After refusing marriage, she was pampered by the prince who acted as a shield.

Chapter 29: Past Humiliations

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Si Yu quickly pushed Lin Rusi's hand away and sat up abruptly.

She held Lin Rusi's hand tenderly, rubbing it as she complained, "You're my precious daughter, so delicate, how can you do the work of a servant?"

Lin Rusi squeezed Si Yu's shoulders again and said softly with a smile, "Massaging my mother's shoulders is simply a daughter's duty."

"This is the filial duty that a daughter should fulfill."

After Lin Rusi said that, Si Yu felt a little embarrassed.

She blushed and coughed lightly twice, "You're becoming more and more obedient and sensible."

Si Yu stopped resisting and completely relaxed, letting Lin Rusi massage her shoulders.

To be honest, Lin Rusi's sculpting was much more comfortable than that of the servants.

Seeing that Si Yu's expression had softened, Lin Rusi whispered in her ear, "Mother, please let me go to the slave trader to buy people myself, okay?"

Si Yu frowned. "You brat, no wonder you were so eager to massage my shoulders, so that's what you were planning."

She pouted, looking dissatisfied.

Lin Rusi quickly said kindly, "Oh dear, I was just doing it from the bottom of my heart to massage my mother's shoulders."

"Begging my mother is another matter."

She pleaded with Si Yu again in a coquettish voice.

Unable to resist Lin Rusi's persistent pleading, Si Yu reluctantly agreed.

However, she still complained, "What kind of good girls can you buy from human traffickers?"

"You don't want what I carefully selected for you, and insist on buying it from a human trafficker. Isn't that redundant?"

Lin Rusi pulled Si Yu and started to whine, "It's not that I don't like it."

"Mother is the best. Consider this a promise."

Si Yu pinched Lin Rusi's cheekily, "This little girl is getting better and better at acting cute."

"Fine, fine, I can't do anything with you, so I'll do as you say."

Si Yu affectionately rubbed Lin Rusi's face and sighed.

It's baffling what Lin Rusi has done to change so drastically in such a short time.

Lin Rusi continued to massage Si Yu's shoulders with a bright smile, being very attentive.

“Mother, don’t forget Lin Ruqin either. Try not to make things difficult for her.”

Si Yu's face visibly darkened.

She looked at Lin Rusi suspiciously, first pinching her cheek, then approaching to examine her more closely.

Lin Rusi blinked, looking at Si Yu with a puzzled expression.

"Mother, is there something on my face?"

A hint of suspicion flashed in Si Yu's eyes. "I suspect you're possessed."

"No."

"Why did you help Lin Ruqin so many times if you weren't there?"

Anger flared in Si Yu's eyes, and she was even more furious at Lin Rusi for her lack of ambition.

"I thought you were joking when you told me not to target her, but I never imagined you were serious!"

Recalling the past, Si Yu felt a surge of resentment in her chest.

If she doesn't vent, she'll suffocate.

There was a reason why she repeatedly humiliated Lin Ruqin.

When the First Madam was still alive, she and Lin Ruqin did a lot of things to target her and Lin Rusi.

Even when Lin Rusi caught a cold, they didn't see a doctor and just let her tough it out.

Even when Si Yu knelt down and begged the First Madam, the First Madam didn't take it seriously.

Lin Ruqin was young at the time and cursed Lin Rusi, saying she deserved to die.

With nowhere else to turn, Si Yu went to the temple every day to pray for blessings, hoping that the gods would take care of the dying Lin Rusi.

It was only because the abbot of the temple took pity on the mother and daughter that he helped them find a doctor; otherwise, Lin Rusi wouldn't be alive today.

At that time, Si Yu vowed to avenge the humiliation she had suffered.

Unexpectedly, fate intervened and the First Madam died, while she, favored by the Master, became the new Madam of the Lin family.

It was at this time that Si Yu began to find ways to bully Lin Ruqin, attempting to repay Lin Ruqin for all the suffering she had endured under the First Madam.

However, Si Yu still left room for maneuver.

Sometimes, seeing how pitifully Lin Ruqin was bullied, she would instruct her subordinates to go easy on her.

As time went by, Lin Ruqin grew up, and her features and personality were exactly like those of the First Madam.

This made Si Yu increasingly intolerant of her, and she went to great lengths to have the servants bully her.

While it's not necessary to torture Lin Ruqin to death, it's also unacceptable to make her life in the Lin family mansion easy, just like Si Yu and Lin Rusi did back then.

Moreover, the suffering Lin Ruqin is experiencing now is not even one ten-thousandth of the abuse her mother inflicted on Si Yu and Lin Rusi when she was alive.

But Lin Rusi was bewitched, and from initially bullying Lin Ruqin, she started to find ways to stand up for her.

Si Yu couldn't understand it at all.

"Rusi, have you forgotten how Lin Ruqin and her deceased mother treated us, mother and son?"

Si Yu's eyes were red, and tears were hanging at the corners of her eyes, making her look like she was about to cry.

Looking back, she can't even imagine how she got through that time.

Lin Rusi quickly hugged Si Yu, "Mother, those are things of the past."

"The First Madam has been gone for so long..."

Si Yu buried herself in Lin Rusi's arms, tears streaming down her face like pearls from a broken string.

I wish I could cry out all the grievances I had from years ago.

"So what if it's all in the past? Lin Ruqin is still alive!"

"She and her mother are exactly alike, they were cut from the same mold."

"Rusi, don't be fooled by Lin Ruqin's pitiful appearance. That slut is just like her mother. She looks weak on the surface but is actually very cunning."

If it weren't for the master's protection, Si Yu would have been tortured to death by the first wife when she was pregnant with Lin Ru Si.

Listening to Si Yu's sobs, Lin Rusi sighed inwardly, feeling deeply saddened.

Si Yu despised what the First Madam did, but isn't what she's doing now just a copy of what the First Madam did?

Moreover, Lin Ruqin was young at the time, so what could she possibly understand?

There's no need to pass on the grudges of the previous generation to them.

Si Yu knew that Lin Rusi couldn't understand her, and she didn't expect her to fully understand.

"Rusi, you were young back then, so you don't remember many things."

"I won't say anything if you're understanding of Lin Ruqin, but you must never let your guard down around her."

Lin Rusi gently patted Si Yu's back, knowing that she was suffering inside.

She herself knows how much hardship she endured on her journey from a concubine to the mistress of the house.

"Mother, you've worked so hard all these years."

Lin Rusi didn't know how to evaluate it; she felt a mix of emotions and a very uncomfortable feeling.

After leaving the Peony Pavilion, Lin Rusi slowly walked towards the Star-Picking Pavilion.

She pondered all the way, realizing that the current situation was better than in her previous life, but more complicated.

If things continue this way, it will be very difficult to change one's fate.

The root of all these problems lies with Lin Ruqin.

Lin Rusi sighed deeply.

To resolve all the problems from the previous life, one must start with Lin Ruqin.

Once the root of all problems, Lin Ruqin, is addressed, all difficulties can be easily resolved.