Lin Mengya gave Baiji a look and the latter immediately pushed the door open to have a check out what was inside.
They could hear the shouting getting clearer.
They were glad that the royal guards and chariots were standing guard so the commoners were kept at a safe distance and not allowed to come any nearer.
“Master, they are the refugees from outside the city, who have surrounded the chariots coming to offer incense, begging for something to eat. I have made the arrangement for the guards to bring half of the coats and food to the caravan ahead to distribute to them.”
Baiji was a sensitive maid, who was aware that these refugees came from poor families, so she had instructed the guards not to make things difficult for them.
“Erm, that sounds good. What do you think, Mother?”
Concubine De nodded. She was a kind-hearted lady who would always carry with her alms whenever she came here to offer incense.
“Your maid had done a good deed. These things were meant for the poor. Since these people had come to ask for alms, there is no reason we keep these from them!”
Lin Mengya lifted the curtain of the carriage quietly to have a peek. The people were commoners who were shabbily dressed and this set Lin Mengya thinking.
What they could do now was so trivial. If their goal was to eradicate poverty in the entire country, it seemed that their effort alone was insignificant to turn the situation around.
The people in power were only concerned about struggling with each other to gain more power but had forgotten that these refugees were what made up the country.
The refugees were instantly attracted to the caravan as the other horse carriages continued on.
Today was a good day for offering up incense. Early this morning, there were already numerous horse carriages belonging to affluent families crowding around the foot of hills. They had all come to offer incense.
Fortunately, Concubine De was the temple’s frequent patron and the temple had arranged for a young Shami to be standing at the entrance to look out for and welcome her.
“Greetings, Concubine De, my name is Qingyue. Your highness’s kindness touches the heart of many of us.”
The young Shami looked to be merely 16 to 17 years old. He had a round face with delicate features and was wearing a simple monk’s robe. He was obviously a witty little boy.
“Greetings to you too, little monk.”
Concubine De put her palms together and bowed to the little monk in greeting, then followed him up the stone steps of the temple.
“Baiji, remain here to watch over the horse carriages. Baizhi will follow me into the temple. If anything unusual happens, just send someone in to look for me.”
Baiji nodded and remained in the horse carriage.
There were a large number of pilgrims, but Lin Mengya and Concubine de were the noblest of them all.
However, the entire place bustling with visitors that nobody was bothered by how noble their status was.
In just a few moments, Lin Mengya and Baizhi were separated from Concubine De by other pilgrims who came in between them.
Apart from the Shamis in the temple, the guards and servants who escorted their masters here remained at the foot of the hills.
Although Lin Mengya was an exceptional beauty, she was adorned in plain clothes so she did not draw much attention from the crowd.
The old temple was set in a quiet and relaxed environment and Aunt Jingyue had sent a message to Concubine De to tell her that she could roam around the vicinity freely.
With Baizhi following behind, the two found a secluded path which led them to the back hills of the mountain temple.
This place was scarcely populated by some young misses and mistresses from a few families. It was a much quieter place to be.
“Please come over here to take a rest, Mistress. I would have remained at home if I knew it’s going to be so crowded here.”
Looking more adorable with pouted lips, Baizhi took out a box of snacks which she hid in her clothes.
Cautiously, she opened the delicate, plum mahogany box, which was filled with over ten kinds of various snacks.
Only when she took one in her hand and popped it into her mouth did a smile appear of her cute little face.
“Aw… you really need to chew on something whenever and wherever you are! It looks like I have to look for a confectionary owner to be your in-law, otherwise, your in-laws would be broke from your need to eat non-stop.
Lin Mengya tapped one finger on Baizhi’s head, as she reflected on the fact that Baizhi had not been a greedy eater when she was younger.
Perhaps she had been too deprived of food in Marquis Zhennan so much so that she had been gorging since she arrived at Prince Yu’s Mansion.
“Miss, weren’t you the one who bought this box of snacks for me? I’m merely following your orders to fill myself up. Oh yes, I heard that Eldest Master is returning to the capital city soon!”
Eldest Master? The gentlemanly and handsome face instantly appeared in Lin Mengya’s mind.
The smile formed by the curling of the corners of the lips brought about a warm feeling inside her.
Elder Brother had gone to the borders with Father for three years by now and was he finally returning home?
“It’s my fault that I’ve not been writing to Elder Brother and Father for such a long time.”
Even if she had written any letters, she would not know who to pass the letter to so it would be delivered.
Back in Marquis Zhennan, Shangguan Qing had strictly forbidden her to have any contact with the outside world, otherwise, how could the Queen’s evil plans succeed so easily?
“They can’t blame you, Miss. It’s all because Madam forbade you from contacting anyone outside. Oops, who stole my snack box?”
Baizhi cried out, indignant, her brows knitted as she watched the person who just snatched away her snack box.
“What is this? Looks interesting, can you give it to me?”
The words were coming from a tall, lean young man, with a sharp nose and a handsome face, although there was something unruly about him.
From the man’s dressing, he was clearly of noble descent, but he did not look like he was a citizen of Dajin.
“No way am I going to give it to you! That is a gift from my Mistress, give it back to me!”
