Chapter 253 Regaining Fighting Spirit

Lin Mengya stood up immediately. Goodness, how did the two get into a fight?

“Go quickly to take a look at what is happening. Why did Elder Brother and the Prince start fighting? Long Tianyu, my brother had sustained an injury on his body! I’ll not let you off if you dare hurt him!”

Lin Mengya’s shouts, which went up to the second floor, shook Long Tianyu, and he immediately let go of his grip on Lin Nansheng.

“Pant… pant… You are so submissive! You’ve let go of me when my little sister asked you to!”

At this moment, Lin Nansheng was sitting on the floor and panting heavily as he spoke.

After all the intense wrestling, the Qi inside Lin Nansheng, which was dashing all over the place, was gradually settling down.

“I… just didn’t want her illness to get worse,” said Long Tianyu absent-mindedly.

He had even slightly surprised himself this time. He had let go of his grip the moment Lin Mengya’s voice was heard. There was no hesitation whatsoever. He could not recall the moment he started doing away with rebutting and defending himself.

Sitting on the floor, Lin Nansheng tried to quieten his breathing and finally he calmed down.

His beloved had passed on. What use was it even if he leaped to his death? He had not taken revenge for Yue Ting, and now what about his sister’s health condition? Lin Nansheng looked to Long Tianyu, who told him a moment ago that his sister’s heart and arteries were damaged.

What exactly happened?

“What exactly happened to my younger sister?”

Long Tianyu paused for a moment and said, “When Miss Yue passed away, she was too devastated and traumatized, so much so that her heart and arteries were damaged to the extent that she almost lost her life. It took a long time to nurse her back to health. Nevertheless, she feels unwell occasionally when she gets too exhausted.”

This was Long Tianyu’s greatest concern. The imperial physician had told him that Lin Mengya needed to avoid getting too tired and overly laden with grief, which were the two greatest taboos for her condition.

If Long Tianyu failed to preserve Lin Nansheng’s life, he could not imagine how heartbroken Lin Mengya would be.

“It’s all my fault. If I had been more decisive to bring Little Sister with me and to marry Yue Ting earlier, all of this would not have happened. Ya’er must have blamed herself for not protecting Yue Ting. What a silly girl! How would I even blame her?”

A helpless, bitter smile appeared on his lips.

It was not because he did not fancy Yue Ting at that time, rather, he thought that he had to be even more successful before he was qualified to marry such an excellent girl.

He wanted her to become the most blessed bride ever. Sadly, his waiting and delay had resulted in their eternal separation.

Long Tianyu was perplexed as to why the Lins never point their finger at each other when something went wrong.

He remembered that when he was young, he and the other princes grew up together in the same place.

If something went wrong, they would be blaming each other. Of course, they would all be rebuked and punished by their Emperor father and their teacher.

What was different about the Lins was that when something went wrong, each member of the family would first reflect upon their own shortcomings. This had to be one of the reasons why the Lin family continued to flourish and remained strong!

“Since you’re all right now, please stay home to recuperate. Someone in the palace had seen you and Qin Mo sneaking into Zhaohe Palace, however, not to worry. I have gotten rid of these people for you. Regardless of what happened, Mengya and I ought to thank you.”

Long Tianyu tidied up his clothes calmly. If not for his attention to details, Lin Nansheng and Qin Mo would have gotten into some trouble.

Long Tianyu opened the room door, leaving Lin Nansheng alone in the room in the inn, and descended the stairs.

What Lin Nansheng needed most at this moment was to have time alone to think things over.

“How? Did you get hurt?”

Once at the bottom of the stairs, Lin Mengya went up to him. Her small face was a little pale. The commotion upstairs between him and Lin Nansheng ought to have frightened her.

“I’m all right, so is your elder brother. Just now… just now I was trying to treat his wound.”

Who would believe that they were merely treating a wound by looking at the slightly swollen bruise at the corner of Long Tianyu’s mouth?

“Oh you, what’s so difficult about giving in a little to my brother? He’s a patient now, and it’s not surprising that he does something irrational. Couldn’t you just bear with him a little?”

At her half-annoyed, half-pleading voice, Long Tianyu no longer remembered when his heart always got melted into a puddle by her tender voice.

“All right.”

Although it was a simple answer, it encompassed Long Tianyu’s indulgence in her, which he himself was unaware of.

As Lin Mengya saw Long Tianyu’s once-cold eyes, she was not used to them being not cold and indifferent, and she quickly lowered her gaze to look at the hem of her dress.

“Is my brother all right now? I shall go upstairs to check on him. Oh yes, Your Highness, do you by any chance, know the King of Chongshan and the King of Lishan well?”

Lin Mengya had some thoughts and plans of her own. If she wanted to enter the palace, it would be much easier with the help of these two princes.

The Queen may be very powerful, but she bore a different surname. It would be more effective if Lin Mengya approached the royal elders and relatives for help.

