LOT – Chapter 79 Gossip Between Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law

Lin Mo’s righteous takedown of the scumbag man had now become famous throughout the capital.

You could say there was some new story about her being spread around every day.

“Can’t you just try to keep a lower profile? Look at your reputation in the capital! Other girls are known for being gentle, virtuous, talented, and beautiful. And you? Your reputation is: wild and unruly, once rode a pig through town! What kind of girl has that kind of reputation?!”

Minister Lin had pinned Lin Mo at home and was giving her a stern lecture.

Lin Mo sat on her knees, her face slightly blank—someone who didn’t know better might think she was listening intently. But in truth, her mind had long since wandered off.

【System, you said there were lots of juicy scandals by the lakeside. Besides that Xu Luobin one, what are the other ones? My dad’s lecturing me and I’m getting bored—go ahead and spill them now.】

Minister Lin paused mid-sentence, then quickly resumed as if nothing had happened.

This damn girl—is she even listening to him?!

System: 【Sure! But you might not know some of them. You left too early, otherwise I could’ve pointed them out and you could’ve joined in the gossip.】

【Miss Chen from the wealthy merchant family in the north of the city is traveling out of town with her brother-in-law. Her sister is currently pregnant, and she’s trying to take advantage of that to swoop in.】

Lin Mo gasped in her mind, utterly shocked: 【Is she insane?! Stealing from her own sister?! That guy must not be much if he’s swayed at a time like this!】

Minister Lin pretended to sip tea to rest his throat, but in truth, his ears were already perked up.

The servants outside, who had been sweeping or wiping things down, were all quietly edging closer.

System: 【That Miss Chen and her sister are half-sisters—same father, different mothers. Her sister is the child of the first wife, and she’s from the stepmother. She’s always disliked her older sister. And her sister married well—a sixth-rank official’s family.】

Lin Mo frowned, puzzled: 【But she could just find a good family of her own. Why go after her brother-in-law?】

The servants outside were all nodding vigorously.

Exactly! Why go after the brother-in-law when she could have someone better?

Her older sister had managed to marry into an official family from a merchant background, so logically, Miss Chen shouldn’t be too badly off either.

The system sneered: 【Her older sister has a reputation for being gentle and virtuous, so she was able to marry into the official class. But Miss Chen was spoiled rotten by her mother since childhood. She competes with her sister in everything but loses in all of it. So now she wants to steal her sister’s husband—she wants everything her sister has.】

By this point, Lin Mo was so angry she wanted to hit someone. How could someone be that despicable?!

Then she suddenly thought of her own situation—she also had an older sister.

【That Miss Chen is seriously messed up. Is it only worth having something if you steal it? Just because her sister likes something doesn’t mean she’ll like it too! It’s like how my sister likes poetry and classical texts—me? I think those things are worse than toilet paper.】

Minister Lin choked on his tea and almost couldn’t swallow it.

What kind of comparison was that?! Couldn’t she have come up with something a little more respectable?!

Lin Ran, who had rushed over in concern about whether her younger sister was being punished: …Forget it. All that worry for nothing—this girl’s heart is practically made of stone.

“Young Miss, could you step over here a bit? You can hear more clearly from this spot,” one of the maids even made room for Lin Ran.

Lin Ran smiled faintly and didn’t refuse. After all, who could say no to a bit of gossip?

The system was still criticizing Miss Chen: 【That Miss Chen’s morals and conduct are both lacking. Her reputation is terrible—arrogant, aggressive, and inconsiderate. You just don’t know her because you’re not in her social circle. But in the merchant girls’ circle, her name is basically mud.】

【But no matter how much she tries to seduce him, it’s useless. Her brother-in-law’s household isn’t even controlled by him. They only accepted her older sister because of her good reputation for being virtuous and kind. With proper nurturing, she really could become a good matriarch in the future. As for her, well… they might not necessarily agree to that.】

Only after hearing this did Lin Mo feel a bit more at ease.

In this era of monogamy with multiple concubines, the relationship between husband and wife was relatively stable. It wouldn’t be that easy for that Miss Chen to force her sister into being cast aside.

The people outside also let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Lin Ran, however, looked thoughtful. She seemed to have met that Miss Chen’s older sister a few times before.

That eldest Miss Chen had married into the Zhao family. Although the official rank of the Zhao family patriarch wasn’t very high, the eldest Miss Chen had attended some social banquets.

Lin Ran had a rather favorable impression of her. When time permitted, she planned to find an opportunity to give her a reminder.

People were especially fond of gossiping about such matters. Some things couldn’t be spread around, but gossip like this? It was fair game.

After all, there had been so many people by the lake — who’s to say some of them didn’t witness Miss Chen going on an outing with her brother-in-law?

The Lin family’s servants had already prepared a justification and quietly spread the news.

As for Minister Lin, he simply turned a blind eye to the whole matter.

Who said the rumors came from their household? Maybe someone by the lake saw something!

Lin Ran had initially wanted to look for a chance to discreetly warn the eldest Miss Chen, but unexpectedly, the servants acted even faster than she did.

Now the Zhao and Chen families were practically in upheaval.

The two families were originally tied by marriage and should have been close, but because of this, they were nearly falling out completely.

“Do you even know what shame is?! That’s your own sister! It was one thing for you to be arrogant and unruly at home, but even before your sister got married, she tolerated you again and again. Now she’s already married, and yet you still stir up such scandal—have you no sense of decency?!”

Master Chen was practically furious to the point of madness. He had always felt a bit guilty toward his eldest daughter, fully aware of how she’d lived in the household all these years.

But in the interest of keeping family peace, he usually turned a blind eye to anything that wasn’t too excessive. As a result, his eldest daughter had suffered no small amount of grievances.

So when the Zhao family showed interest in marrying her, he had truly been delighted.

Miss Chen knelt on the ground, full of defiance. “Father! You’re just biased—you’re always biased toward your eldest daughter! Why is she allowed to marry into an official’s family, while I can only marry into a merchant’s? What’s wrong with me trying to fight for myself?!”

Miss Chen had always loved to compare herself with her sister since childhood. Naturally, when it came to marriage, she wasn’t about to accept being the one who lost.

It was just that the suitors her father sought for her were all wealthy merchants of suitable status. But merchants and officials? That was a world of difference—completely separate classes.

If she really did marry into a merchant family, wouldn’t she be beneath her sister for the rest of her life?