Long Tianyu fixed his eyes on Qiu Yu as if he was sizing Qiu Yu up to see if he was speaking the truth.
The jade token in the shape of a dragon was indeed an authentication object for the royal family members in the Nation of Lintian. However, never would he imagine Lin Mengya’s mother to be of such a noble birth.
“I am a brother of the new emperor of the Nation of Lintian. Mengya’s mother, Zuo Shuqing, used to be the first princess of the Nation of Lintian. Subsequently, she felt wronged by my father, who was the emperor, and fled from the palace. Being bitterly remorseful, my father had made us promise him that we are to bring her back.”
Even Long Tianyu had heard of the Princess of Eternal Peace of the Nation of Lintian.
He gathered from the elders in his father’s generation that the Princess of Eternal Peace of Lintian was a great beauty. In addition, there was a propitious sign on her, which made her Lintian’s national treasure.
Many royal princes had asked for her hand but with no success. Who would have expected that she ended up marrying Lin Muzhi?
“I believe you.”
Long Tianyu contemplated for a while and finally chose to believe Zuo Qiuyu’s words.
If Zuo Qiuyu had really wanted to harm Lin Mengya, he would not have chosen to give it his all and protect her by putting himself in danger.
Long Tianyu might not have much medical knowledge and skill, he knew for a fact that Zuo Qiuyu was much more accomplished in medical knowledge and skill compared to the military physician. Lin Mengya’s life was in critical condition and was uncertain at the moment. He was not going to let slip any chance of saving her life.
Soon, the horse carriage was ready. Lu Di seemed to have long known the identity of Zuo Qiuyu being one of the princes of Lintian. This could be seen from how he answered to Zuo Qiuyu’s every request.
Long Tianyu carried Lin Mengya personally onto the horse carriage, where thick blankets had been laid on the floor of the carriage. He did not want any more harm to come upon Lin Mengya and Zuo Qiuyu.
The pioneering commander, Lu Di insisted on escorting them. With him leading a team of escorts, he would make sure they were safely protected.
The horse carriage set off from the army camp and soon, Zuo Qiuyu, injured on his back, fell into a deep sleep.
Long Tianyu had not had any food or drink the entire day. Cracks had started to form on his lips and his eyes were bloodshot.
However, no matter how much people around him tried to persuade him, he refused to leave Lin Mengya’s side.
The horse carriage wobbled and shook and at last, the night passed and dawn brought about the morning light. Long Tianyu, who had been looking after Lin Mengya for a day and a night, had just closed his eyes.
Someone would send medicine and soup every four hours and Long Tianyu had fed them to Lin Mengya little by little through his mouth.
Lin Mengya’s lips continued to receive passively and there were no other reactions or movements from them.
All of a sudden, Long Tianyu woke from his dreams with a start.
The first thing he did was check on the girl in his arms to see if she was alright.
With a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, he fixed his gaze on Lin Mengya for a while until he was certain that all this was not his imagination before he felt rest assured.
He lifted her left hand and pressed it against his cheek to feel the warmth of her delicate palm.
Fortunately, he was just dreaming. Lin Mengya was still alive by his side. However, his heart was still filled with great fear.
Although it was a two-day journey, every minute felt agonizing for Long Tianyu.
From dawn the second day, Zuo Qiuyu began to run a temperature and he alternated between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Long Tianyu, on the other hand, was on the verge of a breakdown.
It was because Lin Mengya was still completely unresponsive. According to what the escorting military physician said, Lin Mengya would at the very least develop a fever given how deep her wound was.
To their surprise, not only did she not run a temperature, a scab had developed over her wound within a short span of the night.
However, the military physician also commented that although a thin scab had developed over the wound, beneath the scab, the injury had not totally healed. In order to preserve her right shoulder, it was necessary to rip the scab open to apply the medication into the wound.
Long Tianyu did not know whether to cry or laugh. This lass had to be something else. She would suffer such pain which she did not deserve.
The Wangtian City, which was the city of the emperor of the Nation of Lintian, was supposed to be at the eastern side of the Nation of Lintian, bordering the sea.
However, after the new emperor ascended the throne, the emperor’s city was moved to the west and the city was named ‘Wangtian’.
Despite not ever interacted with the new emperor of the Nation of Lintian, Long Tianyu had already heard about him.
If one were to describe the last emperor of the Nation of Lintian as an ironhearted ruler, the new emperor of Lintian would be one who was skillful at fiddling with the hearts of men.
When the late emperor of the Nation of Lintian died suddenly, the country was thrown into great chaos. At that time, the crown prince was the weakest among various great powers.
However, this crown prince knew how to regain the hearts of his people. Subsequently, he managed to turn most of the hearts of the nation’s people back to him.
The crown prince, who won the hearts of the people, relied on the little strength of his army, succeeded the throne by displaying his understanding towards the people.
Straight after he ascended the throne, he decided to move the king’s city elsewhere even when the officials in the courts had disagreed with this idea.
Some people might feel that this new emperor was way too headstrong and was being carried away by his own success.
However, Long Tianyu knew very that the new emperor of the Nation of Lintian was able to sit on the throne all because he had the support of his people.
His move was to allow his people to understand that as an emperor, he wanted to live in the most dangerous place in the Nation of Lintian.
