Chapter 512 Entering the Pavilion of Herbs

“Prince Shen has arrived…”

“Princess Anle has arrived…”

“Prince Yu has arrived…”

The proclamation of the arrivals had immediately attracted the eyes of most of the people present.

The matter regarding the Zhu Family had once again made them the center of attention.

Now that they had arrived at the Pavilion of Herbs, they quickly attracted all the attention.

All three were outstanding individuals. They were distinguished even among the numerous talents in the Pavilion of Herbs.

Also, there were very women in the Pavilion of Herbs. Apart from the family members of the elders, other people were not allowed to enter the Pavilion of Herbs without permission.

It was only natural that such a delicately pretty Lin Mengya attracted much attention when she appeared.

Because of her fame, the topic of discussion among the people had turned to her instead of the candidates of the competition.

She wondered if this was a good thing.

“Our warmest welcome to Prince Shen, Princess Anle and Prince Yu. I am a Disciple Du Zhong and I’m in charge of serving the three of you. I will be attending to your every need while you are here. Please bear with me if I fall short of your expectations in my service.”

Lin Mengya glanced at Du Zhong, thinking that he sounded too overbearing.

Since he had been appointed and sent to serve the three of them, it had to be the intended arrangement of the elders.

Nevertheless, Du Zhong seemed to be exceptionally polite towards the three of them on the surface.

After all, he knew that each of these three people could not be trifled with.

“Your Highness.”

Lin Mengya could not be bothered about the informer who had been sent to spy on them. She simply turned around and approached Long Tianyu.

Reeking of alcohol in broad daylight, Long Tianyu still stood out among the crowd.

Lin Mengya furrowed her brows and gave him a look of reproach.

“I told you not to drink so much wine. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Long Tianyu’s countenance was pale and his steps were unsteady.

There was a fleeting look in his eyes and his legs appeared to be without any strength.

One look and everyone could tell that he was a drunkard.

While Lin Mengya grumbled on, she looked as if there was nothing she could do.

Finally, it was Yu An, who stood between them and Du Zhong, looking even more stubborn and overbearing than Du Zhong.

“What are you staring at? Haven’t you seen nobles who get drunk? Will you hurry up and bring my master somewhere to take a rest? If you slighted my master, I’ll make sure you get punished by reporting to your master!”

Du Zhong was sturdier than Yu An to start with, but Yu An was after all someone who served in His Majesty’s presence. His mannerism was indeed more formidable when he tried to appear imposing.

Du Zhong quickly led the three in politely.

While Lin Mengya supported Long Tianyu as they walked, she was simultaneously sizing up the Pavilion of Herbs from the corner of her eyes.

The buildings in the Pavilion of Herbs were different in shape compared to other palatial architecture in that they were made up of concentric circles.

The outermost layer was an extensive, spacious courtyard. Those who went around this layer were disciples who were responsible for receiving guests and showing them hospitality.

Lin Mengya supposed this was the outskirt of the Pavilion of Herbs.

When the group of them arrived at the entrance leading into the second layer of inner courtyards, Du Zhong drew out a token of authority.

After comparing it with the guards at the entrance, a three-roof sedan came to stop in front of them.

“Our honorable guests, please board the sedan. The innermost courtyard is still some distance away. Let’s not make you exhausted from the journey.”

As Du Zhong forced a smile, Lin Mengya and the other two could not be bothered about him. They boarded the sedan carried by a few men and headed towards the innermost courtyard.

The second layer appeared to be occupied by disciples new to the pavilion. This layer was apparently much more exquisitely designed than the first.

It was also very quiet and fine because there were much lesser people occupying this space.

Lin Mengya did not see any plants or flowers along the way.

All the empty spaces were covered with herbs such as ginseng and tuber of multiflower knotweed.

This made Lin Mengya want to click her tongue in wonder. Earlier, Zuo Qiuyu managed to cultivate the likes of these herbs in Dajin, where the condition was unsuitable.

It appeared to her that this special method of cultivating these herbs was exclusive to the Nation of Lintian.

While Lin Mengya found this novelty intriguing, there was something she could learn from this. This was the Pavilion of Herbs after all. Naturally, it was able to treat the ginseng and glossy ganoderma as if they were just wayside weeds.

The security was high from the outer courtyard into the inner courtyard.

However, there was no one guarding the passage from the inner courtyard into the innermost courtyard.

Lin Mengya and her companions had entered the third layer of the courtyard and after they turned a corner, they finally arrived at a tasteful and quiet courtyard where the sedan finally come to a stop.

“Our honored guests, this place had been specially prepared by the elders. I will be here to wait on you every morning at 5:45. Please let me know if there’s anything I need to improve and I will make the adjustment accordingly. You must be tired by now. I shall take my leave for now.”

Lin Mengya secretly breathed a sigh of relief after the young men left.

No one dared to make things difficult for them openly. However, in reality, everyone in the Pavilion of Herbs was trying to guard against them.

Although Elder Chang and Hou Lingyu were rather intimate with them, they were after the minority.

They could hardly fend for themselves, save fending for them.

Moreover, they were able to rest their mind in the absence of outsiders at this moment.

“How are you? Are you feeling alright?”

At this moment, Long Tianyu was already drenched in perspiration.

He had overcome the effects of the drugs when it came on this time, relying solely on his willpower.

