Chapter 205 - I Believe Her

“Actually, you and Qin’er met by destiny. When she was a child, I was accompanied by her. Because of this, she and Yu’er know each other since they were young. But now, there is a rumor that Ruqin and Yu’er have an affair. How ridiculous it is.”

Concubine De sounded genuinely regretful. She picked up the tea and lightly took a sip.

She mentioned it publicly, so Lin Mengya had to stop her act and speak of this topic.

“You’re right, mother. I will manage the household with a firm hand. The rumor will be broken in time to clear Ruqin’s name.”

The moment she uttered the last word, Jiang Ruqin burst into tears.

“Aunt, I can’t live at all. As a woman, a clear name is the most important thing. Now, the rumor flies around our house. How could I still live a peaceful life?”

Jiang Ruqin finally played her trump card to act like she was really driven into a corner. Lin Mengya then saw the purpose of their show.

The so-called rumor was just a made-up story that her name had been destroyed because of Long Tianhao.

Although it was not a fact, because both of them had added colorful details to the story, it turned to be that Long Tianhao had done something intimate with Jiang Ruqin.

Lin Mengya silently sneered. A woman volunteered to seduce a man by wearing a see-through blouse. Was there any possibility for her to care about her own name?

It was evident that she was forced to seek Lin Mengya for that possibility after being refused by Long Tianhao.

Concubine De really racked her brains to push her niece into her son’s bed.

“Ruqin, it’s of no use to ask for death. If you actually feel pain from the damage to your name, I recommend you to enter the Jingyu Convent in the countryside. The head nun out there is kind and decent. But you may have to adjust yourself to it. In addition, I may be the master in our house, but when it comes to something important, the prince is exactly the decision-maker. The prince is actually the master here. You’d better ask the prince for help if necessary.”

Lin Mengya spoke very clearly.

She had to get Long Tianhao’s recognition before she entered Prince Yu’s Mansion.

Otherwise, it would be impossible by any means.

“Cousin-in-law, do you really insist on refusing me?”

After the suffering play full of crying, Jiang Ruqin eventually showed her true colors.

She glared at Lin Mengya with grossly offensive features, as if she would jump on her and eat her alive at any time.

“Whether I agree with you or not depends on the prince. I think you’d better behave yourself, cousin-in-law.”

Lin Mengya was not a simple woman. After Jiang Ruqin betrayed herself, Lin Mengya refused to give her a smile and showed indifference on her face.

“Mengya, you’ve been outside for a whole day, haven’t you? What have you done? Do you mind sharing it with me?”

Concubine De’s unexpected question made the atmosphere in the room drop a bit.

Lin Mengya immediately felt her heart tighten. “Does Concubine De know about Sanjue Hall?”

Lin Mengya managed to calm herself down and silently waited for Concubine De’s next move.

“As the princess, it is already a terrible thing to go out casually. I heard that you stayed in Restaurant Ruyi for a whole day. Think about it. What an absurd thing.”

She made such a high-sounding excuse just in order to force Lin Mengya to accede to her demand.

Lin Mengya smiled faintly. “It seems that they’ve failed to find Sanjue Hall as of yet.”

“Restaurant Ruyi is a popular upscale restaurant in Capital City. I have the right to go there.”

The misses and ladies in Capital City might drink tea and have a chat in Restaurant Ruyi as well. She was not an exception.

Concubine De’s suspicion came out of thin air.

“Oh? Is that so? But I heard that you have something ambiguous with the owner of Restaurant Ruyi, do you? His name is Moran? It sounds tasteful. It’s no wonder that he is in your good graces.”

At the moment, Lin Mengya was sure that Concubine De was just speaking on hearsay.

“You’re right, mother. Two men are running Restaurant Ruyi now. One is called Moran, and the other one is Qingli. I have a good relationship with both of them. But the relationship is very clear. If you still feel worried, you can send someone to investigate it.”

Lin Mengya looked as if it didn’t matter at all. Concubine De could do nothing to her.

And more importantly, they had no evidence. They just made an attempt to draw the secret out of her.

“Cousin-in-law, I may disagree with you. If that rumor is spread around, even though it may not be true, cousin will also lose his face. He is proud of himself. How could it be possible for him to hear a rumor about the infidelity of his wife?”

Jiang Ruqin stood on her feet, her eyes brimming with ice. She was a viper. Lin Mengya had no expectation that she would get her fangs back and change into a lovely rabbit.

“If you plan to spread the rumor about me, I won’t stop you. But it’s none of your business whether the prince believes the rumor or not. Ruqin, you are the guest, so I save face for you and refuse to say something in public. But if that makes you come up with the wrong idea that you can bully me as you want, well then, it’s my fault.”

Lin Mengya just sat there but she looked very powerful.

Concubine De and Jiang Ruqin were trying to ascertain her bottom line.

It was better to rip open the face. Thus, she would not be reluctant to talk about it.

She looked around and spoke in a cold tone.

