Princess Ming Yue obviously had her eyes on Prince Yu. Baizhi wondered how her mistress would react if she learned about this.

"What did you say? Where did you see that Princess Ming Yue pestering Prince Yu?"

It was no wonder that Baiji was surprised. In Dajin, common girls, not to mention the girls from the rich and n.o.ble families, after all, always kept their distance from men when in public.

"I saw her near the Crown Prince's tent. That shameless Princess Ming Yue refused to let go of Prince Yu even when he tried to ignore her. She even pretended to faint eventually, but Prince Yu still paid her no attention so much so she almost ended up in the mud!"

Apparently, Baizhi was very satisfied with Prince Yu's response towards Princess Ming Yue.

Although Princess Ming Yue was indeed very beautiful, to Baizhi, her mistress was a cut above Princess Ming Yue without a doubt.

Most importantly, Prince Yu had totally no regard for this shameless princess.

On the contrary, the prince always treated her mistress with care, fearing that she would be hurt in any way.

"That puts me at ease. Oh, and don't breathe a word about this to our mistress. Otherwise, there'll be no peace in Prince Yu's Mansion ever again if she hears about this."

Baiji breathed a sigh as she instructed Baizhi to keep quiet and Baizhi responded by nodding profusely.

She was clearly aware of Lin Mengya's temper, more than anyone else.

Although Lin Mengya usually carried herself with poise, if anyone eyed her prized possession, she would meet with a sad end.

This spoke for itself in the case of Second Miss Lin and Cousin Jiang. The only difference was that Princess Ming Yue was after all a Princess.

Lin Mengya might get into trouble if she laid a finger on her.

Soon, the Crown Prince sent men to come to fetch Lin Mengya.

She was after all one of the people involved.

"That was fast. Baisu, you stay behind, while the three of you follow me."

Lin Mengya was fearless. To her, this was merely a rehea.r.s.ed drama episode.

By now, the Crown Prince and King Ming had reached a stalemate. King Ming refused to accept the explanation offered by the Crown Prince.

He insisted that the Crown Prince hand over Hu Lunan's murderers.

With Long Tianhao and Hu Tianbei fueling the fire, the Crown Prince was in deep trouble.

"King Ming, I've already promised to be accountable, are you saying that you don't trust me, the Crown Prince?"

The Crown Prince looked miserable. If it were not for the fact that his mother, the Queen, had insisted that he maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with King Ming, he, as the n.o.ble Crown Prince, would not have gone as far in trying to pacify King Ming.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Nan was my son. All the more, he was the Prince of the western va.s.sal state. He had died such an unjust death and you, the Crown Prince had executed his murderers? What did we do to offend you that you have to do this to us?"

King Ming's accusations put the Crown Prince in an awkward position.

He was perplexed as to how his initial cordial partners.h.i.+p with King Ming had turned into one of the enmities now.

Could King Ming have discovered that he was one who sent men to murder Hu Lunan?

As his eyes searched King Ming and Hu Tianbei suspiciously, it did not seem like it!

"Princess Yu has arrived..."

The two parties in a standoff turned their gaze simultaneously to the arriving guest.

Lin Mengya was not adorned in a court dress today, rather, she was wearing tight-fitting blue hunting overall.

Her hair was coiled into a simple bun and her face was free of makeup. However, her fresh look gave the impression that she was going for an outing in the woods.

"Greetings to the Crown Prince and King Ming."

Lin Mengya greeted them with poise and elegance. Keeping a straight face, she tried to look as if she was clueless about what was happening.

"Are you going out to have fun, seeing that you're dressed in this manner, Princess Yu?"

Princess Ming Yue enquired. All the ladies in the tent were dressed in formal court dresses, while Lin Mengya was the only one who was dressed down. For this reason, all the men's attention was drawn to her.

Who would dare to belittle this scheming beautiful lady?

"That's right. Prince Yu told me that the culprits who murdered the Second Prince had been found, so he was going to bring me out for some relaxation and fun."

Then she walked towards Long Tianhao and sat down beside him.

This beautiful couple seemed so concordant.

"It looks like we have to postpone our trip, Prince Yu?"

Lin Mengya c.o.c.ked her head and asked with a coquettish voice. She winked cheekily at Long Tianhao, indicating that he should play along with her.

Although the two had been together for quite some time now, Long Tianhao was struggling to get used to her abrupt performance of antics.

Nevertheless, he still nodded and reached out to hold on to her delicate hands. This gesture immediately evoked a look of jealousy from Princess Ming Yue in her eyes, which were burning with fury.

Just a moment ago, she was repeatedly ignored by Long Tianhao when she took the initiative to get close to him.

She was puzzled as to how this woman's pretentious manner had motivated Long Tianhao's active response.

Even she, as an outsider, was able to see through Lin Mengya's pretense! Why would Long Tianhao play along with her?

"Since all the parties concerned are now present, shall we start the confrontation?"

King Ming turned a blind eye on Long Tianhao, who was displaying his tenderness towards Lin Mengya, and he opened his mouth to speak with a severe voice.

