Chapter 471 - Alliance in Interest
Chapter 471 Alliance in Interest
“What you say makes sense, but Prince Qing seemed to have been harboring disloyalty towards the emperor. I am the emperor’s cousin, I don’t suppose you think I would betray my cousin to help you?”
Lin Mengya drew him in step by step. In fact, even she did not expect things to progress so smoothly.
In reality, Lin Mengya was not aware that Prince Qing had briefed his two sons beforehand.
This time, the one who succeeded in capturing Princess Anle and her company would be rewarded with the status as the next Prince Qing.
On this occasion, Lin Mengya had instigated animosity between the two brothers, which was why Zuo Yuanyi’s face fell when Lin Mengya claimed that his brother had fled.
He had gone on to think that his right to the status of Prince Qing had been threatened because that bastard was going to take it away from him by force.
He had thereby lost his sense of judgment and resorted to cooperating with Lin Mengya in hope of preserving the status of being the next Prince Qing.
This could also be seen as the heaven helping Lin Mengya.
“My father had been distracted. Actually my father had fought for the throne with the emperor because he was incited by evil men. How nice would it be if I were to take over as Prince Qing, to be a carefree prince? If Your Highness, the princess could help me lay hold of the status of Prince Qing, not to mention I will write off the grievances between us, I will give my all to help the emperor secure his state power.”
In his anxiety to work with Lin Mengya, he had forgotten that Zuo Qiuchen would not let him off even if he were to become Prince Qing.
However, there was no capacity in his brain to be so thorough in his consideration.
Time was ticking. While Lin Mengya was getting more anxious, she did not let it show in her expressions.
Seeing that Zuo Yuanyi had initiated the cooperation, she knew that she was halfway to achieving success.
“It’s not difficult if you are asking for my help, you just need to show me your sincerity. Given the conflict between us, why wouldn’t you turn around to plot against me the moment I let you go?”
Lin Mengya tried to look as if she was having a difficult time. On the other hand, Zuo Yuanyi shuddered at the thought that this ruthless woman might kill him.
“You can rest assured that I’m sincere. Moreover, wasn’t what happened just now merely a misunderstanding between us? Why would I turn myself against you and make myself your enemy?”
Zuo Yuanyi quickly pledged his loyalty but Lin Mengya still shot him a hesitant look.
However, after pondering for a moment, Lin Mengya appeared to have been taken in by him and said, “Alright, why don’t you leave an authenticating object behind as proof of sincerity. I will also help set your bone back in place so that there won’t be any after-effects. As for helping you secure the status of Prince Qing, let’s say it’s payback. What do you think?”
Zuo Yuanyi did not expect such a good fortune to come his way.
He quickly pledged his loyalty to Lin Mengya, and wished that he could take out his heart to show to Lin Mengya, so she would know what he was thinking.
“No problem! I will do anything at your command, Your Highness, the princess!”
Zuo Yuanyi thought that he would not escape Lin Mengya’s grasp today.
Who would have known that things had turned around for him that he had, in fact, stumbled upon a helping hand and was sure glad for that?
While the pain in his left hand was excruciating, the lure of the status as Prince Qing far exceeded the pain he was experiencing.
“Alright, since you are so straight forward, I’ll temporarily trust your words.”
At this moment, Long Tianyu, who had settled the second son of Prince Qing, also entered the reception room.
Lin Mengya, seeing that everyone in her company had arrived, stopped her meaningless talk with Zuo Yuanyi.
“I suppose your hand would become disabled if we delay any further. Let’s have Prince Yu to accompany you to buy some medication to treat your hand.”
Although Long Tianyu did not know what had happened, he was certain that Lin Mengya had played a trick on Zuo Yuanyi looking at the delight on Zuo Yuanyi’s face, which looked as if he had stumbled upon some gold ingots.
Since Lin Mengya had instructed Zuo Qiuyu to follow Zuo Yuanyi, her intention must be for Zuo Qiuyu to watch and pick up anything fishy from Zuo Yuanyi.
Long Tianyu shot Zuo Yuanyi a cold look and seeing that he shrunk back, Long Tianyu took it as he had taken in the warning.
Zuo Yuanyi was apparently very concerned about his hand. Although he was still frightened, he could not help but keep glancing at Lin Mengya earnestly, wishing that she could treat his hand as soon as possible.
Being cautious and meticulous, Lin Mengya found herself some ink, brush and paper and wrote down the name of the medication.
Most of the medicine and herbs in the list were certainly meant for Baishao, but it also included what Zuo Yuanyi needed.
The bones on Zuo Yuanyi’s had merely been dislocated by Zuo Qiuyu, and it was surely not a serious injury.
With Long Tianyu watching over Zuo Yuanyi, Lin Mengya was assured that he would not do anything funny.
In less than an hour, all the medicine and herbs needed were brought back to Lin Mengya.
Zuo Qiuyu’s guess had been confirmed. Baishao’s face might be pallid but she had not lost all signs of life.
He was thankful that the sword of the second son of Prince Qing had not pierced into Baishao’s heart.
Unknowingly, this had given Lin Mengya a good opportunity to treat Baishao.
