Chapter 454 Hongyu Bade Her Farewell
Nevertheless, there were bound to be this small group of people in the world who had the misconception that they were destiny’s favorite, that they played the leading role in the world.
Such actors playing the supporting role who tampered with the program would eventually be completely destroyed to pieces by destiny.
“What do you intend to do?”
This was getting interesting. Even Zuo Qiuchen, who had been raised deep in the palace was getting all excited by it.
Or it could because it was in the blood of the Zuos to be always fidgety and discontented with the situation they were in.
“Not much. I only have to spread this rumor and naturally, someone would not be able to hold it in.”
Lin Mengya stood by the window and looked out.
It appeared that there would not be good weather in the coming days. It was hard to predict the weather from the occasionally cloudy sky.
“That’s good too. I know what to do now.”
Zuo Qiuchen left with a bizarre smile on his face while Lin Mengya gazed at the sky and the corner of her lips also curled up in a smile.
“Long Tianyu, I think it might rain tomorrow,” Lin Mengya blurted out a statement that did not make much sense.
Long Tianyu frowned gently, but the frown disappeared as quickly as it came.
“With me by your side, you wouldn’t get wet even if it rained.”
Long Tianyu was standing right behind Lin Mengya, looking at her slender figure and a strong desire to protect rose in his heart.
Instinctively, he reached out both his arms and encircled her slender figure.
Lin Mengya did not try to resist him. She simply leaned back into Long Tianyu’s arms so naturally.
Perhaps even they did not realize that their relationship had grown much more intimate over this period of time.
Physical interactions such as this had never been something they would do in the past, but now, it had become so natural.
Although Lin Mengya was still a little bothered by such intimacy.
It was just too bad that she was an injured person at this moment.
For this reason, she was happy to be taken care of by Long Tianyu.
“Ahem, ahem, Hongyu says she wants to bid farewell to you. Will you see her?”
It was Baishao who was at the door. She almost did not know where to look.
However, she was secretly delighted to see her master and the princess being so intimate. They were indeed well suited for each other. She did not understand why they had never… even though they were rightfully husband and wife.
It seemed that things were working out between them this time.
“Alright, let her come in. Also, prepare some silver to give to her.”
Lin Mengya struggled to break free from Long Tianyu’s embrace, but to no avail.
Left with no other choice, she remained in Long Tianyu’s arms and tried not to think about how embarra.s.sing it was.
“Please come in.”
Hongyu was standing by the door, feeling jittery.
Whatever happened with Sumei was a foregone conclusion. If she remained here shamelessly, she would add to her embarra.s.sment.
While she felt she had let Lin Mengya down, she still insisted on seeing Lin Mengya for the last time before she left.
She had no other reason to be here except to beg Princess Anle to grant Sumei a way out.
One could say that she was being selfish. All she cared about was her younger sister.
However, only she understood the immense pain and helplessness behind this selfishness of hers.
This was the first time Hongyu, who was trailing behind Baishao, entered the middle courtyard of Prince Shen’s Mansion.
Although she was rather used to seeing splendor back in Huichun House, the striking and imposing atmosphere in the mansions of royal family members was not something a commoner like her had the opportunity to experience and see.
At the thought, she could not help but sigh.
Dear Sumei, what was it that blinded her eyes so much so that she was resolved to give up her life here?
“Master, Miss Hongyu is here.”
Baishao’s announcement preceding their arrival made Hongyu shudder.
Behold the high threshold, a lady adorned in a lavender dress embroidered with albizia flowers was sitting on the soft mattress, playing chess with a handsome man.
As beautiful as a woman in a painting and smooth complexion, all the adjectives describing beauty seemed to have concentrated on her.
As her slender fingers picked up the chess pieces made of white jade, Hongyu could see that those fingers were whiter and even more translucent than the jade chess pieces.
Hongyu might be the most gorgeous courtesan around, but there was no denying that her beauty was nothing compared to this woman.
Beauty which had been cultivated to entice and win favors could never compete with beauty endowed by nature.
At the thought, Hongyu could not help but feel a sense of bitterness in her heart.
It was the feeling of envy and jealousy of a courtesan towards a girl with G.o.d’s favor.
Be it Sumei or her, they were even more insignificant than a grain of sand in the eyes of Prince Yu.
Both she and Sumei had nothing to complain about.
It was fundamentally wrong to requite kindness with enmity or to harbor wishful thinking. In fact, it was a grave mistake on their part.
“My greetings of peace to Princess Anle. May you be greatly blessed.”
Lin Mengya lifted her eyes to gaze at Hongyu, who bowed respectfully before her.
Lin Mengya could not help but feel a sense of compa.s.sion and pity.
Back in Huichun House when she first met Hongyu, Lin Mengya had actually wanted to recruit Hongyu for her use.
Unfortunately, the situation turned for the worse and Moqin had no choice but to remain in Huichun House. They had no idea if Moqin was still alive.
