At this moment, Madame Jingrou, dressed in dark blue, was protected by several maids who stood in front of her.
They were headed by Ningqiu who was loyal, confronting several ladies who were dressed in splendid clothes and looked indignant.
There was presumably a conflict between the two sides, otherwise, Madame Jingrou, who had always been tolerant, would not have shown an angry look.
Lin Mengya found it strange. The other imperial concubines did not dare to treat Madame Jingrou rudely when the Empress or Madame Hui was not around.
Now that the Empress was ill and Madame Hui was in the Linqiu Pavilion, they should not dare to get out of line.
As soon as she walked up to Madame Jingrou, she saw a group of people walking over unhurriedly.
The most eye-catching one among them was a man in a sombre robe, and the others were dressed as common palace servants.
The man seemed to be in his twenties, but he was very handsome, gave out a heroic air and looked more steady than ordinary men who were frivolous.
Nevertheless, at this moment, he showed a tired look.
When Lin Mengya looked the man up and down, she had accidental eye contact with him.
But the next second, she couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.
His eyes were so cold. Lin Mengya immediately lowered her head and lent support to Madame Jingrou, while calming herself down a little.
She had pretty much figured out the man’s identity, but she didn’t expect that the legendary Eldest Prince would have such cold eyes.
Although Long Tianyu and Qinghu had been cold before, at least they still had a hint of vitality belonging to living people.
The Eldest Prince’s eyes… were even colder than the perennial ice and snow on the top of the Qijue Peak.
He gave out an air that did not belong to a living person.
The Eldest Prince probably cared about nothing in the world.
It was no wonder that even Wanyan Lie feared the Eldest Prince, as the Eldest Prince was indeed not someone to be trifled with.
Since all sides had shown up, Lin Mengya naturally figured out what was going on.
The priests had all entered the imperial palace. In order to show his concern about the Empress, even the Eldest Prince, who dealt with public affairs outside, hurried back. Therefore, those women, who had always disrespected Madame Jingrou, dared to come forward and seek credit by treating Madame Jingrou rudely in front of the Eldest Prince.
They hardly realized that they were merely courting death by doing so.
They obviously came for the Eldest Prince, but now they acted as if they had just seen him.
“Your Highness, you’ve come at the right time.” There immediately came a wicked voice from a woman who pretended to be surprised.
“Greetings, Madame Jingrou. May I ask why you are here, Mesdames?” The Eldest Prince said in a slightly muffled voice, but in an extremely soft tone and at a slow speed, as if nothing could change his way of talking.
After glancing at those imperial concubines indifferently, he fixed his eyes on Madame Jingrou.
Lin Mengya did not sense his hostility towards Madame Jingrou or his respect for Madame Jingrou.
“Your Highness, since you rarely return to the imperial palace, you’d better go to visit the Empress.” Before Madame Jingrou spoke anything, a woman tried to fawn on the Eldest Prince and show off her cleverness.
Lin Mengya remembered that the woman was just a Beauty who had married into the imperial palace for only a few years. Although she did not find favor with the Emperor, she had gained her foothold in the imperial palace by pleasing the Empress.
At this moment, the Eldest Prince glanced indifferently at her.
At the thought that she did a great job in pleasing the Eldest Prince, the Beauty faked an ingratiating smile.
Seeing that, Lin Mengya involuntarily trembled slightly, as her smile was too greasy for an imperial concubine in front of a prince.
The Eldest Prince remained perfectly calm and almost cold-blooded.
Lin Mengya instinctively gave him a thumbs-up in her heart, thinking he was indeed extraordinary.
“Beauty Jin, I just heard that you talked to Madame Jingrou rudely time and again. Is that true?” The Eldest Prince asked.
Huh?!
Everyone, including Lin Mengya, was stunned by his question.
Beauty Jin was also stunned. With her smile freezing on her lips, she had no idea whether to admit it or deny it.
“Come on. Beauty Jin, who offended her superior, has committed a heinous crime. Take her into custody, and I’ll punish her later.” The Eldest Prince gave an order expressionlessly.
Hearing that, a few guards, who looked tough, immediately came up from behind and dragged Beauty Jin away before she could react.
All this happened in a split second.
Even Lin Mengya froze on the spot and couldn’t instantly figure out what had just happened.
“In the imperial palace, apart from my mother, Madame Jingrou should enjoy the highest respect. Whoever in the imperial palace dares to cross the line, don’t blame me for showing no filial piety and punishing her. Madame, please excuse me. I’m going to see my mother, so I must be leaving now.” After finishing speaking, the Eldest Prince took leave with joined hands.
Then he left as decisively as when he came, disregarding those who were staring at him with wide opened eyes from behind.
“His Highness…” Ningqiu murmured and swallowed.
