“Report to me immediately if there’s any change to the princess’s condition.”
Standing by Lin Mengya’s bed, Long Tianhao instructed Baiji before he left.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Baiji bowed respectfully. She was finally back to her poised and mature self.
Long Tianhao looked deeply at the woman on the bed, and then left the room reluctantly.
Although Lin Mengya’s room was heavily filled with the smell of the medicine, Long Tianhao found it to be a room full of warmth and sweetness.
Once outside, he realized that the sun was setting, and he was greeted with the cool evening breeze, but even the fresh breeze could not take away the anxiety in his heart.
“Have you managed to find out the truth, Lin Kui?”
After Ming Yue followed him back to his mansion, she was being put in a secluded courtyard.
Long Tianhao was clearly aware of Concubine De’s good intentions; however, Ming Yue was not someone he would fancy.
He had to admit that Ming Yue was exceptionally beautiful.
She might even be more kind and understanding than Lin Mengya.
Nevertheless, for some reason, there was a feeling of an aversion towards her the first time he set eyes on her.
There was something about Ming Yue that reminded him of his Emperor father’s concubines in the palace.
Having grown up in the palace, he had seen much strife, hypocrisy, and deception, as well as people getting someone else to do their dirty work, and gotten used to all of these.
Lin Mengya was the only one who was real and sincere to him.
She had first come to him as a mystery.
However, she never cowered. She was forthright even when she was scheming something.
She was vicious, but only to those who provoked her.
She had treated everyone with sincerity and always put on a brilliant smile for other people.
In her absence, the entire mansion turned into a lonely, eerie place.
“After a careful investigation, it was found that Concubine De was indeed the one who secretly sent men to negotiate with King Ming. Also, this seemed to have something to do with Baili Wuchen.”
Lin Kui and Baili Wuchen were considered close friends.
However, Lin Kui would not hold back anything from the prince.
“This had something to do with Wuchen? How so?”
As Long Tianhao went back to his room first to change into a new outfit, his brows were knitted into a frown.
“According to Concubine De’s maid, Jinyue, it seems like Baili Wuchen had first gone to the Art Courtyard to persuade Concubine De before she finally sent men to negotiate with King Ming.”
Jinyue was a sharp and thorough person. For some unknown reason, Concubine De refused to heed Jinyue’s advice.
Jinyue, who did not wish for the mother and son to be estranged from each other, continued being their messenger.
“How dare this Baili Wuchen, he must have forgotten his place.”
Baili Wuchen was a scheming man, although his loyalty was unquestionable.
However, something seemed to have driven him to make many decisions on Long Tianhao’s behalf.
Apart from this matter, Long Tianhao had nothing against him.
Nevertheless, Baili Wuchen had really provoked Long Tianhao to anger.
There had not been the sound of laughter in the Art Courtyard for a long time.
The presence of Ming Yue had brought much comfort to Concubine De’s lonely heart. Moreover, in contrast to Lin Mengya’s forthrightness, Ming Yue always used every means to fawn on the concubine.
She had turned herself into someone whom Concubine De completely approved of. Her image of being a virtuous woman quickly won the heart of the concubine.
However, with each gain came a loss.
If she portrayed herself as someone so docile, Concubine De would definitely not think that she was suitable to be the Prince’s first wife.
Regardless of whether it was in the western vassal state or Dajin, only a spouse who was a great help to the husband and was able to manage the family’s fortune could become the principal wife.
Ming Yue was secretly hoping that Lin Mengya would never get up from the bed because of her illness, or even die of the illness.
In that case, she would certainly become the official Princess Yu one day.
“Not only is Princess Ming Yue beautiful, but you also have a lovable character. Concubine De hasn’t been so happy in a long time.”
Jinyue was serving some snacks which she had prepared personally when a look of disappointment flashed across her eyes.
Princess Ming Yue was indeed a beautiful lady; however, she was trying too hard to please Concubine De that she had compromised the poise of being a noble lady.
“It’s Ming Yue’s pleasure. Back at home, my mother always says that the debutante of Dajin was none other than Your Highness, Concubine De. Having the honor to meet you today, you truly deserve such a reputation. It would be a great honor if I could be one-tenth like you.”
Princess Ming Yue’s voice was as sweet as honey. The antics she employed certainly managed to please everyone.
From the gentle smile on Concubine De’s face, the flattery Princess Ming Yue used on Concubine De was apparently very effective.
“Your sweet mouth is comparable to that of Ya’er. Oh yes, how is Ya’er’s condition now, Jinyue?”
Concubine De was not fully aware of the cause and effect of Lin Mengya’s illness.
The reason given to the people outside was that Lin Mengya had gotten wet in the rain and therefore subsequently caught a cold.
Concubine De thought that Lin Mengya must have poor health, otherwise how else did this cold become life-threatening? She also worried that Lin Mengya would be too weak and in-turn affect her grandchildren’s health if Lin Mengya had to nurse her grandchildren.
In comparison, she thought Ming Yue from the western vassal state appeared to be much more robust.
Perhaps, she had done the right thing but choosing Ming Yue to be the vice Princess.
“Ya’er is almost fully recovered. Thank you for your concern, Mother.”
Just when Jinyue was at a loss for an answer for the concubine, Long Tianhao’s voices sounded from behind her.
