Chapter 442 - Having Nothing Better to Do
Chapter 442 Having Nothing Better to Do
After Long Tianyu gave instructions for them to take good care of Lin Mengya, he hurried off through the gates of Prince Shen’s Mansion
Lin Mengya breathed a sigh as she watched the figure of Long Tianyu going off.
It seemed that Long Tianyu was especially intimate with Zuo Qiuyu and Zuo Qiuchen these days.
Not only did they exchange glances in front of her daily, but they would also make use of the time while she was asleep or the time after she had taken her medicine to get together.
However, she had completely no clue what they were discussing.
She also could not be bothered to ask them. She simply turned a blind eye on them such that they likely assumed that she had been fooled.
The reason was that she also felt guilty towards Long Tianyu.
It was merely because she had lied to Long Tianyu with regard to the problem they had with the music score for the green stringed instrument.
While she did not intentionally keep this from Long Tianyu, but she had been investigating through various means in the last few days trying to find the clues on the significance of the music score for the green stringed instrument.
However, the more she found out, the more she felt it was wiser to keep this to herself than to tell them the truth in the spur of the moment.
In fact, the Zuo Qiuchen’s position at this moment was in imminent danger but they were not aware of it.Because of the great influence of the Pavilion of Herbs, for him to be accepted by the royal family members as well as all the nobles in the Nation of Lintian, he had to be accepted by the chief elder in the Pavilion of Herbs first.
The problem was that the chief elder had mysteriously disappeared over ten years ago.
To be the chief elder’s successor, one had to be either the elder’s protege or one whom the chief elder had personally pass down the baton to.
In other words, he must be in possession of the music score for the green stringed instrument. Only the one in possession of the music score would be qualified to succeed the chief elder of Pavilion of Herbs.
Once someone took over the elder’s place, he would enjoy equal status and honor as the emperor in the Nation of Lintian.
However, who would allow someone else to sleep on one’s own bed? Who would allow someone else from outside to share his own power and status?
For this reason, each chief elder serving the term had been through thorough consideration in the selection process.
Not only did he have to convince the public but he also needed to have an intimate relationship with the emperor. He even could be the emperor’s right-hand man.
However, the last chief elder had been an exception.
He was a medical fanatic who was single-mindedly immersed in the study of pharmacy. His sole interest in life was to research and study the music score for the green stringed instrument.
There was even a rumor that someone wanted to rely on the power of the chief elder to sow discord between the Pavilion of Herbs and the royal family.
The emperor at that time gifted the chief elder a stalk of a mysterious herb that had just been recorded in the music score for the green stringed instrument. Since then, this chief elder had been hell-bent on being faithful to the late emperor.
This was apparently the reason the emperor had complete trust in this chief elder.
Coincidentally it was because of his perseverance in the learning of medicine that led to the chief elder’s extremely simple and pure character.
It was also because of this reason that his own mother had become the protege of this chief elder.
However, she had yet to find out the reason her mother left her home country. It was because of her mother vanished so abruptly and that the chief elder had also mysteriously disappeared that resulted in temporary chaos in the Pavilion of Herbs.
It was precisely the reason why Zuo Qiuchen succeeded in ascending the throne and moving the capital.
However, this might all come to an end soon. There had to an end to all these fights.
She gathered from the maidservants that the chief elders had three candidates competing to be his successor.
All of them were either members of the royal family or noble families which were powerful families.
However, they were unable to succeed the chief elder with justifiable reason. It was all because according to the rules set by the Pavilion of Herbs that the successor had to be in possession of the music score for the green stringed instrument.
Lin Mengya casually sighed and began to massage her temples with her left hand.
This was yet another plot and strive for power, but she had gotten to the center of this whirlpool because of her mother.
Alas, she felt so drained just thinking about it.
“Master! Master! Are you alright?”
An urgent voice called out to her and woke her from her thoughts.
When Lin Mengya turned around, she saw Baishao and Xiu dashing in as she expected.
It had been a while since they saw each other and the two lasses seemed to have lost weight considerably.
Their watery eyes especially were badly swollen.
Was it this serious? Lin Mengya wanted to smile, but at the same time, her heart was warmed by the sight of them.
She considered herself to be very blessed to have somebody who was truly concerned about her, for this was really hard to come by in this world.
“I’m alright, just that my right arm had been dislocated so it’s strengthless. Look at you, why are you weeping when I’m well and good?”
The external wound on her right arm had almost healed. With the help of those miracle-working pills, it should fully recover very soon. As for whether her arm would still be useful, this was something beyond her control.
“I’m worried about you, Master. We know for a fact that you’re not good at riding horses. How could you behave so willfully here? Let me have a look to see if your wound left a scar.”
Lin Mengya’s right arm did not have any sensation, but she still pretended to cry out in pain when Baishao touched it.
“Ouch…”
Baishao immediately retracted her hand and gazed at her master with guilt. Thereafter she did not dare to touch her master’s right arm.
