BXBX NOVEL Chapter 362 - A Hypocritical Apology
The woman had been driven out of this place half a year ago. Why did she suddenly show up?
Lin Mengya never believed that there would be so many coincidences in this world.
It had been proved before that those coincidences were all set-ups.
One thing Lin Mengya was sure of was that Ms. Tian would never try to set her up. She could have made lots of requests just now.
They had been like mother and daughter for many years. The connection was complicated.
“But why did she do that? I don’t think she was setting you up, but I wonder why would she show up at this peculiar time.”
Baizhi was so confused. Lin Mengya was almost as overwhelmed as she was.
She knew that someone was behind this.
Only Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu would play these little tricks.
“Anyway, it’s a good thing she came to visit us. Call Steward Deng in, I need his help.”
Baizhi nodded and went outside. Steward Deng got back at sunset and brought the prince’s message that he wished Lin Mengya would enjoy her stay. He would come and pick her up when it was about time.
The prince must have heard about the rude gatekeeper. He wanted to be here to show his support.
Thinking of that, Lin Mengya flashed a smile.
Steward Deng was the steward in charge of the prince’s mansion, but in Marquis Zhennan’s mansion, he was no more than a guest.
As the guest, he had to stay in the guest room outside the yard.
After Baizhi sent Lin Mengya’s message, Steward Deng arrived at the door of Lin Mengya’s room as soon as he could.
“What can I do for you?”
Lin Mengya seemed to be thinking about something in the candlelight. Steward Deng knew the young woman well enough. He knew a storming was coming to this family.
“I need you to watch a woman for me, and you need you to tell me all the details of her life, including what she did, where she went, and who she met.”
Steward Deng nodded and walked into the mansion. He found that the servants here seemed to fear Mrs. Lin a lot.
And now they feared Lin Mengya even more because she was the prince’s wife.
Therefore, they might be gossiping about Lin Mengya, but they wouldn’t dare to touch her.
He then went out for the mission after he was sure everything was safe.
Steward Deng didn’t leave until the moon crawled up into the sky above.
There were only Baizhi and Lin Mengya in the room. After all the work was done, the two sat on one bed like they used to, whispering.
“You sent Steward Deng to keep an eye on Ms. Tian, right? Do you really suspect her?” Baizhi lowered her head and asked, looking quite upset.
.
She couldn’t have made it and had the good days now without the protection of Ms. Tian and Lin Mengya’s brother.
Lin Mengya nodded, but she didn’t explain.
Baizhi was recalling their childhood memories. Lin Mengya closed her eyes and tried to relax.
Once during the Spring Festival, Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu had been grounded by Lin Mengya’s father.
They couldn’t step out of the room. They would have been grounded there still if her father and brother didn’t have to go back to the border.
She was sure it was abortion medicine that she had smelled.
If it wasn’t Lin Mengwu who needed to use it, could it be Shangguan Qing?
Lin Mengya opened her eyes suddenly.
She had noticed in the morning that a jade hung on the rude gatekeeper’s neck.
The jade looked so nice that she stared at it and observed it for a second. Now she felt it weird that a poor guy like him would own such a precious thing unless it was a family heirloom.
If it was an heirloom, a hooligan like him would definitely pawn it.
Unless...
If her guess was right, Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu were playing with fire.
“Master, what are you thinking?”
Baizhi’s voice brought Lin Mengya back to reality.
The expression in her eyes was complicated. She managed to comfort Baizhi and then closed her eyes again.
If her guess was correct, that would bring tremendous humiliation to this family, no matter whose fault it was.
Many people in Capital City were drooling at her father’s position and his military forces. Moreover, the emperor was in a critical situation at this moment, so it was better for her to minimize the impact of this incident.
She understood that people sometimes made mistakes.
They didn’t find her mother’s medical book yet. As long as she stayed here, Shangguan Qing and Lin Mengwu would behave themselves and stay in their yard.
