Lin Mengwu was just the daughter of a rich man who had been spoilt at home, and she was no match for the Princess Royal.

All the people present were antic.i.p.ating an exciting drama to happen between these two women who were entangled in each other's arms.

"We had heard that the Eighth Princess Royal was a sa.s.sy lady. Today we've witnessed this for ourselves."

"Indeed, I heard that this Eighth Princess Royal is the daughter of the State Patron Yang. Apparently, she had inherited her father's temperament!"

State Patron Yang? Lin Mengya lifted her eyes to the beauty who was riding on Lin Mengwu and slapping this way and that.

The Yang family was the country pioneers. The Old Gentleman had been an official who stayed in power over the past three dynasties.

This princess royal was Old Gentleman Yang's only granddaughter and was coddled and cosseted since young. The family had made an exception to get her a master to teach her martial arts to keep her body healthy and fit.

Because of her special status, both the Crown Prince and the queen had always given in to her in many things. The Eighth Prince mostly likely took her as his wife for protection.

Lin Mengwu was definitely the one to suffer this time.

Although Baishao was a sa.s.sy girl, she was no match for this vice Princess from the Yangs.

Without taking into consideration her status as a vice Princess，she slapped Lin Mengwu left and right for a total of 20 times.

She did not stop scolding all this while.

"Stop being so stubborn with your mouth, just admit that you're at fault! Say it, s.l.u.t! Otherwise, I'll hit you until you say it!"

It was not that Lin Mengwu refused to admit defeat, rather she could not even reason with the vice Princess.

Her face had been swollen due to the blows from the vice Princess, so much so that she could not even open her mouth.

"Would she be beaten to death?"

Baishao secretly tugged at Lin Mengya's sleeves. Although it felt good to see her being beaten up, however there was no way Baishao could be as relaxed as Lin Mengya.

"Don't worry! Look, here comes someone to stop the fight!"

As they were still speaking, a few chief eunuchs arrived at the scene.

They tried all ways and means to persuade the vice Princess to let Li Mengwu off.

It could be deduced that this was not the first time that the vice Princess Yang had done this, otherwise, the eunuchs would not have waited until she had enough of beating up someone before they appeared.

What a ferocious vice Princess. It seemed that the Eighth Prince must be living in dire straits.

"The banquet is ready. Please follow me into the hall."

A few eunuchs came in to direct everyone into the banquet hall.

Lin Mengya followed behind the rest quietly, trying to hide her ident.i.ty.

Some curious ladies had sent their servants to approach Lin Mengya to inquire about whose wife she was, but Lin Mengya simply smiled in response.

The state banquet was to be held at Yuanshan Palace.

Lin Mengya could hear the sound of lute from afar off.

The aroma of the food and wine in the air seemed to intoxicate the guests.

All the princesses and n.o.ble ladies were seated according to their status. Standing by the door, the only person who was not seated yet was Lin Mengya, looking so elegant and mysterious.

"May I know who your husband is, Miss?"

The young eunuch who saw Lin Mengya for the first time did not know what to do as he did not know whose wife this elegant lady could be.

"I am..."

"This is my wife, Lin Mengya."

Before Lin Mengya could finish introducing herself, she was interrupted by a deep, mellow voice. The eunuch looked as if he had been electrocuted as he stared at this lovely princess.

How... how could she be the rumored idiotic princess?

"Why have you come, Your Highness?"

Long Tianhao was dressed in a white robe embroidered with a four-clawed, golden dragon. His hair was tied up on top of his head, where he was wearing an exquisite purplish-golden crown.

His tall and lean figure stood out among the others. He was no less excellent looking than the other royal princes present at the state banquet.

He had quietly drawn all the attention in the banquet hall.

When he saw Lin Mengya standing by the door, he excused himself from the presence of the guest to welcome his beautiful wife.

"Princess Yu is here...."

The eunuchs immediately made the proclamation of Prince Yu's arrival, and all eyes were drawn towards this beautiful couple and exclamation could be heard from all directions.

Under the watchful eyes of all the guests, Long Tianhao held on to Lin Mengya and guided her to their seats.

While Concubine De looked at her son and daughter-in-law with a smile, the ladies around her, who were waiting to mock at them, had opened their mouths with astonishment.

Good heavens! Wasn't it rumored that Concubine De had an idiot daughter-in-law? Who started the rumor?

"The Crown Prince and the Queen have not arrived. You may go sit down at your seat after paying your respects to Mother."

Long Tianhao whispered into Lin Mengya's ears, and this little gesture made the people around them jealous.

Unexpectedly, Prince Yu and his wife loved each other so profoundly. All of a sudden, all the unfounded wild guesses had turned around.

"May the health be with you, Mother and all princesses."

The princesses from the palaces had met her the last time they came into the palace to meet the Emperor, so they knew her.

Having observed how Concubine De was glowing this time and she came back into the palace, all the people around were so envious of her having an excellent son and daughter-in-law.

"Alright, the wait had been hard on you. Take your seat now."

Concubine De nodded and her brows and the corners of her eyes were all smiles.

As she scanned the entire banquet hall, she saw that the banquet hall was filled with the wives of royal princes and n.o.blemen and their daughters.

It was clear that her daughter-in-law was most outstanding of them all.

