In Shangguan Qing’s eyes, Lin Mengya was clearly a devil.
She believed that Lin Mengya must have been waiting to expose everything to Lin Muzhi. That was why she kept silent when she just got married.
Great barkers are no biters. Shangguan Qing could feel her sharp fingernails digging into her delicate skin.
“If Lin Mengya really speaks out, Wu’er has to be punished heavily!”
“Yes, of course. It’s impressive, isn’t it?”
He would never forget seeing a handful of poisoned jujubes in his bride’s hands when she just got out of the bridal sedan chair, instead of blessed things.
His narrow eyes turned deep and meaningful instantly.
But for her alertness, Lin Mengya might have become a wisp of a soul driven to death.
“Thanks for your wedding gift, Wu’er. Without it, I may have lost the chance to be close to His Highness.”
Lin Mengya slightly turned her glittering eyes, but they looked somewhat icy and scary.
She was warning Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu. “You’d better watch your tongue and action, otherwise, I don’t mind to make a hole in the sky!”
“Gift? Ya’er, what kind of gift?”
Lin Nansheng was sensitive enough to find something wrong. Nobody would know better than him how Lin Mengya treated Ya’er before.
Besides, Long Tianyu said that it impressed him as well. Would it be—
“Of course it’s a big gift, isn’t it, mother?”
Shangguan Qing shook violently when she heard the call of “mother” from Lin Mengya.
Looking at them with fear, she was too scared to imagine what consequences she and Wu’er would face when Lin Muzhi and Lin Nansheng learned of their plots to murder Lin Mengya.
However, Lin Mengya just smiled lightly and turned to look at Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu, like a cat was playing with a mouse.
Disclosure of their plots was not her plan because there would be a better chance for that later on.
“If you like, my lady.”
Shangguan Qing acted obediently and reasonably, as if she were not the same person who behaved arrogantly in daily life.
“That’s good. It would be not a big deal since we are a family. We ought to cherish the wedding gift, Your Highness. Let’s present Sister Wu a gift in return at her wedding, shall we?”
Lin Mengya gave a sweet smile. But Shangguan Qing was already in a cold sweat.
She immediately nodded constantly. She got the warning from Lin Mengya.
“That’s fine. Father, Brother, it’s late now. We should go back. I’ll see you in a few days.”
Lin Mengya looked at her father and brother, and actually didn’t want to leave them. As Princess Yu, she had little time to stay with her old father.
Lin Muzhi nodded with a smile. He was also bearing unwillingness in his eyes.
She was the little girl he brought up with full love and had become another man’s wife.
“Off you go. As Princess Yu, don’t act like a spoiled child.”
Lin Muzhi saw his care for Lin Mengya, even though he looked cool.
But he still worried about Lin Mengya’s situation among the indifferent royal family. How cautiously she would have to act among those people.
“I’ll excuse myself, Father.”
Tears welled up in her eyes again.
She seriously knelt down and bowed before her father. She really didn’t want to part with him.
But Lin Muzhi just got back here. Their enemies were already itching to try.
She was the observed of all observers, in a sensitive position. Her long-time presence in the Lin family would cause big trouble for both Long Tianyu and her father.
“Fine, good girl, off you go now. Don’t worry about me and your brother.”
They were family and would understand each other even though some words weren’t spoken.
Lin Mengya turned to look back repeatedly at every step and then disappeared out of the gate. Looking at her, Lin Muzhi’s face went dark.
“Shangguan Qing, you made Mengya and I separate from each other. Our affection as a couple for years has run out now.”
He claimed in an icy voice, as if he was piercing her bones.
Shangguan Qing collapsed on the ground. She knew clearly what he meant.
“My Lord, no… My Lord! The empress arranged all of this, it’s none of my business, you wrongly accuse me! Believe me, My Lord!”
Shangguan Qing, while climbing over to the foot of Lin Muzhi, complained tearfully.
“So how do you explain Ya’er’s poison? Hmph, since you’ve managed the house for so long, do you dare to claim your innocence? Guards, take Your Lady and Miss to the backyard, and no one is allowed to let them out without my permission!”
He would never spare anyone who dared to do harm to his daughter!
“Father, please spare us. We didn’t mean it. It wasn’t on purpose!”
