Chapter 923
Chapter 923 The Cold-blooded Sovereign
The leader of the elite soldiers looked at them cautiously and ordered them to open the boxes one by one. After carefully checking the food inside, he let them in one by one.
“Wait a minute. What’s going on with these two?”
Baisu stood behind Lin Mengya. At this moment, their bodies both became tense.
They held the food boxes tightly with their hands, but they pretended to be in fear and trepidation.
“My lord, it’s snowy. Both of them are new palace maids of the imperial kitchen. They got distracted so they fell. I’ll punish them when we get back.”
It was still the lead palace maid who calmed down and immediately explained.
After the guard scolded them a few more times, Lin Mengya and Baisu pretended to be frightened and uneasy at the right time. The elite soldier in charge of checking at the door looked at the two of them, whose hair was wet and smeared on their faces. They didn’t dare to wipe their faces, and the little doubt in his heart was relieved a lot.
He turned over his hand and snatched the food box from the hands of a palace maid in front of him.
Just now, Lin Mengya and the others saw clearly that inside the box, there was a pot of wine in a small copper basin.
The palace maid subconsciously wanted to take it back, but the lead palace maid who had helped them out just now quickly grabbed her hand.
“It’s so cold. My lords, it must be a tough time for you to be on duty. Ning, leave the mutton pot in your hands so that it can help warm the lords up.”
The little palace maid who was holding the pot immediately did as she was told. When the guards on duty saw their sensible gesture, they grinned.
However, they didn’t go further. They probably didn’t dare to do more outrageous things for now.
“All right. Send the food in as soon as possible. His Majesty is waiting for you anxiously, and you can’t afford it.”
Lin Mengya took a careful look at the lead palace maid. She had stayed in the palace for quite some days and had seen a lot of people from various forces. However, she felt a little unfamiliar with this person.
Although the one was also dressed as an ordinary palace maid, her face was a little different from the others.
Although the women who could serve in the palace were not all beautiful ladies, they were at least pleasing to look at.
For example, the lead palace maid looked pretty, but what was attractive about her was that she was calm and composed in the face of danger.
The lead palace maid seemed to have sensed that someone was looking at her up and down. She turned around and glanced at them at the back indifferently.
She just gave them a glance. She didn’t open her mouth, nor did she exchange any looks with them.
But Lin Mengya knew that she and Baisu had already been seen through by that palace maid.
She lowered her head with a playful smile on her face.
“Interesting. It seems that the lead palace maid is not simple.”
“Your Majesty, we are here to deliver food.”
The lead palace maid said that respectfully as they entered the imperial study and walked to the entrance of the East Warm Pavilion.
After a while, a voice came from inside.
Eunuch Wang, who was by His Majesty’s side, poked his head out to take a look.
After making sure that they were just palace servants who came to deliver the food, he took the food boxes from the palace maids with a cold face.
Soon it was Lin Mengya’s and Baisu’s turn. They were calm and handed the food boxes to Eunuch Wang obediently. The latter did not change his face at all.
Lin Mengya suddenly felt that those who could survive in the palace must be the best actors and actresses.
Otherwise, they would have died within three days.
Eunuch Wang stood at the door and asked in an unfriendly tone, “Why did those two come here empty-handed?”
Eunuch Wang’s shrewd eyes fell on the palace maids whose food boxes had been taken away.
Even if he and his master had become birds in a cage, they still had their previous power.
The two little palace maids immediately knelt down, and one of them kowtowed to the ground, saying softly, “Forgive me, please spare my life.”
“It’s my negligence. Please punish me.”
At the critical moment, the lead palace maid didn’t shirk her responsibility.
Eunuch Wang’s ambiguous eyes turned to the lead palace maid again.
He had such a high status in the palace, so how could these things be kept from him?
“But now, I lost my position and influence, and I’m subject to the inferiors.
“It’s like those nasty slaves always think their master will win.”
At that moment, he felt a little helpless and waved his hand angrily.
“You should think twice about your behaviors in the future. Alas, forget it. Except for the two of them, who will stay to serve the meal, the rest of you should leave first.”
Eunuch Wang seemed to be in a bad mood, so he seemed to have inadvertently pointed out Lin Mengya and Baisu.
“Yes, you two must be careful. Don’t offend Heaven’s Wills.”
The lead palace maid bowed and said a few more words to them. Then, she left the imperial study with the rest of the palace maids.
Lin Mengya peeked at the maid’s back, but she was thinking about something in her mind.
In such a situation, the lead palace maid could still enter and leave freely. She must be a powerful person.
But Lin Mengya didn’t know who the maid’s loyalty was for.
“You two, be careful. If you disobey His Majesty’s order, you might get killed.”
Even though there were only three of them left, Eunuch Wang still did not reveal any flaws.
