Lin Mengya’s eyes sparkled. Obviously, she was sure that Xiaoyu knew Xiu.
He suppressed the urge to lie, as he could not help but speak the truth in front of his sister.
He said, “I do know a girl named Dongfang Xiu. But how did you know that? Did anyone say anything about that to you?”
His words were rather interesting.
Lin Mengya pretended to be mysterious, neither nodding nor shaking her head.
Instead, she looked at Xiaoyu with a smile, which gave him the creeps.
“Actually, I have no relationship with her. Our engagement is merely a joke between my father and her uncle. Anyway, I won’t marry her!” He said decisively.
“Damn it, who let out the secret?”
“Oh… it turns out that you are engaged to her!” Lin Mengya deliberately drawled and stared at Xiaoyu playfully.
She didn’t expect that he and Xiu were engaged.
To be honest, Xiu was a beautiful and kind girl.
More importantly, this girl was clear about what to love or hate.
During the period when Sumei joined them in their journey, Xiu had seen through Sumei’s mind long before and even warned her time and again.
Nevertheless, she didn’t take Xiu’s advice because she wanted to throw a long line to catch a big fish.
At the mention of Xiu’s engagement with Xiaoyu, Lin Mengya’s eyes lit up.
She knew Xiu liked Xiaoyu, but she didn’t expect that they were destined to be a couple.
The two of them were meant for each other.
“I won’t marry her! No matter who arranged our engagement, I have no relationship with her!” Xiaoyu said.
Lin Mengya did not expect Xiaoyu to overreact.
Then, she managed to pacify Xiaoyu, who got mad, by stroking his hair.
She said, “Calm down. If you really don’t like her, I won’t insist on it. Everyone has the freedom of marriage and the fundamental right to pursue love. I just think Xiu is a good girl and could be your perfect match.”
Arranged marriages did people great harm. Although she and Long Tianyu got love by luck, more people had to get stuck in this kind of miserable marriage that gave them no freedom.
Of course, she would not force Xiaoyu to marry Xiu.
“Actually, I…” Xiaoyu was eager to explain it.
But he was interrupted by Lin Mengya who looked at him apologetically with a smile. “I got it. I should not have pushed you. Well, I won’t mention it again. But Xiu is congenial to me. If there is a chance, can you bring her here?”
Xiaoyu opened his mouth but said nothing in the end.
He nodded silently, as he would never say no to his sister.
“Well, I’m going out for a while. Be careful,” Lin Mengya said.
It was almost time. She had something very important to do, so she could only stop talking about this for the time being.
Nevertheless, Lin Mengya was aware that as the ninth prince of the Lieyun Empire, as well as the heir to the throne, Xiaoyu could not decide his marriage.
If Xiaoyu really liked Xiu, it might be a good thing.
But if Xiaoyu really didn’t like Xiu, as his sister, Lin Mengya wouldn’t force him to marry Xiu.
“Baisu, let’s go,” she said.
This was a petty thing. The most important thing now was to get down to business.
Baisu followed Lin Mengya at a distance, and ordinary people couldn’t discover her.
At present, ordinary people in the imperial palace could not afford to offend the members of the Fengyu Court.
Furthermore, she was Madame Jingrou’s personal maid, so even low-ranked imperial concubines had to greet her when they met her.
Lin Mengya deliberately put on an arrogant air. When others talked to her, she didn’t even cast a glance at them, just raised her head, ignored them and walked past them.
Although she heard many of them curse her in secret, they pretended to be respectful to her.
In the twinkling of an eye, she arrived at the Linqiu Pavilion.
Lin Mengya looked around from the corner of her eyes. As she expected, she saw lots of people furtively looking at her.
It seemed that there were lots of people wanting to watch the fun.
She revealed a sneer. The Linqiu Pavilion, whose gate was tightly closed, was no longer as lively as before.
She tried hard to push the door open. The palace maids inside stared at her in panic, as if they saw a ghost.
“Why are you so mannerless? Where is your master?” She shouted coldly.
Those palace maids immediately stood there in fear, not even daring to look up at her.
Lin Mengya waved her hand impatiently. Within just a few days, the richly ornamented Linqiu Pavilion had become a cold palace.
The stale air made it a bleak place.
It seemed that even the Empress had to suffer from the changes of others’ attitudes towards her.
“Young lady, let me get inside to inform Her Grace about your visit. Her Grace does not allow anyone to get in and out of the Linqiu Pavilion at will.” A bold palace maid among them came forward to block Lin Mengya’s way.