Lin Mengya smiled as she pretended to be totally fine, but even Xiu, like Baishao, started to look Lin Mengya up and down.
“Silly lass, do you not recognize me anymore just because we haven’t seen each other for a few days. Or is there anything on my face that you have to scrutinize it?”
Lin Mengya teased Xiu, however, she continued blinking her teary eyes.
There was even a look of admiration in her eyes.
“Big Sister Mengya, so you are actually the legendary Prince Yu! You truly lived up to your name. You are the one person whom I admire most!
Lin Mengya was not the least surprised that Xiu found out her identity.
This lass had always been straight forward and very likable. She must have escorted Baishao during the journey these few days.
If Baishao had unintentionally or even intentionally revealed her identity, she would certainly be the first to pick it up.
After all, anxiety would cause chaos. There had to be considerable commotion at that time such someone among the group of businessmen would have been passing the message around.
She was quite sure that Baishao would have cried from worrying, otherwise, she would not be perceived as Lin Mengya’s intimate maidservant.
“Do you admire me? Sigh, I’ve always wanted to keep this low key. How did this bad reputation of mine be spread all the way to Lieyun?”
Lin Mengya purposely sighed as she teased Xiu.
Xiu sat on the railing beside Lin Mengya and smiled at her. Like a diehard fan, she gazed at Lin Mengya and began listing out what heard of her.
“Surely you don’t have a bad reputation! I heard that when you were going to marry Prince Yu, he had not discovered the gem in you and had kept you outside his gates. Surprisingly, when you finally appeared, he was immediately smitten by you and eventually held a grand wedding to marry you. On top of that, I also heard that you were completely fearless of the bullies who were exceptionally strong and went around bullying people in the Capital City and even made them get down on their knees to ask for mercy. Finally, you saved countless people living in poverty. All the people clapped their hands and praised you, and…”
Lin Mengya interrupted Xiu and wondered who gave her the confidence to do so.
“Stop, stop, if you continue, I would sound like a superwoman who had saved the world. Who told you about all these? I’ll have to collect the fee for copyright.”
Xiu stuck out her tongue but did not give her an answer as to who spread the rumor.
Lin Mengya stopped pressing for an answer. After all, all that had happened to her at the beginning was not a secret. So be it that it had been made known to everyone.
It was not something to be ashamed of, just that the story had been grossly exaggerated.
After a further exchange of pleasantries, the identities of these two guests were eventually known to all in the courtyard.
Since Baishao had arrived, all matters concerning the care of Lin Mengya, including changing the bandages were now personally taken over by her.
Moreover, these two girls were pretty, honey-tongued, and diligent.
Merely half a day had passed, but almost all the maidservants in the courtyard soon became acquainted with them.
The courtyard, which used to be rather quiet, was now a much livelier place.
Lin Mengya’s spirit was lifted, having reunited with her good sisters, therefore her appetite for dinner improved and she managed to eat one more bowl of rice than usual. This greatly reassured Long Tianyu.
However, Lin Mengya, who overate for dinner was only feeling bloated!
Her stamina could hardly catch up with her excitement which was stirred up after such a long time.
The feeling of bloatedness coupled with heavy eyelids was not a comfortable feeling at all.
Given no other choice, she could only have the others carry her outdoors to have a glimpse of the moon and the starlit sky and to feel the cold breeze, so she could be kept more awake.
She took out a pill that aided digestion and popped it into her mouth. Its sweet and sour taste made Lin Mengya squint.
“What was that you ate? Would you let me, your cousin, have a taste of it?”
Under the moonlight, a tall lean figure approached her.
Standing tall and erect, Zuo Qiuchen, who had changed out of his imperial robe, appeared more refined but relaxed. At the same time, however, he also looked less solemn.
Lin Mengya smiled as she raised her palm with the small, dark red pill in it to Zuo Qiuchen’s eye level.
“So it’s a sugary pill. I see that my dear cousin sister is still a child. Unfortunately, I don’t have such luxury to be so carefree.”
Despite his response, Zuo Qiuchen still picked up the pill and popped it into his mouth.
The sweet-sour taste in his mouth immediately neutralized the bitterness in his mouth.
As he swallowed the sweet-sour pill, the trouble in his heart seemed to be alleviated a little.
“Do you also have things that are troubling you? So much so that you are suffering insomnia at night?”
Lin Mengya asked while knowing the answer. Because of their interactions in the past few days, she came to know that this eldest cousin of hers would not be working on things that did not benefit him.
It would be strange if he was not looking to achieve something when he treated her with such warmth and diligence and was extraordinarily kind to her friends.
“I’m afraid we are troubled over the same matter.”
Zuo Qiuchen had signified the reason, but a smile immediately appeared on Lin Mengya’s face as she responded, saying, “I’ve overeaten tonight and felt really bloated. Are you experiencing the same?”
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