Baizhi almost blew her top. This little box had been a precious treasure to her and she had never allowed anyone to even touch it.
However, the box was now being taken by a stranger. The gluttonous little girl was almost turning into a Tyrannosaurus trying to protect its food.
“Mister, if you are a gentleman, you should not take someone’s belonging by force. Moreover, this little box is very precious to my maid. I don’t think it’s a good idea to snatch it away from her.”
Her voice was cool and calm, polite but firm.
The young man looked at Lin Mingya and realized that she was only a lass who had not even reached his chest in height and instantly treated her with contempt.
With a turn of his palm, he put the box into his clothes. This almost made Baizhi lunge at him.
“Here’s two pieces of silver, just take it as I’m buying this box.”
Taking out two pieces of silver, the young man tossed them to Baizhi and turned to leave.
“What? Are you going to just walk away after taking my maid’s possession?”
A banter sounded followed by the sudden appearance of Qinghu, who was dressed up as a guard.
Qinghu merely walked passed the young man and the next moment, he had drawn Baizhi’s snack box out of his clothes and it sat on Qinghu’s palm.
“Here, take it.”
Qinghu and Baizhi were buddies in eating snacks in that they had a common understanding regarding eating.
“How skillful! I don’t want the box anymore. How about you try me out, and we can then learn from each other?”
Lin Mengya tugged at Baizhi and indicated for them to retreat to the side. She thought this young man was really a weirdo.
Although Lin Mengya was clueless about Kungfu moves, she could almost foresee that this young man was going to be badly beaten by Qinghu.
“Just don’t kill him. Remember to leave him some pieces of silver for him to go to the physician after you’re done beating him up.”
After leaving them these cold words, Lin Mengya cast the two pieces of silver on the floor.
She then turned to leave with Baizhi, as they heard the young man’s cries of agony behind them.
“Don’t hit the face!”
“You Dajin people are so shameless! How can you hit people’s faces?”
“Ah! My face!”
Serve him right!
Lin Mengya soon arrived halfway up the mountain following the path.
There were not many people there so she was glad that Baizhi was with her.
Qinghu seemed to have agreed on some kind of a deal with Long Tianyi so much so that he was idling all day long in the yard and the rest of the people were just closing one eye.
Qinghu had been secretly following closely behind her in and out of the yard.
If not because they bumped into this weirdo today, Qinghu would not have shown himself.
“Miss, the man is such a scoundrel, sob sob, now my snacks are ruined!”
Baizhi grimaced as she looked down on the snack box in her hands, while Lin Mengya who was rather sensitive suddenly tensed up in the next second.
People were approaching and closing up on the two of them!
Although Lin Mengya was no way close to being a highly skilled martial artist who was able to discern the position of the people around her by hearing, for some unknown reason, her five senses were extraordinarily sharp and sensitive.
As she expected, a number of masked men black hiding behind the trees began emerging from the woods.
As Lin Mengya set her beautiful eyes on these men, she instinctively knew that these were not a friendly company.
“Who are you? This is the concubine from Prince Yu’s Mansion, don’t you be rude!”
Before Lin Mengya could stop her, Baizhi blurted out Lin Mengya’s real identity.
These people were out to get her. What was the use bringing up the status of the concubine?
“Bring her away!”
The men in black were obviously well-trained. They surrounded Lin Mengya and was about to capture her.
Coincidentally, Qinghu was not by her side this time. Left with no other choice, Lin Mengya gave herself up to them.
“Wait a minute, don’t go overboard since you already know who I am.”
Lin Mengya tugged at Baizhen while she quietly dropped the snack box from her hand.
She knew for sure that Qinghu would come looking for him after he taught that weirdo a lesson.
Hopefully, he would be able to read the clue she left behind.
“Forgive us, Princess Yu.”
The leader of the men in black landed a hard blow on the back of Lin Mengya’s neck and instantly, pain shot through her and Lin Mengya fell into total darkness.
It was a terrible feeling not being able to have control over one’s own body.
When she finally regained consciousness, the first thing she felt was that her hands and feet had been bound tightly.
Lin Mengya tried to maintain a steady rhythm in breathing as she peeped through her half-opened eyes.
Lin Mengya could hear the sound of hooves from the horses even though it was faint. She was able to discern the sound quite easily.
She could tell that she was lying on something hard and deduced that she must be on a horse carriage.
Through the movement of her body due to the bumpy movement of the carriage, she had a good look at the surrounding and she could see that there were no other people on the carriage other than Baizhi, who was lying at one corner.
Where was this group of people bringing her to?
“Baizhi, wake up, Baizhi.”
Lin Mengya said in a hushed tone as she patted on Baizhi. Fortunately, she had only fainted, just like her.
Gradually, Baizhi regained her consciousness and Lin Mengya quickly covered her mouth before she started screaming.
“Shush, be quiet, we are on a horse carriage.”
Nodding her head, Baizhi widened her eyes in panic. Luckily her mistress was the one covering her mouth with her hand, otherwise, she would have bitten right into the hand.
The horse carriage was apparently tightly sealed.
They even put nails on the windows. Although it was not suffocating in the carriage, it was almost impossible for them to escape.
Who exactly were these people?
