The Art Courtyard was Mother’s residence, but it was filled with many servants.
In addition, there was Jiang Ruqin, who was always looking for opportunities to cause harm.
Occasional negligence was inevitable.
Perhaps this was how people found a loophole work on.
Moreover, the greatest suspect would be Jiang Ruqin, who took every opportunity to crawl up to his bed.
“Please make a thorough investigation into this matter, but do keep it down.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Lin Kui turned to leave and Long Tianhao was left alone in his study as he wrestled with his painful suspicion.
“Are you sure Lin Kui would be able to find those medicinal herbs?”
In the Liuxin Courtyard, Lin Mengya was having a round of chess games with Qinghu.
“I’m absolutely sure. I’ve place it by the side of the stove. Even a blind man would be able to find it.”
Qinghu was getting really enthusiastic about the chess game, but no matter which move he made, he was hemmed in by Lin Mengya’s chess pieces.
“Sounds good, it’s time that he starts to worry.”
Lin Mengya put down another chess piece, then lifted the cup of honey and drank a big mouthful of it.
She was intoxicated with the feeling of triumph after defeating Qinghu.
“Oh no, I’ve lost once more. Let’s do it again.”
Qinghu focused all his attention on the chess board.
Soon there was going to be great chaos in Prince Yu’s Mansion. Everyone was going to think that a mother had intoxicated her own son.
This same mother was trying to force another woman onto him. This sounded like some law-popularizing column show which was aired at midnight.
Qinghu thought he and Lin Mengya had just to sit back and watch the drama as it unfolded.
They would leave all the worrying to Prince Yu.
“Oh yes, what do you intend to do with Yunzhu?” asked Qinghu.
At the same time, he snatched the bowl of honey tea from Lin Mengya’s hand and swallowed a gulp from it.
“What to do with her? Tell me if you’ve known this all along?” asked Lin Mengya.
She looked at the bowl of honey tea which was too sweet for her, thinking that she just saw a fly went into it.
“I only knew that the man who forsook her was called some Mr. Gusu. Do you know him?”
Qinghu drank the honey tea happily as he trained his eyes on Lin Mengya. He thought that her expression of reluctance was simply due to him drinking her bowl of tea.
“Indeed I know him. He is none other than my teacher,” said Lin Mengya with indifference.
“Pfft… It’s your teacher, that old man with a stubbly beard? That’s impossible! Mr. Gusu used to be a famed ladies man in the Capital City. I even had a few encounters with him. How could he be that wretched-looking old man?”
Qinghu looked incredulous at the revelation, so much so that Lin Mengya thought that he had discovered the fly in the honey tea.
“Come on, everyone has a past. What I’m more worried about is that Yunzhu refuses to let go of the past, in which case, she would refuse to be treated by my teacher. Are we then going to just watch her die?”
Lin Mengya frowned deeply. He teacher had just sent a message through a messenger saying the Yunzhu would not be able to hang on much longer.
If she continued to let the poison work in her body, she would surely die.
Lin Mengya felt she was somehow at fault. If she had not brought Yunzhu to her teacher so abruptly, Yunzhu would not have become so agitated.
“How about you take over the administering of the treatment? Didn’t the old man not say that you’re better than him in the operation of it?”
Qinghu was not overly worried because he could tell that Lin Mengya was more than capable to administer the treatment.
Lin Mengya pondered, and then broke out into a smile. It looked like the only plausible solution.
“The prince is here…”
The voice of Steward Deng sounded from outside the door.
The four maidservants who were playing with Snow and the baby tiger gathered around Lin Mengya at once.
“How was Your Highness in the mood to visit me today?”
After the incident that night, Lin Mengya and Long Tianhao seemed to grow apart somehow.
Her hand as almost recovered by now, and so she was no longer wearing the bandages.
The weather was a little chilly today, so Lin Mengya had added an additional layer of red coat on herself.
The red color enhanced the atmosphere of the cold and lifeless autumn.
While her countenance appeared exceptional fair in contrast.
Long Tianhao knew that everyone in the Liuxin Courtyard was upset with him.
However, he had only wanted to see Lin Mengya.
When he walked up to the pavilion, the usually mettlesome-looking Prince Yu appeared a little decrepit today.
Lin Mengya sighed quietly. She could not bring herself to harden her heart and chase him out.
“The rest of you are excused. Please take a seat, Your Highness.”
The four maidservants were most reluctant to leave them alone, but after Lin Mengya gave them look, they submitted and left.
“Qinghu, you may go too. Rest assured that I’ll be fine.”
Qinghu snorted and there was a cold look in his eyes.
He retreated a few steps but trained his eyes on the two people in the pavilion.
“What’s troubling you, Your Highness, that you’ve come to look for me?”
She reached out and poured him a cup of tea.
Although the wound on her hand had more or less recovered, there was a hideous looking scar on her snow-white hand.
“Is the wound on your hand getting better?”
He did not know where to start. For the first time, Long Tianhao was at a loss for what to do in front of a woman.
“It’s almost fully recovered. Teacher says it’s not serious given and my wrist bone was not injured.”
The scar sat right in the middle of her palm, so she would touch it whenever she closed her fist.