“If you want to enter Prince Yu’s Mansion, you just need a carriage. Whether you become the concubine or the vice princess, you will never take my place. As long as I am Princess Yu, you will never have the chance to marry into the mansion in an open, correct manner. You think that some ridiculous gossip about you and the prince can serve to marry him! Listen, no way! You have no right to get into Long Tianhao’s bed yet!”

Lin Mengya’s declaration caused an awkward atmosphere in the room.

“No one has the right to Long Tianhao’s bed? How dare she say that in such a barefaced, rude manner!” Concubine De and Jiang Ruqin were stunned numb for the moment.

“You—”

Jiang Ruqin was still unmarried. Those bold words made her blush. But she could do nothing but glare at Lin Mengya.

“It’s so late now. Why hasn’t mother rested yet?”

At the moment, Long Tianhao’s greeting came from outside, which attracted everyone in the room to look at him.

Long Tianhao was very tall. He wore just a long, white robe today.

The gold-edged, four-footed dragon on his clothes made him look incomparably honorable.

A faint smile appeared on his beautiful face for no reason.

Everyone was guessing how much he had heard.

“Cousin, you’ve come just in time. I have something to tell you.”

Her eyes shining suddenly, Jiang Ruqin was about to complain to him first.

But unexpectedly, Long Tianhao pushed her away and then walked straight to Lin Mengya.

“I told you to book a table at Restaurant Ruyi. Why did you busy yourself for the whole day? Are you tired?”

He asked her in a tender, low voice, like a wine that was so soft that the drinker would get drunk.

He held her small, white hands and covered them with his warm, dry hands.

“Mother, I’m not a child anymore. And it’s time for you to enjoy your life now. The princess and I respect and love each other. Outsiders have no right to put in a word. Forgive me, mother. It’s time to go. It’s already so dark out. Although we have the energy to insist on not sleeping, mother, you do not. You’d better go to bed.”

Long Tianhao looked at Concubine De. No pain or struggle could be seen in his long, narrow, and dark eyes.

It was just a cold respect. Concubine De unconsciously felt herself frozen.

“I can’t ever influence Yu’er, can I?”

She rendered more hatred toward Lin Mengya.

“What honeyed words has this siren told Yu’er, so much that he refuses to take my advice, his mother’s advice?”

“Let’s go.”

Long Tianhao spoke only to the woman in front of him in a soft, gentle tone.

Looking at her slightly open her small mouth and look silly, Long Tianhao felt that she was lovely.

Suddenly, he got interested and picked Lin Mengya up.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

She tried to release herself, only to be caught by his dark eyes.

“Hush, don’t move.”

Long Tianhao felt very interested in her shy look because she rarely showed that expression.

“Yu’er! Behave yourself!”

Concubine De was offended by her own son in public. She was obviously irritated.

She pounded on the table. The atmosphere in the room turned more tensed.

“Mother, when I was forced to marry Mengya, you didn’t show your refusal, did you?”

Long Tianhao turned back to look at Concubine De.

He was fearless. He just felt sad.

Previously, he believed that what Concubine De did was for his good.

However, when he came to his senses, he realized that Concubine De could have actually refused when the emperor forced him to marry Lin Mengya.

She didn’t do so because she was worried that she would completely lose power and influence. Then, no one would be able to take care of her parents’ home.

So it was the same with Jiang Ruqin. Concubine De totally ignored what Jiang Ruqin had done previously and made it hard on Lin Mengya to agree to the marriage of Jiang Ruqin and Long Tianhao, just for her parents’ home—the Jiang family.

“In mother’s mind, am I a puppet being ordered about?”

“But she is tainted. She should not be Princess Yu!”

Hearing Concubine De’s words without thinking, Long Tianhao felt more downhearted.

“Tainted? Should it be someone else? I believe Mengya and believe everything she did, as well as her fidelity to me. Mother, I respect you but I refuse to accept your slander of an innocent person. If you carry on, I may disobey you. Then, don’t blame me for my infidelity.”

Lin Mengya, who was curling herself up, opened her beautiful eyes wide.

In disbelief, she stared at Long Tianhao’s tough chin. “Oh my! Did I mishear?”

She felt it hard to suppress her touched feeling.

She had been believing that she was fighting alone. But to her surprise, Long Tianhao was the most determined companion.

“He always chooses to believe me, the trouble maker, over his mother and his cousin who he met as a child.”

If Lin Mengya claimed that she wasn’t touched by his words, she would be lying.

Long Tianhao held Lin Mengya in his arms and walked out of Art Courtyard with steady steps.

It was cold outside. But Lin Mengya felt warm in her heart.

Long Tianhao didn’t expose his tiredness on his tough face until he put Lin Mengya down.

“Sorry. You are wronged because of me.”

Long Tianhao emotionlessly told her with apology in his voice.

Lin Mengya shook her head. If he only believed her, nothing mattered. Everything else did not matter.

“Why... why would you believe me?”

She really wanted to know the reason. Why did Long Tianhao choose to stand by her side so resolutely?

“Because I know you will never do me any harm.”