Chapter 165: Careful Assessment

“Yes, we will abide by your order.”

There was no way Lin Mengya could find out about Lu Yun’s personality.

Zhu Aizhi, however, had been promoted because he received credit for taking down the bandits.

Lin Mengya exchanged looks with both of them while wearing a faint smile.

However, Zhu Aizhi appeared not to know Lin Mengya.

As Lin Mengya looked down, she smiled to herself.

“Your Highness the Queen, please allow me some time to make the necessary preparation. We may start the process of screening in a while.”

The Queen nodded in response. Nevertheless, she instructed one of her maids to follow and watch Lin Mengya.

Back inside the room laid Madame Wang, who still looked as dead as before. There was totally no sign of life in her.

Lin Mengya could not afford to be distracted. His mind was working hard and fast.

Although Madame Wang was as good as a dead person to all the people, the maid sent by the Queen to check on her remained at the door, perhaps out of fear or other concerns. She merely watched Lin Mengya intently from outside but did not step into the room at all.

“Baiji, go into the house and secretly fetch me the flower dye that you use on coloring your fingernails.”

Lin Mengya instructed Baiji quietly. She did not have to worry about people getting into her room to set her up because Baizhi had been in her room all this while.

Baiji nodded and proceeded to carry out Lin Mengya’s instructions.

“Later on, you will play by ear by watching my eyes. Someone’s bound to look suspicious from guilt. We have to pick out this guilty person so we could make a comeback. Once you get an indication from me, swap the bottle in my hand with that bottle of flower dye secretly. Do you get it?”

Qinghu nodded. It would be easy-peasy for Qinghu to swap the bottles even while everyone watched since he was nimble and skillful with his eye-hand coordination.

“Are you ready, Princess Yu?”

The maid at the door was getting impatient and began to hurry her.

Lin Mengya gave her cue and Qinghu followed her out of the room with a basin of water.

“Your Highness the Queen, I’m ready and we can start the screening anytime.”

At this moment, everyone’s eyes were focused on Lin Mengya.

The Queen shot Lin Mengya a glance and said, “Yes, you may start.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Lin Mengya instructed some men to set up a square table so she could place the basin of water on it.

Because this was a masked banquet, everyone had to collect their clothing or make arrangements as to how they wanted to safe keep their clothes and belongings.

Lin Mengya had given instructions for the registration of guests so that every guest who entered the Liuxin Courtyard would have had their names recorded.

In this way, it would be difficult for anyone to sneak in unnoticed.

“Following this, I would be calling out your names. When your name is called, please come forward and put your hand into the water here. If there’s no cinnabar on your hand, the water will remain unchanged. However, if there’re traces of cinnabar on your hand, the water will turn purple.”

All the people could not help but start to feel a little nervous at Lin Mengya’s instructions.

Using sorcery to bring harm to the members of the royal family would warrant the punishment of annihilation of the entire family.

“Please conduct the screening with great care and caution. If you wrongly accused someone, it will cause more harm.”

A cautious someone voiced his concerns from among the crowd.

Immediately the expression on Lin Mengya’s face turned serious.

“Please put your heart at ease. If you’ve not touched cinnabar, there won’t be any reaction. Even if there were to be a reaction after someone touches the water, it doesn’t mean he is the culprit. This only helps us to narrow down to the probable suspects.”

Lin Mengya’s reassurance helped eased some nerves.

“I have no fear since I haven’t done anything wrong. I, Yue Qi, will go first.”

Anyway everyone already had the impression that the Yues associated themselves with the people in Prince Yu’s Mansion.

Therefore, Yue Qi had no scruples about going through the screening first.

“Alright, this way please, Miss Yue.”

Qinghu stepped aside to let Yue Qi and her maidservants take turns in putting their hands in the basin of water.

All the people looked intently at the basin of water, which remained clean and clear.

Yue Qi breathed a sigh of relief, drew her hands out of the water and showed them to all the spectators.

“Please do not worry, everyone. There is absolutely no problem with putting your hand in this water.”

Yue Qi’s words put the hearts of all those suspicious people at ease.

The people organized themselves into a line based on the name list and were getting more enthusiastic about the screening. The sooner they got it done with, the sooner they could be free from suspicion.

As Lin Mengya looked at the basin of water on the table, she was simultaneously sizing up the people in the long queue.

Among the people, some were looking very serious, while others could not wait for the turn to come soon.

After all, if any of them were implicated, it would be as good as sending their entire family to the guillotine.

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Jiang Ruqin stared at the basin of water on the table with a terrified look on her face, as if she were looking at some poisonous snakes or a savage beast.

She would never have imagined things would turn out this way.

“Miss, what shall we… we do?”

The maidservant standing beside Jiang Ruqin was so terrified that her voice trembled when she spoke.

Who would have expected that Lin Mengya had even exposed the incident regarding the nails on the plank?

The maidservant anticipated that she was getting into deep trouble.

“What can we do? By the way, did you wash your hands after discarding it?”

