Chapter 501

The Villian’s Guess

“Let’s go. Now there’s nothing much to see anymore.”

Zuo Qiuyu got up as he spoke to Lin Mengya with a helpless sigh.

The candidates who qualified for the next round of the competition had been decided. The so-called preliminary round had come to an end at this juncture.

There were altogether more than thirty participants but only five among them got through this preliminary round.

Even Lin Mengya was a little surprised by the percentage of participants being disqualified.

She heard that these thirty participants were picked because they stood out from thousands of people who applied for the competition.

Each of them was a talent who used to be extremely self-confident, but now they met people who were as talented if not even more talented than them. Hou Lingyu and the other four were actually rather pleasantly surprised to eventually emerge victoriously.

“Yes, but this is not the end yet. Cousin Yu, please get someone to protect these five candidates secretly. I can’t help but feel that the four elders are not so easy to deal with.”

In fact, it was not the intention of the elders to conduct this medical skills competition.

It was because the medical competition had been stipulated from long ago.

Since there was going to be a medical skills competition, it should be involved with not only the elders within the Pavilion of Herbs but other well-known physicians.

Moreover, Hou Lingyu was at loggerheads with them.

Even Qian Yuming had to agree to the outcome on the surface. One could tell from here the scheming that went behind was even more sinister.

These five people would become Lin Mengya’s chess pieces to create chaos in the Pavilion of Herbs.

For this reason, she had to protect them carefully in secret.

“Liu Xuan had already sent men to protect them. He is especially concerned about them.”

Zuo Qiuyu’s words somehow made Lin Mengya perplexed.

It seemed to her that Liu Xuan disappeared every two to three days since they arrived at the old capital. However, it was also observed that he had made arrangements for all things and had everything taken care of.

She was afraid that he might be more than a senior provincial office.

“That sounds reassuring. Oh yes, have you released our homer?”

Outside, Nan Rui had almost come to the last part of his speech.

His speech was certainly made up of words fitting of the situation. What followed were simply polite exchanges between the officials.

However, after what had happened, she had become known to everyone.

On such a kind of occasion, it would be wise for her to stay away.

“We released her last night, and she almost injured the guard who kept watch on her, but you can be assured because we’ve not lost her. We’ve merely hidden her.”

The person that they were talking about was none other than Sumei, who had been deliberately ignored by Lin Mengya.

All along the journey, although Lin Mengya had been passing thoughts about letting her get in touch with her outside contacts, Lin Mengya was in control of the frequency and the method by which she could do so.

Now they had arrived at the old capital. She had already kept this homer for such a long time, so it was time to let her go out to fly around for a few rounds.

“Keep a close eye on her. I suppose Hongyu will be arriving within a few days. Let them work on this carefully so that news about Hongyu will not be leaked.”

After they getting up from their seats, Yu An followed Lin Mengya down from the spectator stand.

There was no way Zuo Qiuyu could leave. Not all who came were keeping to the old thinking. Among them, there was no lack of people who stood on neutral grounds, who did not wish to offend either party.

Therefore, now was the best time to lick boots.

The only problem was that it was troublesome to them in her presence.

Once they got into the sedan and as Yu An instructed the coachman to start moving, suddenly a figure appeared in front of the sedan.

“My deep gratitude to Your Highness for your great kindness from a commoner like me, Hou Xiangyu.”

Lin Mengya was sitting in the sedan and was taken by surprise at the voice.

“Mr. Hou, you had qualified for the next round and outdone the rest because of your exquisite medical skills. What has that got to do with me?”

Although Lin Mengya had spoken through the curtain of the sedan and her voice was therefore not loud, it was clear enough for Hou Lingyu’s ears.

At this very moment, everyone was busy establishing connections and nobody noticed them.

Hou Lingyu took note of this and felt more at ease.

With a sincere voice, he said, “Your Highness, you knew from the beginning that I’ve overheard your conversation with Zhu Jiajing. Even so, you’ve sent someone to comfort me, knowing I was in a dilemma. You’ve done so to calm me so I could proceed with the competition. Neither did you blame me. Isn’t this a great kindness from you?”

At this instant, the curtain of the sedan was lifted and a pretty, smiley face looked out from within.

Hou Lingyu had only glanced at her when he was on the stage and thought her to be very beautiful and dignified.

He was surprised to find her even more stunning after taking a closer look at her.

He was a crude man who only knew to handle medicinal herbs every day. Coming face to face with such a beautiful woman had made him blush in that instant.

“It didn’t matter that I bear the guilt. It’s enough that I know myself to be innocent. The injustice suffered by the Hou Family had been much more than what I had to bear today. If you really want to vindicate me, please do all you can to clarify the undeserved wrongs of the Hou Family. By then, the wrong I suffered will naturally be made known to the world. I hope you understand me and if so, there’s nothing more I have to say.”

That little girl was put there by the prior arrangement of Zuo Qiuchen. When Lin Mengya had returned to the spectator stand, she had already given the girl necessary instructions secretly.

If Hou Lingyu showed the slightest sign of wanting to give up the competition, the little girl would go to tell him that she knew from the beginning that he was an eyewitness.

If Hou Lingyu truly wanted to testify for her, he should continue to do well in the competition.

