Chapter 179 Nameless Female Corpse

Before they even opened the door, they could smell the vile pungency of blood.

The Crown Prince pushed open the door and stepped inside only to find a dead Miss Wang, with her eyes still opened.

“This— what’s happened?”

The Crown Prince flew into a rage. He had obviously planned everything to perfection. Why had Miss Wang died here?

“Has the skinned corpse been identified?”

Apart from Miss Wang’s body, there was a dark puddle of blood on the floor.

What was most repulsive was that the puddle of blood was mixed with woman’s hair and fragments of skin.

“There is a piece of clothing in this room that did not belong to Miss Wang. After identification by the guards, they concluded that it belonged to Princess Ming Yue of the western vassal state.”

The reply of one of the subordinate guards made the Crown Prince shudder.

There should not be a mistake. The corpse found in the pond was obviously Princess Ming Yue of the western vassal state.

What a ruthless approach from Lin Mengya!

At this moment, Lin Mengya secretly took out a pill of pain killer from the small box she was carrying and popped it in her mouth and swallowed it with wine.

Before they entered the banquet hall, she and Baisu had quickly bandaged up her injured hand using first aid methods.

She did not have much sensation earlier on, but now the pain had begun gnawing at her and she could hardly endure it.

“Master, we should go home now since your injury—”

Baisu was heartbroken to see her master trying hard to endure the pain and her face was drained of colors.

“That won’t do. If we leave now, people would start to suspect us. They don’t have any solid evidence, so at the moment, no one would know that the deaths had to do with us.”

Lin Mengya hid her injured hand in her sleeve and put on an expression of indifference.

Thank goodness that her ligaments and bones were not injured. Otherwise, she would have lost the use of one hand altogether.

Soon, the Crown Prince who had gone away to investigate the matter returned to the main hall of Chun’en hall.

He looked at Lin Mengya and realized that there was completely no sign which indicated that she was involved in the deaths.

“Could she have brought more help?”

“Otherwise, how did Ming Yue and Miss Wang die such dreadful deaths?”

“Unless she is like Ming Yue, who had been hiding her talents all along.”

For the first time, the arrogant Crown Prince started to feel wary of this beautiful lady.

“What happened, my son?”

The Queen had remained in the main hall, which helped keep the atmosphere and the situation in the main hall under control.

The Crown Prince looked awful. The Queen shifted her gaze to Lin Mengya.

At one glance, things appeared unremarkable.

The secret agent whom the Queen planted around the Crown Prince had told her that he was planning to take Lin Mengya’s life.

Therefore, the Queen had secretly helped the Crown Prince along.

However, it seemed that the Crown Prince had not achieved success in his plan.

“Mother, a wretched female corpse was found in the Qingpo Pond in the Imperial Garden. She had been identified as Princess Ming Yue of the western vassal state.”

The Crown Prince’s words instantly stirred up a commotion in the Chun’en Hall.

Nevertheless, Long Tianhao’s eyes remained glued to Lin Mengya.

Ming Yue had been eyeing Lin Mengya for a long time.

For this reason, Long Tianhao had a feeling that his wife was implicated when he heard the Crown Prince said that the dead body was Ming Yue.

However, so what if it was true?

As long as Long Tianhao was there, he would ensure Lin Mengya’s safety.

“What? My Yue’er is dead! Are you serious, the Crown Prince?”

King Ming stared at the Crown Prince in disbelief. Why did Ming Yue die?

The Crown Prince knew he was in deep trouble, that he had to be accountable to King Ming. Unlike Hu Lunan, Ming Yue was the blue-blooded princess.

Moreover, she had died such a cruel and gruesome death.

“We are still at the guessing stage. It was impossible to confirm the identity of the death body since there was not an inch of skin on it.”

A skinned corpse? Now that the rumor had been confirmed, the entire Chun’en Hall was instantly filled with a great commotion.

“Who did it?”

King Ming took in a deep breath as his cold and piercing eyes rested firmly on the Crown Prince.

Although King Ming knew that Ming Yue had collaborated with the Crown Prince, to kill someone who had ceased to be of any value was something the Longs did all the time.

“I’ve not got hold of any concrete information regarding the situation, but I’ve already sent men to investigate. We will know whether it is Princess Ming Yue very shortly.”

The Crown Prince looked awful, but he believed that it was not Lin Mengya who did it.

After pondering over it, the Crown Prince thought that Lin Mengya was after all a lady who was the weaker sex.

Even if her maidservant was skilled in martial arts, she was no match for Ming Yue.

Not to mention that they skinned and therefore killed Ming Yue, they might not even be capable of escaping her clutches.

Nevertheless, who else would hold such strong grudge against Ming Yue?

“Alright, it’ll be good if it was not Ming Yue’s body, but if it turns out to be Ming Yue, the Queen and the Crown Prince would owe me an explanation!”

During this trip to Dajin, King Ming had come in good faith.

Never would he have expected that he would lose a son and his daughter on this trip.

King Ming had displayed his great displeasure, so much so that the Crown Prince and the Queen had to deal with him circumspectly.

“Rest assure, King Ming. If it is really Princess Ming Yue, we will surely be accountable.”

The Crown Prince was left with no other choice but to give King Ming the reassurance first. Once they confirmed it was Princess Ming Yue who had died, King Ming would definitely fly into a violent rage.

