Chapter 224 - The Current Situation of the Lin Family

“Lin Muzhi bows in respect to you, Prince and Princess.”

He was Lin Mengya’s father, but the two were silently looking at each other as Lin Mengya became the honorable Princess Yu, while Lin Muzhi obviously became subordinate to her.

“Father—you must not feel sorry, father.”

Her eyes were brimming with tears and her voice was trembling.

Long Tianyu pulled up Lin Muzhi personally, showing his clear respect toward him.

“Good... good girl. You look good. I... I don’t feel worried anymore.”

Lin Nansheng delivered a letter to him before.

And in the letter, it said that Lin Mengya and Long Tianyu were living in harmony.

It seemed that his daughter was the lucky one by having Prince Yu as her husband and the two understood each other.

Lin Muzhi lived a happy life once. Thus, he knew clearly that the caring and affection between Lin Mengya and Long Tianyu was not a show for him.

The hall was already emptied before they went into the living room hand in hand.

Lin Mengya knelt down respectfully before her father as a greeting.

“I can’t have this! Ya’er, you don’t have to greet me like this. You’re Princess Yu now.”

Lin Muzhi tried to pull her up while Long Tianyu held her down.

No matter what, Lin Mengya was showing her love and devotion toward her father.

Sensing Long Tianyu’s reasonable implication, Lin Muzhi had to sit there and accept his daughter’s greeting.

“Greetings, father. I’m an unfilial daughter and I’m begging your forgiveness for two reasons. One is that I failed to look after you, the other one is that you weren’t informed of my marriage.”

After three bows, tears streamed down her face.

Lin Muzhi made efforts for her own good so much that he begged his former colleagues to help with her difficulties at the expense of his dignity.

If he had felt that she was too young to part with him, Lin Mengya would have married someone from the family that he knew for a long time.

“Get up now. All of this is not your fault.”

Lin Muzhi knew that thanks to his second wife, Ya’er had married Prince Yu without his knowing.

But now was not the right time to expose everything.

“I’ve missed you, Father.”

In the presence of her father, she was still the naive Miss Lin, who happily enjoyed her life.

“You are now Princess Yu, silly, you should behave like an adult.”

She was indeed not that little girl, even though he hated this fact.

Thinner but livelier. “Thank heavens. Shuqing, our daughter has finally become who she really is.”

“She’s spoiled by me, Prince Yu. So please be patient and tolerant if she does something wrong.”

Although he was faced with a prince, Lin Muzhi kept implying for his daughter’s good.

Long Tianyu smiled back. That gentle smile stayed on his always indifferent face for a while.

“Mengya is great. She’s a good helper.”

He responded smoothly, as if he had been looking forward to saying those words for a long time.

“That’s good. That’s great. I really spoiled her, my daughter.”

“Father!”

Lin Mengya awkwardly pulled her father’s sleeves. “No matter what, I’m the pro-disciple of the Saint of Poison.

“Why do father’s words sound like I don’t deserve Long Tianyu?

“He begged me to go with him.”

“Haha, I’ll stop here. You are adults. You can make your decision.”

They say that the longer a father looks at his daughter’s husband, the more like an enemy the husband becomes.

But everyone in the Capital City appreciated Long Tianyu’s moral qualities.

And he was a man of both literary and military capacity, Lin Muzhi was satisfied to have such a good man as his son-in-law.

“My Lord, Your Highness, lunch is ready. Let’s eat together.”

Burying her jealousy deep inside, Shangguan Qing managed to show no complaint on her face.

She and her daughter were always counted out. The three people acted like a real family.

She was disappointed by Lin Muzhi. No matter how hard she tried to please him, she and her daughter were still not a part of them.

“Well, let’s have lunch together.”

Over lunch, Lin Mengya drew everyone’s attention.

Her tender smile, gentle speech, and lovely action made the atmosphere here lively.

Shangguan Qing had to smile with them. But Lin Mengwu hated her more.

It would be wonderful if Lin Mengya disappeared, she thought, so she could be the one who sat next to Long Tianyu and socialized.

Noticing her younger sister’s look as if she were swallowing her, Lin Mengya didn’t do anything but smile.

“Lin Mengwu is really prone to lose her cool, nothing like her mother. It’s no wonder that father doesn’t like her.”

Lin Muzhi thought that his younger daughter was a selfish, naive girl, not like a member of the Lin family. Besides, her mother ill-treated Lin Mengya and her brother. Thus, he didn’t like Lin Mengwu that much.

The jealousy in her eyes was rather hot and cruel.