Lin Mengya and Baisu nodded obediently, just like two timid little palace maids.
Together with Eunuch Wang, they carried the food boxes and entered the main entrance of the East Warm Pavilion.
This place used to be the most important place in Dajin.
Every citizen of Dajin would worship this place as an immortal’s cave.
But now, this place was cold. The dim and oppressive light was depressing.
Meanwhile, the Emperor of Dajin, who was still in high spirits yesterday, was now sitting on the king chair behind a large desk in low spirits.
The appearance of the Long family had always been very outstanding.
Long Tianyu was already a rare handsome man in the world. Otherwise, he would not seduce all kinds of beautiful women who went crazy for him.
But half of Long Tianyu’s genes were inherited from this man.
Therefore, even though the Emperor of Dajin was over 50 years old, his appearance was similar to that of a man in his 30s or 40s.
He had the kind of image of a noble, overbearing, and handsome middle-aged man.
If he were in modern times, he would definitely be the kind of handsome guy who could make girls cry and shout to throw themselves at him.
But now, even though he was still wearing a dragon robe and was still sitting on the throne, he was no longer as majestic as he used to be.
It was like a gem that had completely lost its luster.
A sense of pity rose in Lin Mengya’s heart.
A moment later, it was forcefully dispelled by her.
That was because the fact that the Emperor of Dajin was able to meet his fate today was entirely his own fault.
It was just like the saying – “The evils we bring on ourselves are the hardest to bear.”
As soon as they entered the East Warm Pavillion, Eunuch Wang seemed to have changed into another person.
He hurriedly took the food boxes from Lin Mengya and Baisu’s hands before walking quickly to the Emperor’s side. He whispered, “Your Majesty, the princess is here.”
“Well, she’s here?”
The Emperor’s voice was a little weak, and his eyes, which had been slightly closed, slowly opened.
When he saw Lin Mengya in front of him, he only gave a bitter smile.
“Child, you’ve seen something that you shouldn’t have seen.”
With just a few words, Lin Mengya understood what he meant.
Lin Mengya sneered in her heart, but she pretended to be sad.
“Your Majesty, how dare they...”
The latter half of her sentence was interrupted by the Emperor’s sigh.
“Alas, I was blind. That unfilial son has already wanted to disobey me, but I’ve spared him more than once because of my love for him as his father. But that bastard coveted my state power!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the veins on the Emperor’s forehead bulged in anger.
It seemed that the Crown Prince’s rebellion really got to him.
However, Lin Mengya could no longer feel any sympathy for him.
No matter how bad the Crown Prince was, the Emperor was the one who taught him.
Perhaps, when His Majesty appointed the crown prince, he was indeed coerced by those aristocratic families and old officials.
But the most important reason was that he wanted to stabilize his state power.
For his state power, he could secretly indulge his wife to murder his loyal minister’s wife.
For the sake of his power, he didn’t care about his beloved woman or his beloved son, who had been framed again and again.
It was also for his power that he could even show weakness. Even if he was imprisoned by his wife and son, he had to secretly accumulate strength and regain control of the country.
Perhaps a monarch needed great wisdom and amazing courage.
But if he could be so ruthless to his wife and children, how much could he sacrifice for his country?
At the end of the day, he still loved himself and his ambition the most.
If he hadn’t appointed the Crown Prince early for expediency...
If he earnestly cultivated the ordinary Crown Prince for the sake of the country and teach him to be a judicious sovereign instead of doing evil things with the cruel mother of the Crown Prince...
If he hadn’t destroyed the Lin Family in order to appease those neutral aristocratic families...
The Emperor of Dajin would not end up like this.
But he had done those things in a high-sounding and proud manner.
That was why he ended up like this. He could not blame anyone else.
Even so, he deliberately showed weakness and acted. No one but him would believe his act.
He was just trying to put on an act to get Lin Mengya to work for him like the way her father worked for him in the past.
Unfortunately, Lin Mengya was quick to learn everything. The only thing she couldn’t learn was that she would not blindly sacrifice herself for the emperor or the country.
Whoever set her up, she would get back at them in a much more horrible way.
This was her way of dealing with people, as well as her temper.
“Okay. It’s just a competition for acting. Why should I be scared?”
“Your Majesty, please don’t be so frustrated. I heard from the people outside that Prince Yu is fighting alone and he’s trying to save you. So, please hold on. Otherwise, his efforts will be in vain.”
Lin Mengya deliberately said that Long Tianyu was the only one who was fighting.
The reason why she dared to say such nonsense was that His Majesty’s connection with the outer people had been cut off by the Crown Prince.
The current situation was that the Crown Prince’s men could not get in.
Because there were many masters around His Majesty, it would probably take the Crown Prince’s men a lot of strength to break in.