Chapter 252 Heartbroken

Tears fell down the faces of the five silent girls.

Lin Mengya held her brother tightly. She could feel anger burning inside his tense body.

His hands, that had slashed countless enemies, clenched. The crackling sounds of bones told his resentment.

His handsome face turned grave, and his eyes glared fiercely.

“Puff!” He spat out a mouthful of blood, which stained Lin Mengya’s dress with the color of dark flowers.

“No, no! Hold on, brother. Don’t scare me! I kept the secret from you because I fear you would hurt yourself. Sister Yue Ting is gone, but she always cared about you the most.”

Lin Mengya had never been as panic as this moment.

She never knew until the moment that his brother, a carefree man, would love Yue Ting so deeply. The mouthful of blood proved his affection.

“Yue Ting’s memorial tablet should be placed in our ancestral hall. She will be my only wife of a lifetime. When I die, please bury me with her, will you?”

The news almost killed Lin Nansheng’s heart. His ever-shining eyes lost its radiance of wisdom.

With a bumping sound, he collapsed on the seat. The news was just too shocking for him to bear that it broke him despite he had always appeared to be a young hero.

“Brother, don’t give up. Though the second prince is dead, those who framed Sister Yue Ting are not. As for her memorial tablet, I’ve threatened the elders in our family into compromise, the tablet is now in our ancestral hall for worship, and I also buried her in her hometown.”

The Lins were renowned for their skill and bravery in warfare, but hardly for their loyalty.

When Lin Mengya’s mother died of giving birth to her, her father actually tried to accompany her mother to heaven. If not for the sake of her grandparents and her brothers and sisters, who were still young then, her father would have committed suicide. This big man cried three days and three nights and hardly survived the sorrow.

Lin Mengya never thought her father behaved too discouraged at her mother’s death. Heroes should not wallow in personal feelings, but it was because her father was such an affectionate man that he won respect and loyalty widely among the armies.

Gold could not buy loyalty, but kindness does. That was why the army of the Lin family had guarded the peace of the country for decades.

“Who is there?”

In an instant, Lin Nansheng turned into a self-possessed knife from an unrestrained sword.

Lin Mengya did not know whether such a change should be regarded as a good thing, and it worried her.

However, she was left with no choice but to encourage her brother with hatred.

“The Crown Prince… and maybe as well as the empress framed Sister Yue Ting. I killed the second prince of King Ming, though not with my own hands. I also wiped out Princess Ming Yue. Brother, only if we are of one heart could we take revenge for Sister Yue Ting. So, buck up, brother.”

In fact, the Lin family wanted nothing but to save its own skin in this fight for power.

For so many years the Lin family had kept itself away from power struggles. All Lin Mengya’s father and brother wanted was to protect the country and bring people with peace.

However, their wish could not be granted. They had to choose their side in this fight, and they would rather think some other wiser way than standing on the side of the empress and Crown Prince, both of whom were selfish and unscrupulous for their own interest.

“I will.”

Lin Nansheng struggled up as he replied. Baisu quickly pressed several main acupoints of his body.

“Oh no, master. Rage got the better of His Highness, and he is near qi deviation now. I heard that the martial arts the Lins practiced were domineering. Without timely treatment, I’m afraid the qi inside him will disable him.”

Lin Mengya soaked in sweats upon hearing Baisu’s words.

She felt helpless as she was skilled in treating wounds but inexperienced in treating internal injuries.

“Hold on, brother. I’ll get Father here, he will save you!”

She had lost Yue Ting, so she could not bear to lose another family. To her brother, it was even more frustrating to disable him than to kill him.

Just as Lin Mengya opened the door of the carriage, she saw Long Tianyu running to her. She was so anxious that she almost lost her balance. Luckily, Long Tianyu caught her when she was about to fall off.

“Careful, please,” said he.

As he smelled a whiff of blood, he frowned and could not help but worry if she got wounded.

Before he could find out the answer, he heard her crying.

“Long Tianyu, my brother is dying. Could you get my father here for me?”

Long Tianyu was startled for he had never seen her cry so bitterly like this moment before.

Tears washed off her makeup, leaving her pink face messy. It pained him to see her current look, and he realized what she said was serious.

