Their romantic meeting was like the glint and flash of daggers and swords. Two people who were supposed to be arch enemies had fallen in love with one another recklessly.
It felt like the storyline of a drama and different editions of the story kept emerging from Lin Mengya’s mind.
“The inn is just ahead of us.”
Zuo Qiuyu, who was riding on the horse in front of them was talking to Long Tianyu in a low voice.
He nodded. The two men had been keeping their vigilance every moment of the way. They did not want any accidents to happen.
None of the places where they rested for the night along the journey had been designated or planned beforehand.
At most, they would send men ahead to check out the inns and make a booking then.
Their trip to the old capital city would eventually be discovered by those people.
Zuo Qiuchen had tried his best to keep this a secret as long as possible.
Long Tianyu could not help but be reminded of the fact that he and Lin Mengya had always been secretive when they go out, but they would always end up causing a great commotion.
Instinctively, the corners of his mouth turned up. It seemed that his life and even Dajin had been given new ease of life since Lin Mengya married into his family.
If he eventually succeeded in his endeavors in the future and Lin Mengya remained by his side, his life would be complete.
“Why are you smiling?”
Zuo Qiuyu gazed at Long Tianyu curiously.
To Zuo Qiuyu, this man was somehow different from his brother, the emperor.
Zuo Qiuchen and his brother had grown up in the palace likened to a deep fryer. For this reason, his brother, the emperor had picked up the skill of being pleasant on the outside but ruthless on the inside.
Long Tianyu, however, was different. If not for his relationship with Lin Mengya, Zuo Qiuyu believed that Long Tianyu would not have been friendly towards him.
Occasionally even Zuo Qiuchen was intimidated by Long Tianyu when he put on a serious expression.
Back when he was in Dajin, he had heard that Prince Yu was the most unfeeling person and was someone who was not easy to get along.
Therefore Zuo Qiuyu was truly surprised to see Long Tianyu smile.
“It’s nothing.”
Zuo Qiuyu’s voice dampened his high spirits abruptly.
Long Tianyu’s expression instantly went back to being sulky.
Zuo Qiuyu had to take his hat off to Long Tianyu’s ability to change his expression in an instant.
“How long could your brother delay the time?”
Long Tianyu inquired in a low voice. If he wanted to stay undercover, his men should go much further.
After all, his men had followed him here from Dajin. It would be easy for people to recognize that they were foreigners.
For this reason, once there was any sign of movement, only the spies sent out by Zuo Qiuchen and Zuo Qiuyu would return to report to them.
Long Tianyu could not help feeling helpless when he had to rely on other people and take the back seat.
“At most ten days, because everyone already knew that my brother the emperor had found Little Sister Mengya. Moreover, Little Sister Mengya was closely linked to the election of the chief elder of the Pavilion of Herbs. She would certainly go to the old capital. The only factor unknown to others would be the time we set out on this journey.”
Zuo Qiuyu finally began to take this seriously. At this moment, they were all dressed like rich young men.
While Zuo Qiuyu was dressed in white, Long Tianyu was dressed in black. One was scholarly and gentlemanly, while the other was cold but dashing. They had attracted much admiration from the young women along the way.
Fortunately, his teacher had brought him on trips around the country since he was young. Long Tianyu, being a foreigner, was also able to ride on the horse openly along the journey.
“That’s good too, since we’ve arrived at the inn, why don’t you go to the back to inform the rest.”
Long Tianyu instructed Zuo Qiuyu. Without waiting for his protest, Long Tianyu simply walked towards Lin Mengya’s horse carriage, leaving an angry-looking Zuo Qiuyu standing there.
Lin Mengya was leaning against at the window when she saw Zuo Qiuyu’s twisted face and could not stop smiling.
Where had the intelligent, witty, bold, and sensitive Imperial Physician Qiu gone?
It seemed that the moment this guy returned to the Nation of Lintian, he had become the target of exploitation to all the people.
“Are you bullying Cousin Yu again? For goodness sake, we should give him some credit given we are in his territory.”
Lin Mengya supported her chin with her left hand as she berated Long Tianyu, smiling.
Long Tianyu merely glanced at Zuo Qiuyu with indifference, then he nodded in submission to Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya immediately felt a sense of satisfaction welling up from her heart.
It was the feeling of pride as if she had succeeded in taming a Tibetan mastiff.
She was secretly delighted.
If Long Tianyu found out that she had likened him to a dog, would he charge at her and maul her to death?
Yes, a dog indeed.
When Long Tianyu spied the complacent smile on Lin Mengya’s face, he was puzzled.
He truly did not understand what was on her mind.
However, for some reason, the feeling Long Tianyu got was that he had been eyed by a wild beast.
Swallowing, he wondered if this lass could be that scary.
The inn, whose name was ‘The Mountain Afar’ had a feel about it in that its decorations were rather elegant.
