"Given that Prince Yu is such a highly-skilled martial artist, he'll be alright. Although we didn't hear any good news, neither did we hear any bad ones. Eat something, Master. Don't forget there's still someone eyeing on us."
Baiji brought a bowl of congee over as she vaguely reminded Lin Mengya that the Crown Prince was not going to let the matter rest yet.
"True enough."
Lin Mengya took the bowl from Baiji and started sipping from it.
The method the Crown Prince employed to deal with the situation this time was too cowardly.
When faced with an attack, the Crown Prince had totally disregarded the safety of his people, and ran off, fleeing for his own life. Who would entrust their lives and their family's lives into the hands of such a character?
Suddenly, Lin Mengya had a brainwave. Perhaps she could give the Crown Prince a surprise attack, so he would be caught unprepared.
Just when Lin Mengya was in the process of perfecting her plan, there was a stir outside her room.
Although the temporary imperial residence was relatively large, the rooms were limited.
In a moment like this, the Crown Prince was still concerned about his show of extravagance. Not only had he forcibly occupied many rooms, but he was also completely apathetic towards other people's situation.
In the temporary imperial residence at this moment, most of the imperial guards apart from the ones sent as military aid to Long Tianhao, were surrounding the Crown Prince.
All those who had arrived had been fleeing the whole way here.
Not only did they not have a room yet, they had not even had a drink of water. On the contrary, the Crown Prince remained more concerned about the display of his lavishness.
At this instant, some bold souls were beginning to voice out their dissatisfaction and complaints.
"Your Highness, if you continue in this manner, I'm afraid these people would start to develop discontentment towards you."
Lord Zhang, who was standing by the Crown Prince, said with caution.
Unfortunately, the Crown Prince was like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow now. Any movement or stir would provoke his defense mechanism.
"Discontentment? Are they discontented with me? If not for these people delaying me on my journey, I would be back in the capital city by now."
These people were merely liability in the eyes of the Crown Prince.
Although those ministers were gone, there remained others in the court who acted as reserves, who would rise to the occasion.
He was the most honorable heir apparent to the throne. If any accident happened to him, even sacrificing the many lives would not make up the value of his life.
Lord Zhang was struck dumb. He knew the Crown Prince's character all too well.
On the surface, he might seem mature and steady, but inwardly, he was, in fact, unable to extricate himself from the Queen's control.
If the Queen had not been putting the Crown Prince under her control all these years, the situation would have been much more chaotic.
"Nevertheless, you can't just leave these people alone."
Lord Zhang was a senior minister in the royal court. He was certainly more far-sighted than the Crown Prince in some matters.
The Crown Prince had indeed fled with his confidante when he met with the enemy's attack. This alone was a stain on his reputation.
While riches were easy to acquire, it was not so for the hearts of people!
"They wouldn't starve to death by missing a meal since we will arrive in the capital city tonight. Do you want to join the people outside?"
The Crown Prince furrowed his brows as he spoke those words in displeasure.
Lord Zhang shut his mouth immediately, while at the same time, a feeling of bitterness rose in his heart.
He had initially thought that he had made a good move by marrying his daughter to the Crown Prince.
However, it seemed too early for him to jump to such conclusions.
"Here are some snacks. If you don't mind, please come over and eat some."
At this moment when the people outside were starting to feel the dissatisfaction towards the Crown Prince, a gentle voice echoed through the air into the people's ears.
Lin Mengya together with her four maidservants were carrying some food and water and distributing them to the corners of the courtyard.
"Don't snatch, there is enough supply for everyone. The maids from the other families may want to follow us to go and prepare some food for everyone."
Just when Baiji finished speaking, immediately some quick-witted lasses in different styled dresses came closer and gathered around her.
Soon, she finished distributing the food items, while there were still some sweet cold drinks left for them.
Lin Mengya stood quietly behind the maids. Her expression was neither smug nor impatient. She simply looked at the people collecting the food item with a calm expression.
"There really is more food, let's all go!"
The fire in the kitchen stove was still burning, so very soon, the maids were able to get ready some simple dishes.
The first batch of maids who followed Lin Mengya's maid to the kitchen were happily carrying the food they cooked back to their families.
When all the people learned that they could really prepare meals to eat, they became restless and there was a stir in the courtyard as the situation became more chaotic and out of control.
"Stop all the pushing and shoving. You've to queue up for this. Although the kitchen is relatively big, it could only accommodate up to five families cooking at any one time. Don't worry if you're not in the queue yet, because those families in front can prepare more food to share, and anyway, everyone would get a turn soon."
There may not be delicacies in the temporary imperial residence, it did have sufficient supply of the basics, such as rice, noodles and necessary condiments.
Moreover, staying a few days in the temporary imperial residence was part of the Crown Prince's plan in this hunting trip.
For this reason, the guards at the residence had prepared large amounts of fresh vegetables and fruits.
Zhu Aizhi, who had received a huge favor from Lin Mengya, also instructed his servants to go down to the kitchen to help. After busying themselves for about two hours, the majority of people had access to hot meals.
