Chapter 211 - Nansheng in a Difficult Situation
Chapter 211 Nansheng in a Difficult Situation
“Let me first go have a look. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Long Tianhao pondered for a while and eventually decided to meet Long Qinghan to find out what he wanted.
“Go ahead.”
Lin Mengya did not mind Long Tianhao going given their hunger had been satisfied by now.
The maidservants who had been rewarded with the banknotes had started playing poker cards again.
Lin Mengya regretted a little for teaching the people in the courtyard the gambling game.
“Your Highness, it’s difficult to walk on the snow especially in the night. Please carry this lantern with you to help light up your way.”
Lin Mengya handed her glass lantern to Long Tianhao in a natural and casual manner. It was not an act to fawn over him.
She simply felt that it was a natural gesture.
“Hm, I’ll be back as soon as I’m done.”
Stealing a glance at the laughter-filled Liuxin Courtyard, Long Tianhao suddenly felt that this was how a home should be like.
Carrying the lantern, he emerged from the Liuxin Courtyard. For the first time, he understood what it felt like to be reluctant to leave.
“Your Highness, the Seventh Prince has sent a secret message from the army. It’s regarding… regarding Princess Yu’s elder brother!”
Steward Deng, who had been waiting by the gate for a while now, approached the prince and spoke with a low voice.
“What?”
Long Tianhao furrowed his brows, hearing that the message was about Lin Nansheng.
“You have to inquire the details from the Seventh Prince. He’s waiting for you in the study at this moment!”
Long Tianhao headed towards his study hurriedly. When he entered the study, Long Qinghan, whom he had not seen for days, was right there waiting for him.
“Something bad happened in the army camps. Someone tried to assassinate Lin Nansheng!”
What?!
Long Tianhao’s heart dropped as he stared at Long Qinghan.
Lin Nansheng had joined the preceding batch of soldiers who left the borders to return to the capital city. In fact, they had arrived at the garrisons in the suburbs of the capital city five days ago.
No one would have expected something like this to happen when they just stepped foot in the suburbs of the capital city.
Whoever did this ought to be targeting the Lins, or…
“What did your men find out?”
Long Qinghan groaned softly, shook his head and said, “My men got injured as well.”
“In a frenzy, they escaped and came to inform us of what happened. Fortunately, Lin Nansheng had managed a highly disciplined troop, which was why things did not completely go out of hand.”
Given that the Winter Solstice was approaching and that Lin Nansheng was returning triumphant, the various government officials would be eyeing on him.
“Do we… tell Lin Mengya about it?”
Long Qinghan could definitely sense that Lin Mengya was becoming increasingly important to Long Tianhao.
Third Elder Brother had never been so attentive to any other woman. However, this scheming woman stood in a special place in his heart.
However, he had always believed that Third Elder Brother would never fall in love with any woman.
“It would be impossible to keep it from her. Instead of she finding this out from other people, I’d rather be the one to break the news to her.”
Long Tianhao turned around without further hesitation and headed towards the Liuxin Courtyard.
Long Qinghan, however, stood in his way to stop him.
“Let us go tell her together. Given her wit, she would have guessed that there had to be our secret agents in the troops. Aren’t you afraid that she would inform Lin Nansheng?”
Long Tianhao hesitated for a moment. The secret agents they planted in the army troops had been carefully chosen. Moreover, the father and son of the Lins had complete trust in them.
If this matter were to be exposed, all the effort they made over the years would go to waste.
“I can’t keep this from her. Lin Nansheng is a very important person to her.
When he was done talking, Long Tianhao strode towards the Liuxin Courtyard determinedly.
Long Qinghan shook his head as his face turned sober.
He was not sure if it was a good thing that Third Elder Brother esteemed Lin Mengya so highly.
Back in the Liuxin Courtyard, the people were eating and chatting while sitting around the fireplace.
“The prince is back!”
The maid who was on night vigil came into the courtyard to inform the people of the prince’s arrival. She lifted the curtain at the door and let Long Tianhao in.
Long Tianhao was wearing a severe expression in his face.
As he looked towards Lin Mengya, there was hesitation on his eyes.
“What’s happened?”
Lin Mengya had rarely seen such an expression on Long Tianhaos’ face.
She walked up to him and queried with a worried expression.
“It’s, it’s your brother. He’s met with trouble…”
Before Long Tianhao even finished his sentence, Lin Mengya reflectively grabbed onto his arm tightly.
With wide-opened eyes and desperation in her voice, she said, “Elder Brother… What happened to my elder brother?”
“Calm down. We don’t have all the details yet. What we’re certain now is that your brother’s life is not in danger for now.”
Long Tianhao put his arms around Lin Mengya in return, hoping that she would calm down in his embrace.
“Elder Brother… Isn’t he in the camps now? Given the tight security of the camps, how would Elder Brother be injured?”
Lin Mengya desperately wanted an answer, although the soul inside Lin Mengya’s body had never really met Lin Nansheng.
Nevertheless, the more she eased into this outer body, the more her heart was knitted to the Lin Family.
Lin Nansheng, being Lin Mengya’s only sibling, had an extremely important place in her heart.
Her heart wrenched the moment she heard that her elder brother had met with trouble.
“Someone tried to assassinate him, but calm down, nothing too serious happened to him!”
Long Tianhao held on tightly to the girl in his embrace. She was usually such a strong, courageous girl, but now she seemed so frail and weakened.
She did have a soft and gentle side to her.
“I want to go see him!”
She insisted that she should see her brother regardless.
It did not matter what the other people said, she had to see him for herself before her heart could be put to ease.