She turned around to see Long Tianhao, who was dressed in dark yellow, strode into the room.
“My greetings of peace to Mother.”
Despite Long Tianhao had changed his clothes, the smell of medicine which was in his hair began diffusing into the air in the room.
Concubine De frowned and said in an anxious tone, “As your mother, I understand how you dote on your princess. However, when the princess falls ill, her maidservants, as well as the physician, could tend to her. Why did you have to butt in? What if you catch a cold too? By then, the entire mansion would be in a mess.”
.
It was not because Concubine did not dote on Lin Mengya, but rather, she loved her son even more.
Although she was secretly pleased and comforted when she saw how concerned Long Tianhao was about Lin Mengya, she could not help feeling a little worried.
Her son would one day be a great man.
It did not look right for him to be overly concerned and protective over a lady.
If the Emperor had not been especially doting on her and her son in the past, the Queen might well not be picking on them now.
“I understand. Ya’er should be fine, please rest assured, Mother, and thank you for your concern.”
When he was done speaking, Long Tianhao merely looked down.
Despite the fact that Ming Yue was wearing a tortoiseshell headgear on her elegantly arranged hair in the shape of an ingot and was dressed in a skirt decorated with pieces of colored glass, looking absolutely stunning, Long Tianhao did not even take one look at her.
In Long Tianhao’s heart, she was in no way more important in his heart than the messy-haired, dirty-faced Lin Mengya, who was lying on the bed at this moment.
“Your Highness the prince, these medicinal herbs was obtained from my father. They make up the secret recipe for the medicine the people of the western vassal state use to effectively treat cold. Please try them.”
Ming Yue took over a box the size of the palm from her maidservant.
The box was plain and unrefined, which was typical of the style in the western vassal state.
“There’s no need of that. Our imperial physician is very skilled and Ya’er is fine now.”
He had outrightly rejected Ming Yue’s kindness. Long Tianhao had the feeling that the entire family of King Ming did not have good intentions for Lin Mengya.
“Yu’er! The princess is doing this out of goodwill, why did you keep her at arms length?”
Concubine De scolded, displeased. However, she knew very well that Yu’er had a stubborn character.
She realized that she had pushed Yu’er too hard for what she had done and he was beginning to find Princess Ming Yue repulsive.
She thought it would not do any harm to give the two some time and space to be alone and that Yu’er would definitely discover how good Ming Yue was.
The process was not important. What was important was a good and complete ending.
“It’s alright. After all, my second brother had indeed offended the princess before, and it was only natural that Prince Yu was concerned.”
At this moment, the expression on Princess Ming Yue’s face was not one of being wronged, rather, it was a look of kind understanding.
Concubine De was apparently very satisfied with the way Princess Ming Yu carried herself so well. It was just too bad that her son was too stubborn.
“Even if there were some unhappiness in the past, Princess Ming Yue was not foreign to us. Will you accept her gift quickly, Yu’er?”
Concubine De’s pushiness displeased Long Tianhao.
In the past, he had never been so angry even if he was forced to go to Lin Mengya.
He felt that his mother had changed.
“Mother, I’ve other things to attend to, please excuse me.”
It was pointless to continue in this conversation, so Long Tianhao got up to leave.
Leaving Concubine De and Princess Ming Yue behind, Long Tianhao exited the Art Courtyard feeling a little angry.
With disappointment in her eyes, Concubine De was at a loss of how to keep her son here.
As he gradually grew up, Concubine De felt that they were growing apart at the same time.
Why was Long Tianhao so upset?
Did she not mean good for Long Tianhao?
“Your Highness, Ming Yue is really so envious of Princess Yu. Prince Yu and Princess Yu love and respect each other so much. This is really hard to come by, even in the western vassal state.”
Ming Yue’s eyes were filled with real envy.
On the other hand, Concubine De was even more displeased.
She never expected her son’s relationship with Lin Mengya to become so deeprooted.
Perhaps Baili Wuchen was right about Lin Mengya becoming the greatest stumbling block to Long Tianhao attaining success in the future.
Then again, Concubine De thought that Lin Mengya was intelligent and attentive and that Yu’er was probably just temporarily weighed down by her serious illness this time.
“Indeed, one wouldn’t have lived life in vain if she has a husband who loves her so deeply.”
Ming Yue played along helplessly as she had initially meant to incite disharmony between Concubine De and Lin Mengya.
However, she could see now that Concubine De was very satisfied with Lin Mengya as her daughter-in-law.
While still wearing a smile on her face, Ming Yue’s mind had moved on to other things.
In the Liuxin Courtyard, the four maidservants, as well as Lin Zhongyu and Qinghu, had not had much sleep in the past few days.
When they were sleepy, they simply settled in the room for a snooze.
When they were hungry, they ate whatever there was.
As a result, all of them had lost some weight.
This was especially so for the two young girls, Yue Qi and Baizhi, whose eyes were badly swollen from all the crying.
“She has taken the medicine and eaten some porridge. Now, take note to wipe her body. If the mattress gets wet, change to dry ones. Ventilate the room for an hour around noontime, but keep the room tightly shut other times. Make sure to keep the medicine which I brought burning at all times for it to be effective.”
Age was catching up with the imperial physician, and he did not have the stamina of a young man.
After giving the necessary instructions, he went back to his room which Steward Deng prepared for him to rest.
