Lin Mengya always had a sense of propriety. She offended Wanyan Lie again and again just in order to remind him that Xiaoyu was not a pawn they could use at will.
But at the same time, she was clearly aware that compared with Wanyan Lie who could even sacrifice his life to assist Xiaoyu to fight for the throne, she was just a supporter of Xiaoyu, so she would go a little too far if she overshadowed Wanyan Lie’s leading role.
Perhaps because of Lin Mengya’s toughness, Wanyan Lie tried to suppress his dissatisfaction a little.
After the confrontation between them, the atmosphere eased up a lot, but it was a little awkward.
“Uncle Lie, can you tell us what I asked you last time?” Xiaoyu asked Wanyan Lie politely.
However, hearing this, Wanyan Lie showed a slightly serious look.
A moment later, he finally let out a deep sigh, seeming to be unwilling to recall the Emperor’s romance back then.
“This is the story between His Majesty and Madame. As a subject, I should not mention it. But since Miss Lin said that this is related to our great cause, I can only let His Majesty and Madame down this time.” As Wanyan Lie said, he glanced at Lin Mengya, obviously unconvinced that the story between the Emperor and Madame Jingrou could help them get out of the current predicament.
Lin Mengya had expected this long before. After all, Wanyan Lie, who spent most of his time outside, might not know much about the subtle situations in the imperial palace.
Moreover, how could he understand women’s complicated thoughts as a man?
She immediately explained the whole thing to Wanyan Lie. Only then did Wanyan Lie come to a realization.
“I see. No wonder Madame has been criticized in the imperial palace. I didn’t expect that what happened almost 20 years ago would be mentioned again,” Wanyan Lie said with deep feeling.
He probably didn’t expect that what had happened back then would gradually develop into the current situation through time.
Lin Mengya and Wanyan Yu waited quietly for him to tell the story. After all, apart from the Emperor and Madame Jingrou, the two protagonists of the story, only Wanyan Lie was clear about the whole story.
As Wanyan Lie began his narration with a hint of nostalgia in his tone, Lin Mengya and Wanyan Yu learned part of the true story 20 years ago.
Back then, when the Emperor ascended the throne with the help of those aristocratic families, he was still as young as Xiaoyu.
People said that young couples were affectionate. However, the Emperor was forced to marry the Empress who was so domineering that she would turn the imperial palace upside down when the Emperor treated her a little coldly, which made it impossible for them to be deeply attached to each other.
At this time, the Emperor coincidentally met Madame Jingrou, the witch of the Xin Family back then.
Wanyan Lie barely used beautiful words to narrate the story in his memory. Nevertheless, the isolated and lofty Emperor in his youth and the gentle and affectionate pretty girl must have a touching romance before they got married.
Based on the way the Emperor doted on Madame Jingrou, Lin Mengya did not doubt this.
However, at that time, the Emperor and Madame Jingrou could only keep their relationship secret. Therefore, Madame Hui, who was Madame Jingrou’s personal maid back then, served as the messenger passing on letters for them.
Perhaps considering Madame Hui was the only bond between him and his beloved, the Emperor was more patient with her than with others.
The Emperor and Madame Jingrou just considered it as the extension of his love for her to her maid.
Gradually, Madame Hui fell in love with this melancholic and noble man.
Later, Madame Hui kept giving hints to the Emperor and even offered to sleep with him while passing on messages for them, but he refused her every time.
Madame Jingrou was unaware of this, and the Emperor had no interest in bothering himself about relationships, so only a few courtiers of him, including Wanyan Lie, knew this.
After the two of them went through untold hardships and finally married, Madame Jingrou moved into the imperial palace with her personal maid.
The situation was fine in the first few years. Although Madame Hui had feelings for the Emperor, the Emperor had no feeling for her, so she could only behave properly.
However, in the fourth year, the Emperor suddenly slept with Madame Hui and even made an exception to promote her from a maid to Madame Hui, who was only inferior to Madame Jingrou.
Everyone said that the Emperor took a fancy to Madame Hui, who was Madame Jingrou’s maid back then, at the beginning, but Madame Jingrou relied on her identity and power to snatch the Emperor’s favor.
Later, the Emperor finally learned the truth, so he conferred a title on Madame Hui in a fit of anger.
Of course, all kinds of rumors ended up being suppressed by the Emperor.
Nevertheless, Madame Hui gained her foothold in the imperial palace. Later, the Emperor treated Madame Jingrou very differently from before.
These rumors were passed down in secret and considered as the truth by almost everyone.
As Wanyan Lie said, the Emperor fell for Madame Jingrou, Madame Hui’s master back then, and Madame Hui snatched the Emperor’s favor from Madame Jingrou and lived in her illusion.
But why did Madame Jingrou also believe that she snatched the Emperor’s favor from Madame Hui?
Lin Mengya had thought that she would get the answer, but now the whole thing seemed to be more complicated and confusing.