"There are only a few families left who had not gone into the kitchen to prepare food. However, those who had started preparing food first had cooked extra and shared their cooking with the others."
Of the four maidservants, Baiji had the hardest time.
In the beginning, when Lin Mengya suggested distributing food to the people, Baiji, together with Baishao, had first gone into the kitchen and steamed a large pot of rice.
Therefore, the maids from the other families only had to fry some vegetables and boil some soup, which really sped up the overall food preparation process.
"Good girl, you must have been working so hard."
Lin Mengya took out a handkerchief and started wiping the perspiration on Baiji's face.
Although she did not respond by saying anything, she smiled quietly when being appreciated.
Most of the people were filled with gratitude towards her.
Nevertheless, there were some who remained unappreciative regardless of what she did for them.
For example, Lin Mengwu and her mother were the shameless people who were still taking the side of the Crown Prince.
Today, while the Crown Prince had lost the people's favor, Lin Mengya and Long Tianhao's reputation among the people had risen.
"It's nothing, so don't fret over me, Master. There's nothing much I can do, preparing meals is about all I can do."
Lin Mengya realized that although Baiji was a girl of few words, she was kind and gracious.
For families with more women, Baiji would let them queue at the front of the line. Nevertheless, she made sure to apportion some to distribute the ones at the end of the line.
Everything was arranged properly in an orderly manner, so much so that there were no complaints.
How did this outstanding talent end up in her hands so coincidentally?
It seemed that the four lasses in Lin Mengya's courtyards were not ordinary people.
"All of you have earned yourselves credits that are worthy of rewards when we get home."
Lin Mengya said with a mysterious smile.
All four of them started beaming the moment they heard that they were going to be rewarded.
They were aware that their mistress was a generous person. If she said she was going to reward them, they would indeed be richly rewarded.
The color of the sky gradually darkened.
The Crown Prince, who had originally wanted to hasten back to the capital city, had for some reason stayed on.
Lin Mengya had incited Zhu Aizhi to make accommodation arrangements for all the people.
It might appear that the people had fallen into dire straits, but once back in the capital city, these people could become a great source of strength and help!
"Baiji, how much time has passed? Why was there absolutely zero news from Prince Yu?"
Lin Mengya leaned on the door and lifted her eyes to look afar.
An entire day had passed and she was wondering if Long Tianhao had anything to eat or drink wherever he was.
Why was there no news at all?
Just when they were speaking about it, a light could be seen flashing outside. Baizhi leaped up in great joy and cried out saying, "I see torches! It looks like Prince Yu is here!"
The light shining forth from the torches seemed to have lit up the entire night sky.
Zhu Aizhi's assistant came over to report to them that it was indeed Long Tianhao and his group of people who had arrived.
"Quick, Baiji, prepare some food. Baishao, gather all the physicians from the various families. There would definitely be casualties. Baizhi and Baisu, follow me to go and meet Prince Yu."
Many women began to come out of the lit-up rooms one after another.
The flickering flames of the torches tugged at the women's hearts.
Among those men who arrived were their fathers, brothers, husbands, and lovers, but the women were unable to make out their faces in the dark.
Were they injured? Were they also looking forward to seeing them?
Lin Mengya could empathize deeply with how they were feeling at this moment.
All their eyes were turned to Lin Mengya as if they were waiting for her cue and approval for them to go ahead.
"It's Prince Yu and his company. Who will go with me to welcome our heroes?"
"Me! I would come with Princess Yu!"
"Me too!"
The noisy crowd came to life after Lin Mengya gave the cue.
Lin Mengya nodded. She instructed Baisu to keep order among the people as she walked towards the gates of the temporary imperial residence with quickened steps.
The flames of the torches were like a snake, meandering as they approached.
Lin Mengya felt her heart pounding like people beating a war drum. It felt as if it was beating out of her chest.
She tightened her fists. Tears started welling up in her eyes as the procession of people approached.
Finally, the head of the fiery snake reached the gates of the temporary imperial residence.
After an entire day of battle, the clothes of the three commanders were stained to a dark purple by blood.
Long Tianhao, Long Qinghan, and Hu Tianbei were supporting each other as they walked up to Lin Mengya.
"Your Highness-"
At this moment, words had become redundant. Lin Mengya, ignoring everything else, was first to throw herself into Long Tianhao's arms.
She listened to his strong heartbeats and her nose took in his scent of life.
Her heart, which was hanging for the whole day, finally felt at rest.
"Dirty."
A hoarse voice sounded with a hint of exhaustion in it.
As Long Tianhao made an attempt to free himself from Lin Mengya's embrace, the lass clung on to him even more tightly.
"No, this is a memorial for the heroic Prince!"
Lin Mengya was fully aware that Long Tianhao did not want to dirty her clothes.
Slightly taken aback, Long Tianhao's cold and shart gaze softened because of this girl in his arms.
The hand which had been holding on tightly to the sword the entire day was now sore and numb.
Nevertheless, he could not help but stroked her hair gently as he took in her wonderfully fragrant scent.
"I'm back."
His deep and low voice sounded in Lin Mengya's ears.