Chapter 96 The New Monster in the Prince’s Mansion
Chapter 96 The New Monster in the Prince’s Mansion
Even Yueting was surprised that Lin Mengya managed to convince her mother.
Although she was successful not because she used reasoning, rather, it was more like threatening.
However, her mother yielding did not equate to them being victorious.
She was afraid that her mother might be brewing some new moves.
Lin Mengya, who could read Yueting’s mind, patted her hand and said,
"Rest assured, I’ll be here for you."
Yueting nodded and her eyes welled up in tears when she looked up at Lin Mengya again.
She was ready to suffer any difficulties in her home. As long as she could be with Big Brother Nansheng, she would be contented.
She was thankful that Lin Mengya was also rooting for them. She was no longer alone in this.
"Uncle Yue, I’m afraid Aunt Yue would not let this go so easily. We may need Uncle Yue to help us as a mediation."
Every household had its own problems. There was Shangguan Qin in her own family while the Yues had Mrs. Yue.
It seemed that their lives would no longer be a peaceful one from now on.
She was sure she had utterly offended Mrs. Yue today, which surely affected the relationship between the two families.
"Rest assured, Princess. Now I am aware of the pros and cons of our decision and naturally, I won’t let my wife do as she wishes."
Lin Mengya nodded. Yue Shilin’s words had given confidence and assurance.
Nevertheless, to Lin Mengya, Elder Sister Yueting would be likened to a time bomb as long as she remained in her house.
It appeared that she needed to quickly think of a solution for her to marry into the Lin family as soon as possible.
Dear brother, did you even know that your little sister had been working so hard for a blissful marriage for you every day?
Yue Shilin spoke with her a little longer before he finally left with his followers.
Lin Mengya sat down with Yueting and Yueqi in her little courtyard to have a chat. Apart from their personal maids, the others were sent away.
"Sigh, I’m still worried that Mother won’t give up so easily. Will we be able to succeed, Ya’er?"
Sitting on the chair, Yueting said as she frowned deeply while she looked in Lin Mengya’s direction
"I’m here for you, so there shouldn’t be any problem. Yes, Elder Sister Yueting, do you have any news from my brother recently?"
She thought of all possible scenarios but decided that the only right thing was to let Elder Sister Yueting marry into the family as soon as possible.
Moreover, Baizhi had told her that her brother would be returning to the capital city to take up his office soon. By then, she would not have to worry anymore.
"Elder Brother Nansheng said that he would be returning to the capital city half a month from now."
At the mention of Lin Nansheng’s name, Yueting started blushing.
Fortunately, she had always hidden her letters to him in Yue Shilin’s letters to Lin Muzhi.
In this light, their correspondences had always consisted of a simple narrative on how they were getting on. Neither of them had the audacity to say anything inappropriate.
"Oh, I see. That puts my heart at ease. Then, I will trouble Uncle Yue to ask my father to let you two get married as soon as possible."
At Lin Mengya’s words, Yueting lowered her head in embarrassment. Her coyness was more alluring than peony in the garden.
It would be a beautiful thing if Elder Brother could marry the virtuous daughter of a reputable family.
Lin Mengya continued reassuring Yueting with some comforting words before she finally left Yue’s Mansion with her servants.
"Miss, what’s Mrs. Yue’s background by the way? Why was she so overbearing?"
Riding in the horse carriage, Baiji asked the question with a frown on her face. This was what the other four maidservants had so desperately wanted to find out too.
"Mrs. Yue came from a reputable family as well. They had married out of love. However, she was a playmate with the Queen since they were young. One takes on the color of one’s company. What do you think she’s like under the influence of the Queen?"
Lin Mengya’s words seemed to have awakened the four maidservants from their stupor.
Baisu, their latest addition, likewise, nodded her head. She seemed as surprised to learn what kind of a person Mrs. Yue was.
"You may think Mr. Yue appeared rather cowardly, in fact, his compromise had stemmed from his respect and love for his wife. Unfortunately, Mrs. Yue had pushed her limits further and further and gone overboard with her willfulness. She was gradually depleting Mr. Yue’s loyalty. I even heard that three years ago, Mr. Yue had taken a concubine. It seemed that crack had appeared in their relationship."
A woman can take advantage
However, the only thing she should not do was to challenge the man’s dignity.
Not to mention that this happened in ancient times when the male gender was deemed more superior, even in modern times when gender equality was upheld, men esteem their dignity.
What’s more, Mr. Yue was a highly respected and powerful man. It was said that not long after he took for himself a concubine, his concubine bore him a son.
Subsequently, the mother of the boy would gain more respect through bearing a son, and Mrs. Yue would lose her status altogether.
When Lin Mengya and her escorts returned to the Prince’s Mansion, Steward Deng had been waiting expectantly at the gates for a long time.
When Steward Deng saw Lin Mengya alighting the horse carriage, he rushed forward to her.
"Finally you’re back, Princess. The mansion had been stirred up in a great commotion."
Lin Mengya raised her brows and wondered what would have happened during this short span of half a day when she was not in the mansion?
"It was your cousin and Miss Lin, who had a conflict with Hongyu. Prince Yu and Concubine De had gone to meet Prince Heng, who had come to visit in the capital city, so Third Miss had almost turned the entire mansion upside down."
