“Jinyue, who do you think he takes after?”
The Imperial Noble Consort Dehui asked, watching her son walk away with a trace of sorrow in her eyes.
She had been a love-struck person during her lifetime, but she hoped that her son would not follow in her footsteps.
“I don’t know, Your Grace. I’m just afraid that you’ll enrage the Emperor.”
Jinyue said with a sad look. Although she had to live her life in the name of Jingyue, she had no regrets as long as she could stay with her master.
“It doesn’t matter. If he wants to kill me, I’ll take it calmly. Come on, follow me to the Hall of Integrity. I will take all the blame for what happened today.” The Imperial Noble Consort Dehui said.
Now, she was fearless. Therefore, no matter how the Emperor was going to punish her, even if he was going to deprive her position as the Imperial Noble Consort Dehui, she could take it calmly.
“Okay.”
The palace servants stood with their hands down. Everyone in the Imperial Palace felt insecure, as no one knew if their master could still hold her superior position the next moment.
Trotting all the way, Long Tianyu managed to leave the Imperial Palace before the palace gate was locked.
The majestic Imperial Palace was as ghastly as a ghost house in the dark.
Long Tianyu now had no good impression of the Imperial Palace, where he had grown up.
He was spurring the horse on the street, hoping to find Lin Mengya as soon as possible so that he could at least tell her what he was thinking.
In the Grace Butterfly Courtyard, Lin Mengya, who had settled the others in the mansion, was showing her maids around the courtyard, where she had lived since she was a child.
Perhaps because her brother had returned home before, the Grace Butterfly Courtyard returned to delicate.
Lin Mengya sat in the pavilion painted by her brother. The decoration looked quite graceful even in the dim candlelight.
She rested her chin on her hands and listened to the chat among Hongyu and the others.
“Long Tianyu has left the Imperial Palace and probably learned that you’ve moved back here.”
Qinghu showed up without any sound, bringing Lin Mengya a piece of news she had expected.
Given Long Tianyu’s ability, it was not difficult for him to escape from the Imperial Palace.
She just wondered if he would immediately lose his head when he saw the empty Prince Yu’s Mansion.
“Miss, you’d better send someone to inform His Highness. It may not be his fault,” Baiji said.
Baiji was on her master’s side like Hongyu, but she still thought that it would be better to smooth things over.
After all, they had seen how Long Tianyu treated Lin Mengya.
Their master was indeed sad about what had happened to her, but she shouldn’t blame Long Tianyu for what his father had done.
“Do you really think I vent my anger on him?”
Lin Mengya asked, looked at the girls, and shook her head helplessly.
“Why did the Emperor deprive me of my position as Princess Yu? Does the Emperor really care about my brother’s being accused? What’s more, my brother has not been convicted yet. Isn’t the Emperor afraid the way he dealt with me will arouse controversy?”
Hearing Lin Mengya’s words, Hongyu and the others froze.
On second thought, they found it was indeed inappropriate for the Emperor to deprive Lin Mengya of her position as Princess Yu as soon as the Eldest Young Master was accused.
“What do you mean by saying that?”
Baizhi opened her eyes wide, looked at her master in confusion, and asked.
“The Emperor did this to irritate our Lin Family while releasing a signal, as he knows that no matter how furious my father and brother are, they will not betray him. He just intends to put on a show. Once the situation at the imperial court is stabilized, my father and brother will be put in important positions again. At present, all the officials in the imperial court are vacillating. Because the power of the Emperor’s party has been divided up, those indecisive newly appointed officials tend to join the other party. Only in this way can they gain greater benefits. But now, our Lin Family has gotten into trouble, which means that the power of the Emperor’s party will be redivided. Do you think whether those, who haven’t taken a side, will reconsider their gains and losses?” Lin Mengya said.
The Emperor had taken quite a drastic move.
Despite her displeasure, Lin Mengya had to admire the Emperor’s tactics of manipulating power.
He chose the Lin Family rather than any other family, as he knew that the Lin Family neither had many branches nor had ulterior motives like other families.
Moreover, considering her relationship with Long Tianyu, it would be easier to comfort the Lin Family after the Emperor got what he wanted.
Unfortunately, her father and brother might forgive the Emperor’s so-called expedient measure.
However, she was reluctant to be placed on the scales of competition for power as a chip in the hands of the Emperor.
“So that is what it is. No wonder you come back. If you continue staying in Prince Yu’s Mansion, the Emperor will probably come up with another way to deal with you. Otherwise, others will not believe it,” Hongyu said.
Hongyu was so quick-witted that she soon figured out why Lin Mengya decided to come back to the Lin’s Mansion.
