After Yunshen left for a long time, the servants in charge of watching over Lin Mengya crept back.
Lin Mengya was angry, but she knew that it was not worthwhile to be angry with them.
After all, they were all the Empress’s lackeys, and their disobedience would displease their master.
As the rotten smell gradually dissipated, Lin Mengya was surprised to find that the Shen Nung system failed to detect what psychedelic the Buddhist incense contained or find its molecular formula.
Could it be a kind of substance whose molecular formula had not been discovered?
Lin Mengya thought it was very likely.
After all, now she was in a world different from the one she came from. As time went by, there were indeed a lot of drugs that had completely disappeared from the world.
Lin Mengya calmed herself down. Yunshen’s failure to kill her did not mean that the Empress would let her go.
Today was the last chance. If the Empress could not get rid of her today, the Empress would be in trouble after arriving at the Capital City.
But she didn’t know what Qinghu had been doing. In the past, he often sneaked into her room in the middle of the night to scare her once he didn’t see her for a day.
Now, she had been missing for three days. Why were Long Tianyu and Qinghu so careless that they had not come to find her?
As the sun went down, the sky became dark.
She didn’t know whether those in charge of watching over her now began to yawn because of what had happened in the day.
Lin Mengya sneered in her heart. As she expected, the Empress was going to take action.
She remained composed and sat upright. Even in this situation, she would not show any sign of cowardice.
Sure enough, before the moon shone brightly, a black figure rushed in through the door.
Lin Mengya thought it was someone sent by the Empress. Unexpectedly, under the dim candlelight in the woodshed, she saw a very panicked little face.
“Baizhi? Why are you here? Where are Hongyu and the others?”
Lin Mengya looked at the panic-stricken girl and asked, feeling a little uneasy.
Baizhi tried hard to look at her master through the crack of the door and said urgently in a low voice.
“Bad news! Miss, Prince Yinghua is missing! The other three sisters and I couldn’t find him no matter how hard we tried. He was still in the room at dinner time, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone. We have checked around but didn’t find him. Miss, what should we do?”
Baizhi, whose eyes were red and swollen, obviously had cried bitterly.
Lin Mengya frowned. Yinghua had always been well-behaved. Even if he wanted to go to the toilet, he would tell his wet nurse in advance, not to mention going out.
Now, he disappeared in the Huguo Temple surrounded by guards. It was conceivable that someone had operated this accident behind the scenes.
“Wait a minute. Tell me, what have you done these days? Also, did anyone from the imperial palace visit you today? Also, did Long Tianyu and Qinghu notice I was missing?”
After meeting Lin Mengya, Baizhi seemed to have found the mainstay and became less panic-stricken.
Hearing her master’s words, Baizhi tried hard to recall, but soon shook her head in frustration.
“No one has come. After you were wronged, they just said that the Empress kept you in her place and gave you a lecture. We were sent to other meditation rooms, where we were watched and not allowed to get out. By the way, Qinghu once came to us, but Sister Hongyu said that there was something wrong with Qinghu, who told her that he could not stay in the temple and take care of you these days. But he has already told His Highness about it. I believe His Highness will find a way to rescue you.”
Hearing Baizhi’s words, Lin Mengya finally understood why neither of them had come.
Although Qinghu seemed to be unreliable, in fact, if it weren’t for something serious, he would not have neglected her.
She was so worried. Why did Qinghu also have a situation?
“You don’t have to worry about me. I guess Yinghua must have been taken away by someone. Rest assured, I won’t let him be hurt. Go back and stay in your rooms. No matter what happens, don’t act rashly until we go back to our mansion. I will meet you soon.”
Lin Mengya comforted Baizhi, who was at a loss, and Baizhi did not notice her strange tone.
“Okay, I’ll go back and tell the others about it right away. Miss, you must come back safely.”
Lin Mengya nodded with a smile, hoping that it could comfort this frightened girl.
As Baizhi walked away while looking back, Lin Mengya sneered.
It seemed that the Empress could not wait to take action.
“Is there any living person? Come out. I want to meet your master. Tell her that if she dares to hurt the child, I will make her regret it even at the cost of my life.”
She said in a cold voice, sounding as arrogant as usual even when she was in trouble.
The Empress had her plan, and so did she.
When two people came into an unavoidable confrontation, the brave one would be the winner. Besides, she might not necessarily sustain a crushing defeat.
