TFWYH – Chapter 883 Head of the Jin Family

Jin Lin smiled warmly at Jin Buhuan and gave him a perfunctory cupped-hand salute.

“May I ask if you are the head of the Jin Family?”

Jin Buhuan felt very uncomfortable, and his expression darkened along with his mood.

“And you are…?”

Jin Lin replied with a smile, “I am Prince Rongguan’s aide. His Majesty learned that you were coming, so he assigned the prince to receive you. The prince then handed the task over to me.”

Jin Buhuan: ?

Jin Buhuan: …

This is too insulting, isn’t it?

In the past, he would at least have been received by a fifth-rank official. Now they had actually sent an aide?

Jin Buhuan really wanted to lose his temper, turn around, and leave. But remembering the instructions from the other great families, he swallowed his anger.

“Who is Prince Rongguan?”

Jin Lin smiled.

“Prince Rongguan is the eldest son of the Second Prince. He lived among the common people from childhood and was only recently recognized and brought back.”

“…”

It wasn’t an illusion.

The Emperor really was looking down on him.

Grinding his teeth, Jin Buhuan said, “Tianchao’s way of treating guests has certainly opened our eyes.”

“Hahaha…”

Jin Lin burst out laughing when he heard this.

“Patriarch Jin, you’re mistaken. First, you’re not an official of the imperial court. Second, you’re not a member of the imperial family. To put it bluntly, you’re simply a common citizen. With such a status, what kind of special treatment are you expecting?”

“You…”

Jin Buhuan was so furious he nearly spat blood. He pointed at Jin Lin with a trembling finger.

“You people from Tianchao are going too far!”

Jin Lin’s smiling expression disappeared, replaced by a cold one.

“Patriarch Jin, you keep saying ‘you people of Tianchao.’ Are you not a citizen of Tianchao yourself? If you’re not, then why remain here?

“Southern Barbaria has beautiful mountains and rivers and springlike weather all year round. The northern frontier has vast deserts, solitary plumes of smoke, and endless yellow sands. If Patriarch Jin wishes to relocate your entire family, I can certainly offer what little assistance I can.”

“You, you, you…”

Jin Buhuan was instantly rendered speechless.

No matter how badly the Jin Family had declined, they were still one of the Ten Great Families. How could they tolerate being treated with such contempt?

But then he thought about it.

What Jin Lin said wasn’t wrong.

The Ten Great Families were neither imperial officials nor members of the imperial family. What right did they have to demand special treatment?

Now that the Ten Great Families could barely protect themselves and their numbers were shrinking, he had come here ostensibly to test the Emperor’s attitude.

But put bluntly, wasn’t he here to beg for mercy?

And if he was here to beg for mercy, he needed to show the proper attitude.

Thinking of this, Jin Buhuan calmed down and immediately put on a cheerful smile.

“Little brother, you’re too serious. I was only joking with you.”

Jin Lin smiled without saying anything, but his eyes were filled with mockery.

Jin Buhuan asked, “May I ask your surname, little brother?”

Jin Lin’s lips curved upward.

“My surname is Jin. My given name is Lin.”

“Oh, so you’re Jin Lin… Hmm? Jin Lin?”

Halfway through his sentence, Jin Buhuan suddenly realized what he had heard.

He stared at Jin Lin as if he had seen a ghost.

“You… your surname is Jin? You, you… how old are you this year?”

“Patriarch Jin, what exactly do you mean by that?”

Jin Lin was clearly smiling, yet there wasn’t the slightest trace of warmth in his eyes.

Jin Buhuan.

His good second uncle.

Jin Lin himself had originally known nothing about his true identity. It was only shortly before his mother died that she finally told him everything.

His father had once been the head of the Jin Family—and Jin Buhuan’s elder brother.

But this second branch of the family had been viciously ambitious. Back then, they had not only killed his father, they had also tried to eliminate his mother, who had been carrying his child after her pregnancy had been switched.

If his father hadn’t desperately protected her, his mother would never have survived, and he would never have been born.

All these years, his mother had hidden her identity to escape the Jin Family’s pursuit and had raised him alone.

Fearing that the Jin Family would never let him go, she had even wanted him to pursue the imperial examinations and become an official of the imperial court so that he could protect himself.

Unfortunately, when he was young, he hadn’t understood his mother’s painstaking efforts.

It wasn’t until she was gone that he regretted everything and desperately wished he could make amends.

If he hadn’t met Ling Yu, and if Ling Yu hadn’t taught him according to his abilities, he truly would have carried that regret for the rest of his life.