Chapter 271 Concubine De’s Plot

“Alright, stop now.”

Lin Mengya had to stop Qinghu from sneering at Long Tianyu. No matter what, Long Tianyu got injured in order to save her.

She would not requite kindness with enmity. She knew Long Tianyu’s suffering. Although they betrayed him, they died in the end. Long Tianyu would not be that indifferent as to ignore their death.

He had a deep love for them, but he always concealed his real feelings inside.

“It’s late. Sleep early. Tell Baizhi to prepare a bowl of sedative soup. I promise what happened tonight, will not happen again.”

Under the light, he had a warm gaze in his eyes. Lin Mengya nodded obediently and did as he said. She went into the inner room.

Obviously, Qinghu and Xiaoyu were supposed to leave as well. The four maids took Snow and the baby tiger into the inner room, and were comforting Lin Mengya.

The two tigers had grown bigger and were now closer than ever to her. Lin Mengya loved them, but she still focused on developing their savage instincts.

Snow and the baby tiger were very smart. They did not bite anyone even when they were outside. They were still the kings of the mountain. It was said that wild cats or dogs around Prince Yu’s Mansion became terror-stricken at the sight of them.

They were given the chance to get close to their master. So both of them immediately wagged their tails, and lay by Lin Mengya’s feet.

“I’m scared to death. Mr. Baili looks kind. How could he have such a cruel heart. If Master was careless enough, he would have achieved his goal.”

Baishao patted her chest as she said this. She was busy with household affairs, so it was inevitable that she had seen Baili Wuchen several times.

In his daily life, Baili Wuchen looked like a gentleman, and there seemed to be nothing wrong with him. But to everyone’s surprise, he was such an ungrateful person.

Baisu was absorbed in thoughts, as if she had come to a conclusion about something.

“No wonder there were several groups of people going to Liuxin Courtyard. They were after Master. It is a good thing that Qinghu and Xiaoyu had tightened the defenses of Liuxin Courtyard, leaving no room for them to break into. Otherwise, Master would have been killed too!”

Lin Mengya broke out in a cold sweat, when she heard Baisu’s words.

She knew Baili Wuchen hated her, but not that much that he would dare to send killers to kill her.

Lots of capable people were already in Sanjue Hall. It was time for them to do something.

Baili Wuchen had run away. No one knew if he was dead or alive. Even though he was still alive, he would also be disabled. It was hard to know what was in his mind. He had served Long Tianyu for so many years and knew a lot of secrets, so the enemies of Long Tianyu would definitely go after him.

A wolf who betrayed its master, would also lose others’ trust. Even though he already betrayed his master, those people would kill him, after making use of him.

Lin Mengya believed that Long Tianyu must have made a good preparation.

The full moon was veiled by dark clouds outside. Lin Mengya let out a sigh silently. It never rained but it poured. It had been one thing after another.

After drinking the sedative soup, Lin Mengya zoned out and fell asleep, with Snow and the baby tiger lying at the door, and protecting her.

Recently, what happened in the past often came to her dreams, for no reason. Perhaps it was because life then was simple and not luxurious, but there were fewer plots and schemes.

Lin Mengya often got up early daily, but this morning, she got up very late.

It seemed that the sedative soup had worked well. But for no reason, Lin Mengya felt low in spirits.

This morning, Baiji told her that everything in the garden had already been cleared. Other people from Prince Yu’s Mansion would not see anything, and even would have no idea what had taken place last night.

“Master, where’s your silver hairpin?”

As Baizhi was helping her to change, she whispered.

“Well, that silver hairpin gave Baili Wuchen a direct hit in the eye. It’s alright, if it has disappeared”

Lin Mengya put on a new dress and as usual, she needed to check on the other houses. New Year was coming, so there were more things to handle in Prince Yu’s Mansion. Even with the help of the four maids, Lin Mengya was still terribly busy.

Until now, she had to admit that Wang Xifeng of A Dream in Red Mansions, was such a genius in management.

But unfortunately, she was much worse than her.

After being busy for the whole morning, Lin Mengya finally had some free time after lunch.

Long Tianyu went out, as usual. The Ministry of Rites had invited him to discuss about the festival.

The Crown Prince hated Long Tianyu. But the Emperor was still ill, and there were still so many things that had to be discussed by those adult princes.

When Lin Mengya was sipping her tea, Lin Zhongyu, unnoticed by anyone, poked his head through the door.

His jade-like face looked very anxious, and his eyes were flickering, different from what he looked like before.

Lin Mengya put down the teacup and waved.

Xiaoyu lowered his head and seemed to be very bashful.