Soon, Lin Mengya was taken to a dark room.
The moon was covered by dark clouds, but she soon got used to the darkness.
This should be an abandoned meditation room in the Huguo Temple. On such a moonless night, it was indeed a good time to carry out a conspiracy.
Lin Mengya stood still in front of the door.
Soon after, someone walked over in the darkness with a simple lantern, followed by a person in black.
…
Even from a distance, Lin Mengya could still tell it was the Empress based on her noble and elegant ambergris fragrance.
The Empress really thought highly of her so that she was willing to condescend to come here in person to meet her.
It seemed that she was indeed significant.
“Greetings, Your Majesty. But I’m too upright to bow to you.”
She, who was trapped, said in a mocking tone, which sounded particularly ironic.
The woman holding the lantern raised her head and was about to curse Lin Mengya, but was prevented by the Empress.
“It doesn’t matter. Tonight, I can forgive you for what you’ve done.”
The Empress said, and her face was still as cold as that of a dead person in the light.
Lin Mengya acted like a fearless person in desperation.
Anyway, her and Yinghua’s lives were in the hands of the Empress. It was useless to grovel to the Empress, as they would be used as pawns by the Empress in any case.
“Your Majesty, you’re so broad-minded and deserve to be a model for us. Nevertheless, I’m wondering why you think so highly of me that you even set me up with Beauty Cheng’s death and threatened me with Yinghua’s safety. Even if you’re capable of carrying out your plan perfectly and pushing all the blame to others, as Yinghua’s legitimate mother, you should be blamed for having not taken good care of him. Given your relationship with His Majesty, His Majesty will definitely get mad at you. Your Majesty, are you really not worried about it?”
A straightforward person did not resort to insinuations. Since they had come into confrontation, Lin Mengya was disinclined to continue playing dumb in front of the Empress.
The Empress stared at her with a flash of profound hatred in her slanted eyes.
Lin Mengya was stunned and looked at the Empress. Why did the Empress hate her?
“You are as glib as usual. However, I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense here. If you agree to my terms, I can release you and Yinghua. Besides, you don’t have to worry that I will get involved in this. At that time, I was talking with my mother with plenty of mesdames around, and I have never left the banquet. If you and Yinghua were seen leaving the Huguo Temple together, it has nothing to do with me.”
She played this back-up card as usual. Unfortunately, she was the Empress and the one behind the scenes. No one dared to doubt her.
Lin Mengya knew that she was at a disadvantage, but she just didn’t want to let the Empress carry out her plot so smoothly.
Unfortunately, there was no room for her to fight back at the moment.
“Well, Your Majesty, I would like to know what your terms are. But I also want to offer a piece of advice. What’s done by night appears by day.”
However, Lin Mengya’s cold words did not provoke the Empress to great rage.
The Empress just glanced at her lightly as if there were no room for the woman in front of her to negotiate.
“I want the military power of your Lin family and you to leave Prince Yu and never appear in the capital again. I will raise Yinghua in person. If you’re discovered in any place in Dajin, Yinghua will not be able to live to adulthood.”
The Empress sounded as if she, who asked Lin Mengya to meet her unreasonable requirements, had given Lin Mengya a way out.
It was only now that Lin Mengya realized how ambitious the Empress was.
The Empress not only wanted her to leave Long Tianyu, but even wanted her to hand over the military power of the Lin family.
“Your Majesty, are you kidding me? As the daughter of our Lin Family, I have no right to hand over the military power of our Lin family. Besides, even if our Lin family wants to hand it over, it should be handed over to the Emperor instead of you. Moreover, I can’t give up my identity as Princess Yu at will. Unless I die suddenly, I really can’t think of a good way to give it up.”
Lin Mengya knew that the Empress was up to something, and she also knew that the Empress could not kill her at will.
Unexpectedly, the Empress looked at her and sneered, as if mocking her for being an idiot.
…
“Of course you can think of a way. Don’t underestimate your face. With it, you can do what I said. Also, maybe you think I don’t dare to kill you. But if you flee to escape punishment and hold Yinghua hostage, do you think you can still step out of the Huguo Temple?”
Lin Mengya felt a chill in her heart. Damn it, how could she forget this?
At first, she thought that adopting the ostrich policy was the best way to stay safe. But now, she “asked” to meet the Empress.