Chapter 40: Lin Jiaojiao Framed Him Again

“You mustn’t behave so recklessly, Brother Liu. This is still the General’s residence—how can you strike your second sister-in-law? If word of this gets out, it will do your reputation no good.”
The Second Madam looked gratefully at Shen Zhao once more; in this whole crowded hall, only the third child had spoken up for her.
How heartless she had been back then, to harm him so.
Liu Jinbao also cast a grateful glance at Shen Zhao.
His own eldest sister cared less for his reputation than General Chu did.
At least someone remembered to look out for him.
As dusk approached, the servants from the second household came again to hurry the Second Master, urging the Second Madam to come over.
Old Madam gritted her teeth and handed over a hundred taels of her private savings to Liu Jinbao, finally sending him away.
What else could she do? If she refused, this brute would insist on living at their estate, loudly threatening that if he didn’t borrow the money today, he’d have his legs broken.
He wasn’t even properly married yet—if his legs were broken, he’d have to marry Chu Miao.
He’d already kissed her and held her; marrying her would be just as well.
Old Madam watched Liu Jinbao leave with his hundred taels, swaggering out as he declared, “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
She was so furious she nearly ground her teeth to dust. If that scoundrel could get through the gates of the Grand General’s Mansion tomorrow, she’d write her surname backwards.
Immediately, she gave strict orders: “From now on, should anyone from the Liu estate call, not a single one is to be let in—no matter who it is!”
She no longer had any inclination to host Chu Miao’s evening welcome banquet. Surrounded by maids and old servants, she withdrew into the inner hall.
Seeing the crowd disperse, Shen Zhao rose at his leisure and left. How could the Old Madam treat guests so inhospitably? The Liu family had always been her favored in-laws; how could they now be barred from the door?
She issued her own instructions: “The Old Madam is advanced in years and quick to anger. The Liu family is kin to the Chu family; whoever they send, they are to be treated with due respect and shown in without delay.”
With that, she hummed a little tune and strolled out.
Chu Mu hurried after her. Ah Zhao was right—after all, the Lius were in-laws; if they really barred them from the door, given the sort of people they were, wouldn’t they just make a scene at the gate and disgrace the Chu family?
Ah Zhao always thought things through. His eyes followed her with unconcealed admiration.
Lin Jiaojiao, seeing this, immediately followed as well.
Now the pain in her chest was gone; she hurried after Shen Zhao as if nothing could slow her.
At the door, she stepped out before Chu Mu, lifting her chin with a provocative look in her eyes.
Chu Mu was left speechless—what was wrong with Lin Jiaojiao now? Had he offended her somehow?
Shen Zhao walked ahead, with Chu Mu and Lin Jiaojiao flanking her right and left.
Chu Mu ignored Lin Jiaojiao completely, his gaze fixed on Shen Zhao’s back, his thoughts drifting.
Now that the sun was setting and evening approached,
Should he return to Ah Zhao’s quarters or to his own?
At the thought, his heart grew restless.
Would Ah Zhao allow them to share a room tonight?
Picturing them side by side on the same bed, Chu Mu’s cheeks flushed crimson.
But before he could savor the moment,
He glanced down at his own slender, white hands, and his face turned deathly pale.
He was…
Right now, he was…Ah Zhao!
Beside him, Lin Jiaojiao stared intently at Chu Mu,
Afraid that this little vixen Shen would cling to her Brother Mu and refuse to let go.
What kind of look was that from Shen? Staring longingly at her Brother Mu.

Seeing Shen’s cheeks flush pink,
What did she intend? Did she mean to sully her Brother Mu?
Lin Jiaojiao unconsciously clenched her fists; as a woman, how could Shen harbor such sordid intentions?
No—she couldn’t let Shen have her way.
She couldn’t let her defile Brother Mu.
Her eyes flickered, and she gritted her teeth in resolve; she would have to resort to desperate measures.
As they walked, Lin Jiaojiao suddenly stumbled, lurching toward Shen Zhao ahead of her and crying out, “Ah—Brother Mu, save me~ Sister Shen, how could you trip me…”
Hearing the commotion behind her, Shen Zhao leapt aside with lightning speed.
There was a loud thud.
Lin Jiaojiao once again crashed hard to the ground.
Shen Zhao couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.
Had Lin Jiaojiao become addicted to self-inflicted injury?
