Baishao burst into tears as she carried the bundle of her black hair.
She scanned the surrounding with a pair of determined, teary eyes. Ever since she entered the prince’s mansion, her master and three fellow maidservants were like her only kinsman. Never would she expect that she would be forced to become a tool to be used against the princess.
“I, Baishao, hereby vow to remain single all my life and stay by Master’s side to serve you!”
All the people were not expecting this turn of events.
Lin Mengya’s expression turned solemn at this juncture.
Baishao fell on her knees before Long Tianyu respectfully. There was not a hint of that she was trying to be funny.
“Your Highness the prince, Mengya was unable to bring any glory to you since I married into the prince’s mansion. On the other hand, I’ve also not committed any grave mistakes which warrant me being driven out. I’ve never imagined myself to land in such calamity as today, so much as to be framed and maligned. I may be a woman, but I’m surely innocent and will not allow my reputation to be tarnished. Therefore, I would implore Your Highness to divorce me and send me and my maids away.”
Lin Mengya’s words sounded firm and determined but immediately put Concubine De and Long Tianyu in a difficult position.
Circumstances had changed, given that Lin Muzhi and Lin Nansheng had already returned to the capital city. If this matter were to be made public, the Lin Family would definitely not take things lying down.
By then, they might risk losing control over the nation.
“This…”
Concubine De was obviously feeling uneasy. She was about to say something but was interrupted by Yun Ruo.
“Concubine De, since the situation had turned out this way, there are some things which I could no longer keep quiet about. Once when I was in Jinsu’s room, I overheard her saying that she wanted to become Prince Yu’s concubine. I did not rebuke her for such outrageous comments there and then because of my lowly status. I would never have expected that this would lead to the disaster today because I treated her as my sister and did not want to offend her.”
Jinsu was fell paralyzed on the ground the moment Yun Ruo finished speaking.
Her face was immediately drained of its colors and she widen her eyes in fear, but remained silent.
“Oh? So it was this little hussy who did acted outrageously. Men, escort her to the princess’s courtyard so the princess can decide how to deal with her.”
Concubine De had resumed her high and mighty manners. However, Lin Mengya stubbornly refused to get up.
What Lin Mengya wanted was not an ambiguous solution to the problem, but a just outcome.
If Long Tianyu turned her down, she would drag Long Tianyu to the imperial court and get a divorce.
The atmosphere became quiet but suffocating in that instant.
Long Tianyu’s attitude became a crucial factor because of Lin Mengya’s persistence.
“In this case, I would like Mother to stay out of all the matters in the mansion from now on. Mother, please just concentrate looking after your health in the Art Courtyard. All the decision making and other matters shall be handled by Princess Yu, and no one was to disobey her instructions. If anyone were to defy this order, he or she should be punished accordingly.”
Long Tianyu’s words utterly consolidated Lin Mengya’s position in the prince’s mansion.
Even Concubine De did not see this coming. She did not expect her son, who was usually mature and steady, would disregard her feelings altogether.
The perceptive ones would be able to discern that Jinsu was merely a silly little girl.
She would not have the audacity to act rebelliously if she did not have any powerful backing.
However, just when Concubine De was about to flip out, Yun Ruo suddenly tugged at her sleeve and shook her head, indicating that it was not the right time to act.
Concubine De swallowed her frustration and trained her eyes on Lin Mengya who was still kneeling on the ground.
She had lost this round after all.
“Yu’er, you’re right. Age is catching up with me. From now on, Mengya would have to be the one handling the matters in the mansion. I suppose I will hand over Jinsu to you to deal with her. Let’s go, Yun Ruo.”
At this moment, Jinsu crawled on all fours all the way to Yun Ruo’s feet.
Her teary eyes were filled with horror and trepidation. To everyone’s surprise, Jinsu did not even attempt to argue or justify herself despite her crying bitterly.
Yun Ruo glanced at Jinsu at her feet, smiled, and then gave her a kick.
Concubine De’s servants trailed behind her in a procession as they disappeared from the Lin Mengya and Long Tianyu’s line of vision.
“Get up quickly, good old girls.”
Seeing that Concubine De was out of sight, Lin Mengya stopped up and helped her two maidservants up simultaneously.
Finally, tears started streaming down Baizhi’s cheeks. With her almond-shaped, dopey, kitten eyes, she looked from Lin Mengya to Baishao.
The lass was overjoyed to learn from Baishao’s words that her good sister did not betray her after all.
“I’m so sorry, Baizhi. It’s all my fault they you had to suffer.”
Baishao and her little sister embraced each other and burst into tears. She did not expect Maid Xu to deal so ruthlessly with Baizhi in an attempt to frame her.
While they looked at Baizhi with pain in their hearts, they were glad that things turned out well. They were delighted and satisfied with the outcome of the situation.
“Alright, silly girls, let’s not stay on to cry. Let’s go back to our courtyard first. Baisu and Baiji, you two should go assist the other two by their arms.”
Baiji hesitated for a moment but Lin Mengya nudged her on, knowing that Baiji was one who considered too much. Eventually the four sisters were gathered together.
