It was rare that Lin Mengya misjudged a situation.
Moreover, the only person in the old capital people would point towards as an enemy of the Zhus would be Lin Mengya.
Given her status, they wondered how she would whip up a superstorm in the old capital.
“Your Highness, the governor is here for a visit. He said he has something to ask you.”
Just when they were finished with their conversation, someone came to deliver a message on the governor’s visitation.
Zuo Qiuyu turned to look at Lin Mengya, thinking that things were happening really fast.
“Go ahead first, I’ll follow in a while.”
Nodding, Zuo Qiuyu was keenly aware that Lin Mengya was worrying over Long Tianyu’s condition and would want to check on him first.
“Let’s go.”
So what if it were the governor visiting? He would not allow anyone to hurt Lin Mengya so easily!
Inside the room, the sour stench had long diffused and been blown away by the wind from outside so much so that the room was completely free of the smell.
In fact, the subtle fragrance of the incense had calmed everyone’s senses.
Long Tianyu, whose eyes were closed, had nodded off. Rare as it used to be, Ling Ye had appeared before him and was guarding him by his side.
“Night, please keep this to yourself. Don’t tell anyone about this.”
Long Tianyu said, keeping his voice low. Nevertheless, the firm and indisputable tone in his voice made others willingly submit to him.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
He was used to being the Prince’s shadow. In the presence of the prince, he would always be the best weapon in the hands of the prince.
“How are you feeling? Are you feeling any pain anywhere on your body?”
A gentle, concerned voice echoed from outside the door.
Ling Ye and Long Tianyu looked towards the door simultaneously.
“It’s not painful anymore. The medication you gave really chase away all ailments.”
Long Tianyu’s expression softened. His eyes were filled with tender love as he gazed on the gentle and delicate girl before him.
“It’s not because the medicine I gave you is of any good. Clearly, it’s because your physical constitution is favorable. Have you taken your meal?”
As Lin Mengya sat down beside Long Tianyu’s bed, she realized that his clothes were still a little moist despite the fact that the bedsheet had already been changed.
He had exhausted his strength. Every time the effect of the drug came on, it was like a hellish torment to him.
Now that his entire body had been drained of energy, the constitution of his body was surely not as good as before.
Those cursed people! How much Immortal Powder did they use on Long Tianyu?
A sinister and ruthless look flashed across Lin Mengya’s eyes, but she quickly camouflaged it.
“I’ve eaten, how about you? Oh yes, I heard from Zuo Qiuyu that you have begun receiving treatment on your right arm. How did it go? Is it painful?”
Long Tianyu forced himself up onto a sitting position, leaned against the back of the bed, and cast an anxious look at her right arm.
He reached out and massaged her right shoulder so gently as he did not wish that she suffered pain by his touch.
“Of course it’s not painful. Have you forgotten that there is no sensation in my right arm? I won’t be scared even if you use to knife to scrape my bones. I would not be bothered.”
Although Lin Mengya still shuddered at the thought of the burning pain that came with her treatment, she tried to comfort Long Tianyu tenderly.
However, it did not matter. As long as her right arm gets well, she would be able to perform acupuncture on Long Tianyu.
All of these would be worthwhile.
“Silly girl. It must have been hard on you.”
Long Tianyu brushed the end of her sharp nose and tenderly folded Lin Mengya into an embrace.
As he took in the fragrance from her hair, he remembered the times when he almost got sucked into illusions but was awaken because there was the absence of her fragrance in the world of illusions.
Knowing what he was experiencing at the moment was real, he felt wonderful.
How he wished he could hold her so tight that she would break into pieces and enter into his own body. That way, they would never be parted again.
“Oh yes, can you remember the people who took you away?”
As Lin Mengya leaned into Long Tianyu’s bosom and listened to his rhythmic heartbeat, she could not help but blurt out the question.
“I supposed I was hypnotized. The only thing I remember was at that time, there was a pair of hands dancing in front of me. Thereafter, I became unconscious. By the time I woke up, I realized I had been locked up in a secret underground dungeon. There were countless others who were imprisoned there apart from me. All of them had been forced to take the Immortal Powder. All the guards were wearing ghost face masks, so I have no idea who they were.”
As Lin Mengya listened to Long Tianyu, another worry gnawed at her.
“Did you say they gave all the prisoners the Immortal Powder?”
Long Tianyu nodded. Although he did not come into contact with many of them, apart from him, he could hear all the rest crying out for the Immortal Powder in their cells.
“Why? What has come to your mind?”
Long Tianyu asked, as he lowered his head and looked at Lin Mengya, who was in deep thoughts.
“I found something perplexing.”
Lin Mengya seemed to conjure something in her mind, but she did not have any evidence to explain what was happening.
Apart from the Nation of Lieyun, which grew the opium poppy, very few other countries did so. Even if they did, it was for medical use.
Moreover, there were also other hallucinogens in the Immoral Powder apart from the opium poppy.
These things were popular drugs in the black market.
For that reason, the price was also not cheap.
However, how did they manage to feed the drug to so many people in the dungeon?
For this kind of drug, one would find it difficult to be rehabilitated even he had only ingested it once.
