Fortunately, by the time Lin Mengya got washed up, the noises had subsided.
Standing at the door, she saw that today there seemed to be fewer palace maids than usual.
Ningqiu showed an embarrassed and helpless look.
“Did you get any news about the Empress?” While Ningqiu came to wash her face, Lin Mengya exchanged information with her quickly.
Ningqiu nodded and said cautiously, “As expected, the Empress got so furious that she almost smashed everything in the Linqiu Pavilion and cursed with malicious words in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone in the imperial palace. She has never thought she brought this upon herself.”
Ningqiu naturally spoke for Madame Jingrou. After all, she had seen all the hardships Madame Jingrou had suffered over the years.
However, this was not Lin Mengya’s concern.
Lin Mengya said, “The Empress presumably has sent someone to deliver a message. Send someone to keep an eye on her and don’t make any mistakes. If the message doesn’t reach the Empress’s brother before dinner today, send someone to spread what happened in the Linqiu Pavilion today.”
The enigmatic Eldest Prince was the hard nut to crack. The trick they played was not very sophisticated and could be seen through easily by Wanyan Jing.
If he turned their trick against them, they would get into trouble.
As Lin Mengya expected, what she feared came true. As soon as it got dark, Ningqiu returned to the Fengyu Court with a worried look.
Today, she went to the Emperor’s chamber to serve him and Madame Jingrou, who was also there, for the whole day.
At the sight of her expression, Lin Mengya was aware that things probably did not go well.
She asked, “The news did not go out, right?”
Lin Mengya, who had foreseen this accurately, was not surprised.
However, Ningqiu said with a dejected look, “I don’t understand why the Empress changed her character all of a sudden and admitted her error and asked for punishment in front of His Majesty instead of telling her brother about this? Besides, she even said that she would cultivate her mind and never meddle in the affairs of the imperial harem. As such, His Majesty could only comfort her and rebuke Madame.”
Ningqiu said the last sentence in an extremely aggrieved tone.
Lin Mengya could understand her feeling, because the Emperor, who had always been protective of Madame Jingrou, now rebuked Madame Jingrou for offending the Empress.
Although he did not speak with a severe countenance and a harsh voice, it was a rare occurrence.
Lin Mengya, who was blending sedative incense for Madame Jingrou, paused for a moment and then continued working on the incense and herbs on the table.
She said, “She did not change her character, but got a piece of advice from someone around her. Go to serve Madame, and leave this to me.”
Seeing that Helan seemed to have a well-thought-out plan, Ningqiu, who had been preoccupied by trouble, put her mind at ease.
She fetched something and returned to serve Madame Jingrou.
“Miss, those people sent by the Eldest Prince have all been intercepted and killed by our men halfway. I’m just wondering if it will arouse his suspicion.” There came Baisu’s voice.
She quietly appeared behind Lin Mengya.
Long before Ningqiu came back, she had instructed Baisu to handle this in secret.
“Arouse his suspicion? He must have been keenly aware that this is the trap Madame Jingrou set for his mother, otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent someone to inform his uncle. Rest assured that the outcome of this round is still uncertain. Given his character, he will not consider the death of the messenger he sent as a big deal,” Lin Mengya said.
This was the first time that she’d fought a battle of wits with the Eldest Prince indirectly.
If she wanted to take actions ahead of him, she should be careful of every step.
“Have you found out what the Eldest Prince got out of the imperial palace to handle?” Lin Mengya asked.
Those people she sent to deliver the news of the Empress’s being humiliated to the Empress’s brother would not necessarily do it directly, but she had instructed them to spread rumors in his mansion.
In that case, the Empress’s brother would probably hear a different version of the story.
But before the Empress’s brother entered the imperial palace to kick up a fuss, the Eldest Prince still had a chance to convince him to drop this idea, unless the Eldest Prince was delayed by something significant and failed to prevent him in time.
She could not use Xiaoyu’s force. Otherwise, Wanyan Jing would see through her trick in a short time.
As such, she could only achieve her goal by means of the business he got out of the imperial palace to handle.
“I’ve found out that several tribes reaped nothing at harvest time due to a plague of locusts, and they tend to support the Eldest Prince, so His Majesty sent the Eldest Prince to comfort them,” Baisu answered.
It turned out that he went out for disaster relief. That made things much easier.
It was quite difficult to gain the trust and support of the tribesmen who were all very tough.
This was the reason why the Eldest Prince attached great importance to this task.
“Tell Wanyan Lie to secretly incite the tribesmen to stir up trouble by making an issue of dealing out relief fund and providing shelter for the victims. There’s no need to make it significant, and just make it influential enough,” Lin Mengya said.
Baisu hesitated for a moment, but still asked under Lin Mengya’s inquiring gaze, “But the Eldest Prince, who manages his subordinates strictly, presumably will not make any mistake in such an important task. This move seems to be a bit inappropriate.”
Lin Mengya put down the incense in her hands, thinking it was time to teach Baisu a lesson.
