Chapter 203: Wait Until I Think of a Way

At this moment, Zhou Qingqing’s appearance was ugly, but her crying voice was quite pleasant.

At this moment, the little boy named Xiao Hua rushed over, spread his arms, and stood in front of Zhou Qingqing, staring at Li Lin with fearful eyes.

He was clearly trembling with fear, yet stubbornly kept his gaze fixed on Li Lin, shielding his mother.

Li Lin patted the boy’s head and smiled: “Don’t worry—I won’t harm your mother.”

But the boy didn’t believe him.

After crying for a while, Zhou Qingqing wiped the black dust from her face with her sleeve and said: “Qin Donglai wants to kill me—did he send you to take Xiao Hua away?”

“Not at all. He only asked me to check on his child; in return, he’ll give me the five-colored bone.”

“What if… I refuse to give it to you?”

Li Lin smiled slightly and said nothing, but Zhou Qingqing understood his meaning.

After a moment of silence, Zhou Qingqing said: “I can give you the object, but can you take my son and me away from here?”

For some reason, Zhou Qingqing had now been slandered—though not with false rumors, the truth was far more deadly.

“Where do you want to go?” Li Lin asked.

“Anywhere—so long as my son and I can live in peace.”

Li Lin thought for a moment and said: “I can take you to Junchun. Whether you survive or which county you choose to live in is none of my concern.”

“Can we get out?” Zhou Qingqing looked at Li Lin: “Last time I tried leaving through the city gate, I nearly got caught by those martial artists. They’ve got many men watching every woman who tries to leave the city.”

Li Lin pondered for a while and said: “There is a way—but it might be troublesome.”

“How so?”

“Those martial artists prefer to bully the weak and fear the strong.” Li Lin smiled: “If you walk out as an ordinary woman, they’ll harass you. But if you ride in a four-horse carriage with dozens of attendants, no one will dare search you.”

Zhou Qingqing frowned: “But I can’t do that—I’m not Qin Donglai’s lawful wife, and now his lawful wife and eldest son are both dead.”

Li Lin nodded: “Qin Donglai guessed this—he knew his wife and children couldn’t survive, which is why he sought you to bear his child.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qingqing’s face lit up with joy: “So my Xiao Hua will become the Qin family’s legitimate eldest son?”

Li Lin looked at her strangely: “The entire Qin lineage is finished now—why do you still care whether he’s the Qin family’s legitimate heir? You could just as well call him the Zhou family’s legitimate heir.”

But Zhou Qingqing said: “A wife follows her husband—I am Qin’s in life, Qin’s in death.”

Li Lin couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.

Seeing Li Lin’s expression, Zhou Qingqing asked: “You look down on me!”

“Not exactly. It’s that Qin Donglai misunderstood you.”

“What did he say?”

Li Lin spoke plainly: “He said you’d last no more than three months—once the money ran out, you’d find another man and abandon your son.”

“How could he say that about me?” Zhou Qingqing trembled with rage: “Because I was once a courtesan? Did I choose that?”

“That’s why I say he misunderstood you.” Li Lin smiled: “Keep the five-colored bone for now. I’ll come back when I’m ready to take you out—then you can give it to me.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qingqing exhaled in relief: “My husband misunderstood me, but he didn’t misunderstand you, Squire.”

Li Lin waved his hand: “He had no other choice.”

Zhou Qingqing smiled involuntarily—she hadn’t dared smile in over a month.

“Stay here and rest well. When I’m ready, I’ll come back for you.”

Saying this, Li Lin left.

Zhou Qingqing exhaled, then immediately shut the door.

Li Lin departed cleanly, but two small paper figures on the roof had been watching them all along.

And more paper figures were arriving from all around.

You could say the entire area around Zhou Qingqing was covered in surveillance—she couldn’t escape.

Li Lin returned to the brothel, where the madam greeted him with great delight: “Oh, Young Master’s back! Our girls have all been waiting for your favor.”

Li Lin glanced around and upstairs—he saw many women staring at him intently.

Their expressions seemed ready to strip his clothes off.

Li Lin smiled and said: “I’m here to check out.”

“Young Master, you came just to sleep? Not for fun?”

“There are too many martial artists elsewhere.”

“Ah!” The madam sighed, disappointed.

Li Lin took his satchel from the brothel and led away his steed.

Behind him, the brothel’s windows were packed with faces.

Many women watched him depart with mournful gazes.

Li Lin led his horse to the broker’s office.

The middle-aged broker bowed respectfully: “Young Master, are you looking to buy maidservants or laborers?”

Li Lin said: “Do you have any quiet little houses for sale? Preferably with a courtyard.”

“Yes!”

“Where is it located? How much?”

“Sixty silver taels,” said the broker. “I’ll take you to see it now.”

“Good.”

Li Lin followed the broker to view the house, was satisfied, and bought it on the spot.

The extremely excited broker asked: “Young Master, do you need servants?”

“No.”

The broker handed over the land deed and left.

Li Lin tied his steed in the backyard, then went to the market, bought large quantities of cinnabar, inkstone, ink, and white paper, and returned.

He also bought many large sheets of yellow paper—uncut.

He hired laborers to carry everything into his courtyard, purchased sufficient rice and grain, and began cutting paper figures.

Large paper figures—about the size of a normal person.

That same evening, Zhou Qingqing, as usual, prepared for bed—she now pretended to be a poor, ugly woman, so she had no candles to spare.

Most nights, she simply slept when darkness fell.

At that moment, she suddenly screamed—several pink-purple paper figures drifted down from the ceiling.

She scrambled into the corner, clutching her child tightly, staring in terror at the paper figures.

Though she didn’t understand paper-figure arts, she knew anyone who could summon such things must be a strange martial artist.

That meant… she had finally been found.

Just as fear gripped her, two paper figures “carried” a sheet of white paper and stopped before her.

One of them gestured, urging her to pick up the paper and open it.

At first, Zhou Qingqing dared not move—but the paper figure kept repeating the gesture.

As time passed, her fear lessened, and trembling, she reached out and took the paper.

After reading it, she exhaled in relief.

Then she looked again at the small paper figures—and somehow, she felt they seemed proud, almost playful.

(End of Chapter)