Lin Mengya still felt unhappy. Although she had said that she would not care, she still wanted to know the truth.
She was supposed to know who that woman was, at least.
Therefore, after one-night gloom, Lin Mengya, who used to care about important things only, decided to start a gossip for once. The next morning, she dressed up.
There were many gorgeous, courtlike peonies on the red brocade.
She put a golden ornament with green on her head, incomparably graceful. The four maids were stunned. “It’s not a festival or something like that. Master won’t enter the Palace. Why would she dress herself with such a thing?”
Lin Mengya eventually came to understand why they looked at her like an upstart, in the mirror.
Suddenly, she lost her courage and pulled down those hairpins. She often saw how the real wife of a man reacted to her husband’s affair.
However, when it did happen to her, Lin Mengya realized that no matter how elegant you became, it would not be useful, as long as the man didn’t love you anymore.
“What’s the matter? You seem to have something in mind,”
asked Baiji cautiously, while helping Lin Mengya return to her normal dress quickly.
Lin Mengya looked at her and then paused.
“What should I say? Tell them that Long Tianyu has an affair, and I can’t reconcile myself, so I decided to make trouble with his lover?”
“If I really do this, that would not be me.”
“I feel bored recently and want to get out. Leave me alone, remember?”
Everyday, no matter where she went, there were always lots of people surrounding her.
She was distracted today, and she wanted to walk around alone to relieve boredom.
“No way. It’s very cold outside. Besides, you’re fragile. What if you catch a cold and fall ill?”
Baiji showed her refusal first, but Lin Mengya insisted, and no one managed to stop her. Thus, in the end, she convinced them to get out alone.
She wore a red, lined jacket instead of the luxury cloak, even without the hairstyle a madam should have.
She wore a white hairpin and looked like a miss from an ordinary family.
A noisy, long street was outside the street where Prince Yu’s Mansion was. Lin Mengya wandered around the street, having no destination.
Prince Yu’s Mansion, or Sanjue Hall, was only what she used to live a life in the ancient.
However, for no reason, she felt tired out today.
Lin Mengya went through the long street and walked around the corner, suddenly seeing a beautiful red plum. It was still on its blossom time. It just blossomed, red, fresh and striking.
Lin Mengya got closer and touched lightly the red plum with her hands. It felt cold like water but smelled a waft of fragrance.
“Do you like it, Your Highness?”
A loud voice came from behind. Lin Mengya turned around watchfully, only to see a pretty, clean face.
The man looked like a gentleman, in his twenties or so, and in a great appearance. He wore white like a god detached from life.
She felt familiar but could not recall where she had met him ever.
“Your Highness, you forgot me, right? My name is Qiu Yu. We met in the military camp where General Lin stayed.”
“That’s him!”
Lin Mengya recalled immediately. When Lin Nansheng had returned to Capital City, soldiers in the military had gotten poisoned. At that time, the man had helped her figure out how to detoxify them.
“Doctor Qiu, I’m sorry.”
Since he was the old friend, Lin Mengya let her defense down. From the prescription he had made, Lin Mengya had deemed him as a capable man.
Qiu Yu cracked a smile, and his young face was filled with excitement. However, he was excited at the red plum.
“Back to my hometown, I can’t find such beautiful red plums. People say that here is the best place to appreciate plums. But it’s unknown about the master of the house.”
Lin Mengya turned around and saw the red plum stand out from a small hole in the shape of plum on the wall.
The wall was not high, but it was totally covered by plums. Lin Mengya was curious. The plum was taken care of, but people outside the garden could see them very clearly.
It seemed like the master did this deliberately. Her interest was aroused.
“It seems that the master is a generous person. Why not go and have a look at who is taking care of these plums?”
Qiu Yu slightly nodded and made a gesture to let Lin Mengya go first.
Both of them walked around the wall but found no door.
When they got to the front, they found that it might be a backyard of a mansion.
When they got closer, they found a new literature garden out there.
Literature garden, meant a place where people of literature and writing gathered together, with tea, wine and beautiful girls.
