Chapter 845
Chapter 845 The Trial Given by Xin Luan
The tea was slightly bitter with a sweet aftertaste and a refreshing fragrance.
When Lin Mengya personally placed the cup of tea on Xin Luan’s desk, it was the best time to drink it.
As the lid of the cup was lifted, a special fragrance slowly spread from the desk to the whole Xiannan Hall.
As Xin Luan drank the tea, its amazing flavor spread all over his mouth. Anyone who was an expert in tea would immediately be astonished by the perfect flavor of the tea.
Lin Mengya lowered her head, looking respectful and meek.
After Xin Luan drank the tea she made, his face seemed to have softened a lot.
“Miss, you are really good at making tea. No wonder my sister trusts you so much,” he said in a way of having a chat.
After thinking for a while, Lin Mengya answered softly, “I appreciate Madame does not mind my humble birth. You overpraise me, reverend sir.”
She had to be extremely cautious when talking to this kind of big shots who tended to sound others out on their intentions rather than to get straight to the point.
Their unspoken messages could be sensed, but could not be explained in words.
Although Lin Mengya was not used to talking in this way, she obviously did not have the initiative now.
Xin Luan looked away after glancing at her for a short while.
Lin Mengya did not dare to make eye contact with him. She would not have been afraid of his gaze in the past.
However, she and her uncle just reunited today, so she inevitably lost her composure.
“Well, my sister has married into the imperial palace for many years and had a hard time managing the imperial palace. You will make a great contribution by doing all you can to assist her,” Xin Luan said, advising her to do all she could to assist Madame Jingrou.
Lin Mengya was certainly aware that he wanted her to do some unusual things for Madame Jingrou.
She lowered her head and answered respectfully and cautiously as before, “Okay, I got it.”
One of them was absorbed in the book in front of him and the tea on the desk.
The other was as gentle and meek as a diligent and cautious palace maid.
Xin Luan, who seemed to be testing Lin Mengya’s patience, cast a subtle glance at her from time to time and looked away subtly, as if he had ignored her.
Lin Mengya stood there gravely with nothing else in her mind like a pine tree, listening to him turning the pages.
After the High Priest opened more than 20 pages, she finally heard him say, “You brought me a chessboard. Although I like playing chess, no one plays the game with me. Do you know how to play chess?”
She blinked slightly. Playing chess was not difficult for her.
In recent days, she had made great progress in playing chess.
She said, “I just have a rough understanding of the game, so I’m afraid I might let you down, reverend sir.”
“It doesn’t matter. The game is just for fun anyway,” Xin Luan said.
The manservant had neatly placed the pieces on the chessboard.
Lin Mengya knelt beside Xin Luan and fixed her eyes on the chessboard without looking at him.
She picked up a white piece with her right hand. Of course, she was aware the High Priest intended to let her move her piece first while trying to test her tactics.
They started a fight on the chessboard with black and white pieces.
Lin Mengya was nervous at first and lost the decisive opportunity that was significant.
However, as soon as she concentrated on the game, she slowly turned the situation around.
They were in a stalemate on the chessboard in front of them.
Xin Luan was increasingly aware the girl in front of him was not simple.
The fight between them seemed to have come to an end.
However, Xin Luan showed a serious look, wondering what kind of person she was.
Her way of playing chess was quite strange, sometimes magnificent and sometimes meticulous.
She did not stick to one pattern and was unrestrained, as if playing a game alone.
It made him uneasy.
Apart from anything else, although he also participated in the game, he had an intuition that he was led by her will.
Her capability of holding him down in the game was so terrifying that he felt fearful as if he could not get out of her control.
Everything was within her grasp. His thoughts, moves and way of playing chess were all seen through by her in the shortest amount of time.
He had never had this feeling even in front of the Emperor.
He could tell it was a fear of the future, although it was not intense.
If the girl was not going to take his side, he should definitely get rid of her!
For the first time, he showed a vicious look in his eyes.
But when he thought of his sister’s words, he had to hold it back, and it finally vanished in his eyes.
How could he forget that his nephew considered the girl even more important than his life?
If he could draw her over to his side, he would probably be able to bring the whole world under his domination!
“Reverend sir, you are smart. I’ve lost,” Lin Mengya said.
Xin Luan eventually won the game.
Lin Mengya put down the piece in her hand and gradually suppressed her surging fighting will.
In fact, she liked playing chess very much. Every time she played chess, she could try out some new moves.
However, at the same time, she was aware the chessboard was like a battlefield and people could expose their innate abilities in a seemingly simple game.
Therefore, unless it was necessary, she just muddled through when playing chess with others.
But when she saw Xin Luan today, she knew that she must take it seriously.
