“Your Highness, your body is still weak and you should eat, lest Prince Yu be heartbroken when your health deteriorates.”
He placed the fragrant sweet snack before Lin Mengya.
Although she had been on an empty stomach for quite some time, she quickly put the little bit of the snack she pinched using her slender fingers back onto Yu An’s handkerchief.
“Neither have you eaten any food for the day. You must be famished. You should eat first.”
Lin Mengya turned her gaze back to the procession of horse carriages of groups of businessmen heading out.
She was afraid that she might miss Long Tianyu, yet she was praying in her heart that they would not come late.
Nevertheless, she was clearly aware that those people would play safe and choose to smuggle Long Tianyu out when it was darker.
The sun was setting, and the city gates would be closed in an hour, but she had yet to spot any inkling.
Could she have missed them and let them go because of a moment of negligence?
Turning her thoughts around, she thought it unlikely. Not to mention hiding someone in a horse carriage, she would even go through a bucket of hogwash just to make sure she did not miss anything.
Given how meticulous she was in checking up, even little cats and dogs would not be able to escape her eyes, not to mention a living man.
Could she have miscalculated? Could those people have left a few days ago? Or did they intend to leave a few days later?
However, there was one thing that Lin Mengya was certain of.
It was more useful for those people to keep a living Long Tianyu than keep his dead body.
Nevertheless, at this very moment, no matter how logical she was in analyzing the situation, the cruel reality before Lin Mengya was a great blow to her.
If…
Lin Mengya cringed. If Long Tianyu had really been shipped out of the city, he would be fraught with grim possibilities.
“Your excellency, the city gates would be closed soon. I wonder if you still have any more instructions for us?”
The guard at the city gate asked Yu An awkwardly as he rubbed his palms together.
“Please do not stand on ceremony. Let me ask my master.”
Yu An was gentle and courteous. He was not at all overbearing.
It was all thanks to Zuo Qiuchen for his guidance. Yu An was, after all, his personal servant, and his master’s mannerism would, to some extent, influence him.
Although Lin Mengya did not reveal her identity, she was, after all, holding on to Prince Shen’s invitation, and she appeared noble and elegant.
The guard at the city gates could tell that this person had to be Princess Anle, a highly influential figure in the city.
Although he was merely a low-ranking official, he was, after all, an experienced and knowledgeable man. He did not care if the princess was a fake. As long as both the emperor and Prince Yu still liked her a lot, he knew he’d better not to offend her.
“Go and inform the guard for the city gates to close the gates on time. It’s not good for us to delay such an important matter.”
Lin Mengya thus instructed as she could hear the words of the guard of the city gates earlier on.
She should not be too demanding given that the guard had already given her special treatment.
She also asked Yu An to give some money to the guard and his men for them to buy food to add to their meals.
She felt bad about making them work so hard for the entire day and did not want them to feel that their efforts had gone to waste.
She massaged her glabella, having focused her vision for the entire afternoon. Zuo Qiuyu sent a messenger to inform her that he would be attending a banquet and would be back late at night.
Fortunately, with Liu Xuan around, Lin Mengya supposed nothing would go wrong.
Even if those people tried to lay a hand on Zuo Qiuyu, Liu Xuan would be able to discover it.
Unfortunately, she did not manage to achieve anything today.
Lin Mengya could feel the strain on her eyes and tried to ease the tiredness by rubbing them. By now, there were only a few people leaving the city as they tried to make it on time before the gates closed.
Seeing that her hopes were dashed, Lin Mengya sighed helplessly.
“Don’t be sad, Your Highness. Tomorrow, I will accompany you here again.”
Though Yu An tried to comfort Lin Mengya, he too sounded worried. The princess had busied herself since morning. If she were tired out, the emperor would skin him alive.
“Erm, I guess we’ll have to make do with that. You’ve worked hard, Yu An.”
She curled up in the horse carriage to relieve the discomfort in her stomach.
The only thing she could do now was to go home, seeing that the city gates were about to be shut.
Nevertheless, in her subconscious mind, she could sense that Long Tianyu would somehow appear today.
The residents living in the suburbs had quickened their steps to leave the city and the guards at the city gates were now doing the last checks for the day.
There were no longer any more horse carriages and groups of businessmen. The street lights were lit up and Lin Mengya began giving instructions to Yu An after letting out a sigh.
“Let’s go back.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Yu An tried every possible to persuade the princess and finally, she agreed to go back.
Yu An acted as the coachman as he directed the horse carriage back to the Crown Prince’s Mansion.
While sitting in the horse carriage, Lin Mengya did not take her eyes off the city gates.
The towering city wall at dust gradually diminished in her line of vision.
Just when she was about to turn away, she spotted a small sedan with a black roof, surrounded by four men, heading towards the city gates.
While Lin Mengya was in the horse carriage, she could still hear those four men saying something about looking for a physician.
With a sudden brainwave, she quickly stopped Yu An.
“I just saw that the person in the sedan seems to need a physician. We’ll have nothing to do if we go back anyways. Why don’t we go over to see what’s going on there?”