Lin Mengwu was frightened to death when hearing that she would be restricted.
She, while grabbing Lin Muzhi’s legs, begged very hard.
“You had many chances before. If you sincerely reflect on yourselves, I will let you out one day.”
Lin Mengwu was also his daughter, after all.
But both of them were really quite excessive.
“Father! Father! You can’t do this to us! I’m also your daughter. Why…why do you always stand on her side!”
While she screamed out her complaints, Lin Mengwu was already taken into the backyard.
“Should I change all the stewards, Father?”
Lin Nansheng just stood out there and looked on coldly because he also felt irritated at what Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu had done during these years.
Lin Muzhi rarely returned. He had no right to fight against his stepmother and the younger sister.
“Just teach them a lesson. Ya’er doesn’t live in the house anyway.”
Lin Muzhi cleared out the whole house and everything was going to come to an end.
But neither of them felt at ease.
“Have you noticed those eavesdroppers outside?”
It was dusk out there. A cunning light flashed through his eyes.
“I’ve ordered to keep an eye on them. Those annoying guys as noisy as flies will be cleared at the word of your command.”
A flicker of coldness rose up in his eyes. Those people’s intentions were not secrets anymore since he was attacked.
Everything, like not being informed of Lin Mengya’s marriage or the attack on him, seemed to be a train of plots.
The Lin family would never step back if they stood up to them.
They would also counter every move even though those people had crafty plots and machinations.
“Keep quiet first. Without the emperor’s edict, nobody has the courage to do something to us. But, you’d better be careful in the coming days in case they have something on us. And as for your sister, we should be cautious. Although no one will say something about our contact with your sister, it’s better not get involved in the royal affairs on the surface. After all, Prince Yu is the son of the emperor and has already won the emperor’s favor.”
Lin Muzhi was really experienced. He pointed out the current situation in a few words.
Lin Nansheng nodded. After all, Lin Mengya was not stupid like before. She was clever. It was hard to say who would fall into her trap this time!
On the way to the backyard, Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu kept crying, looking extremely pathetic.
All the servants changed their attitude toward those two.
Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu irritated the real master and the second master in this house.
They had to obey orders if they didn’t want to be driven out.
“How dare you! Did you forget how good my mother treated you before?”
Lin Mengwu thought that she was still the honorable lady. She refused to accept the big change.
When she opened her eyes wide and was about to go crazy, Shangguan Qing pulled her back.
“We have to suck it up now. Wu’er, no matter what, you’re still your father’s daughter. It’s the fact that no one can change!”
No matter how they reacted and struggled, it couldn’t be helped.
But Shangguan Qing was still wondering why Lin Mengya didn’t disclose the thing about the poisoned jujubes.
“I can’t take it, mother. I’m also father’s daughter, but why can that bitch get everything she wants when we are restricted in the backyard?”
Everything drove her mad. If Shangguan Qing hadn’t stopped her, she would have gone to question her father.
As a child, Lin Mengya was no better than her, but her father and brother didn’t like her.
And what’s worse, no matter what trouble Lin Mengya made, her father and brother would forgive her with a laugh.
But she had to accept every scolding from them.
“Why can’t you take it? If you didn’t give her poisoned jujubes, we would not be threatened by her.”
Shangguan Qing’s pathetic look disappeared. She was really astute.
She couldn’t confront tough with toughness. It was better to admit her mistake and get them to relax their vigilance of her.
“I thought it to be absolutely safe then, Mother. But who knew that the girl would luckily escape from it.”
Looking at her daughter, Shangguan Qing couldn’t help letting out a sigh.
She did love her daughter and would like to do everything for her, but she regretted involving Lin Mengwu in it.
She should have kept it from her so she could accept the consequences alone if anything went wrong.
Only Shangguan Qing and her daughter were in the yard.
She was surprised at the decisiveness of Lin Muzhi. He really disregarded her feelings.
So she needn’t take their affections of years into consideration either.
A look of determination could be seen in her eyes. She would not allow anyone to destroy Wu’er’s future!
“Wu’er, remember, from now on, no matter what I do, it’s none of your business. No questions. You just need to remember that you’re a lady of the Lin family.”
She made her determination while touching Lin Mengwu’s fair hair.
“What are you going to do, Mother?”