For this reason, Hou Lingyu was eventually able to brace himself and not be distracted by the things concerning Lin Mengya.

“Yes, I understand.”

Seeing that Hou Lingyu had understood her intention, Lin Mengya nodded.

The sedan set out then and gradually disappeared from Hou Lingyu’s line of vision.

Nevertheless, he continued looking in the direction where the sedan disappeared and seemed to sink into deep thoughts.

Back at the Crown Prince’s Manor, the moment Lin Mengya stepped into the courtyard, she saw Ling Ye standing outside the door of her room, looking around with a pale countenance.

“Why are you not in bed when you’ve not recovered from your injuries?”

While Lin Mengya spoke, Yu An quickly held on to Ling Ye to support him as he led Ling Ye into the room.

Perhaps it was because Ling Ye had remained undercover all year round for such a long time that he found it awkward having conversations with people.

Moreover, this was also the first time ever he came face to face with Lin Mengya openly. In the abrupt moment, he could only look down and keep his mouth shut. He was at a loss of words.

“Don’t be overly worried. Cousin Chen is here. He will definitely help us find out about Long Tianyu’s situation secretly. My guess, moreover, is that Long Tianyu is not within the grounds of the Zhu’s mansion.”

Over here, Ling Ye was the only other person apart from her who had come from Dajin.

Lin Mengya and Ling Ye shared their anxieties regarding the disappearance of Long Tianyu.

However, Ling Ye was different from Lin Mengya in that he could not mobilize any power without the prince’s command.

Like a headless chicken, he was at a loss where he could start investigating.

“He wasn’t in the Zhu’s mansion! Could the prince have met with any danger?”

Ling Ye started asking Lin Mengya with urgency in his voice. Finally, Lin Mengya slowly let out a sigh after a moment.

“I suppose it will not happen for the time being. However, there’s something that I’m still unable to figure out. I had thought that they were targeting my identity, so they seized Long Tianyu. However, from my understanding of Long Tianyu’s character, he must have rebelled against such threats and refused to obey them. You said these people were people of the Nation of Lintian. Why would they spend so much effort to capture a prince of the Jin State?”

Ling Ye shook his head. The prince and his princess were the most intelligent people in his perspective.

If even the princess could not understand, he was no doubt even more perplexed.

However, the moment Lin Mengya finished speaking, an idea came to her mind.

That’s right! Why did she not think of this earlier?

It would not benefit the people of the Nation of Lintian much by kidnapping Long Tianyu, but what if these people had colluded with someone from the Jin State?

It ought to be noted that the queen and the Crown Prince were dying to get rid of Long Tianyu.

Moreover, since the emperor of Jin State had almost fully recovered from his illness, he might find out about all the evil deeds of the queen and the Crown Prince.

Then—

“Yu An, help me find out immediately the details of every group of businessmen who entered and exited the old capital in the last few days. No, I have to do this personally so I can feel assured. Oh yes, please contact Xiu and Master Guo. Tell them I have something important which they could help me with!”

Ling Ye insisted on following her. It was only after Lin Mengya used a harsh tone to tell him that he might well create more trouble for her if he died on the way, that he finally reluctantly remained behind in the Crown Prince’s Mansion.

Lin Mengya quickly changed out of the costume and found a plain-looking green dress and put it on herself.

With Yu An leading the way, they headed for the city gate, where streams of people entered and exited from the city.

Given that the large waves of people had already entered the city, only two of the city gates were opened. Lin Mengya instructed Yu An to visit the guards at the city gates with the invitation from Zuo Qiuyun.

One of the city gates was for people to enter while the other was for people to exit.

In reality, although only two gates were opened, the traffic was not affected at all. On the contrary, it was very convenient for everyone, given that everyone was moving in an orderly manner.

Lin Mengya had hidden in the horse carriage, carefully observing the groups of businessmen going in and out of the gates and all the horse carriages.

“Your Highness, do you suspect that they would try to smuggle Prince Yu out of the city?”

Yu An asked in a whisper. Being a sharp person, he was able to tell Lin Mengya’s intention.

Lin Mengya nodded as she continued fixing her gaze on the horse carriages going in and out of the gates.

If it truly was as what she expected, that the Zhu Family had colluded with the queen and the Crown Prince to abduct Long Tianyu, then this would be the best time to smuggle Long Tianyu out of the city when everybody’s attention was on the competition grounds.

What kind of a person was Long Tianyu? He would be great trouble for them even if he had been seized.

If it were her, she would have also chosen this moment to smuggle the captive out of the city.

As the sky was getting darker, the number of people exiting the city increased gradually.

The guards at the gates were rather diplomatic. They ought to have guessed that Lin Mengya was there to look for something.

Therefore, the commoners would exit the city directly without having been checked.

But groups of businessmen who were transporting large items using horse carriages would be stopped for checks at the side.

It was normal to conduct the checks because the city was under strict curfew. Lin Mengya knew that this was the only way not to alert the captors.

Unknowingly, she had been sitting in a daze in the horse carriage for about two hours but there was still no news.

It was Yu An who became anxious as he gazed at the princess sitting in a daze in the horse carriage.

Wittingly, he went over to the stall by the side of the city gates and purchased some delicious snacks and offered them to Lin Mengya with his hands.