53 He’s your second brother (1)

It has been more than a week since Jun Hua returned to Lin family residence. She wasn't really bothered with what happened in the Lin family. Jun Hua attended the class as usual while Fan Lanying talked non-stop about many things. Upon their return from the palace, the girls all seemed to be even more refined than before, including Jun Hua who usually only looked good enough to be called graceful. Only Fan Lanying seemed no different than usual.

"There is going to be a hunting event, arranged by the palace. Did your brother get invited?" Fan Lanying suddenly asked.

Jun Hua didn't have any idea about this event. When she heard the news about how messy the Lin family residence was yesterday, she still hadn't got the chance to get updated with all the news in the capital. Additionally, she had not been staying at the capital for a long time that she wasn't aware about most of the news.

"When is it going to be held?"

"It will be sometime next week. Because my brother is away, I can't attend social events anymore," Fan Lanying pursed her lips. She was reluctant to stay at home, but women were not allowed to attend social events if they were not accompanied by men.

Jun Hua guessed that she should be invited. There was no way the emperor would overlook her on this occasion.

Jun Hua voiced out her thoughts as she asked, "Doesn't the emperor still facing riots? How did he manage to hold this event so suddenly?"

"They have finished up all the riots," Fan Lanying explained. "The Lan family appears to be in high spirits as they only need a week to finish all of it."

Jun Hua realized that they employed massive amount of soldiers. She had been thinking that this might speed up the task, but it would drastically reduce the reputation of Lan family. They were using so many soldiers to face off a riot inside the kingdom. Did the Lan family turn stupid?

At least they managed to resolve the problem quickly. If they were to delay, it would damage their name even worse. With this, they might be called a loyal support of the imperial family from this showcase of willingness to use a lot of force. However, Jun Hua thought that the matter might not be so simple since there might be other reason for using that much of force.

But, it wasn't her place to probe. Furthermore, this small matter didn't hinder her plans at all. There was no use trying to get to the bottom of it.

"Isn't your father going to attend the event?"

"Nope, he's also on the front line," Fan Lanying answered, "I wish they could return soon, so I could join the event as well."

Jun Hua didn't think too much about it but when she was staying in the Lin family residence, she had just found out that she had been invited too as Jun Min.

Jun Hua rubbed her head. That cunning emperor surely knew that this invitation was no different than a decree so he purposely invited him. Just what did that emperor want? By her side, Xia and Yamin were standing respectfully. They didn't dare to interrupt Jun Hua.

"Is there anyone else from this family got invited?" Jun Hua asked.

"Answering to Miss, Lin Tang, Lin Hong, and Lin Kang are also invited," Xia answered fluently.

"Who is Lin Kang?"

Facing that question, Xia braced herself, "Lin Kang is your second brother. He's still 13 this year, so he hadn't joined the school yet."

Hearing the words "second brother", Jun Hua remembered the little boy she met when she first arrived here. The boy was smaller than others his age and the way her mother held him was a little unnatural. The boy's eyes were lifeless as if he didn't have any will to live.

She hadn't got the chance to meet with him. Come to think of it, the boy seemed to only stay in his place with his mother and didn't bother to visit the other.

"Let's meet with him."

Xia's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Seeing her Miss was already walking outside, she sighed internally and hurriedly followed after her. Xiao Yun also started running behind Jun Hua and hurriedly catch up to the latter.

Jun Hua didn't find any difficulties to reach the place where Lin Kang was living. The courtyard where he lives was filled with weeds and there were hardly any servants here. Jun Hua looked around the place and found Concubine Qi struggling to carry a bucket of water with her thin body.

Jun Hua signaled to Xia and the girl hurriedly came forward to help Concubine Qi. Concubine Qi turned around and hurriedly bowed to Jun Hua.

"Please stand up, my position is not any higher than any of you," Jun Hua said bitterly.

Concubine Qi then stood up. "Is there anything you need Miss Hua?"

"I'm looking for Lin Kang. I heard that he is invited to go to the hunting event next week," Jun Hua answered.

Concubine Qi's expression turned dark. "What inviting, they certainly want to kill him."

Jun Hua's eyebrows rose. What's with this development? She didn't know who Concubine Qi meant by "they", but she could roughly guess that it was probably Chun Maora or her children.

"Can Lin Kang use bow, a dagger or the likes?"

Concubine Qi gritted her teeth then shook her head in response. She looked at Jun Hua and decided to tell the girl her story. "That venomous woman would never let us alone! She never lets Kang'er study anything regarding martial arts. Even the materials for the academy are limited. If it's going to be like this, it won't take long before Kang'er fail and become a useless man!"

From the aggrieved tone of Concubine Qi, Jun Hua knew that Lin Kang was never given the right treatment. Although he was also a son of Lin Tang, Chun Maora must be worried that this child would surpass her own son one day. Because of that, she made things hard for Lin Kang behind Lin Tang.

"Doesn't Lin Tang know? Why don't you tell him about the situation?"

Concubine Qi shook her head helplessly. "When Kang'er was still a child, Chun Maora poisoned him which made his constitution very weak. Lin Tang doesn't want his heir to be a weak one so he doesn't care about Kang'er anymore. All this time I can only endure."

"I see."

Jun Hua clearly saw that Lin Tang was a person who only cared about face more than anything else. He was a high official and his movement must be under watch by a lot of people. If he had any misconduct, it would tarnish his reputation.

He must have detested seeing his own son so weak that never allowed the boy to get out from the residence. Jun Hua thought about it and felt truly detested towards that man who thought of his children as nothing more than tools for his status.