She wondered if smashing down like that would flatten the already modest little buns she had.
“Ah…it hurts…”
Lin Jiaojiao shrieked. She hadn’t expected Brother Mu to dodge, instead of turning to catch her.
How could Brother Mu avoid her? It hurt so much.
In the past, if Lin Jiaojiao had fallen like this, Chu Mu would have rushed over to comfort her.
Now, her little performance left Chu Mu rooted to the spot, his face dark as he watched Lin Jiaojiao struggle and fall again and again, making no move to help.
Here she went again!
Another attempt to frame him!
He’d been minding his own business, hadn’t even spoken to her,
And was a full ten feet away—how could he have tripped her up?
When had Lin Jiaojiao become like this?
He was deeply disappointed.
Lin Jiaojiao, her eyes brimming with tears, looked pitifully at Shen Zhao,
Calling out plaintively, “Brother Mu~ Jiaojiao is hurt~ Brother Mu, I think I twisted my ankle—I can’t get up. Brother Mu, will you carry me?”
Tears slid silently down her cheeks as she spoke.
Shen Zhao bent down and reached out a hand toward Lin Jiaojiao.
Lin Jiaojiao gazed up at her Brother Mu, her eyes full of hope as he drew nearer and nearer.
Her heart pounded wildly.
She was about to have physical contact with Brother Mu.
She just knew he cared for her.
She tried to lift herself up a bit to make it easier for him to pick her up.
Yet the anticipated strong hand did not lift her.
Instead, it paused at her hair.
With a single motion, her most treasured white jade pear blossom hairpin was plucked out.
This was the first spoil of war she’d ever snatched from Shen.
Shen Zhao looked at the hairpin in her hand,
A strange light flickering in her eyes.
This had been part of her wedding trousseau,
And the gift she had been forced to give Lin Jiaojiao when she first entered the Grand General’s residence.
“Brother Mu…” Lin Jiaojiao called anxiously,
But Shen Zhao paid her no heed, staring intently at the white jade pear blossom pin.
Back then, Lin Jiaojiao, her eyes red, had said this pin was almost identical to a pear blossom her late brother had once picked for her,
And that seeing it always made her think of him and feel sorrow.
If her brother were still alive, he would have picked pear blossoms for her every year,
And if only she could have such a beautifully crafted, lifelike pin, she wouldn’t be so sad.
Shen had originally prepared a jadeite bangle of fine quality as a welcoming gift—
Much more valuable than the pear blossom pin.
But Lin Jiaojiao would have none of it, insisting instead on the hairpin Shen wore in her hair.
At the time, Shen did not yet know Lin Jiaojiao’s true nature and only thought her pitiful.
Still, she had not intended to give away the pin, which meant so much to her.
But Chu Mu, upon learning of it, sent Vice-General Zhang to retrieve it,
Urging her, for the sake of Lin Jiaojiao’s brother’s life-saving deed, not to be so petty—
It was just a pin, after all; what harm in giving it to Lin Jiaojiao?
At the time, Shen and Chu Mu were deeply in love, and she pitied Lin Jiaojiao as an orphan, so she parted with the pin.
Later she wrote to her brother to apologize, but not only did he not blame her, he comforted her warmly
And sent a whole box of jade hairpins of various kinds.
Now, at last, the pin could return to its rightful owner.
Shen Zhao walked over to Chu Mu and pinned the ornament into Chu Mu’s hair herself.
“It looks loveliest on Madam.”
Lin Jiaojiao nearly choked with rage.
So it looked bad on her, did it?
A rosy blush crept up Chu Mu’s fair cheeks,
His heart beating faster, his breath catching,
Stars glimmering in his eyes.
Ah Zhao was praising him—what should he do, he was so excited.
Chu Mu instinctively touched the pear blossom pin in his hair. He didn’t know why Ah Zhao had plucked it from Lin Jiaojiao and given it to him,
But it was rare for her to give him a present; shy and youthful, he nervously asked, “W-wife, do I really look good like this?”
“Beautiful!” Ignoring the lovesick look in Chu Mu’s eyes—clearly, the fool had forgotten whose pin it was to begin with.
Watching the two lost in their tender affection, Lin Jiaojiao felt a sharp pain in her chest.
This time, it truly hurt.
Her Brother Mu had been bewitched by that little vixen Shen once again.
No—Brother Mu was hers alone; no one could take him away.