Chapter 488: Speculation

Chapter 488: Chapter 488: Speculation

Gu Xingyang also fell silent. It wasn’t entirely impossible.

Throughout thousands of years of history, countless people with extraordinary talents had emerged. Those who left their mark were only the ones who had a reason to stand out—who knew how many more remained hidden from the world?

Bai Suihe sighed. "If she really has that level of scheming, we wouldn’t survive a single episode against her."

She was just lucky enough to live two more lifetimes than an ordinary person, but that didn’t mean her intellect or knowledge had doubled. It seemed she needed to be even more cautious with her words and actions from now on.

"Mother," Gu Xingyang said, waving her little hands in an attempt to comfort Bai Suihe. Unfortunately, they were a bit too far apart for her to reach. "Maybe we’re just overthinking it, and all of this is just a coincidence."

Even so, a seed of doubt had been planted in both of their hearts. If Mrs. Lin was truly as weak and helpless as she initially appeared, how could she undergo such a drastic transformation in such a short amount of time?

"Mother, now that I think about it, we actually missed a huge, crucial detail," Gu Xingyang said. She knew that pointing this out now made it seem like her hindsight was 20/20, but her mother wasn’t an outsider. "Looking at Lin Dali, he definitely doesn’t seem like the type to stay faithful to one woman for so many years. The fact that Mrs. Lin managed to keep him in check shows that she has some serious methods.

"Besides, didn’t we hear on the road that Lin Dali used to be just a minor landlord? His wealth was slowly accumulated later on. Furthermore, with Mrs. Lin bringing several children into the city, how could she possibly leave all of their family assets in Lin Dali’s hands?"

Bai Suihe’s eyes instantly lit up with realization. She wondered if she were in that position, would she really just take a few children on a trip and leave a massive family fortune entirely in a man’s hands? Gu Kaiyuan was currently acting like an exemplary husband, but even Bai Suihe admitted she wouldn’t go that far. If something unexpected happened, Mrs. Lin would essentially be kicked out with nothing.

"I’m afraid Mrs. Lin had her guard up against Lin Dali a long time ago. After all, they share the same bed, and she gave birth to so many of his children. How could she not have figured him out?

"I suspect that aside from those two manors, Mrs. Lin took all the other assets of the Lin Family with her.

"Some people just prefer to keep a low profile and don’t like buying up real estate. That would explain everything."

"But why did she do it?" Gu Xingyang asked. "They’ve been married for so many years. If she could keep him in check, why not just do it for the rest of her life? At least that way, the family would look perfect to outsiders."

Bai Suihe didn’t feel the need to hide certain adult topics from Gu Xingyang anymore. After a moment of thought, she shared her perspective. "Perhaps Mrs. Lin didn’t have a choice when she got married back then, so she chose to mold her husband into what she wanted.

"Under her guidance, Lin Dali indeed turned out decently for a while. But ultimately, Mrs. Lin is only human. She’s bound to get tired eventually.

"Faced with a husband who simply couldn’t stay faithful no matter how much he was trained, her options were either to become a widow or to just let go completely."

"Becoming a widow sounds much better," Gu Xingyang blurted out. "Isn’t it just disgusting to keep someone like that around?"

"Things are different here compared to the modern era," Bai Suihe explained. "Mrs. Lin probably didn’t want to dirty her own hands, but an even bigger reason was likely for her children. Her eldest son is taking the imperial examinations this year. If she became a widow now, her son would have to observe a mourning period, not to mention how it would affect her daughter’s marriage prospects..."

If a woman truly couldn’t let go, she would never step aside to fulfill her partner’s desires. Lin Dali likely never realized that while he currently had a beauty in his arms, he had also completely lost his most important family members.

"Mother, are you angry?"

Bai Suihe was a bit confused. "Why on earth would I be angry?"

"Because Mrs. Lin tricked everyone."

"That’s nothing to be upset over. Besides, all of this is just our speculation.

"And so what if she tricked everyone? Did she harm us in any way?"

Gu Xingyang shook her head. "I suppose not. She even treated us to a good show. It’s just that the road trip was a bit bumpy, so I didn’t sleep well."

Bai Suihe exasperatedly grabbed her wildly waving hands. "You’re the only one who believes that. We all saw you sleeping like a log!

"So, in reality, we should be thanking Mrs. Lin. At the very least, she taught us all a valuable lesson."

What woman would willingly tear open her own scars? If Widow Ma hadn’t been so relentlessly aggressive, Mrs. Lin probably wouldn’t have even bothered to deal with her. Executing this scheme likely eradicated any future troubles and permanently drove a wedge between Lin Dali and his sons. Thinking deeply about it, Bai Suihe felt a twinge of pity. If Mrs. Lin truly possessed such masterful tactics, it was a profound shame that she was restricted by her gender.

She had originally planned to prepare a gift and pay a formal visit, but she immediately dismissed the idea. Bai Suihe absolutely did not want to let slip some tiny detail that Mrs. Lin might catch onto. She had zero confidence in going up against someone of that caliber.

Lying limply next to Gu Xingyang, Bai Suihe murmured, "We definitely need to be much more careful and cautious with our actions from now on."

They wouldn’t always be lucky enough to figure things out in hindsight. One misstep, and they might not even know how they died.

Gu Xingyang blinked. "Father and Mother are already cautious enough."

During their journey in exile, they had been terrified of drawing the attention of the guards monitoring them. There had been several times when they wanted to teach a few members of the Gu Family a harsh lesson, but they had forced themselves to endure it. Bai Suihe had even been afraid that others would notice the changes in her, so she tried her best to hide inside the carriage, refusing to show her face to the Gu Family.

It was only after arriving in Lingnan and completely separating from the Gu Family that she slowly began to show her true colors.

If Bai Suihe had previously harbored any subtle sense of superiority—born from being a transmigrator with a magical spatial dimension at her disposal—it completely vanished at this very moment. She knew that if anyone ever found out about her secrets, or even suspected that something was different about her, what awaited them would be an absolute catastrophe.

When Gu Kaiyuan returned, he saw his chubby daughter soundly asleep, while Bai Suihe lay with her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.

"Why aren’t you resting yet?" Gu Kaiyuan asked with concern. If Bai Suihe was still awake at this hour, something was definitely weighing on her mind.

Bai Suihe didn’t hide anything and shared her earlier speculations. After all, their fates were tied together now; there was no need for secrets.

"What you’re saying is actually quite possible," Gu Kaiyuan said, stroking his chin. "But that doesn’t have much to do with us. No matter how clever Mrs. Lin is, she just wants to live her own life well.

"People who are smart like that usually don’t have grand ambitions, nor do they meddle in other people’s business.

"Not to mention, our two families aren’t even familiar with each other yet. From now on, we can just interact with them normally."

Gu Kaiyuan felt that none of this was a major issue. There were plenty of smart people in the world; could they really guard against all of them?

It was as if the clouds had parted for Bai Suihe, and she instantly figured it out. He was right. Even if Mrs. Lin was a genius, it had very little to do with them. At worst, she just needed to be a bit more mindful when interacting with her in the future.

"However, you do have a point. We still need to be cautious where it counts. Try to avoid using things from the spatial dimension from now on," Gu Kaiyuan cautioned after a moment of thought. "Even if we have to use it, we must be extra careful."

Bai Suihe knew he was referring to the modern medicine stored inside. In truth, she was also afraid that her own soft-heartedness might give them away.