As she uttered these words, Grandma Lin raised her hand and brought it down sharply. Immediately afterwards, a crisp sound rang out.
"If I had known things would turn out like this today, I shouldn't have shown mercy on you back then. I should have just thrown you into the Beauty Lake and let you become the plaything of those men."
Hearing this, Lin Sun stared wide - eyed, unable to believe what she had just heard.
She seemed to remember something. Her hands clenched into fists, and her eyes turned blood - red. "Grandma, what do you mean by this? Do you know what happened at the Beauty Lake?"
Perhaps she no longer intended to keep it a secret, or perhaps after hiding it for so long, she felt tired and wanted to see Lin Sun's expression of collapse.
Grandma Lin slightly turned her wrist, a hint of mockery on her face.
"Do you think it was just a coincidence that you were staying fine in the mansion one day, but woke up in the Beauty Lake the next?"
Seeing Grandma Lin's calm demeanor, all those shabby and painful memories came rushing back.
The so - called "Beauty Lake" had nothing to do with an actual lake, but was closely related to beautiful women.
It was a place similar to a brothel, but with some differences.
Ordinary brothels allowed any woman to enter, while the women in the Beauty Lake were almost all sent there by noble families. Without exception, they were all the collateral descendants or daughters of concubines in those families. As long as they were not favored, they would be thrown there to entertain all the high - ranking officials and nobles.
Put nicely, they were there for the long - term development of their families. Put bluntly, they were actually there to amuse those high - ranking officials and nobles in order to obtain what their families desired.
Lin Sun, as the eldest daughter of the Lin family, was supposed to be the hope of everyone and should have grown up under everyone's care. And indeed, this was the case.
She had been soaking in the honey - jar made by her elders since childhood and had enjoyed countless favors.
However, such a noble young lady suddenly woke up one day and found herself in a pavilion in the Beauty Lake.
It wouldn't have been so bad on an ordinary day, but that day was her coming - of - age ceremony.
When she woke up, the first thing she did was to try her best to escape. But all the doors and windows were sealed, and no one paid attention to her cries for help.
It was also at that time that she became completely infatuated with Lan Xi.
The young man whom the Lin family had always feared suddenly broke into the room, catching her off guard.
At first, she didn't see clearly and was about to find a suitable weapon to threaten the intruder.
But when she saw his face, she calmed down.
"Master Lan is known as a graceful young man. Why would you come to such a filthy place?"
Unexpectedly, the young man was unhurried. He sat down on the stool outside the screen.
"A person who can't even protect herself soon has no right to criticize me here."
Her embarrassing situation was thus exposed. The young lady got anxious and immediately rushed out from behind the screen, wanting to argue with the young man. In her hurry, she forgot that her clothes were too thin.
Before she could react, she fell into the young man's arms.
The two stared into each other's eyes, and the temperature around them gradually rose. The pink window screens fluttered around them with the gentle breeze, as if indicating something.
In her more than a decade of life, she had never been so embarrassed.
Lin Sun came to her senses, her face flushed red, and she felt at a loss.
She quickly turned around, grabbed an outer robe and put it on. Although it still carried a hint of charm, it was much better than before.
"You! You're just a hooligan."
Lan Xi had never seen someone try to blame the victim first. He blinked his innocent eyes.
"Miss Lin has really been spoiled by her elders. I don't know who taught you this trick of blaming the victim first. It was you who threw yourself into my arms. I, the victim, haven't even said a word."
Seeing that he was taking advantage and still acting innocent, Lin Sun wished she could slap him. At the same time, there was a sound outside the door. Both of them had practiced martial arts and were very sensitive to sounds.
They looked at each other. Although they wanted to fight each other, for now, saving their lives was the most important thing.
They didn't even need to look to know who was outside.
Lin Sun had been drugged when she was brought here and now had no internal strength at all. She could only plead with the man beside her.
"Don't let them touch me. I don't want to lose my virginity here."
Noticing that this strong - willed woman suddenly became like a frightened kitten, Lan Xi frowned slightly. Although he said he was unwilling, his actions were very honest.
He patted the woman's hand reassuringly and then walked to the door with a cold expression.
He yanked the door open. The two figures outside were caught off guard and fell directly into the room.
He looked down at the people on the ground coldly.
"What? When did the Beauty Lake develop such a hobby of eavesdropping? Do you want me to go out and publicize it for you?"
The two stewards didn't expect to be discovered. Seeing that he seemed to be getting angry, the female steward was the first to stand up and act coquettishly.
"Why is my lord so angry? We just came to see if you had any other special needs. Our place is special. As long as you want, there's nothing we can't satisfy you with."
"Do you think I look like a person with such needs, or are you questioning my ability?"
The slightly cold voice came into their ears. Although he was only in his teens, the dignity on him was something no one dared to violate.
"How could I? I definitely wouldn't doubt my lord's ability. It's all my fault. I was reckless. Please forgive me, my lord. We'll leave right away."
The male steward on the ground was in a daze the whole time. He simply followed the other steward out easily, and the two thoughtfully closed the door for them.
Seeing that the crisis was over, Lin Sun let out a long sigh of relief and put on the airs of a young lady.
"I won't hold you accountable for what happened before. Hurry up and take me away."
This made Lan Xi once doubt if he had heard wrong. He raised his eyebrows. "Miss Lin, don't you know that no woman has ever left the Beauty Lake safely?"
"So what if I know? So what if I don't? Anyway, you must take me back. Today is my coming - of - age ceremony. If I don't show up, my elders at home will definitely be worried. By then, the matter between you and me will surely spread, and won't you just be causing trouble for yourself?"
Hearing this, Lan Xi let out a sneer.
Lin Sun thought he was mocking her and felt angry, but she couldn't show it because she still needed this man to get out.
Gritting her teeth, she was already planning how to deal with this man after she got out.