Chapter 168: Taken in by a Stratagem

In the midst of all people who were bowing down to her, the ever-elegant Queen walked out of the Liukin Courtyard victoriously.

All the other guests hastened to follow the Queen out of this troublesome place.

The supposedly bustling and lively riddle-guessing banquet had suddenly become quiet and lonely.

“Alright, you may rise, Yu’er and Ya’er and follow me. Jin Yue, watch Ruqin and don’t let her go anywhere.”

The intelligent Concubine De had already figured out the ins and outs of what happened.

As she glanced at her niece with a look of disappointment, a chill ran through her.

She clearly saw that the banknote was the exact one she gave to Ruqin a few days ago as pocket money because she doted on her.

Never would Concubine De expect that Jiang Ruqin would use it as a tool to frame Mengya.

What was even more unexpected was that the girl had unknowingly sacrificed the entire Jiang Family.

Long Tianhao and Lin Mengya trailed behind Concubine De and followed her into the main hall of the Liukin Courtyard.

Baizhi, overcome with anxiety, followed closely behind Lin Mengya.

She had taken in everything that happened outside.

Her eyes welled up with tears at the thought that Lin Mengya almost lost her chance to live because she was being maligned.

“Go look for Baiji now. We’ll talk it later,” Lin Mengya comforted Baizhi, who was still in shock.

Baizhi was about to say something but decided against. She gazed at Lin Mengya for a while, and then obediently left.

Once they were in the room, Concubine De settled herself on the main seat and looked from Long Tianhao to Lin Mengya. She seemed to want to say something but stopped herself.

After a long time, she finally sighed and said, “It’s all my fault to have brought Ruqin into the mansion.”

How could she, as an aunt to Jiang Ruqin, be unaware of her intentions?

Ever since Ruqin was young, she had always had her eyes on Yu’er.

Unfortunately, Ruqin was after all born of a concubine. There was no way for the daughter of a concubine to become Long Tianhao’s first wife.

She used to hold the belief that since they grew up together, Long Tianhao would one day take her as a concubine or make her a vice Princess. That way, one of her wishes could be fulfilled.

Never would she expect the lass to be capable of such a wicked act.

“Please stop blaming yourself, Mother. Perhaps Ruqin had been incited by someone else.”

How could Lin Mengya still speak up for Jiang Ruqin at this juncture?

More and more, Concubine De felt that her daughter-in-law was a kind, gentle and magnanimous person.

“You were framed precisely because of your kind and genuine character.”

Kind and genuine? Lin Mengya and Long Tianhao exchanged looks but both kept quiet.

If Concubine De found out what she had done in secret, she would not use these two words to describe her.

“Yu’er, what did the Crown Prince do while he was in your courtyard?”

All this while, the Crown Prince did not appear in Liukin Courtyard.

Even Lin Mengya thought it rather unimaginable.

Could the Crown Prince’s character have changed?

“The Crown Prince followed the crowd to come here to drink wine and participate in the guessing game. He did not seem interested in what happened here,” replied Long Tianhao.

Long Tianhao’s reply set Concubine De thinking.

“I’m afraid the Crown Prince was aware of what happened here. Otherwise, the Queen would not have kept him out of this. We have lost to them in this round,” said Concubine De.

After so many years of battling with the Queen, it was inevitable to be winning some battles and losing some others.

However, if Concubine De chose to protect herself, she would have to sacrifice her parent’s family.

She forced a smile and shook her head. She was to be blamed for spoiling Jiang Ruqin.

If not because she overly doted on Jiang Ruqin, things would not have come to this. She had brought this upon herself and she had no one to blame.

“No, we have not been defeated yet.”

As Lin Mengya spoke these words softly, Long Tianhao and Concubine immediately turned to look at her.

“Xing’er will not make it to the prison alive. If she died while she was under the Queen’s charge, we would be free from any responsibility. By then, this entire episode would be over.”

Lin Mengya had obviously been putting on an act since just now until now.

Lin Mengya looking panicked, wanting to say something but stopped herself and calmed herself down, was all an act to fool the Queen and the Crown Prince.

It was only until now that she was finally acting normal as she started smiling her usual smile.

A feeling of affection welled up in Long Tianhao’s heart.

This lass was always surprised him with pleasant surprises.

“Ya’er, you’re not joking, are you? How are you so sure?”

Concubine De was not feeling optimistic about what Lin Mengya said. She knew the Queen inside out. She knew what kind of a person the Queen was more than anyone else.

It was not easy for the Queen to have a hold on her. Would the Queen easily let go of this opportunity?

“Rest assured, Mother. I believe Xing’er is already gone by now. We only have to carry on with putting up the act for a few more days,” Lin Mengya said with confidence.

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“Mother, I’m sure Mengya have made all the necessary arrangements, you can trust her this time.”

Long Tianhao had the feeling that whatever Lin Mengya said would come to pass.

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“Alright, I’ll entrust everything to the both of you for now. Alas, age is catching up with me anyway. It’s time that I step aside and you, the youngsters step in.”

Seeing that her son had such great confidence and trust in her daughter-in-law, Concubine De could not help but feel a little envious.

Nevertheless, Lin Mengya was almost like a daughter to her.

