Hongyu and the other maids were no longer stranger; instead, they were talking and laughing. It seemed that the atmosphere between them was much more harmonious.
If that was the case, Lin Mengya would feel at ease.
“You’re finally back. In the past few days, Miss Baizhi has been talking about you every day. If you don’t come back soon, we’ll get a callus in our ears.”
Although Baiji and Baishao were two capable maids in the family, Hongyu had been in a brothel. Naturally, the two of them were no match for her in terms of means and schemes.
Gradually, Hongyu, the newcomer, became the leader of their small group.
Of course, it was also what Lin Mengya wanted to see.
Ms. Tian looked at Lin Mengya with a smile, but as a mature and steady person, she knew, of course, that the two of them would have plenty of time to chat and laugh in the future.
Now she would let the little girls talk to their master first.
“Master, look, Sister Hongyu is making fun of me! Besides, I’m not the only one who misses you. Oh, I saw Sister Baiji make you some new clothes. Her workmanship is so exquisite that I like them very much!”
Baizhi pouted and immediately betrayed her good friend.
Fortunately, Baiji was not angry; she just glared at her and said with some embarrassment.
“They’re not new. They’re the clothes you brought back from the mansion. I think the fabric is really good, and it’s a pity to abandon them. So I modified them. Just take them as a keepsake.”
Lin Mengya nodded gratefully. Of course, she knew that Baiji was talking about the relic of her mother.
Although she had a lot of clothes, the style and material of her mother’s clothes, even accessories, were all unique. After all, her mother was the eldest princess of the country.
Nowadays, even if people had money, they could not buy such good things.
Therefore, Lin Mengya could fully understand Baiji’s thoughts.
“Everyone has worked hard. I’m really sorry for making you worried. By the way, where are Zhu Yan and Brother Tian Ning? Why didn’t they come?”
Apart from Qinghu, there were only women in the room, so Lin Mengya knew that some people didn’t come just by looking at them.
Immediately, Hongyu seemed to have thought of something and said with a smile.
“They went to the suburbs of the capital with the 10th prince. The 10th prince is in poor health, and needs to go out more to get some fresh air.”
Hongyu explained, but Lin Mengya saw something else in her eyes.
After thinking for a while, she came to a realization—it must be no big deal for the 10th prince asked Tian Ning and Zhu Yan to escort him.
After that, Lin Mengya turned around and pushed Qinghu, who had been standing on one side, to the front of the crowd.
However, everyone’s eyes were gradually focused on the baby in Qinghu’s hands, who was wrapped in a basket and had a pair of big round eyes.
“Qinghu, is this your illegitimate child? Did you go missing for such a long time because you were with your wife to have a baby?”
Baizhi was the first one to act, and blamed Qinghu for having an illegitimate child.
Even though Qinghu was thick-skinned, he could not help blushing. He shoved the child into Lin Mengya’s arms and retorted grumpily.
“He’s your princess’ illegitimate child. Don’t you want to know how she gave birth to the child in a month?”
Baizhi then knew that she had put her foot in her mouth.
She stuck her tongue out and hid behind Baiji, but her curious eyes fell on the baby.
“He’s an orphan and I adopted him from Yun State. I named him Lin Moyan. Although this child had a miserable life, he is really cute. I am going to raise him in the mansion. If someone asks about him, just tell them that he is my nephew of the Lin family. He is raised in the mansion because he has no one to rely on. Everybody, please take good care of Moyan!”
Lin Mengya waved the little boy’s chubby little hand and announced in a sweet voice.
Suddenly, the women whose maternal instinct had been aroused by this lovely little boy gathered round.
“This little baby is so cute. Look, he’s smiling at me!”
Baizhi also liked this cute baby, but she was young and had no experience in taking care of children, so she could only see her master putting the baby into Ms. Tian’s arms.
The little boy was very adorable. Perhaps he could feel that these people were kind to him, so his little dimples full of smiles appeared.
Ms. Tian only felt that the more she looked at him, the more she liked him, as if she was holding her precious grandson. At the moment, she took the responsibility of taking care of the little boy.
In addition, Baiji and Baishao had brought up their younger brothers and sisters at home. This little boy was blessed.
“From now on, this child will be sleeping with me. How cute he is! He’s exactly as cute as our young master and young lady when they were kids!”
Ms. Tian smiled from ear to ear. Lin Mengya was naturally relieved.
“By the way, Hongyu, go and hire a wet nurse for Moyan. The little fella needs breast milk after all, or he will not be in good health. Remember, the wet nurse must come from a clean family and be responsible. The most important thing is that she has to get along well with Moyan.”