She said, “The Eldest Prince is strict with himself indeed. But Baisu, he, who grew up in the royal family, cannot empathize with the hardships of the people.”
Lin Mengya remembered in political class she had heard a sentence “from the masses, to the masses”.
If the Eldest Prince grew up among the people, he would surely understand people’s urgent needs and take them into consideration.
But as far as she knew, the Eldest Prince grew up in the imperial palace where he was elegantly dressed and feasted on delicacies.
No matter how diligent he was in politics and how much he loved the people, a person like him could not fully understand the hardships of the people.
According to the general measures of disaster relief, after natural and man-made disasters, the imperial court would allocate a large amount of money for providing shelter for the victims and post-disaster reconstruction.
She and Long Tianyu had experienced this situation before.
Some people could be tempted by money easily in this situation.
If the Eldest Prince found out about this, he would certainly punish them severely.
However, there were millions of ways to embezzle money. How could he, the noble Eldest Prince, be aware of that?
Moreover, she found through her interactions with the Eldest Prince that he was a shrewd man of ruthless means.
How could such a man really love the people as his own children?
As such, Lin Mengya was sure that he must have made some mistakes in the operation of relieving the plague of locusts!
“I got it. I’ll go now. Rest assured, Miss.” Enlightened by Lin Mengya’s words, Baisu said with her taut face softening.
After all, she liked to work for Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya nodded, implicitly trusting Baisu to do a great job.
Now that she had finished blending the new sedative incense, it was time to deliver it to Madame Jingrou.
At dusk, the sun on the horizon seemed to be dim.
Under the sunset glow, Lin Mengya’s gorgeous purple clothes looked particularly eye-catching.
She walked cautiously with a brocaded box engraved with exquisite patterns in her hands, for fear that the incense in the box would fall out.
Several slender and graceful figures approached slowly from not far away.
Lin Mengya frowned and subconsciously tried to dodge them, but was stopped by a voice. “Halt. Which palace are you from? Why are you so mannerless that you didn’t even come over to pay respects to sister Yuanshu at the sight of her?”
The person said arrogantly in a clear and childish voice.
Lin Mengya could tell without looking that it must be a palace maid who had just entered the imperial palace.
Reluctant to get into any trouble, she said with her head down, “Sister Yuanshu, please forgive me. I’m a palace maid from the Fengyu Court and on my way to deliver something to my master. I’m sorry that I did not see you.”
“Oh? From the Fengyu Court?” A woman raised her voice to say in obvious anger.
Lin Mengya did not dare to lift her head. Instead, she took a few steps back, trembling and not daring to go forward.
The woman added, “You’re afraid of me? There’s no need to be afraid. With such a formidable master, who in the imperial palace dares to come into conflict with the members of the Fengyu Court? What are you holding?”
Lin Mengya tightened her grip on the box and remained silent for quite a while.
The palace maid beside her couldn’t wait to snatch it from her, opened it unceremoniously, and then said with amazement, “What exquisite incense! We have no such exquisite incense!”
Her jealous tone made Lin Mengya particularly uneasy.
Hearing the clear sounds that seemed to be caused by rummaging through the box rudely, Lin Mengya said with a frown, “Sister Yuanshu, the incense has just been baked and is quite fragile. Please be gentle, otherwise, it will be broken.”
The incense she made was spiral incense that was popular in modern times. She just needed to blend the raw materials and left the rest to be handled by others.
The incense was piled up in the box one by one, but now it was probably messed up.
“Humph, cut the crap! Sister Yuanshu just wants to take a look. You’re as petty as your master!” The palace maid said eloquently.
Lin Mengya lowered her head even more.
Gradually, other palace maids passed by. At the sight of this, they just quickened their pace. None of them dared to come forward and speak up for Lin Mengya.
Finally, the sounds caused by rummaging through the box stopped.
Lin Mengya heard a “bang”, and the box was tightly closed again.
Thereafter, a small hand put it back into her bosom.
“Here you are! Don’t accuse the members of our Linqiu Pavilion of meddling in your business. Deliver it to your master hurriedly. The incense smells soothing, and it can calm down your master so that she can stay away from our master in the future!” The palace maid said unceremoniously.
Sister Yuanshu did not stop her. Presumably, the palace maid spoke the words from the bottom of their hearts.
“Okay, I’ll do as you say,” Lin Mengya said, held the box timidly and gave way to those complacent palace maids.
After they left, Lin Mengya hurried to the Emperor’s chamber without stopping on her way.
Even when she heard several familiar palace maids greet her, she just ignored them with a heavy heart.
After the eunuchs informed about her arrival, Lin Mengya finally met Madame Jingrou, who was in the chamber.
Coincidentally, the Emperor was also present. Both of them looked gloomy, and the atmosphere was weird.
“Helan, here you are. What brought you here?” Seeing her personal maid whom she had not seen for a long while, Madam Jingrou asked.
Lin Mengya immediately knelt on the ground and respectfully said, “This is the incense I newly made for you. It can help you concentrate and calm down. I’m wondering if you like it, Madame.”