“Your Highness…, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Yu An stopped the horse carriage and gazed at the princess awkwardly.
It was getting really late and they did not have any guards accompanying them. What if the situation turned into something beyond what they could handle?
However, due to Lin Mengya’s insistence, Yu An turned the horse carriage around after letting out a sigh and went after the little sedan.
In reality, Lin Mengya simply did not want to return to the Crown Prince’s Mansion lonely.
Even a trivial matter outside that could keep her busy was welcomed. It could at least bring her a ray of hope.
The horse carriage sped along the empty street and soon they caught up with the little sedan.
By this time, the sedan had stopped in front of the city gate. A man, looking to be around forty years old, had gone up to the official at the city gates to speak to him.
“Sir, please show me some kindness. My eldest son is doing business outside and my daughter-in-law has gone into labor but the midwife in the city says the position of the fetus is not right. There is only one midwife surnamed Zhao who is able to save her. Please let us out. Spare us the death of two people!”
The man was seen imploring and he almost wanted to kneel down before the official at the city gate.
However, the city gates had just been shut and the key had been returned. According to the law of the courts, the city gates should not be opened unless there was something urgent.
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but the city gates had been shut. If I open them again, I would have to face a great punishment.”
The city gate official was obviously being put into a difficult position. The man quickly pulled out a money pouch from his cloak and tried to stuff it into the official’s hand.
However, the official did not take it but pushed it back.
If it were during normal times, perhaps he could make an exception for the man.
However, during this time, when there was a gathering of officials and nobles in the city, it would be trouble if anything went wrong, and someone had the goods on him.
“Is your daughter-in-law going to give birth soon?”
Just when the official came to a deadlock, a gentle voice sounded in the air.
The two men turned towards the voice simultaneously, and they saw the shadow of a beautiful figure emerging gracefully from the dark.
“Miss, his daughter-in-law is about to deliver a baby. He said he needed to look for a midwife for help. However, it’s getting dark out and the city gates are shut by now. This is a difficult situation for me.”
The official guarding the city gates immediately walked up to Princess Anle when he realized that she returned.
Though the princess did not reveal her identity, the official played along with her.
Nevertheless, his attitude remained respectful and polite.
“Since this is the case, let me take a look at your daughter-in-law first! Don’t worry; I’m a physician. Moreover, I am rather knowledgeable about gynecology. What’s more, it’ll take some time for them to open the gate.”
Yu An had already pulled the city gate official to one side to instruct him to open the city gates.
The official was also happy to oblige them since the princess would shoulder the responsibility if anything went wrong.
The official quickly gathered a few men to get ready to open the city gates.
However, Lin Mengya was stopped by two men when she approached the sedan.
These two men appeared to be very capable, only that their facial expression was a little unnatural. They were anxious, but it seemed that they only pretended to be so.
Lin Mengya furrowed her brows as she attempted to size up the two men.
This was strange. If it were a woman in labor, why would there not be any maidservants around?
“You two are…”
“Miss, they are my nephews. My daughter-in-law was in so much pain that she had fainted. Thank you so much, Miss, for allowing us to go out of the city.”
At this moment, the man who appeared to be around forty years old came over to try to smooth things over.
Nevertheless, he did not mention anything about letting Lin Mengya see his daughter-in-law.
“If this is the case, I’d better hurry those guards lest your daughter-in-law be put in danger.”
Lin Mengya resumed her previous gentle countenance.
She quickened her steps as she approached the city gate official and whispered something to him.
“Miss, what should we do about this then?”
The expression on the official’s face changed, but not many people spotted it.
Lin Mengya pondered for a moment and raised her voice, saying, “Since they are in such a hurry, get more people here. This is a matter of life and death and I’ll hold you accountable if there’s any delay!”
.
The official nodded and immediately ran off to look for more people.
At this instance, however, those guards who were getting ready to open the city gates stopped in their tracks. They were just putting up an act. In fact, they were waiting for further instruction.
“Miss, do you know how much longer it will take for them to open the city gates?”
After waiting for a moment, beads of perspiration started appearing on the man’s forehead.
He wiped away his perspiration while he tried to get an answer from Lin Mengya who was standing by him.
“Soon. There’s something wrong with the shaft of the gates, so they needed a bit more force to push it open. Don’t make yourself busy for now, for he will get more men to come and help.”
With patience, Lin Mengya tried to comfort him and what she said sounded reasonable.
However, that man began to be even more anxious. The rest of the men also did not seem to be concerned about the pregnant woman in the sedan at all. On the contrary, they kept looking at the city gates.
At this moment, Lin Mengya was even more certain that there was something wrong with the so-called woman in labor!
“Forget it. Let’s not trouble the two of you. Although my daughter-in-law is having a difficult labor, it is normal for a woman in labor to suffer much trouble. Let me go home and get the best physician and midwife to help.”
After they waited for a while, it seemed that the man could not wait any longer. All he wanted to do was to bring all his people and leave this place.