“What’s the matter? Do you have something to tell me?”

Qinghu told her that Xiaoyu made great progress in kung fu. It was not hard to guess that he had built up a solid foundation. Every one of his movements looked steady and secure.

Lots of people came and went to his house daily. But they went about secretly, and did not meet anyone in Prince Yu’s Mansion. Therefore, Long Tianyu chose to turn a blind eye.

“Sister, Uncle Lie wants to see you. He told me that father is not in a good condition now. So I have to return home at once.”

Lin Zhongyu said this in a low voice, with a certain amount of reluctance.

She could see it clearly. This little guy did not want to leave her.

“Good, I want to see him as well. Why not tonight? Tell me, do you really want to leave?”

Lin Mengya agreed to let Xiaoyu go. After all, he was ambitious, and was meant for bigger things. But Xiaoyu was her younger brother, too. If he was unwilling to leave, nobody could force him to go away.

“I…I don’t want to leave sister, but—”

The rest of his words could not be heard, due to his low whisper. Lin Mengya failed to get that, but she saw that he wanted to give it a go.

Lin Zhongyu did have ambitions.

Fine. Since it was so, she had to let him go.

“Tonight, invite Uncle Lie. I’m not against it, and of course I’ll let you do what you want to.”

She needed to figure out who Xiaoyu really was.

Xin Li was still a potential danger to Lin Mengya. She did not believe that such a brutal psycho would spare Xiaoyu so easily.

If Xiaoyu did go back to Lie Yun, there would be lots of dangerous things awaiting him.

“Argh!” She sighed deeply. “Why is it that people around me are always encountering all kinds of difficulties?”

Art Courtyard quieted down. But Lin Mengya still needed to follow the required etiquette.

Early this morning, the silks and pearls she ordered, had been sent to Art Courtyard, for Concubine De to choose first. She wanted everything to be perfect.

But Jiang Ruqin had been imprisoned in the store room for a few days. She cried every day, and even lost her voice. It was not a good solution to keep her out there. She was one of Concubine De’s relatives. Lin Mengya could not make this decision on her own.

Art Courtyard was quiet. Concubine De had been humiliated the last time.

Everyone in Prince Yu’s Mansion knew clearly that the one living in Liuxin Courtyard was the only female master in Prince Yu’s Mansion. Even Prince Yu had moved in with Princess Yu. What a harmonious couple.

Nobody dared show disrespect for Lin Mengya, and she behaved humbly, politely and the four maids were capable, and kept a low profile.

Therefore, she had received so much public praise.

Lin Mengya was sitting inside Art Courtyard and kept quiet. Concubine De looked terrible, as if she had aged.

There appeared to be more fine lines on her fair-skinned face, and she was simply dressed today. Servants said that Concubine De had been chanting scriptures in the Buddha Hall in recent days.

“I know you are here for Ruqin. Your big uncle must have pleaded with you many times.”

Lin Mengya nodded. Concubine De was so irritated that she refused to see anyone from her parents’ home. Therefore, the Jiang family had no one to plead with, but Lin Mengya.

Jiang Ruqin was already the target of public criticism. But she was still a member of the Jiang family. Only the Jiang family was obligated to deal with her.

“Mother, big uncle did plead with me. After all, we’re close kin. So mother, please for big uncle’s sake, spare Ruqin for once.”

Lin Mengya knew clearly that Concubine De would not have punished Jiang Ruqin so harshly at all. It was just an excuse.

Jiang Ruqin’s name had already been ruined. She would not cause any more trouble.

“Even you are here to plead for her. I can see that your uncle is really anxious. Alright, I’ve asked others to examine her. She’s still a virgin. But there’s one thing I don’t understand still. How could she end up in a male prostitute’s bed, since she’s still an unmarried lady?”

Concubine De’s words seemed to have a double meaning.

Lin Mengya laughed grimly in her heart, but still raised her head and gave Concubine De a gentle, light smile.

“Perhaps, there is someone or something, who is helping. We will not know about that.”

Lin Mengya easily put the blame on ghosts. Concubine De hummed, and had to suffer an invisible loss.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll excuse myself. Mother, please take care of yourself.”

Lin Mengya stood up, made her greetings, and left Art Courtyard, with her maids.

Bang! Concubine De threw the Buddha beads onto the ground savagely.

Her eyes darkened and even her face was quivering. Concubine De glared at the departing back of Lin Mengya, and looked as if she was desperate enough to peel off her flesh and eat her up.

A pair of white hands picked up the beads on the ground, cleaned them with her handkerchief, and presented it with both of her hands, back to Concubine De.