“I’m afraid there’s no way you could do that. The troops are garrisoned just outside the city. However, unless there’s an imperial command, you are not allowed to meet him privately,” a voice sounded from outside.
At this moment, Long Qinghan lifted the curtain and walked in through the door.
Lin Mengya lifted her face to Long Tianhao and gave him a resolved look, saying, “I have to see him, I absolutely have to!”
There was an unwavering look in her eyes as she spoke, and Long Tianhao could empathize with her completely with regards to the extent of her persistence.
He nodded as he wrapped her skinny body with his bag cloak.
“You can’t go, Third Elder Brother!”
This was insane! Had Third Elder Brother and Lin Mengya gone mad?
Without hesitation, Long Qinghan stood in Long Tianhao and Lin Mengya’s way, a tense smile appearing on his face.
“Step aside.” Long Tianhao’s voice sounded authoritative.
Long Tianhao was fully aware that it was a bad idea to appear among the troops as it would definitely invite unwanted rumors and scandals.
However, he knew that even if he refused to let Lin Mengya go, she would find a way to do it.
Therefore he would rather accompany her there.
“No! I can’t let you go! You will provoke the Crown Prince to anger! Have you forgotten what happened with Lin Lang?”
Lin Lang! Lin Mengya’s heart skipped a bit. While still in Long Tianhao’s arms, she quietly lifted her head to steal a glance at him.
As expected, Long Tianhao stopped in his tracks and his expression changed ever so lightly.
“What’s happening now is a different matter from the past. I won’t allow the same thing to happen again.”
A look of deep agony flashed across Long Tianhao’s eyes, but it did not stop Long Tianhao from heading out.
Holding Lin Mengya in his arms, he went around Long Qinghan and stroke towards the gates of the Liuxin Courtyard.
“You could destroy everything that you’ve worked hard for over the years. Are you sure you would not be bothered?!”
A pained-looking Long Qinghan was flustered and exasperated as he tried to block Long Tianhao’s way once again.
“Forget it; let me bring the little lass there. You have considerations and misgivings of your own, Prince Yu.”
Another pair of arms, belonging to Qinghu, reached out to Lin Mengya, with the intention to take over from Long Tianhao.
However, Long Tianhao dodged Qinghu’s outreached arms and shot him a cold stare.
“She is my wife. I have to be the one to go.”
At that instant, Long Tianhao’s finger, which was moving as fast as lighting, punched at Long Qinghan’s acupuncture point before he could even react.
“Qinghan, I said I won’t let history repeat itself.”
Long Tianhao looked at Long Qinghan apologetically. Long Qinghan was his closest brother, who had done so much for him.
Snowflakes continued to fall at this moment.
All the people from the Liuxin Courtyard followed behind Long Tianhao and Lin Mengya as they exited the courtyard.
Long Qinghan was the only left to stand in the courtyard like a wooden statue.
Third Elder Brother! Come back! Free my acupuncture point!
Sob sob, it was still snowing! He did not want to be dead being buried under the snow!
Long Qinghan wanted to cry so badly. It would take at least an hour for the acupuncture point to be released on its own.
Sob sob, why had he become so pathetic?!
Long Tianhao brought a few fine horses out from the barn in the backyard.
Long Tianhao and Lin Mengya rode together on one horse with Long Tianhao putting his arms around Lin Mengya and wrapping her in his big cloak. Quietly, they left the prince’s mansion in the dark of the night.
The secret agents spying on the Prince Yu’s mansion had decreased in number firstly because it was difficult traveling in the snow, and secondly, it was not easy to stay undercover.
Thirdly, Long Tianhao and Lin Mengya had chosen to take the back alleys. As a result, they did not attract any attention all the way until they reached the city gates.
“Aren’t the city gates closed by now?”
Lin Mengya was worried, knowing that she had pushed too far and too quick.
Nevertheless, Long Tianhao pushed her head down, pulled her closer and gave her a reassuring look.
As Lin Mengya leaned into Long Tianhao’s embrace, she made up her mind to put her total trust in him.
As they rode the horses out of the city through the west city gates, it was bizarre that no one came to stop them.
The guard standing vigil immediately opened the gates for them so that the few horses with their riders exited the city smoothly.
Through the opening of the cloak, Lin Mengya spotted the feet wearing the pair of greenish-grey boots.
She had seen a similar pair in the goods which Long Tianhao acquired as a reward for the soldiers in the army.
How many powerful secret agents did this man, who had been pretending to be submissive to the Crown Prince over the years, plant all over the place?
For the first time, Lin Mengya realized that this taciturn man was actually a formidable man.
How unbecoming of her to be extorting his money using all kinds of excuses?
It had begun to snow even more heavily. The ground outside the city had been covered by a layer of hard frost by now.
However, the sounds of the hooves were not audible at all, which went to show that the snow accumulated was very deep.
They were slowing down and Lin Mengya knew that it was because of safety considerations.
Yet she could not help but feel anxious. She would pop her head out from time to time to check whether they were nearing the camps where her elder brother was.
The frigid wind which blew on her had turned the tip of her nose and ears red from the cold.
Long Tianhao frowned and pushed Lin Mengya’s head down into the cloak. He quietly and gently squeezed the horse with his legs and it instantly picked up speed.
Gradually by steadily, the white horse which they were riding went faster and soon they were a distance ahead from the rest.
Lin Mengya did not feel any discomfort as they traveled on the snow because Long Tianhao’s steady heartbeat had gradually calmed her nerves.
At this moment, the heartbreak she experienced when her mother passed away and come over her once again.
Wait for her, Elder Brother. She was coming.
Please, please be alright!