Chapter 274 The Secret Talk in the Dungeon

The atmosphere had relaxed a great deal perhaps because Lin Mengya had agreed to let Xiaoyu return to Lie Yun.

Xiaoyu stopped brooding and his smiles were longer forced. Lin Mengya breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally made the right decision. What could Lie Yun do after all? Even if Xiaoyu were to meet with any danger, she would go to save him regardless of the distance between them.

“This is a dove that the prince had especially for us. I heard it’s really intelligent. You will bring it back with you to Lie Yun. This way, you’d be able to send me letters no matter where you are.”

Obviously, the maids had never seen such an adorable little thing and they all gathered around its cage.

Although the bird was just a young dove, it was proudly keeping its head high, as if it was looking at the people surrounding it with disdain. Now the lasses’ playful hearts had been stirred, they begged Lin Mengya to let it out of its cage.

“Master! Master! This little thing is so adorable, please let it out of its cage!”

Baizhi, who was still, clapped her hands in excitement as she urged Lin Mengya on.

Lin Mengya smiled and turned to look at Long Tianyu with pleading eyes.

Long Tianyu nodded and opened the small door of the cage immediately.

Goldie spread out its wings and flew into the air directly.

“Peep—” Long Tianyu blew the bird-whistle and Goldie immediately responded by flying back and landing onto Long Tianyu’s outstretched arm.

A robust-looking Goldie was no longer looking like the adorable little creature as when it was kept into the cage. It appeared more aggressive and domineering with those deep brown eyes which scanned the surrounding people cleverly.

Suddenly, two snow-white figures dashed out from behind Lin Mengya. Being unprepared for their abrupt appearing, Lin Mengya almost fell over.

“Snow, baby tiger, what are you doing? This is your new friend, you are not to bite it!”

The nature of the birds and beasts would not change just because Lin Mengya ordered them to do so. Nevertheless, Snow and the baby tiger was merely curious about the arrival of a new friend.

They two animals surrounded Long Tianyu as they cried out and leaped up and down. They widened their eyes and looked at Goldie with great interest.

Now, the Liuxin Courtyard was truly turning into a zoo.

“The little thing looks so alert! Can you give it to me as a gift, Elder Sister?”

Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up as he looked at Lin Mengya expectantly.

“I have meant to give it to you. When you return to Lie Yun later on, Goldie shall be the messenger between us.”

Lin Mengya might have agreed to let Xiaoyu go home, but she really could not bear to see him leave. Nevertheless, she had carefully hidden this melancholic feeling deep in her heart, telling herself that it did not matter where Xiaoyu was as long as he was safe and sound.

After fooling around for some time and the moon had reached the middle of the sky, they started to disperse and went back to their respective rooms to rest.

Eventually, Baisu was the only one left by Lin Mengya’s side to wait on her as she prepared to go to rest.

“You should put down the work now and come over here. Let’s have a good chat.”

Xiaoyu had insisted that Baisu should stay with Lin Mengya. Therefore it seemed that Baisu would have to bid farewell to her family and be separated from them for good.

Despite Baisu’s cool and composed expression, Lin Mengya could tell that she was troubled in her heart.

“Don’t worry about me, Master. My fate had been determined the moment my teacher led me through the gates. I’m willing to even die for Master and Young Master. Moreover, it is much better for me to stay here with Master and my three good sisters, than to return to Lie Yun to lead a life of fighting and killing.”

The coldness on Baisu’s face had finally warmed up by the appearance of a smile. Nevertheless, Lin Mengya could sense that Baisu had forced herself to smile.

Perhaps it was because Xiaoyu was about to go away and everyone was somehow feeling melancholic.

The days went by and it was said that the preparation for Xiaoyu’s departure was almost completed. Long Tianyu had specially made a token for them to pass through the borders. Using the token, Xiaoyu would be able to cross over the border safely even if he were to bump into any officials asking to check his identity.

Also, the preparation for the new year celebration was almost completed. Finally, Lin Mengya had some spare time on her hands. However, there was already a fierce debate going on in the courts regarding the sourcing of a reputable physician to attend to the Emperor’s illness.

Naturally, Long Tianyu had to be involved in this discussion. It had become a norm that he went out early and came back late every day. Lin Mengya, who was not occupied with these matters, was rather idle. The only thing she could do was to concentrate on learning the knowledge of toxicology from Baili Rui.

“Why does it look like your mind is preoccupied with something else today?”

Baili Rui furrowed his brows as he gazed at Lin Mengya, who just ruined an entire pot of poison pills. It hurt him to see all those pills go to waste.

The lass had always been quick-witted and intelligent. Why did she look so absent-minded today? Why did she seem to be deeply troubled?

“I’m sorry, Teacher. I’ve been finding it difficult to quieten my heart lately. I promise I’ll prepare another pot of poison pills for you.”