It seemed that she failed to learn a lesson from the previous matter.

“It’s your favorite fish, Your Highness. Why not have a try?”

From the beginning of this lunch, Lin Mengwu did everything to flatter Long Tianyu.

Regardless of Shangguan Qing’s warnings, she carried on as if she was possessed by ghosts.

Lin Mengya had to admit that Long Tianyu was actually a charming man if he didn’t wear a cold face.

But she didn’t admit that Lin Mengwu could take his being charming as an excuse to seduce him publicly.

Long Tianyu kept silent and made no reaction to Lin Mengwu’s flattering. That put her in an extremely awkward situation.

“Mind your manners. Sit down.”

Although Shangguan Qing seemingly was governing the Lin family, no one dared to argue with Lin Muzhi because he was the real governor.

“Father, I’m just—”

Lin Mengwu reluctantly curled her lips. “Father is really partial.

“I’m also your daughter. Everyone criticizes me while the other daughter becomes Princess Yu.

“I won’t take it lying down!”

“And what? You’re unmarried. If it is not a precious family reunion, you should have been in your room rather than—rather than—”

As her father, it was hard for him to say something bold.

Shangguan Qing noticed him getting irritated and she felt worried. She had already warned Lin Mengwu to not get her father angry.

Otherwise, her marriage would be unable to go smoothly.

“I just do what a hostess should do. And Prince Yu is not others.”

Lin Mengwu was spoiled by Shangguan Qing too much to know what manners were.

“Bang!” Lin Muzhi forcefully threw his chopsticks onto the table.

“A hostess! You really thought of yourselves as the master of the house during my absence, didn’t you?”

The anger he had suppressed for too long broke out at the moment.

Shangguan Qing turned pale and glared at her daughter.

Lin Muzhi threw a cold eye at his second wife and questioned her in an icy voice.

“How did you make the decision on Ya’er’s marriage?”

He wasn’t informed of the marriage between Lin Mengya and Long Tianyu until half a month afterward.

He wanted to return but the combat was more urgent.

And Miss Yue delivered a letter via someone, saying that Ya’er was all right and that he needn’t worry about her. It relieved him a lot.

But he was not relieved enough to let Shangguan Qing off, who secretly made his daughter get married without informing him.

“I’m sorry, My Lord, but it’s the empress’s order. I’m just a poor woman and can’t disobey her.”

Tears are the best weapon of a woman.

But it works only when the man feels sorry about her tears.

In the past years, Shangguan Qing got used to escaping from his anger through tears, no matter what mistakes she made.

Lin Muzhi already got tired of that.

This time, she went over the line as a step-mother to not take Ya’er’s life into consideration.

He would not put up with her anymore.

“The empress’s order? If I recall correctly, the empress is your sister, isn’t she?”

His silence and negative action didn’t mean to support them.

As a frontier general, Lin Muzhi had a pair of sharp eyes, which Shangguan Qing was unable to escape from.

“It’s my fault, My Lord. I failed to stop my sister. But I felt sorry for Mengya as well. After all, I brought her up myself.”

Lin Mengya really respected Shangguan Qing’s tearful voice.

The empress, Shangguan Qing or Shangguan Hui were all the best actresses.

The Oscars owed a lot of statuettes to the Shangguan family.

“Father, Mother didn’t mean it, I believe. Fortunately, I got something good out of misfortune. I found a great husband, and my poison was cleared out by accident so that I have a beautiful face now.”

Lin Mengya said everything with ease but those words stabbed Shangguan Qing in the heart many times.

And every word worked and made her feel more and more sorry.

Lin Muzhi and Lin Nansheng turned to study her face.

Indeed, Lin Mengya had a gorgeous appearance, totally different in essence from how she was before.

But how could she be poisoned?

The two looked into each others’ eyes midair.

Lin Mengya never went out at a young age. So how did she get poisoned?

Everyone locked their eyes on Shangguan Qing, the female Master of the Lin family.

It made her feel like a caged mouse for the first time.

She might lose everything she owned in a minute as long as Lin Mengya made a move.

Lin Mengya stared indifferently at Shangguan Qing, who was still struggling in the cage.

“I... I have no idea about that. I did nothing, My Lord!”

Shangguan Qing knelt down on the ground, in a flood of tears.

Lin Mengwu was stunned numb. She forgot her manners and tried her best to make an excuse for her mother.

“Father, Sister must have been poisoned by herself. Mother didn’t do anything. You wrongly accuse her.”

Lin Mengya turned around to look at her and said, “Do you still remember, Your Highness, what Sister Mengwu gave to me when we got married?”