It was Lady Jin’s youngest son, Li Cheng’an, who, upon entering, bounded into Old Lady Jin’s arms, babbling endearingly without end, much to Old Lady Jin’s delight.
Seeing that Old Lady Jin was unharmed, Lady Jin finally let out a sigh of relief. Glancing around the hall at the seated figures, she spotted Lin Yuan among several unfamiliar faces and asked in confusion, "This young lady is...?"
Only then did Old Lady Jin remember her manners, and, with a smile, she clapped her hands, "Oh dear, the sight of Brother An made me so happy I nearly forgot to introduce you all. This is the owner of Fuman Building, Miss Lin Yuan. Miss Lin, this is..."
"I know." Lin Yuan said with a smile as she stood up, offering a curtsy to Lady Jin. As merely the Madam County Magistrate without an imperial mandate, she wasn’t required to curtsy, but considering the favor she was about to ask for, she did so courteously, "Lin Yuan pays her respects to Madam."
"So you are the owner of Fuman Building. What a coincidence to meet you here today," observed Lady Jin sharply, noting that someone of Lin Yuan’s young age who could run Fuman Building must possess exceptional abilities.
Upon hearing that she was the owner of Fuman Building, Li Chengzhi gave Lin Yuan an extra glance. Actually, Lin Yuan was quite pretty, but like Jin Yuyu, she exuded an aura that kept people at a distance, effectively dampening any interest from a womanizer like Li Chengzhi. Thus, after a mere glance, he returned his attention to flirting with Jin Lingling.
However, Mother Li beside Lady Jin recognized Lin Yuan at once. She’d been to the Lin family hamlet quite a few times and was more than familiar with the village’s notorious Little Disaster Star. Initially, the Little Disaster Star had been on the list of potential candidates, but because of her reputation, they had ultimately chosen the better-looking Lin Siyu instead.
Yet, to everyone’s astonishment, in such a short period, the girl had become the owner of Fuman Building.
Mother Li remembered how Lin Jiaxiao had come to her home a few days ago, tearfully begging for silver, and she felt a wave of disgust. To think the family had chased out such a promising child, and now they must be regretting it!
However, Lin Yuan was the cousin of that little harlot at the mansion. Mother Li wondered what would happen if Madam found out about this.
Taking a couple of steps closer to Lady Jin, Mother Li had wanted to explosive news herself, but considering her lower status, she reluctantly chose to inform another matron first, who, upon hearing it, quickly turned around and repeated the information into Lady Jin’s ear.
Lin Yuan watched all their movements, and saw both Lady Jin’s surprise and her scrutinizing look at Lin Yuan.
Remaining composed and seated with easy grace, she said nothing, nor did she betray any sign of discomfort. What was there to worry about if they found out about her relation to Lin Siyu? After all, their relations were already severed.
Nevertheless, Lin Yuan had clearly underestimated Lady Jin’s openness. Without a word, Lady Jin turned to Old Lady Jin and asked, "Mother, I just heard something about a plot to steal the inheritance, what was that about? Didn’t you just buy your wheelchair recently? How did it break? Have you figured out why?"
Old Lady Jin sighed, choosing not to address the matter of the inheritance plot and instead responded to her other question, "We were waiting for you. Mother Feng, bring up that broken wheelchair. Now that the young mistress is here, she can have a look and decide how to deal with it, whether we should report it to the authorities or not."
"Yes," replied Mother Feng as she withdrew. Shortly after, she returned accompanied by two young servants carrying the wheelchair with one completely detached wheel. The wheel itself was intact, but for some reason, it had come entirely off the wheelchair.