Hongyu nodded with a smile. She was careful, so it was right to leave these trivial things to her.
Then Lin Mengya chatted with them for a long time. It was not until Hongyu and Baiji drove the people away with a smile that they realized that Lin Mengya had been tired all the way and needed rest most.
In the end, Baishao stayed behind to serve Lin Mengya to rest, and the rest of them either went to take care of Moyan or to prepare some food for Lin Mengya.
As a silence gradually fell over the Liuxin Courtyard, Lin Mengya finally relaxed.
Lying on the soft and comfortable big bed, she had a sound sleep, like a snoozing cat.
Lin Mengya had a good time at home, but things were not rosy for Long Tianyu.
Along the way to the palace, Long Tianyu found that there were many more soldiers in charge of patrolling on the street than usual.
Was it only because someone sneaked into the palace and tried to assassinate his father?
Long Tianyu didn’t believe it. His father had been fighting on the battlefield for half of his life. How could a few assassins make his father worried so much?
It seemed that something else must have happened; otherwise, his father would not have been so defensive.
Long Tianyu had an intuition that this matter had something to do with the Crown Prince and the empress.
After entering the palace, Long Tianyu and the others went all the way, not to the resting palace of the emperor, but to a slightly smaller palace behind the resting palace.
Cide Palace was originally used to worship the ancestors, but it was rebuilt after his father ascended the throne. Now this palace became the emperor’s another resting place expect for his resting palace.
At this moment, the small courtyard was filled with spies and guards who were patrolling.
Long Tianyu had a strange feeling in his heart, but he could only follow behind the guards and awaited his father’s summons respectfully.
“Prince Yu, come in.”
The guards’ shout made Long Tianyu’s stomach tighten.
Then he followed behind the guards calmly and entered through the vermilion gate.
There were two warm rooms, one in the east and one in the west, in the Cide Palace. The eunuch led them to the Winter Warm Room.
Before they entered the room, a murmur of quarreling came from inside.
When they walked into the room, the quarrel quickly stopped. Long Tianyu lowered his head and bowed down in front of his father.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Kneeling on the ground, Long Tianyu felt a little surprised.
He had just glanced around and found that in addition to his father, there were several military officers, including Lin Mengya’s elder brother, Lin Nansheng.
As he was getting more and more confused, he heard his father’s tired voice coming from above.
“You’re back? Get up. It must have been hard on you.”
Long Tianyu stood up with gratitude and stood aside, not daring to say anything more.
The eunuch left silently at once. They were the only ones left in the Winter Warm Room.
Then the emperor gave a light cough and said, “I know what you said just now. But the Jin State can no longer afford unrest. If the civil war starts, I’m afraid that even the old master of the Lin family would not be able to reverse the situation, let alone you. Nansheng, I’ve watched you grow up. Do you understand what I mean?”
“A civil war? How could it become so serious?” Long Tianyu wondered, but still didn’t understand who was so bold.
“Your Majesty, you’re overstating my grandfather’s ability. My grandfather was not that good. All of it was because of the late emperor’s proper command. But I have a word that I have to tell everyone.”
Lin Nansheng paused for a moment, without showing any sign of fear.
“We’re not afraid of death, but the common people can’t stand this kind of torture anymore. No matter how incompetent and tyrannical the Crown Prince is, it’s still His Majesty’s family affairs. If the world is in chaos because the Crown Prince is discrowned, I want to protect him. At least, the common people won’t be in trouble.”
Lin Nansheng’s words gave Long Tianyu a general idea of what they were talking about.
He looked up and saw that in addition to Lin Nansheng, who spoke boldly in order to protect people, there were also several other powerful military officers in the room.
At this moment, those people’s faces were taut with anger because of Lin Nansheng’s words.
However, in the next moment, they landed their eager eyes on Long Tianyu, as if he was their new hope.
“Your Majesty, how can the heavy responsibilities of the country be handed over to a man who is greedy, rash and self-willed? I would like to ask Your Majesty to make Prince Yu, the third prince, the Crown Prince as soon as possible for the sake of the great plan. Your Majesty, please consider all the people in the world!”
As soon as the old minister opened his mouth, several people around him seconded that.
But at this moment, Lin Nansheng was a little anxious. After casting a glance at Long Tianyu, he deliberately gave him a cautious look.
For a moment, Long Tianyu could not figure out why those people would propose to make a new Crown Prince at this critical moment.
