Lin Mengya and Baizhi returned to the main house. She lit a candle and sat in a chair and read a book quietly.
Baizhi kept looking around and finally saw the two servant girls. Baishao was very angry while Baiji frowned.
"What happened? Who hit Childe Yu?"
Baizhi shook the arms of Baiji anxiously but the latter opened and shut her mouth, unspeaking.
"Master, Childe Yu got injured because he wanted to stand up for you."
Baiji only said this sentence and Baishao, who was quick-tempered, interrupted her and told them the whole story.
"It was Miss Jiang. She thought that she was the concubine of the Prince and criticized you shamelessly. Childe Yu was angry and argued with her. But Miss Jiang asked her servant to strike Childe Yu with a rattan. Luckily, Granny Sun tried her best to protect Childe Yu, otherwise, he might be badly wounded."
Since Lin Mengya was married to the Prince, these three servant girls had been observing her behavior.
She was strict with the servants, but she always dispensed reward and punishment impartially and never wronged others for no reason. Besides, she treated the servants as equals and didn"t look down upon them.
They were lucky to have such a kind master. In fact, there were few masters like her in the entire Jin Country.
That was the reason why they would try their best to defend her.
Childe Yu was beaten and suffered great pain because he wanted to stand up for her.
Suddenly, the three servant girls and Lin Zhongyu formed a united front and treated Jiang Ruqin as their common enemy.
Lin Mengya understood their feelings. Xiaoyu was wounded and she was more distressed and upset than anyone else.
Her beautiful eyes gleamed with coldness. Her face was pretty but she wore a severe expression.
"How dare she beat the people in my courtyard! Baishao, ask Steward Deng to bring those who hurt Xiaoyu to the Qinglan Courtyard tomorrow morning."
Lin Mengya said coldly. She knew that Jiang Ruqin was overbearing and always bullied others in Prince Yu"s Mansion, but she didn"t expect that this b.i.t.c.h dared to whip people in her courtyard!
Lin Mengwu must have poured oil on the fire. She vowed to take revenge on them!
She would find a proper time to settle all the matters with them!
In the study room of Long Tianhao, Steward Deng and Lin Kui stood silently at his desk.
Long Tianhao looked grave. His narrow eyes gleamed with anger and coldness. He was coldly staring at the two bowls of soup on the desk.
The two blue and white porcelain bowls looked the same. Besides, there was the same turbid dark yellow soup in these two bowls.
This soup, which was the best tonic for others, was a deadly poison for him.
He couldn"t eat the seafood since he was a child.
His throat would become sore and swollen after eating the seafood. He may even die from suffocation if he couldn"t take his medicine made by the royal doctor in time.
Everyone in the mansion knew that he was allergic to seafood. But these two women tried their best to impress him and ignored this detail.
"Throw them away."
He said coldly and made no attempt to conceal his dislike of these two women.
He hated those women who deceived him with insincere flattery and wanted to become his wife to improve their status.
But he clearly knew that the rarest treasures in the royal family were the true feelings and real intention.
"Princess, the Princess wants to see you."
The guards said respectfully outside the study room. Long Tianhao suddenly became expectant and excited.
"Let her in."
"Yes."
Steward Deng and Lin Kui were the confidants of Long Tianhao.
They believed that Long Tianhao couldn"t trust anyone in the mansion except for them.
But this strange princess was an exception. She was a woman and she got the favor and trust of the Prince.
She had also broken from precedent many times. Was she...
They looked at each other and got the same information from the other"s eyes.
The Prince trusted this girl and wanted to train her. She would definitely become an incredible help to the Prince!
The Princess was beautiful and crafty. She would be the best secret agent and could spy against the imperial palace.
"Prince, why didn"t you go to bed?"
Lin Mengya was wearing a white yarn dress and she looked purer and prettier in the night.
She wore her hair down around her shoulders and used a white ribbon to tie it up loosely. She didn"t look arrogant and bossy, instead, she was soft and gentle at this moment.
Long Tianhao looked at her without surprise as if he had already expected that she would visit him tonight. He nodded at her and continued to read the book of war art in his chair.
"This is the Tremella Lily Soup that I told the kitchen to prepare for you. It"s the best midnight snack. Prince, you can have a rest and enjoy it."
Lin Mengya also prepared a midnight snack for him. It was the ordinary Tremella Lily Soup but she was careful and took his preferences into consideration.
Long Tianhao nodded, put down the book in his hand, and had the soup quietly.
"Prince, I have something important to discuss with you."
As the saying goes, " Gifts blind the eyes." Lin Mengya would prepare a gift to please the Prince before asking him for permission.
It seemed that Long Tianhao liked this sweet but not sickly Tremella Lily Soup. He didn"t look so cold now.
