Chapter 275 A Stratagem directed at the Hearts (1/2)
It would be disastrous if Baili Wuchen had sent his men to attack Baiji and Baishao!
“Follow me, everyone!”
Lin Mengya lifted the hem of her coat as she hurried into the garden. Once there, she gathered all the guards she could find.
Baishao and Baiji had gone to the mansions of the relatives and elders to deliver some warm cotton clothing and food. Although these places were not far from the prince’s mansion, Lin Mengya, being thoughtful, had arranged for them to ride on two sedans on the way there.
Although these two maidservants were quick-witted, they did not know any martial arts. They would not be able to defend themselves if someone tried to capture them.
As Lin Mengya started getting more anxious, she quickened her steps. Eventually, she jogged all the way back to the gates of the prince’s mansion.
“Is there something important and urgent that you’ve called for us, Mistress?”
Lin Kui, who heard some commotion from the front yard, ran up to her immediately. Before the prince left, he had specially instructed the servants and the guards in the mansion that the princess would be master of the mansion in his absence. They were expected to obey all her instructions.
“Elder Brother Lin, Baiji and Baishao might have met with some trouble now, could you do me a favor by going to look for them and bring them back?”
Although Lin Mengya was not certain if they were in danger, the fact that the two maidservants had not returned worried Lin Mengya. They were either delayed by something or they had fallen into Baili Wuchen’s ambush.
“Yes, I will send men to bring the two girls back.”
All the people in the prince’s mansion were aware of Baiji and Baishao’s status in the princes Mansion. For this reason, Lin Kui did not delay a single moment, but immediately sent men to look for them.
At the gates of the mansion, Lin Mengya was pacing around anxiously waiting for Baiji and Baishao’s return. The longer she waited, the more anxious she became. When Lin Mengya almost leveled the threshold of the door of the mansion by pacing on it, a group of guards appeared at the far corner of the long street.
The guards that were approaching did not look familiar despite that they were wearing the same clothes as the guards in the mansion. Moreover, the two sedan chairs looked exactly like the ones they rode away this morning.
Lin Mengya’s heart, which was hanging, was finally at rest. It was fortunate that she had reacted on time, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Your Highness, we have safely brought the two ladies back, you may rest assured now,” reported a middle-aged, mature and steady-looking guard as he took a bow in front of Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya responded with a nod but found the man to be unfamiliar. Logically speaking, even if Lin Mengya did not recognize every guard in Prince Yu’s Mansion, she would have an impression on most of them.
Why did she find everyone in this group of guards unfamiliar?
“You’ve worked very hard. I’ve instructed Steward Deng to prepare some dishes to thank you all for your effort. This brother over here, may I know where you eventually found the two lasses? Did you meet with any trouble?”
The man smiled a straightforward smile, put his hand to his head and replied, saying, “It’s rather embarrassing. The two ladies were actually not far from the mansion. They were hassled by some hooligans, which was why they were delayed in coming back. It wasn’t really any trouble for us. You’ve overestimated us.”
Lin Mengya seemed to have understood the situation. She glanced at the sedan and a strange feeling crossed her mind in a flash.
“I had troubled you all the same. I wonder if my two maidservants were injured in any way. Why are they not coming out of the sedan?”
The man also glanced at the sedan and said, “Perhaps they got a fright from those bad guys since they’ve always lived in the mansion and would not have come across such hooligans in their lives. It was normal to be frightened.”
Everything he said sounded reasonable. Lin Mengya could not see anything amiss as she looked at the group of guards suspiciously. For some reason, she felt an uneasiness growing in her.
“In that case, let’s all come in. I’ll have to trouble you to carry the sedan into the courtyard.”
Lin Mengya stepped aside to let the procession move in smoothly.
With a wave of his hand, the leader of the guard indicated for the rest to carry the sedans through the mansion gates into the courtyard. However, for some unknown reason, the sedan on the left fell towards its left.
“Aiya—” an exclamation sounded from within the sedan and Lin Mengya being concerned about her maidservants, quickly walked up to the sedan.
“Be careful everyone, lest my lass be injured,” said Lin Mengya.
As she spoke, she moved towards the sedan and put out her hand to lift the curtain.
Just when her slender hand touched the curtain to the sedan, Lin Mengya’s body suddenly twisted in an awkward angle and like a slippery eel, she slipped behind the thick doors.
“Whoosh!” Countless shadows swish past. The leader of the guards who was standing behind Lin Mengya did not react fast enough and had instantly become porcupine.
Countless arrows were sticking out of the man’s chest, closely spaced.
The middle-aged man’s large round eyes were filled with disbelief. He could hardly believe that she had escaped their plot so easily.
“Oh no! Assassins! Protect the princess!”
A clever doorman had followed suit and hid behind the thick door. However, his loud exclamation had alarmed many guards in the mansion.
In the twinkling of an eye, numerous guards arrived at the mansion’s gates with swords and spears in their hands. The assassins who pretended to be the guards, having missed their best chance to assassinate Lin Mengya, were at this moment, beaten up badly by the mansion’s guards.
As Lin Mengya leaned against the wall, she could hear the deafening pounding of her heart.
She would have fallen into their snare by now if her instinct had not alerted her that something was amiss about the group of unfamiliar guards.