But those girls were different from those in a brothel.
They knew a lot about literature and would not show up for money.
Therefore, the master of such a big literature garden was supposed to have a more powerful background than those bosses of brothels.
“It’s a new North Tower. What a pity. We can’t appreciate even the least plums.”
Qiu Yu shouted his pity out. But nobody knew whether he really felt pity for it or not.
North Tower, Lin Mengya watched the old-timey plaque, and suddenly, a shadow flashed across her mind.
It came to her mind that there was a plum blossom on the carriage.
Lin Mengya recalled it suddenly. “That’s right!” There was a blossom of plum on the curtain of that carriage!
Although it was in an invisible corner, she hadn’t missed it!
“Your Highness? Your Highness?”
When noticing Lin Mengya standing still, Qiu Yu showed his kindness and waved his hands before her eyes.
When he had met Princess Yu last time, he had found her powerful and felt respect for her. But why would she look like losing her wits today?
“Let go and have a look.”
Regardless of Qiu Yu’s answer, Lin Mengya started to go into the house.
“Ahem! We’d better go. It’s really…”
Before Qiu Yu finished his sentence, Lin Mengya already entered the North Tower.
It was totally not what she expected. She initially thought that all seats were at least occupied and that many ladies or servants would be welcoming guests at the door.
Unexpectedly, there was a white screen at the door.
Lots of people had left their writing out there. She looked closer and found some great writings.
And as for others, they read reasonable, but could only be classified into doggerel.
“Please stop, this lady. There’s an unwritten rule in North Tower. Every new guest has to leave a writing on here. No one can go into the house before Master checks.”
A friendly, middle-aged man, who was standing aside, came to her with writing instruments.
Lin Mengya glanced at the screen and found drawings and writings.
“What a literature garden. There is a placement test before entering the house.”
“Alright, I’m not good at writing, but at drawing. Get color inks for me, and I’ll show you.”
An evil idea rose up in her mind.
When she had been in college, she had learned how to draw comics for two years. From the plums in the backyard, Lin Mengya made an assumption that the master of North Tower was really a man who was introverted on the surface, but in fact, was extraverted.
Otherwise, he would have built a high wall and stop others from appreciating his plums.
Plums were attractive enough to draw outsiders’ attention but out of their reaches. Of course, they would feel anxious.
What Lin Mengya asked for was served soon.
Lin Mengya lightly smiled and then started her drawing on the screen with a brush.
In a while, she drew an outline.
Be it the middle-aged man, or Qiu Yu, none of them could see clearly what she was drawing.
On the screen, there was a low wall on the surface, but inside the wall, there were apricot blossoms. They were rich, adorable, but there was one branch out of the wall.
Outside the wall, a girl in yellow was tilting her head with curiosity at the reached-out apricot blossom, while under the apricot tree, there was standing a boy in red, who wore a sinister smile.
The girl looked innocent and lovely, and her big eyes were filled with her affections for the red apricot blossoms. But the boy crossed his arms and looked very cunning.
When coloring the drawing and looking up and down at it, Lin Mengya was satisfied and put down the brush.
“Go to find your master and tell him to see this drawing.”
The middle-aged man looked awkwardly at the drawing.
In the modern world, a girl with a round face and big eyes, and a slim boy were popular.
But they looked abnormal in the ancient.
“This is… Please forgive me for not seeing it clearly. What is it?”
Lin Mengya just smiled and then turned around to sit on the chair.
“Your master will definitely know what I’m drawing. If he doesn’t understand, I think, I won’t waste my time to enter North Tower.”
The servant’s face instantly changed. Qiu Yu gave him an intelligent smile and patted him on the shoulder, saying,
“Go to find Mr. Bamboo. He will know what it means. He will like it, I believe.”
The servant helplessly looked at them. They dressed gracefully and had a decent style of conversation. Thus, he immediately turned around to report to his master.
“How naughty of you. But have you heard about Master Bamboo of North Tower?”
Qiu Yu looked at the drawing. It was different from other drawings as the characters in it seemed more vivid and lovely.