If an enemy were to attack, it would first attack Wangtian City. With Wangtian City in the way, the people of living next to the sea would have sufficient time to get onto their boats and flee.
There was no denying that by so doing, the hearts of his people won over by their new emperor.
Moreover, although the city of Wangtian was close to the nation’s border with its neighboring nations, the obstacle posed by the deep gorge had made the city of Wangtian a fortified city.
Unless the enemy mobilized the entire nation’s strength, it would not be easy to attack the city.
No wonder his father, the emperor, had warned him not to underestimate this young man.
Considering his shrewdness and tactics, it was apparent that the new emperor of the Nation of Lintian was a very ambitious man.
As their horse and carriage traveled non-stopped through the day and night, soon the lofty city walls of the city of Wangtian came into sight.
Although the relocation of Lintian’s capital city was rather recent, Long Tianyu was certain that its emperor had done his calculations.
Be it the city wall or the format of the city within, they ought to be well planned and built.
For this reason, there was no sign of civil unrest or chaos within the Nation of Lintian because of the move. The nation had apparently gone through the most dangerous period a nation would go through in a peaceful manner.
The new emperor’s thoughts and plans must be extremely cautious and meticulous. It was no wonder that he was the one who eventually succeeded the throne.
“Open the city gates quickly! Prince Shen is back!”
Lu Di flashed Zuo Qiuyu’s jade token and ran ahead of the rest. The city gates, which were about to close, instantly started to open again.
All the soldiers guarding the city gates lined themselves up on adjacent sides as they welcomed Zuo Qiuyu and his company into the city of Wangtian.
While Long Tianyu rode in the horse carriage, he held tightly to Lin Mengya’s hand as he appeared to be oblivious to all other matters.
The horse carriage continued onto the main road in the city of Wangtian and soon, it came to stop in front of a prominent mansion.
“Quick, go get the prince to come down.”
Suddenly, there was some commotion from outside the horse carriage. In the next moment, the curtain of the horse carriage was lifted.
A number of men, dressed as servants sprang into action as they carefully carried Zuo Qiuyu out of the horse carriage.
“My Lord, please let us take over your wife.”
Although Long Tianyu did not know the identity of these people, these men from the Prince Shen’s Mansion, whose eyes were very sharp, earnestly asked to help.
“No need, I will carry her down by myself.”
Long Tianyu had turned down the servants’ good intentions and was determined to carry Lin Mengya into Prince Shen’s Mansion on his own.
After the tumultuous journey, they finally had a clean and comfortable place for Lin Mengya and Zuo Qiuyu to rest.
The imperial physicians of the Nation of Lintian went in and out of Prince Shen’s Mansion continuously. However, they mostly visited Prince Shen’s room and had neglected Long Tianyu and Lin Mengya.
Frowning, Long Tianyu got up, intending to drag some of the physicians into the room to treat Lin Mengya.
Incidentally, he saw a figure clad in yellow rush into his room.
“My little cousin had been found? Where is she? Idiots, why bother about saving Yu? If any misfortune befalls my little cousin, I will have all of you become her grave offering!”
The imperial physicians immediately nodded their heads in a subservient manner. It was then that they remembered that there was someone else in the adjacent room, who was also severely injured.
Soon, waves of the imperial physicians turned in the other direction. Leaving behind only two physicians in Zuo Qiuyu’s room, the majority of the physicians were by now surrounding Lin Mengya’s bed.
The military physicians who escorted them began to explain to them the circumstances under which they were injured. A few quick and deft maidservants came forward to attend to Lin Mengya with great care.
Long Tianyu stood there, stupefied. For the time being, there was no room for him surrounding Lin Mengya.
“Are you Long Tianyu, the third prince of Dajin?”
A deep, low voice sounded from beside him.
Long Tianyu turned his head around tensely and finally had a close look at the features of the man in yellow.
Zuo Qiuyu was considered an exceedingly refined and handsome looking man, but compared to this man, Zuo Qiuyu lacked the man’s maturity and arbitrary air.
This man, however, did not appear to be much older than him.
At one glance, perhaps this man seemed to be a scholarly, good-looking man without any dashing spirit.
However, deep in his eyes, there was hidden a murderous, sharp sword.
The man stood tall and straight in a royal yellow coat. His long hair was pulled back and secured behind his head with a red jade hairpin.
With piercing eyes and majestic gait, there was an awe-inspiring air about him.
Despite the man’s indifferent gaze on Long Tianyu’s eyes, he seemed to be able to see through Long Tianyu.
Needless to say, he knew immediately that this was none other than Zuo Qiuchen, the new emperor of the Nation of Lintian.
Long Tianyu gazed at the man with a serious expression on his face and was surprised that this emperor, known to play on people’s emotions and thoughts, merely gave him a leisurely smile.
There was, to Long Tianyu’s surprise, a kindly and friendly look in his eyes.
In an instant, the man’s severe-looking face at first appeared amiable.
Even the usually guarded Long Tianyu had unconsciously let down his guard and relaxed.
This man was truly extraordinary!
“Regardless of all other matters, we’re after all family. I’m Zuo Qiuchen, Lin Mengya’s cousin. If you don’t mind, you may call me big cousin as well.”