She had intended to go all out to argue with those imperial concubines just now.
Unexpectedly, things ended up like this.
Lin Mengya thoughtfully watched the Eldest Prince disappear. Although he seemed to be steady, in fact, she could sense something unusual about him from the way he dealt with Beauty Jin.
Now that the protagonists of the farce were gone, those ladies lost interest in making trouble and left disappointedly.
“Go to keep an eye on them and see how His Highness is going to deal with Beauty Jin.” Lin Mengya told a quick-witted palace maid beside her in a low voice.
Then she turned around and happened to look into Madame Jingrou’s slightly worried eyes.
“Let’s go back.” Madame Jingrou said only three words, but they were quite meaningful.
Lin Mengya nodded. She and Madame Jingrou probably had the same concern.
They, who took the short cut to the Fengyu Court, only needed to walk dozens of meters.
Lin Mengya deliberately told Ningqiu to fall behind together and inquired about the whole thing.
In fact, it was not a big deal. In order to gain face in front of the Eldest Prince, Beauty Jin tried to accuse Madame Jingrou of making the Empress fall sick.
After all, the Empress had gone to the Fengyu Court to make trouble before falling sick.
Although they couldn’t find out the cause of the Empress’s illness, slander was an easy job, and it was difficult for the accused to prove her innocence. As such, they dared come to find fault with Madame Jingrou when the Eldest Prince returned to the imperial palace.
Of course, Ningqiu, as a maid loyal to her master, tried her best to argue with those imperial concubines.
However, even Ningqiu found the Eldest Prince’s interference unbelievable and felt as if she were dreaming, not to mention those imperial concubines.
“Don’t go out these days. His Highness is going to enter the imperial palace soon for a short stay. Help me watch over him and prevent him from coming into conflict with the Eldest Prince,” Lin Mengya said.
The Eldest Prince…
Lin Mengya especially cared about the Eldest Prince. Moreover, although those concubines went too far, they presumably did that for his biological mother.
However, he punished the perpetrator instead of defending her.
If he just did that in front of others, he could be considered compassionate. But if that was not the case, he was tremendously shrewd and deep.
“Okay,” Ningqiu said.
The members of the Fengyu Court gradually took Lin Mengya as the head.
Although Ningqiu was more experienced than her, Ningqiu was not as meticulous as her and had to ask for her advice on many things.
Even Madame Jingrou gave her implicit consent to issue orders, so the others in the Fengyu Court naturally did not dare to disobey her.
Lin Mengya watched Ningqiu lead the other servants to clean the courtyard next door in preparation for Xiaoyu’s short stay.
After thinking for a while, she made a cup of tea personally and took it to the chamber of the Fengyu Court.
In the chamber, Madame Jingrou frowned tightly, no longer looking as delicate as before.
In fact, many things were not as simple as they seemed.
Although the Eldest Prince was scheming, Madame Jingrou was not a simpleton.
She might restrain herself a little when confronting Madame Hui.
Nevertheless, she dealt with other people by means beyond common people’s imagination.
“You’re here. I heard that Yu’er is coming to stay here for a period. You did a good job. Both His Majesty and I agree with your plan.” Madame Jingrou raised her head and said softly to Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya handed the warm tea in her hands to Madame Jingrou, not surprised that Madame Jingrou knew the plan to hunt the priests.
After all, the Emperor and Madame Jingrou were of one mind, so he certainly would not hide such a big thing from her.
This situation further verified Lin Mengya’s guess.
Someone like the Emperor would never trust someone who had once deceived him.
In this way, it further verified the Emperor’s love for Madame Jingrou.
“It still needs His Majesty and Lord Nanshao’s painstaking effort. I just offered a piece of advice. Are you worried about the Eldest Prince, Madame?” Lin Mengya said.
Lin Mengya, who had no intention of getting involved in this, was not here to take credit and seek rewards. Moreover, this thing should be kept secret forever. She had better keep it to herself.
Madame Jingrou, who had a rough understanding of her disposition, slowly nodded, but frowned more tightly.
“In fact, both His Majesty and I hoped that Jing’er could inherit the throne. However, over the years, we became increasingly unfamiliar with him. An Emperor needs both drastic means and benevolence. As you saw today, Jing’er dealt with his father’s concubine with a mere snap of the fingers. If he succeeds the throne, I’m afraid that the entire Lieyun Empire will be led astray by him. I have to thank you for this. Yu’er is aloof by nature, but you taught him to be tolerant when he stayed with you. Both His Majesty and I are astonished at this. I’m glad the Lieyun Empire’s future is not going to be ruined by us.” As Madame Jingrou said, she showed a relieved look.
This was the first time that Lin Mengya had seen through Madame Jingrou’s heart.
It was no wonder that even the indifferent-looking Emperor fell for her.