She was not worried about the future wife of the Crown Prince being more outstanding because that would not happen. She wondered how the Queen was going to take it.

Lin Mengya returned to her seat and Long Tianhao followed behind her, frowning a little.

"What's wrong, Your Highness?"

Lin Mengya asked in a whisper.

"I've just received news that King Ming is planning to choose a wife for his crown prince personally. The Queen had secretly gotten someone to send him a sketch of the candidate. It was said that King Ming was agreeable and was preparing to form an alliance with Dejin through this marriage."

Lin Mengya raised her eyebrows as she tried to digest the piece of information.

If King Ming had chosen this time to form an alliance through marriage, it was mostly likely to secure a place for his crown prince.

"Who is the candidate? Is there a possibility of any more changes?"

If the Queen got what she wanted, the fear was that she would join forces with them.

King Ming from the western foreign was surely not one who would be subordinate himself to someone else.

"Lin Mengwu."

Long Tianhao could not help but feel worried. Although he had married Lin Mengya, the power of the Lins was not going to end up with him alone.

Lin Mengwu, who was also Lin Muzhi's daughter, would have to be taken care of.

Strangely, at the mention of the Lin Mengwu, not only was his wife calm, she even smiled strangely.

"Don't tell me you already thought of a solution to this?"

It's impossible for Lin Mengya to think up a solution within such a short time, even if she was exceptionally intelligent.

"Just wait and see. Lin Mengwu would not become the daughter-in-law of King Ming."

Who would want a daughter-in-law with a swollen face, as a result of being beaten up?

Thankfully, Lin Mengwu had done a suicidal act just before the banquet started, otherwise, Lin Mengya and Long Tianhao would have to wreck their brains to think up a solution.

"What do you have in mind?"

For some unknown reason, Long Tianhao felt a.s.sured when he saw the evil smile on Lin Mengya's face.

It could be because someone usually got into big trouble every time after Lin Mengya smiled in such way.

Lin Mengya smiled but remained silent. If she were to tell him everything, how would it be a surprise?

Guests kept flowing into Yuanshan Palace and more and more people gathered in it.

However, all the people's eyes were on Lin Mengya.

On top of that, because Long Tianhao was by her side wherever she went, many people present started to express their surprise through various exclamations.

Needless to say, Lin Mengya was in high spirits.

She had thought that the Queen and the Crown Prince would purposely make difficulties for her, but it was worthwhile to come here and witness all the dramatic scenes.

"King Ming of the western va.s.sal state and his Crown Prince have arrived..."

The announcement of the King Ming and his Crown Prince's arrival captured the attention of all the guests, so much so that they moved their attention away from Lin Mengya.

Long Tianhao got up from his seat and headed towards the door.

King Ming of the western va.s.sal state was tall and heavy-set. Although he looked a little less refined, there was a certain mature charm about him.

His behaviors characterized the straightforwardness of the people living beyond the borders. His eyes were sharp and intelligent, indicating that he was not a simple person to deal with.

However, when Lin Mengya spotted the two persons trailing behind him, she instantly gasped in shock.

Were these two not...

The one to the left of King Ming was a handsome young man wearing a yellow robe.

There was a serious look on his face as if someone owed him a favor.

The other young man beside him was dressed in black and was wearing a cold smile on his face, and seeing him sent a shudder through Lin Mengya's body.

The man in yellow was the person who took Baizhi's lunch box by force at Wanfo Temple, and the person next to him was none other than the man who had kidnapped her.

These two men were actually the royal family of the western va.s.sal state!

In that instant, Lin Mengya could sense that she had been embroiled into another conspiracy again.

"Prince Yu had been so sensitive to all our needs and preferences. This state banquet is so grand that my princes and I are so pleasantly surprised."

King Ming did not sound arrogant at all.

Such composed opponent was what Prince Yu feared most.

Lin Mengya remained standing by her seat as she stole a glance at those two men and at that instant, their eyes locked.

The beak-nosed man merely gave her a cold smile before he took his eyes off her.

However, the other man who had s.n.a.t.c.hed Baizhi's lunch boxed actually came towards her.

"I didn't expect you to be the Third Sister-in-law whom Qinghan mentioned. My name is Hu Tianbei, the Crown Prince of the western va.s.sal state."

Thereafter, he broke into a smile to review two rows of clean white teeth.

Hu Tianbei? The Crown Prince of the western va.s.sal state?

"Big brother, this is the Princess of Dajin. Are you telling me that you have eyes on her too?"

As he was speaking, a deep voice sounded. Lin Mengya turned to see the beak-nosed man.

"What are you saying, Lunan?"

Hu Lunan? Lin Mengya s.h.i.+fted her vision to rest her eyes on this man who had kidnapped her. He was the prince of the western va.s.sal state!

"However, she is a rose with thorns. If you want to pick, you have to make sure you are up to it."

Lin Mengya's face turned gloomy immediately.

The two brothers were obviously not getting along well with each other, but how could they toy with her reputation?

Before she could open her mouth to rebuke them, a hand wrapped around her shoulder and she was brought into an embrace.

"What's up, you guys?"

Lin Mengya turned to realize that it was Prince Yu, looking warily at the two brothers.

Now that was a get-together.