Could it be that they were testing the drug?
“I would never expect that there are so many evil and sinful places hidden in the old capital of Lintian.”
This matter did not seem to bring about much harm to Long Tianyu.
On the contrary, his determination to exterminate those social scum
“I suppose it’s the grand Pavilion of Herbs that is within the old capital, even harmful drugs like the Immortal Powder is readily available. It would be impossible for people with zero knowledge of medicine to be able to create such drugs.”
Lin Mengya said after pondering. This drug brought great harm to people, but for those people trying to make a huge profit out of such a miracle-working drug, they surely welcome its excessive availability.
It appeared that the Immortal Powder was at its trial stage.
What they gave Long Tianyu was considered a complete product. However, if it were already a finalized product, there should not be any more testing of the drug on other people.
Could it be that there were new changes to the way this Immortal Powder was prescribed?
At this thought, Lin Mengya could not help but feel the chills. Not to mention that such drugs could bring harm to people, it could possibly destroy an entire nation if there was excessively available.
“Oh yes, do you still remember what are the reactions of the people who ingested the drug?”
Lin Mengya pressed on earnestly. Long Tianyu pondered for a moment and answered Lin Mengya in detail of what he saw.
“Based on your understanding, if this Immortal Powder were to be developed successfully, there would be chaos in the Nation of Lintian.”
Those pictures regarding the opium war she saw during her history lessons remained clear and distinct in her mind.
No way was she going to let the cursed Immortal Powder ruin her mother’s home country!
“That’s right, for generations, such drugs only circulated among the aristocrats. However, I saw that those people even capture common folks occasionally so they could feed the Immortal Powder to them. While I was imprisoned, I somewhat heard them saying that if they wanted this drug, they have to bring more people to them.”
Long Tianyu’s expression turned severe. Someone with no foresight would think that the Nation of Lintian was merely a neighboring country.
If chaos broke out, they could even take advantage of the situation and make some profit out of it.
However, an exceptionally intelligent and capable man like Long Tianyu knew that Lintian and Dajin were in such close proximity that if such a drug were to be widespread in Lintian, the tendency would be for the drug to seep into Dajin.
Moreover, those men who put him in prison were likely from Dajin!
“Take a rest first. I’m going outside for a moment to look for Cousin Yu. Why don’t you catch up on some sleep? I gathered from the servants that the effects of the drug came onto you once in the afternoon, and you reacted much better than the episode in the morning. With your kind of determination, I’m sure you’ll be able to break free from the addiction.”
The tender expression returned once again to her face.
She put the blanket on Long Tianyu gently and smiled sweetly as she spoke.
Although Long Tianyu was not used to the way she treated him like a child, he decided to be obedient. He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes.
However, the moment Lin Mengya closed the door quietly behind her, Long Tianyu opened his eyes.
At this moment, there was completely no trace of dejection in his eyes. It was replaced by his penetrating and bright eyes of the past.
“Night.”
The figure of Ling Ye instantly appeared before him.
Bowing respectfully at Long Tianyu, it seemed that Ling Ye could turn into the sharp sword in Long Tianyu’s hand anytime.
“Gather some men to send a message home. Just say that the flood is spreading far and wide. Tell them who are back home to be especially careful.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
It felt as if there was a breeze and he disappeared thereafter.
Long Tianyu laid down on the bed and started looking at the red marks on his wrist that he tried to hide from Lin Mengya’s sight a moment ago.
Despite the preparation made by Lin Mengya beforehand, Long Tianyu still ended up with these wound marks because he was simply too strong.
He clenched his fists. Every time the effects of the drug came on, it was as if he had taken a trip to hell.
Nevertheless, he would try to endure it until the drug could no longer have a hold on him!
Back in the living hall, an impatient Zuo Qiuyu was answering the questions of the governor.
In reality, it was tough being the governor in the old capital. The previous governor had been a royalist, but he had gone on to be the governor of Wangtian City.
The current governor appeared to stand on neutral grounds on the surface.
Whether he was truly loyal or not, it was hard to tell.
At this juncture, there was fear on his face. He was hoping that Zuo Qiuyu would bring Lin Mengya out to meet him.
While Prince Shen appeared to be easy-going, the governor realized that he was in fact rather a ticklish master to deal with.
All these while, Zuo Qiuyu had been fobbing off the governor with equivocal replies and had been avoiding the topic of getting Princess Anle to come out.
“The Princess has arrived…”
A servant cried out and his announcement sounded heavenly to the governor.
Thereafter, a beautiful lady adorned in court costume slowly emerged from behind the screen.
Although he did not manage to take a close look at Her Highness that day at the Pavilion of Herbs, it was difficult to ignore the elegance Lin Mengya exuberated from within.
“Your servant here greet Your Highness. May you have a long life of a thousand years.”
The 50 odd years old governor hurried over to pay his respect to Lin Mengya.
The princess pretended to greet him and casually, she opened her mouth to speak, saying, “There’s no need to stand on ceremony, Sir. My status as the princess in this country is still a dubious one. You are making me awkward if you are so courteous.”