“Exactly. So I have to pretend to break with Long Tianyu. Only in this way can the Emperor rest assured so that my brother, my father, and Long Tianyu will not be trapped again,” Lin Mengya said.
This was what made supreme power tempting.
The power of granting life or death was as addictive as drugs to those schemers.
That was the reason why they fought desperately for it.
However, she didn’t know how many innocent people were implicated in their fight like her.
“You must be tired after what you’ve been through today. Go to bed early. The Shangguan Family won’t let it go at that, and I can’t leave my brother alone. By the way, did you find anything missing when you checked my dowries? Did you report it to the government office,” Lin Mengya asked.
Baishao nodded. Lin Mengya’s dowries had been kept by her, but today she found that a lot of good things among them had been missing when she checked them.
Fortunately, she discovered it in time. Otherwise, it might cause other trouble.
“Okay, you should be careful. It’s very likely that these things will be discovered on someone else. If we report it to the government office before that, they can’t frame us. From now on, you should also keep your belongings carefully, even just a handkerchief. Since you are all on my side, those people must have also kept an eye on you.”
After giving the girls some instructions, Lin Mengya went back to her bedroom on the second floor of her courtyard for a rest, accompanied by Hongyu.
The strange atmosphere here and her profound memories of life in Prince Yu’s Mansion made Lin Mengya unable to feel at ease immediately.
She felt more at ease in the Liuxin Courtyard than here.
After freshening up, Lin Mengya and Hongyu lay on the bed. With a thoughtful mind, both of them couldn’t fall asleep.
“Are the others fine with living here? After moving here in haste, we should make sure they live comfortably here,” Lin Mengya asked.
Hongyu knew that Lin Mengya was asking about Ms. Tian and the others. She had helped them settle down and certainly would not let her master worry about it.
“All the others are fine. Even Zhu Yan has settled in the Eldest Young Master’s courtyard with Snow and the baby tiger. But Miss, I don’t understand why you settle Tian Ning and Zhu Yan in the Eldest Young Master’s courtyard. Although the two little creatures are friendly to us, they are very dangerous to others. Miss, aren’t you afraid that they will bite others?”
Hongyu rested her head on her hands and chatted with her master.
She had treated all the members of Lin Mengya’s courtyard as her family members these days.
Lin Mengya trusted her and didn’t keep anything from her, so the others also treated her as their sister.
“They won’t, as they only bite gangsters and the like. Besides, I think it in insecure if there is no one guarding my brother and father’s courtyard. Even in Prince Yu’s Mansion, something like frame-up happened all the time. Hongyu, I want to have a talk with you.”
Lin Mengya leaned to one side, stared at Hongyu very seriously, and said.
There were some words she had been pondering over for a long time. It was not until her brother got into trouble that she realized that she had to plan ahead.
“Miss, you can just come straight to the point. Although I may not be able to do it, I will defy all difficulties and danger.”
Looking at Lin Mengya, Hongyu said with a slightly excited look.
Since she came here, she actually had felt herself a little inferior.
She was not as loyal and honest as Baiji, not as capable of keeping the house as Baishao, and not as meek and clever as Baizhi.
Anyway, although everyone respected her, she knew that she was just a pathetic person who was a few years older than everyone.
Lin Mengya treated her so well, and she had saved both her life and her soul.
Therefore, she thought she had to do something for Lin Mengya to repay her kindness.
“Keep calm. In fact, I want you to stay here and help me manage the Lin’s Mansion for the time being after we get through this,” Lin Mengya said.
Lin Mengya had thought that if she only sent Hongyu here, it would probably arouse Hongyu’s suspicion.
After all, although Hongyu looked gentle and virtuous, her experience made her more sensitive than anyone else.
However, what had happened this time made her realize that although her father and brother could cope with the ever-changing situations on the battlefield, they might not be able to deal with the schemes in the backyard.
The other three girls were too simple, while Ms. Tian had to take care of Moyan. As such, Hongyu was the best candidate.
“Is it—all you want?” Hongyu asked.
She thought that Lin Mengya was going to talk about something serious with her.
Unexpectedly, it was such a minor thing.
Lin Mengya nodded and explained,
“Don’t get me wrong. I’ve thought long before that you’re the only one who could rival Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu. My father and brother sometimes are reluctant to fight against women. But you know, sometimes women could be much more scheming than men. So I hope you could stay here and help me protect my brother and father.”
Lin Mengya looked at Hongyu expectantly, for fear that her request would be rejected and Hongyu would be oversensitive and misunderstand what she meant.
