“Here’s the milk!”
Being extremely familiar with the kitchen, Baizhi had returned with milk within a short time.
Frowning, Lin Mengya fed the milk to the baby tiger.
In her previous life, she had merely done experiments with animals.
This was considered the first time she really tried to save an animal’s life.
It was not practical to have the animal’s stomach pumped here.
Lin Mengya had a brainwave and glanced in the direction of the flowering shrub.
She decisively pulled up a handful of grass and stuffed it into Baiji’s hands.
“Quick, boil the grass in the water!”
Although the baby tiger was merely a pet, it had been won the hearts of all in the Liuxin Courtyard.
Everyone in the Liuxin Courtyard was very fond of it. Seeing that it had been poisoned, they immediately brought it back into the room and laid it down in its own nest.
Fortunately, Lin Mengya normally carried the antidote with her everywhere she went.
After the little guy swallowed an antidote pill, his life was preserved.
“Master, here’s the medicine.”
Baiji handed a cup of warm water to Lin Mengya, which she poured into the baby tiger’s mouth.
Lin Mengya recognized this grass as she remembered that the baby tiger used to vomit it out violently when it ingested a little of the grass.
After drinking the medicine, the baby tiger immediately started throwing up.
Together with some undigested food, it vomited out all the contents of its stomach.
After such a tumultuous experience, the little guy’s eyes had lost its spark.
Lin Mengya personally cleaned the baby tiger up and settled it in her arms once again, where it quickly fell asleep.
“Master, is the baby tiger alright now?”
The four maidservants looked on nervously, but finally breathed a sigh of relief when Lin Mengya nodded.
“Xiaoyu, what did the baby tiger eat that caused it to be like this?”
Lin Zhongyu frowned as he flashed out a piece of fresh chicken meat on his hand.
Baiji drew the silver hairpin out of her hair and poked the piece of chicken with it. Immediately, the end of the hairpin turned greenish-grey.
“This must be a powerful poison. Fortunately, the vigilant Snow had quickly snatched the piece of chicken away, otherwise, the baby tiger would have lost its life altogether.”
Perhaps it was because Snow was a little older than the baby tiger and therefore more observant and sharp.
On the contrary, the baby tiger, being the king of beasts, had turned out to be a little foolish glutton.
Hopefully, it would have learned its lesson after it woke up.
“Nevertheless, where did this poison come from? I don’t remember we have such kind of poison in our possession within our courtyard, do we?”
Baishao was especially upset. After all, she was the one in charge of preparing the food for the two little guys.
How could she not feel perturbed when a slip-up like this one almost took the baby tiger’s innocent life?
“That’s right, I’m certain we don’t possess such poison in our courtyard. In my opinion, Miss Cousin must be the one to have done it! She had attempted to pick up Snow but was rejected. It must have caused her to come out with the evil thought to bring harm to the little guy.”
Baizhi voiced her thoughts instantly as a look of resentment appeared on her face.
“I don’t think so. Ruqin may be willful, but she’s not the kind of person to do such a thing.”
Long Tianhao, who was following behind Lin Mengya, voiced his instinctive opinion based on his understanding of Jiang Ruqin.
However, he did not expect that the statement he made had upset all the people in the Liuxin Courtyard.
“The prince is right. Let’s not jump to a conclusion without any solid evidence.”
Jiang Ruqin was after all Long Tianhao’s cousin.
Lin Mengya’s words put a stop to everyone’s wild guessing.
“It’s not a good idea to make the incident known to the public, so be very cautious these few days. I will take care of the baby tiger personally. The rest of you may go.”
Hearing Lin Mengya’s instructions to dismiss them, they exchanged looks and then left obediently.
“You may go, Your Highness. You must have been tired from your work in the last few days.”
Although Long Tianhao wished to stay on, he could not find an excuse to do so.
He nodded and left in silence.
“Do you also want to take a look at the baby tiger, Snow?”
The little guy had been tugging hard on the hem of her skirt for a while now.
It seemed that Snow was also worried about its little companion.
“Alright, you may stay here to keep it company.”
Despite being usually playful and wild, Snow was apparently concerned over its little companion when something bad happened to it.
Snow quietly watched the baby tiger lying in its little nest and occasionally, it used its claws to touch the baby tiger’s head.
The baby tiger opened its eyes, looked at its little companion, and then fell back into a deep sleep.
“Trust me, it will be alright.”
Lin Mengya patted Snow’s head as it laid down beside the little tiger’s little nest, but continued to watch its companion with large, unblinking eyes.
“Are you angry?”
Suddenly, someone put out a hand to stroke Lin Mengya’s hand.
Why was it always the oily-mouthed Qinghu who could read her mind?
“Rest assured, the baby tiger will be fine. If there’s a poison in the world that you can’t neutralize, there would be nothing anyone else could do.”
To Qinghu, Lin Mengya’s ability to neutralize any poison was second to none.
“Don’t say that. If I’m really as good as you claim, you would not be tormented for my sake and be left with three years of your life.”
Lin Mengya did not use to be so keenly aware of this fear of losing someone dear to her, until the death of Elder Sister Yue Ting.
