Following the direction of the voice, the guards finally found Lin Mengya and Baishao at the deepest part of the carriage.
What happened was that at the critical moment, Lin Mengya had a brainwave and remembered that there was a hidden compartment below the carriage where they used to store baggage.
Fortunately, the compartment was empty and even fortunately, both Lin Mengya and Baishao were pet.i.te and were able able to fit into that s.p.a.ce, thereby barely escaped the disaster.
It was a false alarm after all. The guards immediately quickly helped the two ladies up from the hidden compartment.
Lin Mengya did not expect Baishao to remain so calm. Although her face had drained of its color, at least she was not shaking like a leaf like Baizhi.
"Are you alright, Miss? Are you hurt anywhere?"
When danger befell them just now, Lin Mengya had pushed Baishao into the hidden compartment first. Baishao was touched and filled with grat.i.tude by Lin Mengya"s love and protection for her.
"I"m alright, but what exactly happened? Did those men leave any clue behind?"
Lin Mengya shook her head as she allowed Baishao to do a quick check on her body.
"Princess Yu, when the group of attackers saw the approaching Yulin Guards, they retreated immediately without leaving a trace as a lead. We will bring these corpses back to Prince Yu"s Mansion for further investigation."
Who exactly were these men who appeared as quickly as they retreated?
"I"ll have a look."
Lin Mengya alighted the horse carriage with supported by one of the guards.
After a period of fierce fighting, there were quite a lot of casualties.
Outside the carriage surrounding it were many Yulin Guards as well as security guards from Prince Yu"s Mansion, who were protecting the horse carriage, making sure it was safe.
As they casually went about turning the bodies around, strangely these dead men did not carry any indication of their ident.i.ty, either were the guards able to tell with certainty where they were from.
"Clang!" Lin Mengya saw something small falling from the waist pocket of one of the attackers.
She quietly picked it up and hid it in her palm.
Lin Mengya stood up and cried out, saying,
"It looks like these men had a plan when they came. Where is the commander fo the Yulin Guards?"
A middle-aged general dressed in an armor immediately stepped forward and stood before Lin Mengya.
He had alighted his horse and greeted Lin Mengya with a bow.
"Greetings of peace to Princess Yu. Please forgive me for arriving late. I am Xuanyuan Lie, the commander of Yulin Guards.
The security of the capital was also under the jurisdiction of Yulin Guards.
"Whatever happened can"t be blamed on you, General. These men were simply too cunning."
Lin Mengya did not seem to be alarmed by having a close escape from harm but was still smiling.
Xuanyuan Lie quietly tried to size up this princess who was infamous in the capital city. This was his first meeting with her, yet it did not seem like the rumors about her were all that accurate.
"We are so grateful that Highness, the Princess is not blaming us for what happened. We would be most happy to escort you back to your mansion."
Lin Mengya nodded then boarded the horse carriage. Finally, she was escorted safely back to Prince Yu"s Mansion, by both the Yulin Guards and the security guards from Prince Yu"s Mansion.
While Prince Yu was still in the palace, Concubine De, on the other hand, had returned to Prince Yu"s mansion earlier on.
Lin Mengya had purposely kept quiet about the attack this night so Concubine De was not aware of it.
"Rest a.s.sure, Princess Yu. The Yulin Guards will do out utmost to find out the whereabouts of the a.s.sa.s.sins."
Lin Mengya nodded as a chilling look flashed across her eyes.
"Alright, I will trouble General Xuanyuan to look into this matter."
She had sent Qinghu to protect the people in Liuxin Courtyard earlier. Who would have thought that she herself would meet with danger?
Why was there such chaos just under the Emperor"s nose?
"Are you alright, Your Highness?"
Steward Deng and Lin Kui were waiting at the gate of Prince Yu"s Mansion for Lin Mengya"s return with anxiety.
"I"m alright, but come to Liuxin Courtyard, all of you. If Prince Yu is back, please ask him to come over as well."
"Yes, Miss."
The group of people following her headed towards Liuxin Courtyard to further discuss the matter.
"Is everything alright, Miss?"
Baizhi and Baiji stood by the gates waiting for Lin Mengya"s return.
A severe-looking Lin Mengya closed the door, leaving only herself and her confidantes in her room.
"Look at what this is!"
Since there were no outsiders present, Lin Mengya finally took the object out from her sleeves.
She placed it on the table so the rest could try to make out what it was.
"What"s this?"
Lin Kui contemplated for a long time before pick it up and putting it in his palm.
The object was about an inch across, and it was a trigonous dart. Both of its surfaces had been polished to shiny and the tapering ends were extremely sharp.
"I found this from the body of one of the men in black. Strangely, after searching through so many of the corpses, only one was carrying this."
Lin Mengya"s words concentrated everyone"s attention on this tiny trigonous dart.
"This object looks very delicate, and it was hard to come by. Could it indicate some kind of ident.i.ty?"
Although Steward Deng had not been in the society, he had sharp eyes. In fact, he had spoken what was exactly on Lin Mengya"s mind.
"I thought so too. Will all of you have a look at this to see if you know which secret society uses this dart?"
However, the two of them took a careful look at it and ended up shaking their heads it did not ring a bell for them.
At this moment, a messenger was sent to pa.s.s them the message that Prince Yu would be staying at the palace and not returning home tonight.
