Chapter 766 Inquire About the Enemies’ Situation
“What is this? It seems to be different from local candies, and it’s so sweet and delicious!” Ningqiu said.
There were still tears in her eyes, but she covered her mouth and sucked the candy with relish in the next moment.
Lin Mengya was impressed by her who was a foodie like Baizhi.
Fortunately, when she was weak some time ago, Long Tianyu and Qinghu had collected a lot of sweetmeats to replenish her energy.
She had put this candy in the pocket of her underclothes casually.
Unexpectedly, she used it to console Ningqiu today.
“I’m glad you like it. Ningqiu, I want to ask you something. May I?” Lin Mengya said.
Perhaps because the candy helped Lin Mengya connect with Ningqiu or Ningqiu had quite a favorable impression of Lin Mengya, hearing Lin Mengya’s words, Ningqiu nodded heavily and seemed to be going to tell everything she knew.
The sunlight shining into the side chamber was appropriately gentle and warm.
In the side chamber decorated in the plain and simple style she liked, she dragged Ningqiu along with her to sit down and began to collect the information she wanted.
“How long have you been serving Madame?” She asked.
Ningqiu thought for a while before answering in a crisp voice, “I have been serving Madame for three years. She is nicer than the masters of other palaces. I’m privileged to serve Madame.”
It made sense. Although Ningqiu was clever, she was a relatively simple girl.
If it hadn’t been for Madame Jingrou’s protection for her, she would have had a hard time.
“Well, do you often get bullied by those Mesdames, just as today Madame was punished to kneel by the Empress because of a vase of flowers?” Lin Mengya asked.
If anyone else asked about this, Ningqiu would definitely refuse to say a word.
Nevertheless, given that Miss Helan was brought here by the prince to help Madame, Ningqiu considered Miss Helan as one of them.
Thus, Ningqiu lowered her voice and answered indignantly, “Yes, they have done that long before. Madame is good-natured, so all those Mesdames picked on her all the time. With the backing of her family that has made magnificent contributions to the country, the Empress always bossed Madame around, and she bawled at Madame angrily when Madame made the slightest mistake. However, the Empress is not the most formidable. She is fierce, but not smart. In fact, she was stirred up by Madam Hui to do all this. In the imperial palace, no one other than the Empress likes Madam Hui. Madame Hui was brought into the imperial palace by Madame Jingrou, but she dared to bully her former master after getting the upper hand. She’s really heartless!”
Hearing Ningqiu talk for a long while, Lin Mengya drew a conclusion.
In the imperial palace, the Empress’s biggest target was Madame Jingrou, while Madam Hui mentioned by Ningqiu should be the Empress’s villainous adviser.
Actually, when she talked with the Empress, she had seen through the Empress’s disposition.
The Empress was ruthless, but not smart enough, so she was used by someone.
Judging from Ningqiu’s words, Madame Hui seemed to have worked for Madame Jingrou before.
Lin Mengya had seen lots of heartless people, but someone like Madame Hui, who stirred up the Empress to pick on her former master all the time, was rarely seen.
She showed a playful smile, thinking the imperial palace was quite an interesting place.
“I’ve just entered the imperial palace and, I’m not clear about the rules here. Can you tell me about the masters in the imperial palace, in case I offend someone and cause Madame trouble?” Lin Mengya asked.
Lin Mengya asked three questions in a row, but they were not quite privacy-related. Therefore, Ningqiu relaxed her vigilance against Lin Mengya a lot and ticked off the situation in the imperial palace on her fingers.
Speaking of this, the imperial harem of the Lieyun Empire was relatively simple with no conventional system.
The so-called Empress was actually the first wife the Emperor married when he was a prince.
However, after ascending the throne, the Emperor didn’t acknowledge her as his legal wife.
Afterwards, the Empress gave birth to the eldest son, and her family, which had made magnificent contributions to the country, put pressure on the Emperor every day. In the end, the Emperor had to acknowledge her as the Empress ambiguously.
Nevertheless, the Emperor did not acknowledge her as his legal wife. On the other hand, the other imperial concubines were all entitled as Madame or Beauty, which made them inferior to her.
Over the years, the Emperor and the Empress no longer had affection for each other, and the Empress was just a puppet with an unwarranted name.
Leaving aside the Empress, Madame Jingrou of the Fengyu Court was really at the top of the harem.
Moreover, it was said that the Emperor had held the wedding ceremony for the legal wife when marrying Madame Jingrou, which might be the reason why the Empress picked on Madame Jingrou all the time.
Apart from the Empress and Madame Jingrou, there were a few more Mesdames. In addition to Madame Hui, the other three of them were from prominent families. Although they helped the Empress do evil, they did not dare to be too hard on Madame Jingrou.
Only Madame Jing’an, whose title was similar to that of Madame Jingrou, was friendly with Madame Jingrou.
However, Madame Jing’an enjoyed meditation and went to the Taoist temple outside the imperial palace for cultivation when at leisure.