The Crown Prince exchanged a look with the Queen, but the look in his eyes was too cryptic.

Even if they were to confirm that the corpse was Ming Yue’s body, they knew not to be direct with it.

At this moment, Lin Mengya was sitting quietly on her seat and appeared to be enjoying the taste of the wine in her mouth.

Getting to the bottom of the matter, the reason for Ming Yue’s death was because Ming Yue and the Crown Prince had underestimated her.

Fortunately, Lin Mengya had never revealed her skill in the use of poison to anyone.

Those who knew about it were people whom she trusted. For this reason, the Crown Prince and Ming Yue simply thought that she was an easy opponent.

This was going to be exciting.

The fact that a skinned corpse had been discovered in the Imperial Garden was shocking.

In an instant, a storm had been stirred up in the Chun’en Hall.

Fear was written all over their faces. Who would dare to do this in the Imperial Palace?

“Princess Yu, Concubine De has asked for you.”

The hearts of the people in the hall was shaken up because of the bloodshed.

Concubine De was uncertain about what she should. The only thing she could do was to gather her son and daughter-in-law under her wings.

“Ya’er, did you bump into anyone when you were outside?”

Concubine De reached out for Lin Menga’s hand and gently led her to the seat beside her.

There was some trepidation in Concubine De. The thought of Lin Mengya having gone out of the hall just now gave Concubine De the chills.

Pondering for a while, Lin Mengya shook her head and replied, saying, “I was just resting in the side chamber. Baisu was with me all the while, and we haven’t seen anyone.”

However, from the corner of her eye, Concubine De noticed Lin Mengya’s hanging arm.

Quietly, she took Lin Mengya’s arm and pulled back her sleeves. A pair of gauze-bandaged hands came into sight.

Concubine De was immediately taken aback by what she discovered and she gave Lin Mengya a perplexed look.

“I see. It’s shocking that such a thing had happened in the palace. There hasn’t been much peace recently.”

Concubine De’s face turned gloomy. The incident of Madame Wang was horrifying enough for her.

Yet another more serious incident befell them. Despite having been through much in life, Concubine De sensed that the bizarre bloodshed which happened one after another was not a good omen.

“Mother is right.”

Lin Mengya and Concubine De kept a low key.

Long Tianhao was the only who had noticed something was amiss with Lin Mengya.

Although Lin Mengya had put on makeup, her face was way too pale.

There were many seated in the hall whose faces had drained of their colors from the shock and fear. However, Lin Mengya was not a timid person like any of them.

What exactly happened?

“I will be accountable to King Ming, whether it was Ming Yue’s body or not. It’s getting late, we should adjourn.”

The Queen obviously had an answer.

Little had she expected that two of King Ming’s children would die at the hands of Lin Mengya.

King Ming would definitely not let Lin Mengya off.

For the first time, the Queen started looking up to Lin Mengya.

She would never have expected that Lin Mengya was capable of such an approach. She had underestimated the daughter of the Lins.

“Mother, we haven’t found out who the murderer is. Don’t you think it a bad idea to let all the guests go?”

The Crown Prince wished he could pinpoint the murderer there and then, but the Queen was more concerned about the bigger picture.

If she were to detain all the kinsman of the royal family in the name of an investigation, she was afraid that there would be rebound and other negative repercussions.

“Not to worry because all the families will be staying a few more days in the capital city. If need be, we can always summon them into the palace for interrogations.”

The majority of the people were agreeable with the Queen’s suggestion.

Helpless, the Crown Prince could only go along with the Queen’s command.

“Concubine De, please stay behind. We, sisters, had not had time for a good chat after so long. Please stay on so we can catch up with each other.”

As the Queen turned her attention to Concubine De abruptly, Lin Mengya’s heart skipped a beat.

What was the Queen thinking by asking Concubine De to stay behind?

“Yes, I will abide by your command.”

There was some reluctance in the look on Concubine De’s face.

The Queen had chased her out of the palace in the first place. Why would the Queen ask her to stay behind now that something had happened?

Instantly, conspiracy theories started forming in the minds of some quick-witted guests.

Could this entire episode be related to Concubine De?

“Ya’er, you may go back with Yu’er first. I’m going to have a chat with the Queen and will go home on my own,” said Concubine De.

She patted lightly on her daughter-in-law’s hand as an indication that Lin Mengya should not be worried.

Long Tianhao strode over to Lin Mengya and nodded at his mother.

Long Tianhao was certain that the Queen was up to something no good. However, the Queen would not dare to lay a finger on his mother without his permission.

Finally, Lin Mengya followed Long Tianhao out of Chun’en Hall, turning a few times to check on Concubine De.

The majority of the guests left in haste in an anxious manner.

The same went with Lin Mengya, who seemed to be deeply troubled.

The eunuchs led the distinguished guests to sit on sedans which carried them to the entrance of the palace.

When Lin Mengya finally boarded their own horse carriage, her heart was weighed down with anxiety.

Could the Queen and the Crown Prince be suspecting her by now?

Had they detained Concubine De so they could force a confession out of Lin Mengya?

If that was the case, the two of them were utterly foolish.

Just as Lin Mengya was lost in her raging thoughts, somebody lifted the curtain of the horse carriage.