Lin Mengya pondered over this but finally adjured the discussion. She would wait for Long Tianhao to return before making a conclusion.
After the group dispersed, only the three maidservants and Lin Zhongyu remained in the room.
From the time Lin Mengya stepped into the room, Lin Zhongyu had been wearing this frown on the face. He also had a worried look when he looked at Lin Mengya.
"I heard you"ve been attacked on the journey, La.s.s? Who has the audacity to lay a finger on our little lady?"
An anxious Qinghu dashed into the room and carried Lin Mengya into his arms, looked her up and down to ensure that she was unharmed before he rested his anxiety.
"Okay, okay, I"m alright, really!"
She thought that if Qinghu was around when the attack happened, she would not have to embarra.s.s herself by hiding in the secret compartment with Baishao.
Qinghu gave her a second glance just to make sure she was alright, then he sat down on the chair, keeping his eyes trained on Lin Mengya.
"Baizhi, would you accompany Baishao to go and rest first? She had enough of a scare today, please make sure you"re by her side."
Baizhi, who had similar experiences, naturally knew how frightening this was for Baishao.
Without hesitation, she held on to Baishao"s hand and the two of them walked hand in hand to their room to rest.
After Lin Mengya made sure they were gone and would not be able to hear anything she said, she asked in a whisper,
"Did you find out anything?"
Qinghu hesitated, then nodded his head.
"Indeed there were some men who came for that silly girl, but I"ve sent them away. One more thing, I"m not sure if Long Tianhao had sent for some men highly skilled in martial arts, to surround the entire courtyard. There were also guards whose face didn"t look familiar to me."
Lin Mengya lifted her brows as she wondered what had happened.
Could it be that Long Tianhao was aware that the Queen and the Crown Prince was venting their anger on Baizhi?
Or...
"Big Sister, can you come out for a moment? I have something I"d like to tell you in private."
Lin Zhongyu, who had remained silent for a while, suddenly stood up and started speaking with a hurried tone.
Lin Mengya looked at him quizzically, but nodded her head, then followed Lin Zhongyu out of the door.
The night wind felt a little chilly.
Lin Mengya looked at the young man dressed lightly and her heart skipped a beat.
She realized that she was not aware when she started not being able to read this young man"s mind.
"Big Sister, I... I have deceived you."
Lin Zhongyu found it so difficult to say out these words.
The once stubborn and willful young man had turned into someone cold and aloof.
Standing behind him, Lin Mengya was speechless.
"Actually, I"m not an orphan. On the contrary, I"ve come from a prominent family. You can say that my status is not inferior to that of Prince Yu."
He had suddenly dropped this bomb on Lin Mengya that she started to feel dizzy.
Before she could solve Baizhi"s problem, Lin Zhongyu"s problem arose.
Why was it that the people around her kept giving her surprises?
She rubbed her temple with her slender fingers, pondered for a while and said,
"I am not bothered about your background. I didn"t mind whether you were of some n.o.ble birth back when I brought you back. If you find it awkward, you didn"t have to tell it to me. Just remember that I"m forever your good Big Sister."
In fact, Lin Mengya had long sensed something.
Xiaoyu was exceptionally good-looking, which implied that he did not come from an ordinary family.
Although he had been through a lot of hardships, he had matured tremendously since he entered Prince Yu"s Mansion.
How was it possible for him to have such a great transformation if there wasn"t someone who was secretly helping him?
"Are you sure you"re not upset that I haven"t told you the entire truth, Big Sister?"
As he turned around, he looked at Lin Mengya with his bright eyes which were full of expectation.
She nodded in response. To her, Xiaoyu was a much-needed family member. She would not be bothered about this trivial matter.
"That puts my heart at ease. Oh yes, Big Sister, I can see that Qinghu is overburdened. Moreover, he is a man and it"s not very convenient for him to be so close to you always. How about I gift you with someone else? What do you think?"
Lin Mengya"s first reaction was to reject his offer. However, she reflected upon what happened recently and thought that there were indeed many troubles that came her way.
She did not need to feel awkward with Xiaoyu.
When Lin Zhongyu observed that Lin Mengya was not against the idea, a brilliant smile appeared on his face.
He waved his small hand in the air and immediately, a slim black figure appeared on the open s.p.a.ce in the courtyard.
"What can I do for you, Young Master?"
Although the voice sounded a little mellow, it was crisp and clear.
When Lin Mengya took a good look at the figure, she was actually a pretty girl.
"Arise, you will belong to Big Sister from today onwards. Regardless of any circ.u.mstances, you are responsible for protecting Big Sister."
Xiaoyu"s severe expression on his face at this moment was a total contrast to the innocent young man Lin Mengya knew.
She was surprised to find that this little lad was in fact as fierce as a small tiger.
For some unknown reason, a sense of pride welled up in Lin Mengya"s heart.
"Yes, Miss. Qingluan will do my utmost to protect my master."
Lin Zhongyu"s expression fell and suddenly with a cold voice, he said,
"Big sister is as important as my life. If she were to be hurt in anyway, don"t think about bringing me back."
The girl called Qingluan turned to Ling Mengya suddenly and looked at her with embarra.s.sment as if she was rejecting his idea.
"Forget it. It"s not good to force this on her, isn"t that right?"
Moreover, she did not feel comfortable having someone whom she was not familiar was to be by her side. She had to beware her too.