He did all this to test her capabilities as well as to observe whether she was qualified to be trusted by him.
Now, he might have done half of his work.
“It’s alright, you may go back for now. In a few days, the Eldest Prince and the Ninth Prince are returning to the imperial palace, and you will be very busy. Take good care of Madame,” he said.
Lin Mengya stood up and bowed respectfully before leaving the Xiannan Hall.
The manservant, who walked her out, turned around and walked inside after excusing himself.
Standing at the gate, Lin Mengya cast a subtle glance at the gate of the Xiannan Hall. Since the High Priest took the initiative to mention this, he was presumably about to take action.
Long Tianyu was returning to the Jin State in a few days, which meant the meeting of venomous insects would soon come to an end.
Now, it was time to put something into motion.
She couldn’t afford to waste even a little of the three years left.
As she expected, after returning to the Fengyu Court, she met Baisu, who had stayed outside for investigation these days.
Baisu was no longer as dejected as she had been when she went out. Her eyes lit up when she saw Lin Mengya. It seemed that she had gotten good news.
“Look at your joyful expression. Let me guess, you found clues about your identity, right?” Lin Mengya asked.
Baisu never expressed her emotions easily, but she couldn’t hide them in front of Lin Mengya.
Nodding heavily, she pulled Lin Mengya aside to sit down and whispered, “Miss, thanks to your idea, I got some useful information in the past few days. Although I haven’t found out my identity yet, I think you need to know something about the Divine Witch.”
Lin Mengya raised her eyebrows. If Baisu hadn’t mentioned this, she would have almost forgotten the Divine Witch.
Baisu said, “I heard that more than a decade ago, the Divine Witch once claimed to be ill and unable to rise from her sickbed. It was not until nearly a year later that she gradually got better. However, the doctor, who had treated her, disappeared after she recovered. Last time, I heard you mention the Divine Witch looked exactly like our sister Baizhi. Calculating the time, I find the doctor disappeared at the time when Baizhi was born. Do you think it possible that Baizhi is…”
After pondering for a while, Lin Mengya found Baisu’s words made a lot of sense.
It was true that Baizhi was brought into the Lin’s Mansion as Lin Mengya’s companion by Lin Mengya’s father who claimed that Baizhi’s parents died in her childhood.
If Baizhi was really the daughter of the Divine Witch, her background would be in line with what had happened more than a decade ago.
“Go and make a further investigation into the sudden disappearance of the doctor. I want to sound out the Divine Witch in person. If she is really Baizhi’s mother, we will be able to draw her over to Xiaoyu’s side and might be able to get some clues about your background,” Lin Mengya said.
Baisu nodded heavily. She was not allowed to get close to the Divine Witch who was of a noble status, which would inevitably affect the result of her investigation.
Moreover, Baizhi was her good sister. It would be a good thing for Baizhi if they could find out her real identity.
Of course, they would not miss any opportunity. But after finding out Baizhi’s real identity, Lin Mengya would let her make her choice whether to resume her relationship with her mother.
She could find out the truth, but she would respect their decisions and wishes.
“I’m going to arrange that. Miss, you should find a chance to get out of the imperial palace as soon as possible. I’m afraid it won’t be easy without young master’s help,” Baisu said.
Of course, she could secretly take Lin Mengya out, but it was inconvenient to do so, and this trick could be seen through easily.
However, Lin Mengya smiled, drew the jade token on her waist and said, “You come at the right time. With this, I can get in and out of the imperial palace freely.”
Unexpectedly, Madame Jingrou’s token had quite an influence.
Baisu looked at it in surprise. After a heated discussion, they came up with a plan.
Early next morning, an inconspicuous carriage left through the back door of the imperial palace.
With Madame Jingrou’s token, Lin Mengya’s carriage just needed to go through a routine examination when she got in and out of the imperial palace.
This time she went out with the simple excuse that she was going shopping in order to prepare for welcoming the princes who were returning.
This reason was not far-fetched anyhow.
Moreover, she would be able to muddle through by buying some things at random later.
Lin Mengya and Baisu held back their excitement in the bumping carriage.
After they arrived at the store they chose after a discussion, Lin Mengya asked the coachman to make sure to wait for them here and not to go anywhere else.
After that, they sneaked away in the name of selecting goods.
“Miss, is it really okay for you to visit the Divine Witch Shrine openly?” seeing Lin Mengya dressed in a dusty pink gauze dress, Baisu asked in confusion.
Lin Mengya, who couldn’t be more cautious when sneaking out, usually dressed differently or disguised.
Why did she go out openly today?
“It’s okay. If I really went there stealthily, the Divine Witch will probably not meet me,” Lin Mengya said.