The so-called rich young men had to behave like one. Since their expenses during this entire trip would be reimbursed, they could claim every cent from Cousin Chen back in Wangtian City no matter how much they spent.
Lin Mengya did not have to stint on herself. Without hesitation, she booked herself into the most luxurious room in the inn called ‘The Mountain Afar”.
When Lin Mengya opened the window of her room, she immediately spotted a meandering stream quietly flowing with crystal clear water just below her.
The clean yet moist air gave her a relaxed and carefree feeling.
The river had separated the inn’s backyard from the other residents and shops in that area.
There were no noisy streets adjacent to the inn so the environment was quiet and pleasant.
Lin Mengya sat by the window and gazed at the running water, then the sky for stars that were about to appear. At that moment, she went into a daze.
“Master? Master, it’s time to eat.”
Baishao’s gentle voice called out to Lin Mengya and woke her from her daze.
Since they came here, there seemed to be little opportunity for such peace and quiet time.
Although her little courtyard back in Dajin was delicate and beautiful, it was lacking in the beauty of the landscape carved out by nature.
“What’s there to eat that’s delicious?”
Lin Mengya got up and went over to the table. The dishes on the table look a little familiar, yet a little strange.
“Master Yu said that these are the local produce of the City of Hui. During this time when we’re here, the wild herbs have just started sprouting, so the shoots are soft and fresh.”
Zuo Qiuyu knew that Lin Mengya did not like to elaborated food, so he had made arrangements to have only simple local specialty dishes prepared.
Seeing that the dishes were filled with green and red vegetables, Lin Mengya’s appetite was immediately stimulated.
However, she could not really hold chopsticks and work them properly with her left hand. She would often make a mess when secretly practicing using the chopsticks with her left hand.
She thought it would be better for her to simply eat when she was in front of the rest of the people.
Zuo Qiuyu already made the necessary arrangement for their men to surround the inn secretly so that they had multiple layers of protection while staying in the inn.
Not to mention their enemies, it would be even impossible for a fly to enter the inn now.
After they finished eating, three of them sat around the table drinking tea and discussing the plan for the future.
“Oh yes, I saw that you’ve brought that Sumei along. Aren’t you afraid that she would furnish her master with our secret information?”
Zuo Qiuyu suddenly remembered Sumei, whom he locked up in the guarded room.
So far along the journey, it seemed that the lass did not create any trouble. However, he had no idea why Lin Mengya would bring this trouble maker along on this trip.
“She would naturally be of use to me. In fact, she would be very useful. Baishao, I told you to get her changed. Did you bring her change of clothes?” asked Lin Mengya secretively with a smile as she put down the teacup.
Immediately, Baishao nodded and thereafter, she opened layer by layer the bundle they had been carrying with them.
Inside the bundle was the set of clothes Sumei was wearing that morning.
Lin Mengya smiled cheekily and handed the clothes, together with the bundle to Zuo Qiuyu.
“Look at how useful this thing is.”
Zuo Qiuyu stared at the normal-looking clothes, perplexed. He then turned towards Lin Mengya and wondered what she was up to now.
“There’s an abstruse secret in here. Touch the sides of the clothing and do you feel something stiff in there? This is not a common item. If this item falls to the ground, a dog that had undergone training would be able to find us. Moreover, while human beings aren’t capable of smelling it, there would be some remnants left even if it rains. It’s really artful.”
At Lin Mengya’s words, Zuo Qiuyu and Baishao both opened their eyes wide and stared at her.
“What? Did you say the dogs could smell this? In that case, wouldn’t people already discover our trail?”
Baishao sounded alarmed. How was such an item so effective?
“So what if our trail had been discovered? This would happen sooner or later. We need to thank her for this time. If not for the interesting thing she brought, we won’t be able to reach the old capital city safely. Cousin Yu, did your men who have been traveling behind us, discover anyone trailing behind us?”
Zuo Qiuyu pondered for a moment and shook his head.
They had been extra cautious, therefore, if there were anyone following them, Long Tianyu would have discovered it.
This was why he had used such an amazing method.
Unfortunately, Lin Mengya’s Shen Nung radar was even more sensitive than the nose of a drug dog.
It would be impossible for any kind of drug powder to escape her under her nose!
“Alright, I get it now.”
Zuo Qiuyu finally understood what Lin Mengya was trying to say. He was just worried that his emperor brother would fail in keeping them undercover and that they would meet with more trouble.
With this thing, however, as long as he sent some men with their horses to divert to another way, Sumei’s followers would be lost.
Zuo Qiuyu carefully wrapped up the clothes and proceeded with the plan.
He was actually pretty skilled in fooling people.
At this moment, there were only Lin Mengya, Long Tianyu and Baishao left in the room.
Baishao glanced at her masters and smiled as she looked down. Then she quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.
“Come over here. I’ve something to ask you,” Lin Mengya spoke with a gentle voice with a hint of laziness in it.
Long Tianyu had not taken his eyes off Lin Mengya all these while, and there was a fiery look in them.
