His Peasant Wife : Yao Ling

Yao Ling said, "Don’t worry! I’m sure that someday you will be able to find her!" She tried to console the dejected man. Yao Ling knew that Lin Jian could only hold onto this hope, otherwise, he would feel broken because of his own guilt. It was actually not his fault, who would have thought that the Emperor would be able to plan and do such a disgusting thing toward his own loyal subordinate? Besides, he was only a little boy at that time.

Yao Ling was pretty sure that General Lin understood those reasonings, that’s why he never blamed Lin Jian for what happened to his beloved wife.

Lin Jian nodded at Yao Ling’s encouragement but said nothing. He understood the logic, but it didn’t lessen his guilt at all.

Yao Ying tried to change the conversation to make Lin Jian forget about his guilt. He asked about their plan to ruin the wedding alliance. "There are a lot of ways to prevent the wedding --- the subtle way and the hard way. I wonder if you already have a plan in mind? We will follow along with your choice, after all, you are still related to the Han Princess. As long as it’s a good and reasonable plan, of course."

Yao Ying respected Lin Jian by saying that he would follow along with his plan. He understood that Lin Jian wouldn’t jeopardize the mission because of personal feelings, hence the trust.

Lin Jian sighed. "My father also knew about our mission. He already told me to choose the subtle way, after all, she’s still my mother’s precious daughter. If possible, we should save her from this marriage alliance. Nothing good will happen to her if she gets married to the Qin Emperor."

Yao Ying and Yao Ling looked at each other. "Why? Is there something that we don’t know about the Qin Emperor?"

Lin Jian nodded. "Yes, the Qin Emperor doesn’t have many women who stay beside him. Only the Empress and a few high-rank concubines," Lin Jian answered with a voice full of hatred and disgust.

Yao Ling furrowed her eyebrows. For Lin Jian to make such an expression, it seemed like there was something wrong with the Qin Emperor. It seemed that there’s more to this than meets the eye[1]. However, she didn’t understand why was it such a bad thing for having only a few women in the harem? Didn’t it mean that the Qin Emperor wasn’t a lecherous man?

"Isn’t that supposed to be a good sign?" Yao Ling asked the question that kept bothering her.

Lin Jian shook his head. "No. The Qin Kingdom covers up their own Emperor’s track record about that matter perfectly. It isn’t that he respects women, so he has only a few women. However, there are countless women who had died under his cruelty. Only a few are able to survive and stay inside his harem."

"What? How?" Yao Ling asked in surprise.

"In private, he loves torturing women as a pleasure when having sex and sometimes... it gets out of hands. The women that survive beside him... it’s only because they have a powerful background and the Emperor doesn’t dare to touch or torture them. Otherwise, they would be dead a long time ago," Lin Jian explained. He got this information from the organization’s vast network and what he had read in the report was more gruesome than this.

Lin Jian already made a vow --- even without the organization’s order, he would save his half-sister! He couldn’t bear to let his half-sister have the same pitiful fate as those other women.

"Huai Yi Princess... No... No... She is Huai Yi Empress now... She should have known about the Emperor’s behavior, right?" Yao Ling asked. After all, Huai Yi Empress was said to be able to gain the Emperor’s love. How could a woman able to love such a cruel man? The amazing thing was she got his love too!

"How do you think she is able to gain the Emperor’s love, huh?" Lin Jian asked mockingly.

Yao Ling thought about it and started to realize something. "Don’t tell me..."

Lin Jian nodded his head and reaffirmed her thought. "She’s the one who supplies the Qin Emperor with a lot of women. As long as she isn’t the one who is at the receiving end of the cruelty, Huai Yi Empress doesn’t mind to dirty her hands. She lives peacefully by offering a lot of women to the Qin Emperor."

Yao Ling gasped in surprise. Living in that kind of environment was quite scary. She never thought that Huai Yi Empress was that scary and selfish. She didn’t mind to kill a lot of women as long as her position in the harem was unshakeable.

Yao Ying said, "To be able to survive and still has the Qin Emperor’s love. It seems like Huai Yi Empress isn’t a simple person at all." She must have been a smart and calculative woman, to begin with.

"Of course!" Lin Jian said. "Why do you think the Emperor sent her there? She’s popular to be a smart woman, but at the same time... cruel. She always gets what she wants --- with every possible means. The Emperor has a headache trying to clean up after her, that’s why he’s happy when Huai Yi Princess agreed to marry the Qin Emperor. He’s killing two birds in one stone[2] with that move!"

"Your half-sister... if she isn’t a strong and smart woman, I don’t think she can survive in that harem. Either she’s tortured under the Emperor’s hands or she’s suppressed by the Empress --- she would live in hell every day!" Yao Ying shook his head in pity.

"That’s a really pitiful way to live!" Yao Ling exclaimed. "Even if she has a powerful background, I don’t think she can avoid the way the Qin Emperor enjoys that type of pleasure! After all, as a woman... she needs to serve the Qin Emperor’s needs --- sooner or later! Besides, the Han Kingdom isn’t as powerful as the Qin Kingdom, so they don’t need to give the Han Kingdom that much face."

Yao Ling sighed. "No wonder you want to save her this much! She won’t end up well in that harem." Yao Ling couldn’t imagine how the women live on that hellish place!

"Is it okay for us to save and bring the Han Princess to our Shu Kingdom?" Yao Ying asked. After all, it would risk a war, if the other two countries found out about the princess’ whereabouts.

Lin Jian nodded. "Yes. That’s why I will obtain her by any means, even if I have to risk war! I’m not going to sacrifice her --- just like how the Emperor sacrificed my mother!" Lin Jian said full of determination.

Yao Ying and Yao Ling looked at each other. It seemed like Lin Jian felt that he could redeem himself by saving Han Xiang. This kind of thought... it actually wasn’t good to keep. They realized that they also needed to control Lin Jian in this mission. His recklessness might jeopardize the overall mission and endanger their lives.

Yao Ying didn’t want Lin Jian to ruin his bright future or have a fall-out with the organization because of one Han Xiang. After all, they didn’t really know anything about this princess. Everything that they knew was based on rumor. Whether she was kind or evil --- they didn’t know for sure. It was rumored that the Shu woman was her mother, however... was that really the truth? Yao Ying knew that this wasn’t the right time to ask those questions to Lin Jian. He was too emotional to analyze this mission with a clear mind. His emotions clouded his judgment.

"Don’t be too impulsive!" Yao Ying decided to warn him in advance. "We have to plan everything ahead of time. If there’s a sudden change of event there, you have to talk with us! Do you understand? You don’t have to do this all alone. Please remember that you still have us!"

Lin Jian was stunned by what Yao Ying said. Was he really that impulsive?

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[1]. There’s more to this than meets the eye: a situation is not as simple as it seems to be.

[2]. Killing two birds in one stone: to succeed in achieving two things in a single action.