At this moment, he was merely feeling weak from profuse perspiration.

Lin Mengya quickly instructed Yu An to bring Long Tianyu into the room. While Long Tianyu took a bath and got changed, Lin Mengya and Zuo Qiuyu took this time explore the little courtyard.

When the Pavilion of Herbs was first established, its main purpose was to provide a place for medical research. For this reason, every corner of the pavilion was built with simplicity and functionality in mind.

Its basic framework was still the same as the beginning even though the subsequent generations of people made many alterations to it.

Lin Mengya went one round to inspect the place. She could tell that these men were rather smart in that they did not try to install anything suspicious at their accommodation.

There were altogether three rooms. Naturally, Zuo Qiuyu was to occupy the main hall given that Lin Mengya and Long Tianyu were supposedly husband and wife.

There was a third room which could be used as a living room.

There was also a little stream in the courtyard and the entrance to their courtyard comprised simply weaved branches.

They had been sensible and tactful in providing a place with such a relaxing environment for them.

While they sat down in the living hall, Lin Mengya began drinking the tea which had been prepared for them.

Compared to the tea from outside, the tea prepared in the Pavilion of Herbs had been concocted with herbs that helped strengthen one’s body.

When they drank the tea, it was interesting to note that there was a mix of the fragrance from the tea as well as herbs. In this, they became aware that the people in the Pavilion of Herbs took special care when it came to what they would eat and drink.

In comparison, even Cousin Chen, the emperor, was not as particular as the elders in the Pavilion of Herbs.

What these people were doing was as good as looking for trouble.

“It must have been hard for Long Tianyu to even think of covering up in this way. Does he not regard his image anymore? Why did he obey your instructions so easily?”

In reality, the wine Long Tianyu drunk was one that was carefully concocted by Lin Mengya and Zuo Qiuyu.

Not only was it able to cover up the herbal smell on Long Tianyu’s body, but it was also effective in suppressing the effects of the drug.

The worst thing was that it made Long Tianyu appear weak.

Nevertheless, this would reinforce Long Tianyu’s reputation for being a lover of alcohol.

“He surely understands what is more pressing and more important. Compared to being accused of being a drug addict, it’s much better to be misunderstood as an alcoholic who enjoys good wine. After all, loving alcohol was not considered a vice.”

It ought to be hard on Long Tianyu given that he was given much herbal wine before they even set out.

In order for people not to pick up the herbal smell on his body, Zuo Qiuyu even came out with a mean idea to have Long Tianyu immersed in a mixture of water and wine for a while.

Now that they managed to fool the people, but Long Tianyu almost fainted from the overwhelming smell of alcohol on his body.

“That’s right. I suppose no one would become suspicious now. However, my dear cousin, I’ve a feeling that the Immortal Powder was somehow linked to the Pavilion of Herbs. Are you not afraid that…”

Not only was Zuo Qiuyu worried, in fact, as a physician, Zuo Qiuyu knew how difficult it was to obtain the ingredients of the Immortal Powder.

If they were to look around the entire world, the only person who was likely to possess such skill in making drugs would be someone in the Pavilion of Herbs.

It did not mean it was impossible for any other person to attain such skills, rather there might not be someone so specialized. Both Zuo Qiuyu and Lin Mengya knew very well that they did not possess such capabilities.

Moreover, the old capital was under the jurisdiction of the Pavilion of Herbs, which was why they could afford to use so many costly ingredients and herbs that were hard to come by to concoct the drug.

The Pavilion of Herbs would be taking up space while operating for such a long time if it was not involved in the making of this drug.

“No, I believe they didn’t have the audacity to do such things that exposes their faults. If such news were to leak out, the Pavilion of Herbs would become the first and biggest suspect. They would want to find fault with me like how it was with the matter regarding the Zhus. In the same token, I could also turn around and point my finger at them.”

Strictly speaking, Lin Mengya was indeed the cause of the extermination of the Zhu Family.

She had merely made use of another to do the dirty work. However, who could point the finger at her given that there was no concrete evidence?

What was different for the Pavilion of Herbs was that once the fact that they were making this drug got exposed, not only would Zuo Qiuchen not pardon them, even the commoners would be resentful towards them.

Once they lose the common people’s favor, they would be at the mercy of Zuo Qiuchen.

The higher their status, the more they would be fearful of rumors.

They would surely know better than Lin Mengya with regards to this point.

“That makes sense, but what would you do when you are brewing Long Tianyu’s medicine?”

Zuo Qiuyu could not help but be worried although he had never heard or seen the medicine prescribed by Lin Mengya.

However, even he was able to see the usefulness of this prescription.

What more those few slick people?

“Alright, let’s stick with the original tactic.”

Lin Mengya batted her eyelids at Zuo Qiuyu casually and he immediately got her message.

“You… What were those guys thinking to have let a tricky girl like you in?”

Zuo Qiuyu sighed in resignation. Why was this girl filled with so many twisted ideas in her head?

Just when they finished their conversation, a brand-new Long Tianyu entered the room.

“What are you two talking about that is making you so happy?”

After taking a shower and changing into a new set of clothes, Long Tianyu no longer appeared weak like before.

He had emerged refreshed after being tormented by the effects of the Immortal Powder.

As he walked up to Lin Mengya and sat down beside her, his eyes were filled with tenderness towards her.