But his light-colored thin lips were pressed together unconsciously and Lin Mengya saw a hint of anger on his handsome face.
Lin Mengya dropped her eyes and saw the two bowls on the desk by accident.
She smiled silently and understood why the Prince was so angry.
"Lin Mengwu said that she wanted to ask Mrs. Lin to stay with us for some days. I told her that I had to first ask for your permission. But she was anxious and urged me. So I have to bother you in the middle of the night."
When they returned to the Lin family, Long Tianhao was irritated by the mean tricks of Lin Mengya and her mother.
He didn"t want to meet them, let alone ask the old woman to stay with them for some days.
Moreover, Mrs. Lin was the younger sister of the Empress while his mother and the Empress were arch enemies.
If this troublesome woman entered their mansion, he was afraid that he could never enjoy a quiet life.
"I don"t think it"s appropriate."
Long Tianhao knitted his bushy eyebrows and looked at Lin Mengya with puzzle.
Lin Mengya should hate Lin Mengwu and her mother more than he did. Why did she volunteer to ask for his permission and allow Mrs. Lin to enter the mansion?
What was her purpose?
"Prince, there"s nothing wrong with it. After all, she is my nominal step-mother and it"s normal for her to live with the son-in-law for some time. If it bothers you, you can just ask her to live in the small yard in the southwest corner of the mansion."
Lin Mengya smiled softly and looked like a considerate lady of a n.o.ble family.
But Long Tianhao"s heart raced and he felt worried after seeing the sweet smile on her face.
What did she want?
"But I have to first tell my mother and ask for her permission. I"ll pay respects to mother with you tomorrow morning and ask for her advice. You can leave now and I want to go to bed."
Long Tianhao looked down and his eyes were filled with puzzles.
According to the information he had got, Shangguan Qing had always bullied and framed Lin Mengya in private or in public for the past years.
He didn"t think that Lin Mengya would treat Shangguan Qing as her mother. They were enemies.
She could do whatever she wanted outside the mansion. But this was related to the safety of Prince Yu"s Mansion. Moreover, he was still trying to find out the hidden spies.
If some people who had ulterior motives entered the mansion at this stage, he would lose control.
"Alright. I"m leaving right now. Prince, please go to bed earlier."
Lin Mengya curtsied to the Prince and walked out of the room in a clever and respectful way.
The white figure disappeared in the darkness. Steward Deng and Lin Kui looked at each other and had to discourage the Prince from giving permission.
"Prince, please think twice before you leap. Mrs. Lin is the younger sister of the Empress and I believe that she has ulterior motives. We can"t allow her to live in our mansion."
Steward Deng was responsible for the safety of the inner house, and of course, he didn"t want the masters to have an accident.
But it was clear that Long Tianhao had his own plan.
"You"re familiar with Mengya"s style, aren"t you? I believe that she must have already had a plan before agreeing to Lin Mengwu"s request. I don"t think we should waste time speculating her purposes. All right, I"ve made up my mind and you can leave now."
After finishing the bowl of Tremella Lily Soup, Long Tianhao announced his decision and there was no room for doubt.
He took off his black coat and only wore the white underwear. He was lying on the army cot with a book of war art in his hands.
Steward Deng and Lin Kui had already left the study room tactfully and he was left alone in an instant.
He couldn"t focus on the book of war art which he had read hundreds of times. Since when couldn"t he refuse Lin Mengya"s requests?
"Night, what happened in the dungeon these days?"
A cool breeze came in through the window and Long Tianhao summoned the hidden black figure with a low voice.
"Prince, the five fake ghosts told us the truth under torture. They were all spies in the army and came to our mansion to protect the teahouse. They pretended to be the ghost and prevented others from entering the small building. I asked some guards to lie in wait in the icehouse. But they didn"t catch the master of disguise. He was very alert and immediately ran away after seeing us. Besides, Qinghu, the killer of the Peach Blossom Dock refused to tell anything no matter how we interrogated him. He said that he had something to tell the Princess."
He had already expected that Qinghu would say nothing.
At that night, Lin Mengya brought some guards and servants to pretend to be ghosts. Besides, there were also some guards lying in wait in the courtyard.
Night and the dark guards had already lain in ambush in the abandoned icehouse of the courtyard. They needed to capture the master of disguise.
Something unexpected might happen someday if the master of disguise continued to stay in the mansion.
But how could he dig the mole out?
He rubbed his eyebrows with his slender fingers. He must deal with the internal affairs before recovering lost territory. He once lived alone in the mansion. At that time, his life was quiet and there was no unexpected event.
But now, there were many people living in the mansion and it was difficult for him to examine them one by one.
"From now on, anyone who goes out on business must go in a group. Night, ask the dark guards to keep an eye on them! We must capture this guy!"
How dare he act wildly in Prince Yu"s Mansion!