Chapter 501 - The Villian’s Guess (2/2)

For this reason, Hou Lingyu was eventually able to brace himself and not be distracted by the things concerning Lin Mengya.

“Yes, I understand.”

Seeing that Hou Lingyu had understood her intention, Lin Mengya nodded.

The sedan set out then and gradually disappeared from Hou Lingyu’s line of vision.

Nevertheless, he continued looking in the direction where the sedan disappeared and seemed to sink into deep thoughts.

Back at the Crown Prince’s Manor, the moment Lin Mengya stepped into the courtyard, she saw Ling Ye standing outside the door of her room, looking around with a pale countenance.

“Why are you not in bed when you’ve not recovered from your injuries?”

While Lin Mengya spoke, Yu An quickly held on to Ling Ye to support him as he led Ling Ye into the room.

Perhaps it was because Ling Ye had remained undercover all year round for such a long time that he found it awkward having conversations with people.

Moreover, this was also the first time ever he came face to face with Lin Mengya openly. In the abrupt moment, he could only look down and keep his mouth shut. He was at a loss of words.

“Don’t be overly worried. Cousin Chen is here. He will definitely help us find out about Long Tianyu’s situation secretly. My guess, moreover, is that Long Tianyu is not within the grounds of the Zhu’s mansion.”

Over here, Ling Ye was the only other person apart from her who had come from Dajin.

Lin Mengya and Ling Ye shared their anxieties regarding the disappearance of Long Tianyu.

However, Ling Ye was different from Lin Mengya in that he could not mobilize any power without the prince’s command.

Like a headless chicken, he was at a loss where he could start investigating.

“He wasn’t in the Zhu’s mansion! Could the prince have met with any danger?”

Ling Ye started asking Lin Mengya with urgency in his voice. Finally, Lin Mengya slowly let out a sigh after a moment.

“I suppose it will not happen for the time being. However, there’s something that I’m still unable to figure out. I had thought that they were targeting my identity, so they seized Long Tianyu. However, from my understanding of Long Tianyu’s character, he must have rebelled against such threats and refused to obey them. You said these people were people of the Nation of Lintian. Why would they spend so much effort to capture a prince of the Jin State?”

Ling Ye shook his head. The prince and his princess were the most intelligent people in his perspective.

If even the princess could not understand, he was no doubt even more perplexed.

However, the moment Lin Mengya finished speaking, an idea came to her mind.

That’s right! Why did she not think of this earlier?

It would not benefit the people of the Nation of Lintian much by kidnapping Long Tianyu, but what if these people had colluded with someone from the Jin State?

It ought to be noted that the queen and the Crown Prince were dying to get rid of Long Tianyu.

Moreover, since the emperor of Jin State had almost fully recovered from his illness, he might find out about all the evil deeds of the queen and the Crown Prince.

Then—

“Yu An, help me find out immediately the details of every group of businessmen who entered and exited the old capital in the last few days. No, I have to do this personally so I can feel assured. Oh yes, please contact Xiu and Master Guo. Tell them I have something important which they could help me with!”

Ling Ye insisted on following her. It was only after Lin Mengya used a harsh tone to tell him that he might well create more trouble for her if he died on the way, that he finally reluctantly remained behind in the Crown Prince’s Mansion.

Lin Mengya quickly changed out of the costume and found a plain-looking green dress and put it on herself.

With Yu An leading the way, they headed for the city gate, where streams of people entered and exited from the city.

Given that the large waves of people had already entered the city, only two of the city gates were opened. Lin Mengya instructed Yu An to visit the guards at the city gates with the invitation from Zuo Qiuyun.

One of the city gates was for people to enter while the other was for people to exit.

In reality, although only two gates were opened, the traffic was not affected at all. On the contrary, it was very convenient for everyone, given that everyone was moving in an orderly manner.

Lin Mengya had hidden in the horse carriage, carefully observing the groups of businessmen going in and out of the gates and all the horse carriages.

“Your Highness, do you suspect that they would try to smuggle Prince Yu out of the city?”

Yu An asked in a whisper. Being a sharp person, he was able to tell Lin Mengya’s intention.

Lin Mengya nodded as she continued fixing her gaze on the horse carriages going in and out of the gates.

If it truly was as what she expected, that the Zhu Family had colluded with the queen and the Crown Prince to abduct Long Tianyu, then this would be the best time to smuggle Long Tianyu out of the city when everybody’s attention was on the competition grounds.

What kind of a person was Long Tianyu? He would be great trouble for them even if he had been seized.

If it were her, she would have also chosen this moment to smuggle the captive out of the city.

As the sky was getting darker, the number of people exiting the city increased gradually.

The guards at the gates were rather diplomatic. They ought to have guessed that Lin Mengya was there to look for something.

Therefore, the commoners would exit the city directly without having been checked.

But groups of businessmen who were transporting large items using horse carriages would be stopped for checks at the side.

It was normal to conduct the checks because the city was under strict curfew. Lin Mengya knew that this was the only way not to alert the captors.

Unknowingly, she had been sitting in a daze in the horse carriage for about two hours but there was still no news.

It was Yu An who became anxious as he gazed at the princess sitting in a daze in the horse carriage.

Wittingly, he went over to the stall by the side of the city gates and purchased some delicious snacks and offered them to Lin Mengya with his hands.