“You didn’t misjudge them. Neither Baishao nor Baizhi betrayed you.”
Long Tianyu who stood behind her commented casually.
Lin Mengya turned around and gave him a brilliant smile. With a heart of gratitude, she said to him, “If not for your support, I won’t be able to sail through this. Thank you, Your Highness.”
This was the first time ever that there was no hypocrisy in her smile. It came straight from her heart as a form of gratitude towards Long Tianyu.
Her brilliant smile had ignited the most beautiful side of Lin Mengya.
To Long Tianyu, only this woman before his eyes could be considered stunning and enchanting without she even making an effort to charm him.
“You’re welcome; you’re my wife after all.”
The corner of Long Tianyu’s mouth curled upwards into a smile for Lin Mengya.
Despite it being a frigid winter day, Lin Mengya felt a heartwarming sensation in her heart that was extremely comforting.
She lowered her head and smiled bashfully as her pulse quickened.
He was rather good-looking when he smiled. D*mn it, why was she blushing?
“Your Highness the prince, there’s a message from the palace.”
While these lovey-dovey moments of interaction between them was rare, now it was interrupted by Steward Deng who rushed in.
As Lin Mengya saw the anxiety on Steward Deng’s face, her pretty face blushed deeply.
“You may go ahead with what you needed to do. I’ve to go back to the ladies in my courtyard anyways.”
Lin Mengya hurried off as if she was fleeing from Long Tianyu. For the first time, she was too shy to face Long Tianyu. It was only until she entered into the gates of the Liuxin Courtyard that she gradually calmed down.
She patted her cheeks lightly to snap herself back to reality. Was that not merely an insignificant smile? What more could it mean?
Unbeknownst to herself, she had turned to be like an adolescent girl yearning for love.
“Princess Yu, these two people were sent here under Prince Yu’s instruction. What do you say we do with them?”
The two guards who followed Lin Kui here had escorted Jinsu, who was paralyzed with fear and Maid Xu to the Liuxin Courtyard.
“Thanks for taking all the trouble. I don’t have time to handle them for now. Please just leave them kneeling in the courtyard.”
Lin Mengya threw a glance at Jinsu and Maid Xu. She knew that they must have prepared for the worst since Concubine De had handed them over to her without any hesitation.
She knew it was impossible to get any confession out of them even if she were to continue interrogating them.
By the time Lin Mengya entered the house, her four maidservants had regained their harmonious relationship in the past. There were the sound of weeping, laughter and non-stop chit-chatting.
“Everything’s well again. Have you applied medication on Baizhi’s face yet?”
There were mixed feelings of comfort and heartache in Lin Mengya’s heart. These girls had also given up their lives for her sake.
While her heart ached for Baizhi, she was aware that Baishao had made the greatest sacrifice.
Lin Mengya pulled the silly devoted girl close to her, looked at her hair which had been chopped off with an apologetic look in her eyes.
“Why did you do this, silly girl? I believe you and so do your three good sisters. Isn’t this enough?”
Since the body had been given by parents, Lin Mengya was keenly aware that in the ancient times, hair was very important to a woman.
Baishao’s beautiful long hair had been chopped into a mess now. How could her heart not be aching?
“Master, every moment since I ran away from home, I have been living in fear of my father coming to take me home. Because of my facial features, I’ve brought much trouble upon myself. My mother once engaged a fortune teller to look into my fate. He claimed that I would have a very complicated love life. The only solution is to go live in the mountains and become a hermit. My mother couldn’t bear to let me leave and it eventually led to this misfortune. However, I stop having other ideas after I started following you. Please stop yourself reproach. I’m willing to do everything for you.”
Not only was Baishao very attractive, she was also very sassy. However, she could also be a very well-behaved and disciplined lady.
Despite being sent by Concubine De to Long Tianyu’s courtyard, Baishao had always behaved respectably. As a result, the dignified way she carried herself had allowed the people to see her in a new light.
“I am confident that we will be repaid for the good we’ve gone. I’m certain that all four of you will be blessed.”
These four maidservants were all outstanding girls. Lin Mengya did not believe that the heavens would be so cruel as to allow them to remain lonely all their lives.
It was all because they were by her side in the prince’s mansion that they had to lead a uncertain life and suffer hurt.
Getting to the bottom of the matter, it was all because of her.
For this reason, she had to be responsible for these girls.
“Alright, alright, let’s all stop crying. This episode had come to an end and from now on, Concubine De would no longer be able to interfere with the matters in this courtyard. Baisu, you may work with Baishao to clean up the courtyard. We can’t tolerate these two-faced people.”
The four maidservants had been with Lin Mengya for quite some time now and they had taken on the color of their master.
After they were done with all the bantering, they were back to their usual quick-witted selves.
“Oh yes, Master, why would that Jinsu not make any attempts at vindicating herself? Did she really confess to her sins?”
Baiji’s question was exactly what everyone had wanted to ask. Lin Mengya smiled. She opened her mouth to speak with a mocking tone.
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