The Crown Prince had no choice but to look away reluctantly. At this juncture, the most important thing was to think of a solution to tide over this crisis.

"Does Princess Yu have something to say regarding what happened that night?"

The first thing the Crown Prince did was to direct all the attention onto Lin Mengya.

Lin Mengya had expected this to happen anyways. She stood up and let out a sigh, lowering her eyes, she slowly said, "Actually, I indeed went to look for the Second Prince over the matter concerning Elder Sister Yueting that day. I had an argument with him but didn't injure him, except to give him a slap on his face. I don't suppose a slap on his face would land him in such a state?"

What happened to Yueting was indeed Hu Lunan's fault in the first place.

For this reason, Lin Mengya's words seemed convincing.

"Moreover, not only did the Second Prince know martial arts, but he was also tall and strong. I even had to leap up in order to give him that slap on his face. Do you really think, Your Highness the Crown Prince, that I'm able to overpower the Second Prince?"

Turning up the corner of her mouth, Lin Mengya professed the most critical defense.

All along, Lin Mengya had Qinghu by her side to secretly a.s.sist her in whatever she did.

In reality, the majority of people were not aware of this person who always stayed close to her.

Despite being an intelligent lady, Lin Mengya was after all the weaker s.e.x.

From what happened to Yueting, people, in general, would have an idea of how violent and brutal Hu Lunan was.

Everyone in the tent took one look at Lin Mengya and started shaking their heads. It was indeed unlikely that she could overpower Hu Lunan.

"You--- perhaps you had someone to help you!"

Rebuked by Lin Mengya, the Crown Prince lost his composure and blurted out those words.

Looking infuriated, the Crown Prince turned to target Long Tianhao.

"That's not possible. That day, I was drinking with Long Tianhao the whole time. Even if he had to excuse himself occasionally, he wasn't away for long. I believe he was not the person who a.s.sa.s.sinated my second younger brother."

To everyone's surprise, Hu Tianbei stood up for Long Tianhao as an alibi.

The victim was his blood brother after all. Was it possible for a brother to testify in favor of his enemy?

Even Lin Mengya was taken aback. Whatever did Long Tianhao promise Hu Tianbei in return, so much so that he even bore false witness for Long Tianhao?

Something was going on behind this!

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, if you insist that those three dancers are not the murderers, then please hand over the real murderer."

King Ming's words sounded like the final verdict.

Instantly, veins could be seen protruding on the Crown Prince's forehead. What was happening? Why were both King Ming and Hu Tianbei siding with Long Tianhao today?

"Perhaps the three girls were the murderers who killed the Second Prince. However, like what Princess Yu said, the Second Prince was a skillful martial artist, I suppose he wouldn't be defeated by three girls?"

The Crown Prince was giving it his last shot, but unfortunately, Long Tianhao was not going to give him any chance of escape.

"Actually, these three girls were not any common singers and dancers. They were Peach Blossom Dock a.s.sa.s.sins!"

Long Tianhao's words were like a bomb that suddenly exploded among the people.

Peach Blossom Dock was a much-feared organization of professional killers in the jianghu! How could the death of the Second Prince be related to them?

"That's absolute nonsense. Those three girls were dancers who followed the army around. How could they be Peach Blossom Dock killers?"

By now, the Crown Prince was almost being consumed with fury. He had handpicked those girls from the brothels for Hu Lunan. How on earth did they become killers of Peach Blossom Dock?

"If the Crown Prince doesn't believe this, let's bring their bodies here and examine them."

Lin Mengya smiled faintly as if she was in control of the situation.

"Alright. Men! Bring the bodies out here."

The situation took such a turn that it was totally out of the Crown Prince's expectation. What was worse for the Crown Prince was that things seemed to keep progressing in the direction he least expected.

Just when the imperial guards left to get the bodies, a noisy commotion was heard coming from outside the tent.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, for some unknown reason, a number of masked men in black have suddenly emerged from the woods. They've gone into a fight with the imperial guards at the moment!"

"What?"

The Crown Prince's anger turned into shock that froze on his face.

How? Did Lord Zhang not say that he had done a thorough check around this place?

Why would those men in black suddenly emerge from the woods?

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, those men in black highly mastered martial artists. We've sent for more help from the army. Please retreat from here immediately lest you meet with any mishap."

The Crown Prince began panicking upon hearing the news from the imperial guards.

"Will the guards from the respective families work with the imperial guards? Protect the Crown Prince and the ministers, so they could retreat from here!"

At the critical moment, Long Qinghan held out a double-edged sword as he gave the above order.

Apart from the few who were protecting the wives and children of the various families, the rest of the guards followed Long Tianhao to defend against the enemies.

"Please be careful, Prince Yu."

At this moment, Long Tianhao also took out his sword and went to fight side by side with Long Qinghan.

Lin Mengya's beautiful eyes were filled with worry as she cautioned Long Tianhao with concern in her voice.

"Rest a.s.sured, just tell Baisu to keep you company all the time."

Long Tianhao instructed flatly as he patted Lin Mengya on her shoulder.