It would be easy for her to confirm it by then.
After a sound sleep, Lin Mengya started to search the medical books again.
She didn’t find them in her own room or her father’s. So she decided to search the yard of Lin Nansheng.
She spent the whole morning, yet still failed to find anything.
She didn’t want to eat anything at the table. She stared at the rice in a daze.
“Princess, Mrs. Lin and Miss Lin are here.”
Huan’er walked in lightly and saluted Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya knew the two women had lost their patience.
Her disappointment was gone and she said, “Come in, please. It’s cold outside. My sister is too weak to bear a cold. If she catches one, that would be my fault.”
Huan’er immediately informed the two. Seconds later, the mother and daughter came in, fake smiles all over their faces.
Lin Mengya stood up and greeted them.
She was the prince’s wife, which made her status higher than Shangguan Qing’s. However, being at home at this moment, she had to be careful, or other people might think she was arrogant and disrespectful.
They two seemed to have learned their lesson and stopped holding their heads high.
Lin Mengwu took a few steps forward and saluted Lin Mengya with a sorry face.
“Please forgive me for not having greeted you yesterday. Please don’t be mad at me.”
Her voice was so sweet and her face so sorry. If Lin Mengya didn’t know what a double-dealer Lin Mengwu was, she might think the woman had made a clean break from her old errors.
Lin Mengwu was apologizing, but the resentment leaking out of her eyes had been captured by Lin Mengya.
It seemed that what happened a while ago had really made the dull girl smarter.
“You don’t have to. Your health is the most important thing of all. The family needs you to take care of our mother. Why do you look so pale? Baizhi, give her some of my daily tonics. Those nourishing pills work best for women.”
Baizhi went back to her room and took out a small and delicate box. She gave it to Huan’er. Lin Mengwu envied Lin Mengya for having such exquisite things, but on her face, she looked so grateful.
Shangguan Qing looked exactly like a real kind mother, watching the hypocritical sisters gladly.
“Well, don’t just stand there. Ya’er, I heard that you were looking for something in your father’s study as soon as you were back. May I know what you’re looking for? I feel so sorry for having been such an irresponsible mom. I want to help you now to make it up for you. If you’d like to keep it a secret, then please forget I asked.”
“Here we go,” Lin Mengya thought to herself, but she didn’t react much.
“It’s just some of my mother’s legacy. It has been years since she passed away and I feel like the worst daughter in the world. I didn’t even visit her tomb on her deathday and I haven’t served her as a nice daughter when she was alive. I’d been living such a muddled life before, and I don’t even know how to manage my own life. Now is the time for me to bring peace to her soul by building a cenotaph for her in the mansion.”
Her words were half-genuine and half-sham. She was indeed looking for her mother’s things.
And Shangguan Qing must have heard about it.
Shangguan Qing pretended to be surprised as if she didn’t know. She wiped the corner of her eye with a handkerchief and showed a joyful smile.
“You’re right. Your mother saved you at the cost of her own life. Her soul would be delighted if you built a cenotaph in her name. I still have some of her stuff in my place. I’ll have someone send them to you later.”
Lin Mengya acted very joyfully.
“Thank you for understanding me. I didn’t tell you about this because I thought you wouldn’t agree with it. Your words now really helped me a lot.”
Lin Mengya spoke gratefully, but inside, she was warning herself.
She had a bad feeling about this peace offering of Shangguan Qing’s.
The woman even initiated to return her mother’s legacy. That made Lin Mengya even more suspicious. She should be careful because the two might be setting her up.
“Well, we’ll leave you alone. You can keep on with your work.”
The two had finished putting on the show. They stood up and were about to leave.
Lin Mengya walked them to the door. After the two left, her smile gradually faded.
She didn’t smell any blood on Lin Mengwu, but the abortion medicine was still with her.
She had a quite sensitive nose, and she seldom smelled something wrong.