"What do you mean? I can see this lady is not married yet. Are you trying to mislead us, Prince Yu and Princess Yu?"
King Ming was obviously displeased. The chance to be his elder son's bride being taken by Prince Yu's servant girl.
Now, even the second's prince's choice of bride was dictated by Princess Yu.
Although he was a foreign king in Dajin, he was not going to be taken advantage of by anyone.
However, Lin Mengya's attitude turned around unexpectedly as she said with a gentle voice,
"Please forgive me, King Ming. It's all my fault that I've neglected to explain the reason behind, which the second prince is unaware of."
Lin Mengya had made sure she found out everything about King Ming's temperament. He was a reasonable man as long as people talked to him in a polite manner.
If she insisted on her ways, she was afraid that King Ming would become unreasonable.
Lin Mengya's immediate change of attitude had calmed King Ming down a little.
In term of status, the consort of a prince may not be inferior to him after all.
"However, if I find your explanation unacceptable, Princess Yu, I'm afraid I can't give way to you."
King Ming was beginning to sound assertive.
Nevertheless, Lin Mengya was not upset. On the other hand, she smiled faintly as she walked up to Yueting with light and graceful steps.
"Miss Yue is my brother's fiance. Everyone in Dajin knows this as a fact. Even His Majesty, the Emperor agreed to their engagement. Of course, it is natural that the Second Prince doesn't know about this. I apologize for being so blunt with my words just now because this matter concerns my brother's reputation. Your Highness, King Ming, please forgive me."
King Ming's facial expression kept changing when he heard to Lin Mengya's apology.
When he glanced at his second son, there seemed to be a flash of emotion in his eyes.
However, that look disappeared when he turned back to Lin Mengya.
"In this light, Nan was the one who was too abrupt. Since it's the Emperor's will, let us not try to go against it. Nan, I think let's forget about choosing a consort for you for now."
Although King Ming seemed easy going in this negotiation, he was in fact the strong-minded, unwavering decision maker in the western vassal state.
This could be clearly seen from the attitude of his sons towards him.
Yueting had been holding on tightly to Lin Mengya's hand and had just come to realize what just happened.
"Wait! Although Miss Yue is engaged to Master Lin first, Master Lin is still fighting the battle at the borders. What if it delays Miss Yue's future. Wouldn't that be unfortunate?"
The Crown Prince of Dajin said abruptly, sounding as if he was concerned about Yueting's future.
Lin Mengya raised her eyebrows and was about to give a rebuttal when Long Tianhao interrupted her, saying,
"Our soldiers out at the borders were exposed to the elements day and night. I've heard back in the battle at Fangjia Dam, Lin Nansheng fought valiantly and finally brought victory for us. Now, our soldiers are still at fighting at the borders, if the soldier's fiancé were to be given to someone else as a wife, Your Highness, the Crown Prince, wouldn't you be worried that our soldiers would be devastated and demoralized?"
Long Tianhao's comments brought tears to many retired soldiers who had come back in the capital.
Back then they had fought valiantly on the battlegrounds.
Some had missed their old mothers' passing, while some old mothers had to suffer from the loss of their sons.
There was even one soldier whose entire family of over ten members caught the pestilence going around back home and were so severely ill that they could not get out of bed.
At that time, he was only a file miles away from home. However, for the sake of protecting and defending his nation, he missed saying goodbye to the people dearest to him.
Presently, the father and the son of the Lins were by the borders fighting. It must be a trying time for them.
It looked like the Dajin Crown Prince was going to use the future daughter-in-law of the Lins to achieve a marriage for convenience for his benefit. Such a move precisely shattered the morale of the soldiers!
Immediately, a few important government officials looked at the Crown Prince with disapproving eyes with a hint of rebuke.
The Crown Prince suddenly realized that he had said something wrong!
Yueting held on tightly to Lin Mengya's hand and her face was totally drained of colors from fear.
Her life had always been so simple and smooth-sailing until now.
It consisted of waiting patiently for her lover, who was the handsome and valiant young general, to return on a horse to take her as his wife.
Never would she have imagined that the second prince of the western vassal state would have his eyes on her. She was so scared that her soul left her.
"Ya'er, Ya'er, what should I do?"
Lin Mengya patted her trembling hands and gently comforted her, saying,
"Don't worry, as long as I'm here, no one can make you accept this marriage for convenience."
Yueqi was as lost as her elder sister. Her big round eyes were filled with tears by this time.
Why would her poor thing sister meet with such a thing?
"Let's discuss this another time. The Crown Prince was just negligent, there's no need to blow this up, Prince Yu."
Finally, it was the Queen who stepped out to diffuse the tensed atmosphere.
She cursed under her breath and secretly rebuked her son in her heart.
From the moment the Crown Prince blurted out that foolish statement, the Queen could feel a rising exasperation.
What a useless thing! Even after nurturing him personally for the last twenty years, was this the best he could do?
The basis for the nation's stability lies in the soldier's guarding and fighting at its borders.
In the past, their forefathers had built up the nation of Dajin by relying on the power of their army. It was through this that they were able to overthrow the previous dynasty.
If they were to disappoint and demoralize the soldiers in the army, would it not be equivalent to ruining their nation's future destiny?
Although the Crown Prince was not willing to give in, he did not dare to argue further.