As Concubine De recalled all the goodness about Lin Mengya, the little jealousy in her dissipated.

“If it were not for all of Mother’s strategizing and planning, what can we achieve, being like clowns who were here just for show?” consoled Lin Mengya.

The truth was that Lin Mengya was still far from being as shrewd as Concubine De.

Lin Mengya was already frightened after having only a few confrontations with the Queen.

Concubine De, on the other hand, had lived in the palace for many years and was still able to stand firm without compromising her position. Surely she must be exceptionally shrewd.

“What a smooth-tongued lass. If you’re sincere, you should quickly bear some children so I may enjoy family bliss.”

This was the first time Concubine De tried to the couple to give her grandchildren in front of Lin Mengya.

To give birth to a baby? The thought, which never crossed Lin Mengya’s mind, made her blush with embarrassment.

Long Tianhao, taking in Lin Mengya’s awkward expression, started pondering over this matter.

Up until now, he supposed Lin Mengya was the only person he would want to have children with.

However, the situation now was not the best. He was afraid that if his child was to be born now, he would go into danger.

“Mother, given the precarious situation now, it is not the best time to have children. The Queen is watching us closely all the time. If I were to have a child now, he would become the Queen’s target straight away.”

Long Tianhao’s comment made Lin Mengya’s heart skip a beat.

She turned to look at this handsome man.

So she had rightly guessed that he had no wish for her to be his Princess Yu.

In fact, she also did not want to give birth to Long Tianhao’s baby.

Nevertheless, hearing Long Tianhao saying it out loud was like having cold water thrown at her.

That’s right, he still had that Princess Linlang in his heart. After all, what was her to him?

“I’m just casually mentioning it, so don’t be alarmed. Both of you are still young, there’s really no hurry.”

Concubine De certainly knew that now was not the best time so she merely let out a sigh of helplessness.

If the Emperor was still in the pink of health, there would be no need for her and her son to walk on tiptoes.

“I shall go back to the Art Courtyard to wait for any further information from you. As for Ruqin, have her father bring her home and instruct him not to let her step out of the house.”

Jiang Ruqin had completely lost Concubine De’s favor for her.

Once she was sent back home, she would most probably be kept under house arrest.

She would likely become a chess piece and be under her parents’ control. Jiang Ruqin would be kept within her little courtyard before she was betrothed and married off.

In fact, it was not because Lin Mengya did not want to get rid of Jiang Ruxin. Nevertheless, for the Jiang Family, as well as Concubine De and Long Tianhao, she had no choice but to keep Jiang Ruxin safe.

In the same way, regardless of her dissensions with Lin Mengwu, she had to guard the reputation of the Lin Family.

Being the daughter of a reputable family, while she received glory from her status, she also shouldered the rise of and fall of her family.

Once Concubine De led Jiang Ruqin out the Liukin Courtyard, Lin Mengya and Long Tianhao were left alone in the room.

As awkward silence ensued. The two of them seemed to be engrossed in their own thoughts.

On the other hand, they seemed to be lost for words for each other.

“You—”

“I—”

They blurted out the same time, and then stopped at the same time. They always had this awkwardness between them.

Finally, Lin Mengya managed to suppress the sadness in her heart.

She pretended nothing had happened as she lifted her head to look at Long Tianhao and said, “Your Highness, do you know who the deputy commander of the imperial army is?”

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Long Tianhao’s brows knotted into a frown as the image of the dark-faced deputy commander appeared in his mind.

“This person used to be an insignificant guard in the temporary imperial residence. After doing a great service to the royal family, he was promoted to this position. Nevertheless, I heard that he was a vicious and merciless person. He is also rather intimate with the Crown Prince.”

Come to think about it, if it were not for Zhu Aizhi, who stopped Xing’er from attempting suicide at the last minute, the maid would be a dead body by now.

In that case, they would not need to come out with another plan now.

“I wasn’t aware he was such a scheming character. I’ve underestimated him.”

A smile appeared on Lin Mengya’s face, but Long Tianhao could not read into what she was thinking.

Her smiles were like mysteries to Long Tianhao. She always surprised him with unexpected but brilliant ideas.

“Do you know this person?”

Lin Mengya stopped for a moment but decided to keep the truth from Long Tianhao.

“We’ve simply met at the temporary imperial residence. Your Highness, what are you planning to do next?”

Outside the room, Baiji and Steward Deng were sweeping the courtyard with some other servants.

The floor was covered with pieces of paper like rustling, fallen leaves.

“I’ve sent men to kill Xing’er. Once she’s dead, the Queen would lose her hold on me and wouldn’t be able to put me to death.”

That was a brutal move, just like what Lin Mengya would have done.

“Oh yes, why did I not see Wang Hanlin anywhere?”

Given that something so serious happened to his wife, he should have been here long ago.

However, Lin Mengya did not see Wang Hanlin anywhere.

“He had been led to my study and Lin Kui is watching him. Given that he has always sided with the Crown Prince, he would have been here to make a scene.”

The episode of the dog-tooth talisman had been settled rather smoothly.

Everything in the Liukin Courtyard was in good order and no outsiders came into the courtyard to create any commotion.

It had all been because Long Tianhao had anticipated the situation taken every detail into consideration beforehand.