The Emperor respected her a lot. When she was in the imperial palace, even the Empress had to deal with her cautiously.
The rest of the imperial concubines were insignificant. Some of them had sons, but their families were under the control of those aristocratic families, so they were just puppets with little influence.
After gaining an initial understanding of the situation, Lin Mengya had her judgement.
The situation in the imperial palace was not very complicated, but the fight among those aristocratic families outside the imperial palace was awful.
The imperial harem and the imperial court had always been inseparably interconnected.
Lin Mengya heard from Xiaoyu that his mother came from the prominent Xin Family, but she was not actually a member of them, which made the relationship between her and the Xin Family quite complicated.
Rubbing the part between her eyebrows, Lin Mengya thought the only way to thoroughly suppress the fight inside the imperial palace was to suppress the fight outside the imperial palace.
However, this goal could not be accomplished at one stroke.
“Ah, it’s already evening. Miss, please come with me. It’s time for dinner,” Ningqiu said in surprise, disrupting Lin Mengya’s thinking. at one stroke
Watching Ningqiu leaving in a hurry, Lin Mengya thought that she seemed to have a long way to go before turning Ningqiu into a palace maid in charge who played a decisive role in the imperial palace.
Speaking of this, she really admired those who could turn those young palace maids into experienced palace nannies.
How much willpower did they need to suppress those young palace maids’ vivacity?
Xiaoyu didn’t stay for dinner, so only Lin Mengya and Madame Jingrou were in the chamber at the moment.
Madame Jingrou, who had changed into informal clothes, was still ravishing, but gave out a peaceful and gentle air.
Lin Mengya thought that Madame Jingrou probably won the Emperor’s favor with her extremely delicate appearance and extremely resolute character.
If she were a man, she would also fall in love with such a woman.
“Here you are. Have a seat. Are you used to living in my side chamber?” Madame Jingrou asked.
Lin Mengya, who always reconciled herself to her situation, did not care about this.
But since Madame Jingrou asked out of kindness, she was too embarrassed to speak bluntly, so she nodded as a response.
“Yu’er told me that you treated him like your brother. His Majesty and I are very grateful to you. If it hadn’t been for your protection for him, he probably would have suffered more hardships. So just make yourself at home and help yourself to what you need,” Madame Jingrou said in an extremely sincere tone.
Lin Mengya had seen all kinds of hypocrisies. But now, Madame Jingrou seemed to be expressing her gratitude from the bottom of her heart.
Stunned for a moment, Lin Mengya was at a loss how to respond, so she just smiled.
“When His Majesty sent him off, I was tremendously reluctant to do that, for fear that my son would meet with any mishap. Unexpectedly, the thing I was most afraid of happened! Nevertheless, he met you luckily. Miss Helan, please accept my bow.” As Madame Jingrou said, she got up and was about to kneel to Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya couldn’t accept it and was about to stop Madame Jingrou, but Madame Jingrou turned away from her and knelt in front of her in the end.
“I know you’re a kind girl, so you should accept my bow in any case. His Majesty and I will never forget your kindness, but if one day you want to leave the Capital City, I certainly won’t stop you. Therefore, you can feel free to stay here. Neither His Majesty nor I will use your kindness to stop you from leaving,” Madame Jingrou said.
It sounded like she wanted to drive Lin Mengya away.
But both of them knew what she meant.
Xiaoyu was so clever that he had seen through her disguise. Now his mother made the whole thing clear, which made her at a loss how to react.
She acted like a radical earlier because she had seen through Madame Jingrou’s disposition.
In this way, even if Madame Jingrou used her help, Madame Jingrou would be wary of her at all times.
Now, Madame Jingrou made the whole thing so clear that she would seem to be a little hypocritical if she denied it.
Lin Mengya helped Madame Jingrou to her feet at once as a hint that she had been aware of Madame Jingrou’s thought and accepted her kindness.
She said, “Madame, I’m flattered. Xiaoyu and I are as close as siblings, so I certainly won’t refuse to help him. Now that I have come here and gained your trust, I will make myself at home. Madame, please get up quickly. If Xiaoyu learns this, he will definitely blame me.”
It was only then that Madame Jingrou got up, took Lin Mengya’s hand and sat down by the table.
Then she said, “Look at me, I have a poor memory as I get old. Xiaoyu told me that you were born in the Jin State, so I specially have some specialties of the Jin State prepared for you. I’m wondering if you like them.”
There were indeed plenty of specialties of the Jin State on the table, which was enough to show that Madame Jingrou was very considerate to her, not just verbally but actually.
Lin Mengya glanced at them and said with sincerity, “There’s one thing you probably don’t know yet, Madame, that my identity is a little special. Therefore, I hope that no one other than Xiaoyu, Ningqiu, you and me will find about it. Although my identity can bring a lot of benefits to Xiaoyu, it can also bring a lot of trouble to him. As such, Madame, please take me as a woman from a common family in the Lieyun Empire.”
