As soon as Lin Xiaofei finished dressing up, she and her entourage left to go to the East Courtyard where Lin Xiaomeng lived.
The way to the East Courtyard was full of twists and turns. Every corner and corridor was giving her a headache.
Not even Yu Fangzhu's residence was this complicated!
What did general Lin think of his residence? A maze?
After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived in front of the East courtyard and was about to enter when they bumped into a group of people.
"Young Miss, that's the Lin Second Madam." Bai Lu softly said. Her face showed her anxiousness.
Lin Xiaofei glanced at the group of people when she heard Bai Lu. Her eyes trailed on the several green-clad maids before stopping on the plump middle-aged woman wearing a yellow robe in front.
It was the Lin Second Madam, Song Yan Yi.
She wore a green silk dress and yellow fox robe on top. She looked kind and benevolent at first glance and even Lin Xiaofei thought the same. However, according to what Bai lu had told her a few days ago, this second madam would always try to get into her business and secretly bully Lin Xiaofei.
Even though it was spread around that Lin Xiaofei was the favorite child of the Lin family, the truth may be quite different from what was said.
In truth, Lin Xiaomeng was the only one who doted on her.
When the previous Lin Xiaofei fell sick a week ago, only Lin Xiaomeng visited frequently and was genuinely worried about her. Some of the Lin family members also stopped by and sent some medicinal herbs, but it was only because they were forced to visit because of Lin Xiaomeng and they didn't want to expose their ugly hearts.
The Lin family only had two branches. The first branch belonged to the eldest Lin son, Lin Feng, while the other belonged to the second son, Lin Sang. But at the moment, Lin Xiaofei was unable to see anyone of her uncles.
Lin Feng and Lin Sang didn't follow their father's footsteps and instead became literary officials and were often in the imperial court to lessen the emperor's worries. However, they also started to be part of the princes' factions to prepare for the future.
Lin Xiaofei's eyes stayed in their direction for a few seconds before she decided to completely ignore them.
The real Lin Xiaofei didn't like this Second Madam and of course, as she had now become Lin Xiaofei, she naturally didn't want to become close or mend the past's relationship with she didn't know and she also didn't have the desire to change that.
"Let's go." She said without giving the other group a second glance.
When Lin Xiaofei and her entourage left, Song Yan Yi's maid stomped on her foot and angrily said, "Fourth Young Miss definitely saw the madam but still ignored her. She's being too rude!"
Song Yan Yi only gave her a gentle smile and said, "No need to make a fuss over this. A young miss with only one branch to hold onto. What's there to look at? Let's go inside and see father-in-law."
What she meant when she said those words weren't incorrect. In the Lin Family, who doesn't know that Lin Xiaofei only has Lin Xiaomeng's support behind her?
If that large branch suddenly breaks off, wouldn't that mean one wouldn't have anything to hold onto when falling, right?
Song Yan Yi hated the rude and arrogant Lin Xiaofei. The two of them said a few ugly words to each other and shed every pretense they created, but because Lin Xiaofei has Lin Xiaomeng behind her back, she could only secretly plot behind everyone's back and bully Lin Xiaofei.
Last week, when the news of Lin Xiaofei's critical condition. Everyone in the Lin family except, Lin Xiaomeng, was extremely happy and prayed in the praying hall for her demise.
But unfortunately, to their disappointment, Xiaofei didn't die and survived.
When Lin Xiaofei first arrived in the Lin residence, everyone was curious about the rumored ill-mannered young lady in the Capital and went to look. They first didn't believe the rumors but after meeting her, they immediately hated her and started to give her a cold shoulder.
Her trashy reputation and arrogance didn't make it better because it only intensified the disdain they had on her and couldn't stop wishing that the Zhou family would take her back to their residence.
To their surprise, the Zhou family didn't show any interest in taking her back or saying a word when Lin Xiaomeng took his granddaughter. It was as if the Zhou family was even glad that their trash was taken from them and they no longer need to worry about this trash.
This made the Lin family feel dissatisfied with their in-laws but their hate was instead directed to the young Lin Xiaofei.
However, with Lin Xiaomeng present, they could only fake their smiles and pretend they cared about her.
Lin Xiaofei took a foot into the East Courtyard.
The East Courtyard was where Lin Xiaomeng lived. It was huge but plain. Only white walls and black tiles. There wasn't much furniture that helped the courtyard look inviting to the visitor. There were only a few seats on each side of the courtyard and in the center, a seat for the master of the residence was erected.
The seat was also painted black but the carving of the chair was giving off a dominating aura. A tiger's skin that was on the chair made one's skin crawl and be reminded that even though Lin Xiaomeng retired from the military scene, he was still a man that could make his enemies bend their knees and ask for mercy.
Lin Xiaofei looked around once more and saw a female servant who was panicking on the corner of the hall. She stepped closer to her and asked, "Where's my grandfather."
The female servant was originally facing her back to Lin Xiaofei and once she heard a voice behind her back, she jumped in startle and her face became white as a sheet.
"Fo - Fourth Young Miss!" The female servant said and lowered her head.
Lin Xiaofei frowned, "I asked where's my grandfather."
The female servant's eyes shook and said, "The… the old master is not here."
"And where's he?"
"The old master is in the Receiving Hall with some guests."