“The medicine and herbs are here, but what do we do with so much of them?”
All in all, there were over a hundred packets of medicine and herbs. Even Zuo Qiuyu was at a loss of what to do.
Moreover, there were altogether three different prescriptions and there were not packed separately. No wonder even he was having a headache just looking at them.
“Let me. Will you go prepare a big pot for me?”
Lin Mengya’s request took Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuyu by surprise.
This was not their territory. Where would they find a big pot?
Zuo Yuanyi saw the opportunity to volunteer his service. Standing up immediately and trying to please them, he said, “There should be one in the kitchen. Please follow me there, Princess.”
Seeing how that man tried to curry favor from Lin Mengya, Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuyu could not help but give him an angry stare.
Lin Mengya, however, could not care less about other things. She carried all the medicine and herbs and followed Zuo Yuanyi to the kitchen.
Long Tianyu was left to take care of Baishao while Zuo Yuanyi led the way followed by Lin Mengya, then Zuo Qiuyu.
Soon, the three of them found the cooking ladies and servants who working busily in the kitchen and they quickly bowed and greeted the three of them.
“Get out of here, lest you be a hindrance in the kitchen.”
While Zuo Yuanyi did not dare to show impudence towards Lin Mengya and Zuo Qiuyu, he had surely made his status as their master loud and clear.
Very quickly, the three of them were the only ones left in the kitchen.
After looking all around, Lin Mengya eventually picked up the biggest pot in the kitchen.
At this moment, the fire on the stove was still burning. Lin Mengya opened all the medicine and herbs to study them.
“Watch the fire for me, you two. Remember, the fire should not go out at any point in time, neither should it be adjusted, understand?”
Zuo Qiuyu and Zuo Yuanyi nodded immediately. Two rich young men who had never set foot in the kitchen had no choice but stood in to be the cooks for Lin Mengya’s sake.
The big pot was filled to half with water. Because the fire had been set to be strong, steam soon appeared and the water began boiling.
When it was boiling sufficiently, Lin Mengya poured the medicine and herbs packet by packet into the water.
Immediately, an overwhelming bitter scent from the boiling medicine and herbs filled the entire kitchen.
The rough and bold way Lin Mengya handled the medicine and herbs was even unseen by the layman Zuo Yuanyi, not to mention Zuo Qiuyu.
When Zuo Yuanyi saw the beautiful lady impaled by the sword at the back of the reception, he realized that the medicine and herbs which cost him hundreds of taels of silvers were not for treating his hand alone.
The music score for the green stringed instrument was indeed an amazing book. The effects of such common herbs would only be released when it was boiled in a specific way.
However, the prescription in the music score for the green stringed instrument said it was unnecessary. One only needed to use a big pot and big fire to boil them, then he may add the necessary medicine and herbs in the right sequence.
After that, use medium heat until the last component was added. Then it should continue to boil for a while more and the prescription would be ready.
Of course, this was the short cut, but it would still be able to bring out 30% of the efficacy. However, because there were a number of complimentary herbs in the prescription that they would mutually absorb and stimulate each other’s efficacies.
Otherwise, the pot of medicine and herbs would end up being just a pot of bitter stock.
This was also the first time Zuo Qiuyu saw this method of decocting medicinal herbs. Not only was he amazed, but he was also feeling worried.
This way of decocting the herbs looked more like cooking a vegetable stock. Would it really result in the miraculous effect which Lin Mengya claimed?
The mixture of medicinal herbs was gradually becoming thick from the heat.
Lin Mengya quickly used the ladle to scoop up the little thick brown liquid and put it into a white color bowl.
In fact, it would be even better to let it boil a little longer.
However, she really could not wait and what she wanted was to proceed faster.
Not all of the liquid from the mixture was meant to be ingested. Lin Mengya took the little bowl and returned to the reception room.
Firstly, she chased Long Tianyu into the front hall, then she carefully unbuttoned Baishao’s clothes and smeared the warm mixture onto Baishao’s wound.
Although the instruction recorded in the music score for the green stringed instrument said that the mixture was effective in slowing down the flow of blood, the wound on Baishao’s chest had started to form scabs because of the time that had past.
Lin Mengya smoothed a thick layer of the mixture as she wondered how effective it would be.
For some unknown reason, the medicinal mixture had miraculously been absorbed into Baishao’s wound.
Lin Mengya watched on nervously and soon, her hand, which had been holding on to Baishao’s wrist, began to feel that her weak pulse was slowing down.
It should be noted that the heart was the organ that pumped blood all parts of the body.
Now the slowing down of the heartbeat meant that blood circulation had been slowed down too.
Finally, Lin Mengya felt just a bit relieved. This was the first step to success. Following this, the treatment of the wound would be less risky.
The wait was long and painful. Lin Mengya did not take her eyes off Baishao for half an hour. It only until she was sure that the medicinal mixture on Baishao’s chest had been completely absorbed that she buttoned up Baishao’s collar.
Following this would the most crucial step. She would draw the sword out of Baishao’s chest.
However, she was not completely confident she could do it, so after pondering, she decided that the only way was to seek help from Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuyu.