty years ago."

Twenty years ago, the Northern Dynasty's army invaded the northern lands of the Shang Kingdom. The Lin family, the Duke of Zhenguo, and the Prince of Huai were entrusted by the emperor to come to the north to resist the enemy.

The Emperor mobilized 100,000 troops from the Northwest, 80,000 from the Lin family army, and 20,000 from the Prince of Huai.

The Lin family army was responsible for the frontal assault, while the Prince of Huai was responsible for the rear encirclement. However, just as the Lin family army was holding Luobing City, the Northern Dynasty suddenly mobilized an army of 300,000 for some unknown reason.

With an army of 300,000 against 80,000, the Lin family army could barely hold out.

"General, the Prince of Huai's reinforcements have not arrived yet! We cannot wait any longer, let's withdraw our troops," advised Wu Fang, a staff officer under Duke Lin Yi.

Lin Yi stared at the map, then at the devastated city behind him, his eyes bloodshot, and roared, "We can't retreat!"

"General! We can't hold on!" Wu Fang cried out in despair.

Lin Yi pointed to the map and said to Wu Fang, "Luobing City cannot be lost. Losing Luobing City would be tantamount to handing over these four cities in the North to the Northern Dynasty." "Four cities! They also house hundreds of thousands of people from our Shang Kingdom. How can we give them up?"

"But General, we have already lost 20,000 men in the previous defenses of the city, leaving only 40,000. How can we possibly hold them off?"

"It would be better if we withdrew our troops from Huaizhou and then reconsidered the matter."

Lin Yi did not agree, saying, "As long as I, Lin Yi, am here, Luo Bingcheng will remain."

"You'd be better off just killing me than asking me to cede the four cities of the North."

With the Duke of Zhenguo's imposing aura, no one dared to speak. Lin Yi had the confidence to do so. According to the tactics he and the Prince of Huai had discussed, he used these 80,000 men to hold back the enemy's 300,000-strong army, which gave the Prince of Huai the opportunity to attack the Northern Dynasty's rear supply lines.

As long as he could cut off the Northern Dynasty's food supply, Lin Yi was confident that he could ensure that the Northern Dynasty's 300,000-strong army would not return.

The Duke of Zhenguo guarded Luobing City without ever retreating an inch.

The Lin family army also grew from 80,000 to 40,000.

The Northern Dynasty's army also did not gain any advantage; of its 300,000 troops, it lost 60,000.

The two sides were deadlocked in Luobing City for a month, but during that month, the Prince of Huai made no sound.

"General, according to the plan, the Prince of Huai should have successfully burned the Northern Dynasty's grain supplies by now. Why do the Northern Dynasty's soldiers seem to be showing no reaction at all?"

Wu Fang looked at the map with an anxious expression.

"In war, there are always unexpected events. Let's hold on a little longer, we'll make it eventually."

At this moment, Lin Yi's face was covered in blood. He had not eaten for three days, and his cheeks were noticeably sunken.

"General, we have run out of food supplies in the city!"

"The Prince of Huai's logistics troops have not arrived!"

"If this continues, not only will we be unable to withstand that army of 200,000, but we will starve to death ourselves."

Lin Yi gripped the spear tightly, without uttering a sound.

At this moment, Lin Sishu, who was standing next to Lin Yi, stepped forward.

“Father, I am willing to go to the rear to seek the assistance of the Prince of Huai.”

Wu Fang said bluntly, "Young Master, if the Prince of Huai could provide assistance, he would have arrived long ago!"

"He probably just wants to see our Lin family army die right now."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of all the soldiers in the tent became complicated.

Lin Yi slammed the spear to the ground with a loud thud, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

"Since that's the case, if the Prince of Huai won't defend it, then our Lin family will."

“The people of the Shang Kingdom don’t want it, but we do.”

Seeing Lin Yi reaffirm his determination, Wu Fang had no further complaints.

"Shou!"

"Shou!"

"Shou!"

Wu Fang suggested that Lin Yi write to the emperor requesting the transfer of military provisions from Huaizhou City.

Lin Sishu, holding the military tally and defense map from Lin Yi, prepared to bypass the enemy's rear to find the Prince of Huai and request his assistance.

The Prince of Huai's forces are the closest to them, and now they can only wait for the Prince of Huai's reinforcements to arrive.

At this point, Lin Yunche lowered his head.

"You should have heard about what happened next. Luobing City was not defended. The 80,000-strong Lin family army was besieged in Luobing City and was almost completely slaughtered by the Northern Dynasty army."

"Lin Sishu failed to find the Prince of Huai and was captured by the Northern Dynasty army on the way. He surrendered to the Northern Dynasty and became a traitor."

"In order to quell the war, the emperor of the Shang Kingdom ceded the four cities of Luobing."

"Because of their poor defense of the city and the presence of a traitor from the Northern Dynasty, the Lin family was stripped of their title of Duke of Zhenguo and exiled."

"The emperor did not kill the Lin family because of the military tally in Lin Sishu's possession."

"They also want to use us to restrain Lin Sishu."

After Lin Yunche finished speaking, he looked into the distance. These were all things his father had told him, but for some reason, every time he spoke of them, he seemed to see the despair of the Lin family army back then.

"Did Lin Sishu really betray the Shang Kingdom?" Bai Wanqing asked softly.

Lin Yunche shook his head, "I don't know! Neither my father nor my uncle believe that anyone from the Lin family would become a traitor."

"But all the information gathered by the spies who returned from the Northern Dynasty proved Lin Sishu's betrayal without exception."

"Back then, my grandfather's army of 80,000 managed to reduce the Northern Dynasty's army of 300,000 to 60,000."

"But because of Lin Sishu, my grandfather has no merit, and the Lin family has no merit."

Instead, he became a traitor whom everyone condemned.

Did Lin Yunche harbor resentment? He didn't know!

Because his father, uncle, and everyone in Linjia Village did not believe that Lin Sishu had betrayed the Shang Kingdom.

"So, this is why you've been so eager to gather information about the Northern Dynasty?"

Lin Yunche nodded, "If we want to clear our name, we should naturally find Lin Sishu and ask her."

"But I have planted many people in the Northern Dynasty, yet I haven't been able to get any information out of them."

Thinking of this, Lin Yunche's eyes revealed frustration.

(End of this chapter)