Jiang Ruqin had personally engaged someone to write the cinnabar talisman earlier. However, the prince’s mansion was so heavily guarded in the last few days that she could not find an opportunity to set about her plan, so she had been keeping the talisman in the purse she carried with her all the time.

If she was found out, it would be the end of the entire Jiang Family.

“I had put the cinnabar talisman in the bushes in a hurry and did not bother to wash my hands.”

As Jiang Ruqin’s personal maid explained, her face was ashen.

She knew full well her master’s character. If they were being found out, the maidservant would not be able to protect herself.

She was certain that Jiang Ruqin would push all the blame to her.

“Xing’er, haven’t I been treating you well all these while?”

A vicious look flashed across Jiang Ruqin’s eyes. Apparently, she was prepared for the worst.

Xing’er trembled in terror. What she had feared the most was finally happening.

“Of course Miss, you’ve always treated me well…, I don’t want to die, please help me.”

By now, Xing’er’s face was streaked with tears as she continued pleading with Jiang Ruqin.

Jiang Ruqin pretended to look sorry as if she could not bear to see her suffer.

She grabbed Xing’er and quietly they ran to an inconspicuous corner in the courtyard by the wall.

“You still have a little brother right? I heard from the maids in the mansion that he was just three years old and you really dote on him, don’t you?”

Jiang Ruqin had turned into a devil who was about to take away Xing’er’s life. There was viciousness written all over her face.

“Miss… Miss, please let my little brother off, let my family off.”

Xing’er was completely terrified. Back home, she still had her parents as well as a younger brother, who were eagerly awaiting her return when she fulfilled her ten-year contract working in the mansion.

She finally understood what awaited her when she saw her mistress’s chilling face.

“As a slave, if you help me get through this ordeal, I will show your family kindness. If you’re useless and I end up getting into trouble, I’m sure you’re aware that I can easily take the lives of your family members, like killing ants.”

Jiang Ruqin’s callous acts to sacrifice others in order to fulfill her purpose was not new.

Moreover, once this evil plan got exposed, her family would be implicated.

Her father might dote on her very much, but her older siblings would take this opportunity to seize the father’s favor.

In fact, her father had lost his patience with her during the last incident when Lin Mengya made her father pay a recompensation.

She made up her mind to put an end to all these.

“Remember, you’ve been incited by Princess Yu to frame me. Do you understand?”

As Jiang Ruqin instructed Xing’er in a low voice, she simultaneously pushed a sharp dagger into Xing’er’s hand.

With shaking hands and a face streaked with tears, Xing’er held on to the sharp dagger.

“Alright… if I sacrifice my life for you, Miss, please treat my family with kindness.”

The poor little lass was clueless that once she owned up, there would be no hope for her family.

“Rest assured, I will take good care of your little brother.”

When in fact, what Jiang Ruqin was thinking was to let her be reunited with her family in hades. While Jiang Ruxin was having these wicked thoughts, she had put on a merciful expression on her face.

As the screening proceeded smoothly, Lin Mengya was frowning harder as time went by.

By this time, many people who went through the screening had passed without any problem, so the atmosphere was not tense as the beginning when they started.

Baiji and Baishao, standing behind Lin Mengya, exchanged a knowing look. They seemed to have come to some consensus.

“The water is a little murky now, let’s get a clean basin of water. Let’s also take a break. Those of you who had done the screening, please gather over here to take a rest.”

Lin Mengya was careful to keep up her duty as an attentive host, so those who had gone through the screening nodded at her in appreciation.

Those who were still waiting for their turn were provided with chairs so the seated guests filled the entire Liuxin Courtyard.

“Master, are we really able to find the culprit?”

Back in the room, Baiji inquired anxiously.

Lin Mengya looked at her maidservants apologetically and with a low voice, she replied, saying, “It would be good if we can find the culprit. If not, I will shoulder all the blame. I’ve made the necessary arrangements to settle all four of you.”

Baisu’s expression changed at Lin Mengya’s words.

All the more, Baiji and Baishao burst out crying.

Lin Mengya looked down as she grabbed the hands of the three maidservants.

She said, “It was my fault for not being able to protect you as a master. If I were to be taken away, the four of you, who are my confidantes, would most certainly be implicated. However, I’ve instructed Xiaoyu and Qinghu to bring you and your families to a hiding place.” “I’ve acquired a shophouse and stashed some pieces of silver there. Although not much, it should be able to tide you through and help you make a living. Then, you have to change your names to sound like you are a family with four sisters. Always listen to Baiji because she is the most sensible one among you. That way, my heart will be at ease.”

Lin Mengya’s earnest and well-meaning advice made the three lasses burst into tears.

They thought that their master’s mind was only filled with the so-called more important matters of the world.

Little did they realize that she had arranged a way of escape for her maidservants and laid the foundations for their future.

“No, Master. You should be the one to live. Our lives, though hard, are insignificant compared to yours. We’ve been truly fortunate to have such a wonderful master as you. My life is worthless, and I dared not ask for more. Master, you take care of my family, there’s nothing more I, Baiji, could wish for.”