She frowned slightly and stared at Wanyan Lie, who wanted to help but could not. After all, as a man, he could only see what had happened on the surface and was unaware of the truth of the love triangle among the three of them.
“It’s impossible. Madame Hui is quite a hypocrite with honeyed words but evil intent. She must have made up such rumors in order to strive for my father’s favor!” Xiaoyu couldn’t help saying in a cold voice.
Lin Mengya glanced at him and shook her head.
Then she said, “Your Excellency, if what you said is true, it’s unreasonable for Madame Hui to find favor with His Majesty and for Madame Jingrou to feel guilty. Besides, although I don’t know His Majesty’s disposition as well as you do, I can tell that he is not easy to deceive. Oh, yes, over the years when His Majesty treated Madame Jingrou coldly, did anything serious happen in the imperial palace? Something outrageous like the imperial concubines’ striving for His Majesty’s favor or the internal strife among them.”
She and Xiaoyu looked at Wanyan Lie at the same time.
Wanyan Lie found himself in a difficult situation. However, he was overwhelmed by the expectant looks in their eyes.
He furrowed his brows and pondered for a long while before telling about a few things slowly, “There seemed to be a few serious things. A few Beauties, who had just married into the imperial palace, were driven out by the Emperor because they attempted to murder a Madame in the imperial palace. Besides, Madame Hui was said to be pregnant, but did not give birth to a baby. That’s all.”
Given Wanyan Lie’s character, it was not easy for him to remember these.
Lin Mengya connected these things and got some useful information.
After Madame Hui found favor with the Emperor, the Emperor purposefully treated Madame Jingrou coldly for a long time.
During this period, a few newcomers in the imperial palace attempted to murder a Madame. Could it be possible that the Emperor conferred a title on Madame Hui actually in order to use her as a shield to protect Madame Jingrou from sneak attacks?
Xiaoyu was only 15 years old this year, and Madame Jingrou married into the imperial palace 20 years ago.
She had to send her son away immediately after she gave birth to him, which meant that she had not gained her foothold in the imperial palace at that time.
Nevertheless, it didn’t seem to make sense if the Emperor conferred a title on Madame Hui just in order to use her as a shield.
At the same time, Lin Mengya recalled that day Madame Hui claimed that Madame Jingrou killed her baby.
In this case, something very complicated must have happened in the imperial palace back then.
Shaking her head, Lin Mengya discovered that she seemed to have fallen into a very confusing situation.
If she intended to clear up all the misunderstandings caused by what had happened back then, she must figure out the cause and effect.
Although the noble families enjoyed great wealth, they had to act against their will a lot of times.
She would probably find it impossible to solve this problem after she spent a lot of time and got an uncertain number of people involved.
It seemed that she should consider carefully before making a decision.
“Forget it, let’s talk about it later. In fact, I also come here today to ask you for a favor,” Lin Mengya said.
Wanyan Lie looked at her, but did not turn down her request.
After all, Lin Mengya came here to help them. Besides, Wanyan Lie and Xiaoyu had reached a consensus that Lin Mengya would never do anything against Xiaoyu.
He, who had a proper perspective on people, especially Lin Mengya, would never make a mistake in judgement.
“Go ahead,” he said.
“I hope that you can hunt those tribe priests. There is no need to kill them. Just hurt them severely. Also, don’t give away any clues or intentionally misguide the public. It will be best if you can kill one or two of them,” Lin Mengya said with a gentle look in her eyes.
But what she said made Wanyan Lie tremble slightly all over.
Did he mishear her words? Hunting the priests would incur the wrath of the public!
Lin Mengya raised her eyebrows and looked at Wanyan Lie with a faint smile, seeming to think his hesitation a bit ridiculous.
Wanyan Lie said, “Miss Lin, you should know that these priests are highly respected even in their respective tribes. Young master and I have been secretly trying to win their support. Isn’t it too risky to hunt them now? Moreover, even if they are killed, their successors will not necessarily support young master. It will probably turn out to be a foolish move instead. They hate being manipulated most. I’m afraid I can’t comply with your wish.”
He thought that Lin Mengya intended to get rid of those priests, who did not support Xiaoyu, and help a group of Xiaoyu’s supporters succeed them. In this way, they could get the support of the tribes.
Although there were occasional disputes among the tribes, the members of each tribe were much more united than the royal members, among whom there was internal strife.
This might work elsewhere, but doing this to the tribe priests was too risky and could be discovered easily.
Once it was discovered, Xiaoyu would immediately be at a disadvantage and even lose the hope of succeeding to the throne.
As such, he couldn’t take the risk in any case.
Lin Mengya smiled helplessly. Did she look like a simple-minded person?
She said, “Calm down, Your Excellency. If that’s my plan, won’t it be easier to send your men to hunt down those priests and shift the blame on others? The reason why I ask you to send your men to hunt them down is that I want to break the current situation by killing them.”