“They… I’m not especially familiar with them. I heard that they used to be on rather good terms with my Emperor father. However, they retreated to feudal fiefdom under their jurisdiction. If there was nothing special going on, they would not enter the palace. Nevertheless, Father trusted them very much. The Queen would not dare to hide the truth from the masses in their presence.”

Lin Mengya nodded in understanding.

The two senior princes were indeed men of wisdom. If they remained in the capital city after the Emperor ascended the throne, they might be accused of outshining the Emperor. By retreating out of the limelight, not only would they be able to preserve their brotherly relationship, but they also would maintain the trust of the Emperor.

What they did was not something everyone could think of and carry out.

“In that case, I understand. However, the two senior princes have done me a great favor at the Imperial Ancestral Temple today during the banquet, therefore I would like Your Highness to help me choose some gifts to be presented to them. First, it is to show my gratitude toward them. Second, the shock that I went through just now is making me feel unwell. I wonder if Your Highness would help me fulfill my wishes?”

Fixing his eyes on Lin Mengya, Long Tianyu’s heart was increasingly affectionate toward her.

At the banquet, he was the one who enjoyed the limelight. He was aware that even at this moment, Lin Mengya was wracking her brains to think of ways to help him.

In reality, he wished to rope in the help of the two senior princes. Unfortunately, he had not come across any suitable opportunity and had to put this aside for now.

Never did he expect that Lin Mengya would risk her life in exchange for an opportunity to get acquainted with the two senior princes. Even his mother might not be as attentive and considerate.

“Why? Is it inconvenient for you, Your Highness?”

Lin Mengya did not think too much into it. She still owed an explanation to her father concerning her elder brother. Moreover, Father had already heard some news regarding the Yue family.

It was not until today that she realized that the woman in her own family was the most cunning fox.

What happened this time allowed her to fully understand that she still had a long way to go if she wanted to be in full control of the situation.

“No problem. I will go personally to the mansions of the two royal uncles to thank them. Your brother should have calmed down by now. I will leave Lin Kui here so he can escort you back to Marquis Zhennan’s Mansion tonight if you decide to go back.”

Lin Mengya nodded as she gave Long Tianyu a smile filled with gratitude.

She was indeed planning to go to the Lin’s Mansion tonight although it would not look sensible. However, things would be different if Lin Kui were to escort her.

When she went up to the second floor and opened the door to the room, what came into sight was a room in total disarray.

It appeared that Long Tianyu and her brother had had a pretty violent fight.

She lifted the hem of her dress as she circumvented the mess on the floor. As expected, her brother was seated on the floor not far away, in a daze.

Not long ago, Lin Nansheng had seemed so dejected that he seemed to have lost all will to live, but he seemed to have been revived even though he still gave out a somewhat sorrowful vibe. Perhaps this was the resilience unique to the Lin family.

Didn’t she also barge into the old house of the Lins, when she was devastated, to fight for Elder Sister Yue Ting’s honor after her death?

The Lins did not forget the pain after it healed. On the other hand, they understood that there were more important matters to attend to while they still had a chance at life. Wallowing in the sadness and sorrow of the past was what a coward would do.

“Come over, Ya’er.”

Lin Nansheng, who was sitting on the floor, reached out his arms and put them around Lin Mengya’s slender body.

“I’m sorry. What was initially my responsibility fell onto your shoulders so much that you had to bear much suffering. I’m sorry, Ya’er.”

Hot tears seared Lin Mengya’s skin. Between the siblings, excessive words were no longer necessary.

Just like when they were young, Lin Mengya patted her brother’s shoulder lightly and comforted him with a gentle voice, saying, “It’s all right. This will pass too. Everything will turn out well, it will.”

The brother and sister pair, escorted by Lin Kui, finally returned to Marquis Zhennan’s Mansion. At the gates, Lin Muzhi’s deputy general had been waiting quietly for them, having guessed that they would return together.

“Young Master and Young Mistress, the general has been waiting for the two of you in the study.”

The brother and sister pair exchanged looks, then walked into the study of the Lin’s Mansion.

The yellow light from the burning candle had chased away the darkness in the study.

Lin Muzhi, who was sitting behind the table and holding onto a war tactic book, apparently looked at peace. However, in reality, he had been reading the same page for about two hours.

“Father.” Lin Mengya’s voice echoed in the study.

The man sitting behind the desk lifted his head. It was only after he saw that both Lin Nansheng and Lin Mengya were safe and sound that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“So you’re back. Please take a seat. As your father, I have some things to discuss with you.”

Lin Muzhi finally breathed another sigh after his two children sat down obediently before him. In his heart, he was calling out to his wife and telling her that their pair of children had grown into adulthood and were very successful. However, he was not sure if this was a blessing or a curse.

“Father, I—”

Once Lin Nansheng took a seat, he began to explain to Lin Muzhi what happened. However, with a wave of his hand, Lin Muzhi interrupted what he wanted to say.