Recently, Lin Mengya seemed to be fidgety and unsettled. It seemed like some great event was going to happen. She had begun combing through in her head every event that had happened since she came to this ancient world to see if she had left any of them out but to no avail.

The gloom she felt in her heart was affecting her mental state.

“The poison pills were no big deal. What worries me is if there is anything troubling you. Have you met with any difficulties?”

Baili Rui put aside what he was doing. Although he was enthralled with toxicology, Lin Mengya was his only student after all. She usually kept her emotions to herself. There had to be a reason for her looking absent-minded today.

“Teacher, I love to employ unconventional gambit to handle matters and the more that I do it, the more meticulous I am. However, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate. I somehow felt that I’ve left out something. Unfortunately, I’m not always in control of the situation. I’m perturbed as to how I can take control of the situation.”

Baili nodded at his extremely talented student. Not only was she exceptionally beautiful, but she was also meticulous and intelligent. The only concern was that she was still young and her temperament was still indeterminate.

“Silly girl, do you think as a little lady, you’ll be able to control everything in the world? Take for example the herbs in this room. Are you and I able to control when their seeds would grow into a mature plant?”

Lin Mengya glanced at her teacher, and then looked at the numerous herbs in the room. Indeed each species of herb grew at its own rate. What her teacher and she could do was merely to water them and add fertilizers.

She seemed to be enlightened at this moment and her eyes lit up. She seemed to be fully grasped the critical concept.

“Teacher, were you trying to say that the situation and the bigger picture may not always be aligned with my wishes? What I’m going to do is merely adding momentum to what is already happening, and that I only need to turn the direction in which things are moving to align with my wishes at the critical moment. Is that what you mean, Teacher?”

Baili Rui nodded. His student was indeed not stupid.

Lin Mengya finally understood the reason for her lack of concentration recently. She had been holding too many things in her own hands and was unable to let go. The moment things diverted from her plans, she would feel weak and helpless.

To fuel the fire did not require her to be control of the entire situation. What she needed to do was to be like her teacher to propel things in the right direction at the critical moment. That would be sufficient.

“I understand now, Teacher.”

Being an intelligent person, Lin Mengya’s state of mind finally returned to normal and a warm smile appeared on her small face.

Gazing at his student, Baili Rui finally looked at peace and comforted.

If Wuchen was able to grasp concepts as quickly as this lass, he would not have ended up in his current state.

“I’m sorry, Teacher, for hurting Baili Wuchen… please punish me for what I’ve done.”

She owed her teacher an explanation on what happened to Baili Wuchen. Since Teacher had not mentioned this matter, she had been also been keeping quiet about it.

“Sigh… Wuchen had brought this upon himself… there was no way he could blame anyone else.”

Baili Rui sighed and at that instant; he seemed to have aged a great deal. Lin Mengya, whose face was filled with melancholy, was certain that her teacher was very concerned about Baili Wuchen.

“Honestly, if he dies, I wouldn’t be this worried. You may not know that actually Wuchen was a very delicate and meticulous boy since young. It wasn’t really a big deal to rebel against Princess Yu. However, if he were to join the people who are going against Prince Yu, there was no way you and I can stop him,” said Baili Rui and sighed.

This was what Baili Rui was most worried about. Apart from being a scheming person, Wuchen was a good boy. Baili Rui remembered there was once when Baili Wuchen was still young, a boy from his private school commented that he looked like a girl.

For that reason, Baili Wuchen had tried all means and ways to make the boy lose his maleness.

At that time, he was only a twelve-year-old lad.

Now Lin Mengya had destroyed one of his eyes and Long Tianyu had chased him out of the mansion, so, one could imagine how much Baili Wuchen would hate Lin Mengya and Long Tianyu.

“Teacher, please don’t worry about this. I believe Prince Yu had made the necessary preparation. Since he had agreed to let Baili Wuchen go, he must have thought about the consequences and be prepared for what is to come.”

No doubt Lin Mengya was a little worried, just like Baili Rui, she thought that Long Tianyu was not a regular person after all. He would never allow Baili Wuchen to destroy his future.

“No, lass. I know Wuchen very well. He is extremely meticulous and cautious in his plans and he loves to take people by surprise. You had hurt him this time and he will get back at you. Even if he dies, his interlocked stratagems would eventually kill you.”

Baili Rui’s words struck fear in Lin Mengya for a moment.

He was right. If Baili Wuchen could convince Long Tianyu’s intimate guards in to release him from the dungeon, he would definitely be able to carry out the interlocking stratagems directed at Long Tianyu and her.

Moreover, an insane, cruel person like him would be hating her to the bones. It was hard to say if he would not lay his fingers on those around her.

“Thank you for your reminders. Please excuse me for now, I’ve something to attend to!”

Lin Mengya did not waste any time on superfluous words and left through the dungeon gates in a hurry.

In the last few days, Baiji and Baishao had been busying themselves with the matters in the mansion. Although they were accompanied by guards and servants, they were after all commoners.