On the other hand, Hongyu had become her enemy because of Sumei.
Things had been so unpredictable that there was no way anyone could turn back anything that happened.
“Get up.”
There was neither coldness nor any grudge in the tone of Lin Mengya’s voice.
She simply sounded like a stranger. There was an absence of emotion in her voice. Lin Mengya even sounded as if she was speaking to the air.
Hongyu obeyed Lin Mengya’s instruction and got up. She did not dare say a word. Her mannerism was completely different from the courtesan she was back in Huichun House, where she played up her charm as a prost.i.tute.
“So I heard you’ll be leaving. Let me give you a piece of advice. Lintian is not like Dajin, but you’ll be able to lead a good life as long as you’re willing to work hard and overcome any hardship.”
Lin Mengya had given up playing go with Long Tianyu. Hongyu was after all a smart girl.
She must have tried to give advice to Sumei, who was, unfortunately, a fool. Worse still, she was a fool who dug her own grave.
In her position, Hongyu would have invited Sumei’s hatred if she continued to stay on.
For someone who sucked up to the powerful in hope of advancement, having an elder sister who was once a courtesan, would be a stain to her.
Sadly, Sumei would never learn in her lifetime that her elder sister had been the protector of her life.
“Please accept my sincere grat.i.tude for what you taught me. You had been gracious to both my sister and me, but…”
Was she trying to make a request, counting on their relationship?
A feeling of aversion rose in Lin Mengya’s heart. She especially detested an insatiable person.
“Don’t you worry anymore since your sister would be one of our family members. I’ve instructed Baishao to give you some pieces of silver to provide for your needs on your journey. If there’s nothing else, Baishao, you may see Miss Hongyu out.”
From the way Lin Mengya intercepted her, Hongyu became aware that the princess really detested her.
Hongyu bit her lips. She reminded herself of Princess Anle’s status and her kindness towards her. If she went on with her request, she might well provoke Princess Anle to anger and endanger her own life.
With a “plop”, Hongyu fell to her knees and gave Lin Mengya a pleading look with tears welling up in her eyes.
“Your Highness, I know you have an honorable status in this world, but my little sister is still young. She had merely been confused and poisoned in her mind by others. She did not provoke you intentionally. I don’t have the audacity to ask for your forgiveness, but, but I implore you to spare her life, will you? Please don’t behave in the same way as her.”
Hongyu continued to kowtow, while she begged Lin Mengya for forgiveness.
However, her pitiful look only irritated Lin Mengya further.
The fact was that Sumei plotted against her, but Hongyu made it sound like she was the one who bullied her vulnerable sister.
Although it appeared that Lin Mengya was enjoying all the glory, who would have thought of the blood and tears she shed behind all the glamor.
A la.s.s who had lost her mother since young, a la.s.s whose father was always away fighting battles.
Who would understand the pain she suffered under a ruthless stepmother and the evil plotting of her stepsister all those days?
Despite the circ.u.mstances under which she grew up, she had never dreamed of possessing things that she did not deserve just because she was disadvantaged and vulnerable.
For this reason, underdogs who thought they had the right of way or the right to be forgiven by virtue of their situation were the very people she detested.
The desire to get out of one’s sad circ.u.mstances and to live a better life was not wrong per se.
Unfortunately, Sumei’s action was as good as seeking death.
Even if she were to let Sumei off, she would perish anyhow.
A light flashed across Lin Mengya’s eyes when she saw that Hongyu’s forehead had started to bleed from kowtowing.
“There indeed is a way out if you really want your sister to survive,” Lin Mengya finally opened her mouth to speak.
At Lin Mengya’s words, Hongyu stopped dead all of a sudden.
Although Hongyu knew she was forcing her on Lin Mengya and was in fact making things difficult for Lin Mengya, she was surprised but glad at Lin Mengya’s words.
“Unfortunately, your sister was stepping into trap herself. I don’t know who the one was.The person had incited her to pose as me. To be honest, it never crossed my mind to take her life. Just look at my maids who are all very outstanding. If Prince Yu had wanted to take a concubine, your sister wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
Lin Mengya picked up a chess piece with her slender finger and placed it gently on the chessboard.
Long Tianyu could not help but frown when he saw where she had placed the chess piece.
Apparently, Lin Mengya had made great progress from this ingenious move.
If he was not cautious, he could lose many of his chess pieces.
After exchanging looks, they immediately understood each other’s minds.
“How, how is this possible? How could she have the audacity?”
Hongyu panicked. She obviously did not expect her sister to be so audacious as to pa.s.s off as a royal family member!
It was a crime deserving the wiping out of their entire family! How could her sister be so ridiculous?
“That’s right, which was why I can’t let your sister off this easily. Although she’s not holding on to any evidence if we were to let her out so she goes around spreading rumors, what would become of Prince Yu and my reputation?”