“Relax, tell me what happened to your brother? Maybe I can help.”

The fact that Long Tianyu was a martial expert crossed Lin Mengya’s mind.

She grabbed his hand, saying, “It’s all my fault. I should have been more patient when I told brother the news of Sister Yue Ting’s death. I never thought it would strike him so hard. Baisu said brother is in qi deviation, and he will become disabled without timely treatment.”

Lin Mengya blamed herself harshly, despite that she knew even if she had not spoken out the truth, her brother would know it sooner or later.

By then, would he feel any better than now? She could not tell, and it was also too late to consider the possibilities.

“I see. There is an inn ahead of us not far away. Let’s get there first, and then see if we can get your brother some treatment.”

Carrying Lin Mengya in his arms, Long Tianyu leading his guards escorted the carriage to the inn.

Thanks to Baisu’s quick reaction, Lin Nansheng’s injury was temporarily under control.

Long Tianyu booked all the rooms in the inn and told all the guests not to step out of their rooms. As it was midnight, they did not cause much trouble there.

“I’ll go to check your brother, and you, stay here and take a rest, and the four of you,” he turned to the four maids, “look after your master.”

After that, Lin Mengya was left in the lobby of the inn. Her mind was in such a whirl that she nodded blankly at his words, and her eyes watched Lin Nansheng’s room closely.

What should she do now?

While worrying about Lin Mengya’s safety in the lobby, Long Tianyu went to check Lin Nansheng’s injury.

Actually, if it were the past, he would think the current Lin Nansheng too sentimental. However, now, he got to share his feeling.

If any misfortune were to happen to Lin Mengya, he would… Somehow, he even could not bear to think of such a possibility.

Lin Nansheng had been settled in a room by the guards.

Hardly two hours ago on the feast, he was in such high and vigorous spirits. However, now, he had turned into a numb man.

Eyes fixed on the roof, he looked unresponsive to whatever happened around him.

“Get out, men.”

“Yes.”

All the guards in the room left, leaving Long Tianyu and Lin Nansheng alone.

Long Tianyu took a seat by the table and poured himself a cup of tea, seeming in no hurry to treat Lin Nansheng.

“I could tell you want to die. The veins in your body are not completely out of control. As long as you repair with patience, you will be fine soon. However, you give up all the struggle and watch the qi in your body go wild. So, you don’t want to be saved at all.”

The man lying on the bed made no response.

Long Tianyu sighed and continued, “I know little about the affection between you and Yue Ting, but I do know that, if you die, Mengya will be very sad. I don’t want her to be upset, neither do you, right?”

Lin Nansheng finally made a reaction at the mention of Lin Mengya. He turned his gaze.

“To be honest with you, once you die, your sister will lose her life as well.”

At the words, Lin Nansheng jumped up as if he had heard a curse. He ran up to Long Tianyu and held him by the collar.

His eyes were fierce as he shouted, “What have you damn royal families done to my sister?”

Taking in his reaction, Long Tianyu knew his strategy worked out. A cold smile played at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, the death of Yue Ting ruined her spirit. The doctors said she wouldn’t make it through this winter. If she lose you, she will be killed by sadness before the coming of the new year.”

The indifferent voice sounded as if he did not care about Lin Mengya at all.

Long Tianyu pushed Lin Nansheng, who was in half-disbelief, away gently, and added, “If you don’t believe me, you can check out yourself. She must be groaning in pain covering her chest now. Have you ever thought what will happen to your sister, your family if you die? Your father, Marquis Zhennan, after losing his wife when he was young, now will have to face the pain of losing both his son and daughter at his middle age, by then, how will the Lin family survive?”

Long Tianyu said those words on purpose to provoke Lin Nansheng; he thought it could be effective.

At the point, comforting was useless to Lin Nansheng, so, Long Tianyu might as well awake him with extreme pain so that Lin Nansheng could come to rebirth.

“Shut up!”

Lin Nansheng could not hold back his anger any longer and punched toward Long Tianyu, who snorted and was glad to see the action.

The two did not use any martial skill but fought with bare hands and feet.

The noise they made sounded loud in the quiet inn, and even Lin Mengya in the lobby also levelled her glance to second floor nervously.