Frowning, Lin Mengya thought while the tiger was not around, the monkey had claimed itself to be the greatest.
It appeared that these people were too bored and wanted some excitement!
"Lead me to where they are, so I can have a look."
Since the Princess had spoken, Steward Deng felt a burden fall off his shoulder. He quickly brought Princess Yu to where the commotion was happening.
Hongyu was being put in a small courtyard within the prince’s mansion. Coincidentally, this courtyard was separated merely by a wall from the courtyard where Lin Mengwu and her mother lived.
According to Steward Deng, Hongyu had to practice the western vassal dance for two hours daily.
Lin Mengya had seen such kind of dance in the past. It resembled the Indian Dance, which emphasized on being vivacious and passionate. Coupled with the fact that Hongyu was a beautiful lady, this eventually stirred up trouble.
Jiang Ruqin took one look and concluded that she was practicing some seductive witchcraft. Not satisfied, she and Lin Mengwu continue to take turns making comments about Hongyu.
Hongyu was also not one to be trifled with. She was not going to stand their nonsense.
It was under such a circumstance that Lin Mengwu and Jiang Ruqin started their fight which resulted in the state now.
Just when they arrived at the small courtyard, they could hear the voice of the three women in waves.
What Lin Mengya saw was three people rolled into one. Where had all the gracefulness and elegance in them gone?
"Stop! How dare all of you to misbehave in the prince’s mansion! Do you want to die?"
Lin Mengya cried out with a severe voice and immediately a few maids went over to stop the fight.
It took a great deal of effort to separate the three women. By then Lin Mengya realized that all three of them were injured on their faces.
She had expected that trouble would follow upon Hongyu’s arrival.
"Where is the proof of your upbringing? This is the Prince’s Mansion. This is not slum where you can behave atrociously! Whoever misbehaves again would be thrown out of the Prince’s Mansion!"
Lin Mengya had become the over in-charge in the Prince’s Mansion now, so everyone working in the mansion would only submit to her.
Therefore, even though the three ladies were not willing to yield to her, they did not have the audacity to go against her order.
"Miss Jiang, I have been very polite to you because you’re our guest. For this reason, I’ve been extra tolerant of you. I wouldn’t have expected you to behave so rudely. I will report everything happened here to your father accordingly."
In that instant, all of Jiang Ruqin’s fury disappeared when she heard the tone in Lin Mengya’s voice.
She had no other choice but to suppress her anger.
If Father were to find out what happened, he would not let her stay on in the Prince’s Mansion. What was worse was that her aunt was no longer so doting on her as before.
"Mengwu, although you’re my younger sister, you have utterly brought disgrace to the Lin family. You got into a fight with Eighth Princess in the palace grounds and made a joke out of yourself. Shaming the family aside, you had brought shame upon me, your sister. I will report this to the elders in our family and they would decide what to do with you."
Lin Mengya was not referring to Shangguan Qing, who was protective over Lin Mengwu when she mentioned the elders of the family.
Although their father was the head of the extended Clan of Lins, there were still other highly respected elders in the family who handled other important family matters.
The usually bold Lin Mengwu turned pale at the mention of the family elders.
Finally, Lin Mengya came to stand before Hongyu.
She gave her a cold look, and before anyone knew what was happening, she gave that woman a tight slap on her face.
"How dare you slap me!"
Hongyu glared at Lin Mengya with widened eyes, only to be given another slap.
"So what if I give you a slap? You aren’t aware of your position here and had the audacity to speak to me, the princess in this manner? Men, seize her and give her twenty tight slaps on her face!"
The sassy Baishao had read Lin Mengya’s mind since a while ago.
She stepped forward, together with some other maids, seized Hongyu, who refused to yield.
"You! All of you! I’m a gift to the prince from King Ming. If you hit me, it will be equivalent to insulting the western vassal state!"
Hongyu cried out loudly, but there was fear in her eyes as she saw the bamboo clapping boards the maids were holding.
Lin Mengya just smiled and looked at restrained Hongyu coldly.
"The reputation of the western vassal state? Are you a princess of the western vassal state? Since when did the western vassal state require a dancer to uphold its reputation? Please remember that you are a plaything that the western vassal state gave away as a gift. In Dajin, you’re nobody!"
Lin Mengya could not be bothered to show her any mercy with her words.
Immediately, Hongyu’s face was drained of its colors. She bit her lips and did not dare to create any more trouble.
She instantly realized that Lin Mengya was trying to use punishment as a deterrent to the other two ladies. Lin Mengya could not lay a finger on them since they were of noble status.
She was Lin Mengya’ punching bag.
She could only count herself unlucky to have fallen into Lin Mengya’s hands.
"Beat her up."
Baishao ordered and someone took up the bamboo clapper boards and started slapping Hongyu’s pretty face with them.
The sound of the clapping boards slapping on human skin echoed through the air. After a two to three blows, Hongyu’s cheeks were red and swollen.
Jiang Ruqin and Lin Mengwu, whom Lin Mengya tried to intimidate, were looking extremely uneasy.
If they had continued with the fight, they could have been the ones being punished with the bamboo clapper boards!