Her relationship with Qinghu had started out with one which they made use of each other for gain.
However, Qinghu had since become her family.
The thought of going through another parting of death three years from now, Lin Mengya immediately felt an excruciating pain in her heart. It was as if her heart was being slashed by a knife.
She grabbed onto Qinghu’s clothes and looked into his eyes, saying, “Will you promise me never to die in front of my eyes, please?”
Lin Mengya was so used to facing all problems with a brave front, that she had not allowed other people to see the weaker side of her.
For this reason, Qinghu was taken aback to see Lin Mengya behaving this way.
“Alright, lass, I promise I will die behind your back.”
Qinghu patted Lin Mengya on her head, as a look of regret flashed across his eyes.
It was a pity that they got to know each other too late.
“Oh yes, did you see the one who poisoned the baby tiger?”
Although Qinghu would suddenly disappear on many occasion, his eyes were on a constant lookout for everything that was happening in the courtyard.
It could be said that everything that happened in the Liuxin Courtyard would not escape Qinghu’s eyes.
“The culprits were very discreet. I have totally no idea when they put the poison there. It appears that I have to be keeping watch of the entrance to the Liuxin Courtyard at all times.”
However, Lin Mengya had another idea. Although she had Qinghu and Night by her side, it would still be better to rely on herself.
She had to make some changes if she wanted to protect those who were important to her.
“Just try your best and don’t be too hard on yourself. Oh yes, did you manage to look for the house I was talking to you about?”
Once Lin Mengya got into the serious mode, her coyness was replaced by dynamism and drive.
Although Qinghu immediately started missing the fragile and coquettish Lin Mengya, he knew that this astute and forceful woman was the real Lin Mengya.
“Yes, when would you like to see it?”
To Qinghu, every one of Lin Mengya’s instruction was like an imperial edict.
Not only had he carried her instructions out efficiently, but he also had in fact paid for the piece of land already.
He had also furnished the place with all the necessities including furniture such as tables and stools.
The boss just had to open her mouth, and the servant had done all the errands.
Moreover, this boss of his was a calculating and meticulous one.
“Let’s go have a look tonight. I suppose it’s not a good idea to go out during the day, for now, so we will go when it’s dark. Oh, please also ask Baisu to come along. When the day comes, she will be following us there anyways.”
Nodding, Qinghu left to make the necessary preparations.
Lin Mengya looked out only to realize that the sun was already setting.
The evening breeze blew gently on her.
A bright and clear moon, with a chipped corner, was hanging in the evening sky
The darkness which fell onto the earth was the best camouflage for the people going about their businesses in the night.
Two shadowy figures were seen leaping quickly over the wall of the Liuxin Courtyard.
In the alley behind the prince’s mansion stood a small horse and its carriage, which had been waiting.
“Go,” a deep, cold voice sounded.
The coachman called out with a low voice and the horse carriage disappeared into the night.
“Do you think we can keep this from Night?”
There was no light within the carriage but Lin Mengya’s voice sounded bright and clear.
“That honest-to-goodness guy doesn’t dare to even enter your room when you’re asleep. I bet he won’t find out about this.”
Qinghu said, sounding very satisfied with himself.
If it were not so dark in the horse carriage, Qinghu would have seen how Lin Mengya had rolled her eyes at him in disdain.
“Do you think everyone is lacking moral principles like you?”
Lin Mengya could not help but blurt out. Fortunately, it was not the right moment, otherwise, Qinghu would have queried her on what she meant by moral principles.
“Alright, we’re here.”
The horse carriage stopped in front of a shophouse along a long street. Although it was still within the bustling city, it appeared to be set in solitude and quietness because it was situated at the border of the city.
From the outside, the shophouse was not especially spacious, being around eighty square meters.
At the moment, it was filled with drawer chests carrying medicine and herbs.
From the outside, it looked just like any regular pharmacy. However, as they rounded the drawer chests, passed through a blue curtain and a corridor, there was a whole new world behind.
“How did you manage to find a wonderful place like this?”
A small crescent-shaped door at the back led them into a large garden.
The garden was a little empty at this moment, and from the look of it, they could tell that the place was unoccupied.
Nevertheless, the place was very spacious and neat. Looming behind the courtyard was a two-story building.
There were other smaller buildings around the courtyard. No one would have imagined that there was a spacious but quite living space behind the simple-looking pharmacy.
“This place was built by a rich man in a spur of the moment. The facade was ordinary and the backdoor looked nothing out of ordinary. However, this courtyard looked impressive.”
Qinghu was right in making such a comment. Nevertheless, he sounded as if he was inviting a compliment from Lin Mengya.
“Oh yes, of course. The credit is all yours for finding this place. Are you satisfied now?”
Compliments were free of charge, so Lin Mengya did not mind sparing Qinghu some to satisfy his ego and vanity.
“On top of that, the most amazing thing is right here.”
With a mysterious smile, Qinghu led her into an ordinary-looking room.
Lin Mengya peeped in only to see a dark room. What was so usual about this room?