"It's alright, we'll let this go. Nanlu was not sensible enough. Rest Assure, Princess Yu, the people of the western vassal state would never do such thing as to take other people's wives and children by force."
King Ming was indeed a heroic character, who could bend and stretch to the circumstances. At the same time, he was also meticulous and rigorous.
Lin Mengya nodded, spoke some comforting words to Yueting, then returned to her seat.
Once seated, she could sense the eyes of her Crown Prince and Queen boring into her.
But so what?
From the time they start to devise a scheme against her, persecuted her to become Princess Yu, they had become her arch enemies. She knew that would not stop until they destroy her.
As the banquet continued, Concubine De, using her headache as an excuse, left early with Lin Mengya to return to Prince Yu's Mansion.
The Queen, who was either more concerned about mending her relationship with King Ming, or was laying down the foundation for her ruse, did not stop Concubine De.
Sitting in the horse carriage were Lin Mengya and a terrified Baishao beside her.
"We almost got into trouble at the banquet, Miss! You were a little too impulsive and almost scared me to death."
Baishao patted her chest and cast an anxious look at her mistress.
She initially did not believe the claim that her mistress was a very bold lady, but today she witnessed for herself.
In the presence of the Crown Prince, the Queen and the entire hall filled with the royals and officials, Baishao thought she could barely even.
However, her mistress was able to argue her way! She was indeed exceptionally daring!
"As the saying goes that a reasonable person would be able to walk miles, while an unreasonable person would find it difficult even to take one step. We have reasons and we make sense, so why shouldn't we fight for it?"
Today she had been bold to take a big risk. Had it been a small scale banquet, she might not have achieved what she wanted.
The different was that this banquet was attended by all the important subjects and officials.
Not to mention that the Crown Prince and the Queen would not dare to be rash and impulsive, they would have persecuted Yueting and forced her to marry the second prince from the western vassal state, not caring about how bad they would look.
By tomorrow, what happened today would be spread far and wide, over the north and the south of the river in Dajin.
By then, they would not be able to shoulder the consequences.
"You may have your reasons that make sense, but the Queen wouldn't even reason with you! Just look at how the Crown Prince had spoken today. He obvious despised the marriage engagement between Master Lin and Miss Yue. I'm just worried..."
Baishao had reason to worry.
At this juncture, Lin Mengya had closed her eyes to rest, but her mind was working out the plans at a lightning speed.
It was not enough just to describe the Crown Prince and the Queen as malicious.
Today, it was a close shave for her.
She supposed another battle had begun because of the past grievances as well as the new one which she stirred up today.
There was complete silence in the horse carriage when Baishao tossed some incense baits into the incense burner by her feet.
The subtle aroma from the incense burner immediately rose and filled the entire horse carriage.
Lin Mengya suddenly opened her eyes and dragged Baishao to hide in a corner together.
"What's happening, Miss?"
Baishao was totally clueless as to what was happening, when the sound of fighting echoed through the air from outside.
"Hush!"
Lin Mengya gestured with her hand, indicating that Baishao should keep quiet.
The two ladies hid at the most protected corner of the horse carriage in a crouched position.
As expected, their windows were poked with little holes from the tip of many arrows after a series of swishing sounds from flying arrows.
Baishao went into shock as she leaned into Lin Mengya's arms.
How dare they carried out their evil plan even before she returned to Prince Yu's Mansion? They were outrageous!
"Princess..."
The guards outside the horse carriage did not expect these men attacking them to be so tough.
While the guards realized that there was no moment within the carriage, they turned to charge towards their enemies.
Their attacker, the men in black attempted to get into the carriage to see the situation in it but were being blocked by the guards.
"Brothers, charge!"
Seeing that the horse carriage had become a target for the arrows, their eye's burnt with rage.
Since Princess Yu married into the family, their remuneration had increased a great deal.
This was not to say that the prince did not treat them well, but Princess Yu definitely paid more attention to details was more understanding. For this reason, the guards had always remembered to look out for the princess's interest.
On top of that, these guards were mostly soldiers in the past and they knew to carry out their mission to the point of sacrificing their lives.
However, they were overpowered by a large number of the enemy and gradually undermined by them.
Finally, there were two men in black who found an opportunity to board the carriage. The sickle shape swords in their hands were flashing with a bloodthirsty brilliance.
When they lifted up the curtain to the carriage, Lin Mengya was no where to be seen.
How was that possible?
The two men were going to have a thorough search of the carriage when footsteps of marching were heard from afar.
It was definitely coming from an army of soldiers who had undergone training if it sounded so uniform. The men in black realized that thing had turned for the worse for them, so after signaling to each other with a whistle, they hurried off.
These attackers had left as abruptly as they appeared in the first place. By the time the Yulin Guards arrived, what was left were the many corpses lying all over the ground.
"The Princess! Will Someone please check if the Princess is alright?"
After the crisis had been solved, the guards from the Prince's Mansion dashed towards the horse carriage straight away.
The horse carriage which was like a target for the arrows remained sturdy. They lifted the curtain but at first glance were unable able to spot where the Princess was.
"Where's the Princess? Has she been kidnapped by those men?"
The guards were about to start pursuing those men in black when they suddenly heard a cry of agony coming from within the horse carriage.
"We are right here! Help us get out of here!"