Which woman would be happy to have an additional scar on her skin?
“I, I found something in Mother’s courtyard.”
Long Tianhao finally let the words out of his mouth after much contemplation.
There were both the expression of struggle and loneliness in his eyes. Where had the usually spirited Prince Yu gone?
“I don’t know whether it was Mother who did it.”
Concubine De was a big part of his life all these years.
If not for her sacrifices and protection, there would be no Long Tianhao of today.
However, why had his most respected Mother tried to bring harm to him?
“Even the vilest man would not harm his own child.”
Fixing her gaze on Long Tianhao, she blurted out the words he needed most at this moment.
Long Tianhao was after all like any other human being.
To him, Concubine De was his greatest trammel.
And this moment, Long Tianhao’s eyes seemed to come to life.
It was as if he had found a supporter.
“You think so too?” Long Tianhao asked earnestly as he grabbed on to Lin Mengya’s hand, looking anxious.
Lin Mengya glanced at him and nodded even though she had wanted to tell him the truth of what she thought.
How could she bring herself to shatter Long Tianhao’s fantasy?
“It had to be so. Mother had to be maligned. It must be someone else who tried to intoxicate me!”
At this juncture, Long Tianhao was like a drowning man who would grab on a life-saving straw.
A look of yearning appeared in Long Tianhao’s eyes.
However, there was a disappointing realization behind that yearning.
In fact, he understood what was going on, but chose to be in denial.
Lin Mengya suddenly felt that this was too cruel for Long Tianhao.
Unfortunately, the royal was precisely a place for such despicable practices.
Elder Sister Yueting had been deprived of her chance at a blissful life precisely because of this.
Lin Mengya rested her hand on Long Tianhao’s hand and decided that she had no choice but to be cruel in revealing the bloody truth to him.
“My teacher says that this poison could only be found in the palace. If you wish to find out who tried to poison you, you have to start investigating the people in the palace.”
Although Lin Mengya had spoken with a gentle voice, her words were like a knife that pierced into Long Tianhao’s heart.
The expression on his face was that of dejection and the sparkle in his eyes had also dimmed.
“That’s true, only the people in the palace, the people in the palace would be able to get hold of such things.”
A despondent Long Tianhao stood up and walked away from Lin Mengya’s little pavilion.
In his mouth, he could not stop mumbling the words “people in the palace” repeatedly.
Looking at Long Tianhao’s back as he walked away, Lin Mengya put her hand on her left chest where her heart was.
She felt so heartbroken…
“Did you tell him the truth?”
Qinghu suddenly appeared in the pavilion, but he kept his eyes trained on Long Tianhao, who was getting further and further away.
Lin Mengya nodded as she put down her hand which was on her chest. This matter was between he and his mother. What did it concern her?
“It’s good that he realizes it now, lest he continues to have unrealistic expectations.”
In his world, this was nothing surprising to Qinghu.
He had encountered countless cases of mother and son in internecine strife.
Having seen so much ugliness, Qinghu did not think what was happening between Long Tianhao and his mother was a big deal.
“There’s no such thing as kinship within the royal family. Many lives were sacrificed in the process of fighting for the throne. Be it fathers or brothers, anyone could be eliminated as long as he gets in the other’s way.”
Lin Mengya shut her eyes for a moment to calm her tumultuous emotions.
She had regained her calm and composure by the time she opened her eyes again.
“Come, let’s go pay our respects to Concubine De.”
Lin Mengya got up and straightened her dress. It was time to exchange some moves with her mother-in-law.
“Alright, let me get changed.”
As Qinghu headed towards his room, Lin Mengya seemed to have remembered something all of sudden and she called out to him.
“Wait, can you help me look for that fly which I keep in the bowl of honey tea? It took me a great effort to catch it.”
Qinghu almost stumbled forward as he quickly grabbed the doorcase, his face drained of its colors as he shot a glance at the cheeky-looking Lin Mengya.
“Idiotic lass! You stay right there; I’m going to kill you!”
The atmosphere in the Art Courtyard was exceptionally gloomy.
None of the servants dared raise their voices.
They were all going about their businesses quietly.
They did not even dare to greet each other out loud, but merely exchanged knowing looks when they bumped into each other.
“You can’t even succeed with the use of that aphrodisiac. Do you expect me to tie the prince up and put him on your bed?”
At this moment, Concubine De was pruning her bonsai in the main room.
Concubine De had raised her brows as she spoke, but other than that, she did not betray any other emotions on her face.
“It’s not up to me, Aunt, and it’s just, it’s just that Elder Cousin simply refused to touch me. What can I do?”
At the mention of Long Tianhao’s reaction, Jiang Ruqin could not help but feel disheartened.
Although she was not married, his father had numerous concubines in their house, therefore she was aware of the relationship between a husband and his wife.
However, her cousin simply refused to touch her regardless of how hard she tried.
Her cousin even pushed her away even after he ingested the aphrodisiac.
Her butt was still sore from the fall she had when Long Tianhao pushed her away.
As a result, she hated Lin Mengya even more. Whatever drug did Lin Mengya use on her cousin that he was still thinking about Lin Mengya under such circumstances?
“Concubine De, it is alright even if nothing happened.”