However, Lin Mengya just looked her up and down and said with a mocking look in her eyes, “Since when does a humble palace maid dare to block my way? Let me tell you, there is no Empress, but a woman loathed by His Majesty. If you are sensible, get out of my way obediently. Otherwise, I’ll report it to Madame and let you go down with the Linqiu Pavilion!”
Lin Mengya spoke ferociously. Some timid palace maids trembled and knelt on the ground heavily.
Lin Mengya looked at her achievement with satisfaction, while glancing at the rooms in the Linqiu Pavilion from time to time.
Seeing a window move slightly, she knew that her overbearing conduct might have been seen by the Empress long before.
“Young lady, please forgive us! We didn’t mean to offend you!” The poor palace maids begged for mercy, crying bitterly.
Lin Mengya, who was merely a paper tiger, could not actually do anything to them.
With a frown, she pretended to be extremely weary and waved her hand.
She said, “It’s good that you are aware of your fault. Don’t think that you can put up a desperate struggle. You can’t pretend that you did not do that by denying your fault. Humph, only a contemptible coward will do evil without daring to admit it. If you are of integrity, you will confess what you have done. A person who hides behind the scenes is incapable.”
Of course, Lin Mengya’s words were not meant for these palace maids.
She heard some noises caused by smashing things.
The Empress presumably had heard her harsh words and got angry.
Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Lin Mengya put on airs, held her head high and walked haughtily out of the Linqiu Pavilion.
The moment Lin Mengya stepped out of the courtyard, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Being bossy was really not suitable for her.
Baisu caught up with her quietly after she left the Linqiu Pavilion.
“Miss, what are you going to do next?” Baisu said in a low voice that could only be heard by the two of them.
“Wait. Now the Empress must consider me as a thorn in her flesh. If she wants to attack me, now isn’t the best time yet,” Lin Mengya said.
Baisu nodded, maintaining her expression. No one could tell they just had a conversation.
They pretended to part inadvertently, but Baisu hid her tracks again after a while.
Lin Mengya knew that the Empress could put up with Madame Jingrou for the time being and not cause her trouble.
But the Empress just considered Lin Mengya a nobody.
It was just a piece of cake for the Empress to vent her anger by getting rid of Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya walked around, looking for a suitable place.
In next to no time, she arrived at a comparatively secluded pool.
It was very quiet here. Despite the pavilion and pool, very few people passed by.
“Alas, it’s really hot. Damn it. I have to do all kinds of work. It’s so annoying,” Lin Mengya muttered to herself and walked slowly to the pavilion.
With a light breeze blowing, she indeed felt much more comfortable here than in other places.
Lin Mengya leaned against the chair in the pavilion, closed her eyes and rested her mind, enjoying her leisure time.
But she didn’t notice that several shadows had followed her all the way here.
Now seeing that she had let down her guard, they came forward together.
“Alas, it feels so comfortable. Who are you? Let me go!” At this moment, Lin Mengya opened her eyes and exclaimed.
She happened to see a few eunuchs in front who obviously harbored evil intentions towards her.
She feigned fierce in appearance and let out a few almost real cries, and then they grasped her hands and feet and stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth.
“Humph, that bitch put me in this miserable situation! How dare you, her lackey, insult me! Come on, throw her in the pool!” Someone said in a tremendously vicious voice with profound hatred.
Lin Mengya opened her eyes extremely wide and gazed at the Empress, who stood behind those eunuchs with a malicious look, trembling all over.
It had only been a few days since she met the Empress lats time, but the Empress no longer looked dignified and elegant.
Now the Empress looked sickly with a pale and distorted face.
Lin Mengya even doubted if the stepmother of the legendary Snow White also looked like this after she went crazy with anger.
Lin Mengya felt a chill down her spine at the sight that the Empress fixed her tremendously crazy dark eyes on her like a viper.
“Your Grace, do you mean it?” A eunuch beside the Empress asked uneasily.
The Empress went ballistic, so she disregarded the Emperor’s prohibition, changed into a palace maid’s uniform and led her last batch of loyal servants here regardless of all consequences.
They’d surreptitiously trailed that bitch Helan all the way, thinking that she would go to the Emperor’s chamber so that they wouldn’t have a chance to deal with her.
Unexpectedly, she came to this place, which put her in danger.
The Empress looked down at Helan, who was terrified, and reached out to slap this bitch hard.
