Chapter 111 Escape of the White Tiger
"If so many people had surrounded the tiger to capture it, would it be able to live?"
Baizhi could not help feeling afraid as she looked at the shiny swords in the hands of the guard.
"Regardless of whether the tiger survives, I’m afraid the baby in its womb would not survive."
Although it was getting dark, the white tiger remained conspicuous.
She supposed the people still wanted to catch the white tiger alive, so it remained unscathed at the moment.
"Follow me into the tent; Xiaoyu, please help me get Prince Yu to come over."
The white tiger rescue mission could not be delayed any longer. Lin Mengya led her four maidservants to take cover inside the tent.
"Baizhi, Baishao and Baiji, please take Snow with you and hide in the tent. Don’t get out of the tent if there are no accidents, lest any of you be injured. Baisu, you’ll be in charge of keeping the three of them safe. I want to make sure that no one would take advantage of the chaos to harm us.
Lin Mengya gave the orders with poise. She made sure that those who needed protection got what they need. She would not allow anyone to take advantage of the situation to do something worse.
The curtain of the tent was drawn and Long Tianhao’s lanky figure appeared and he entered the tent.
"What’s the situation outside, Your Highness?"
As Lin Mengya realized that Long Tianhao had changed into a plain color hunting suit, she guessed that the other men were daredevils at this moment.
The game of ambushing the tiger had simply started earlier than planned.
"The Crown Prince and King Ming had also joined in the ambush and hunting of the tiger. I’m afraid the plan we discussed the other day is useless now. The rest of the members of the royal and noble families had gathered in the large tent. Do you want to join them?"
Shaking her head, Lin Mengya did not wish to join the crowd.
They were rather close to the large tent and safely guarded by the imperial guards. They should not be in any danger.
"In that case, do take to keep out of danger, Your Highness, lest someone tries to harm you while taking advantage of the chaotic situation."
How did the tiger escape in the first place?
Lin Mengya could sense something was amiss, Long Tianhao was worried when he saw that Lin Mengya had looked down and gone into deep thoughts.
She almost always worried over him whenever something happened.
He instinctively put his large palm on Lin Mengya’s head and stroked her hair, as he said,
"Rest assured, I’ll be alright."
He did not realize that it was such tender gesture.
"Alright, do be careful, Your Highness. There’s nothing we can do about that tiger. We could only leave it to destiny."
It was not so much that she did not want to save its life anymore, rather, the situation had turned precarious and she had to play by ear as to how she should react.
Long Tianyu nodded and strode out of the tent.
She could hear Long Tianhao shouting his instructions to the imperial guards to protect her.
It was very heartwarming for her. She exited from the tent and stood at the entrance to watch what was going on.
"Rest assured, Big Sister. Prince Yu is highly skilled in martial arts, so he’ll be alright."
Lin Zhong had been staying by Lin Mengya’s side all these while. He was tugging at Lin Mengya with his little hand and she could see anxiety in those big round eyes of his.
He knew very well that he would not be able to comfort his big sister, given she looked so worried. Somehow he felt a little jealous in that moment.
He could not remember when Prince Yu became the only person in Lin Mengya’s eyes.
"I know, I’m just afraid that accidents might happen."
She turned over her palm and hold on to Xiaoyu’s hand. The warmth from the little guy’s palm seemed to transmit an endless amount of energy through the touch of their skin.
"Big Sister, you’re truly concerned about Prince Yu, aren’t you?"
Lin Zhongyu mumbled, sounding envious.
Lin Mengya turned around and stroked Lin Zhongyu’s soft hair on his head. She knew she could not keep the secret worries in her heart from him.
"Xiaoyu, if one day, we are forced to leave Prince Yu’s Mansion, where do you want to go?"
This youth right before her eyes was so good-looking that it would not be surprising for people who did not know him to think that he was a girl.
Whenever they attend any banquet, he would catch the attention and admiration of numerous young ladies.
Unfortunately, the young man always wore an expression of indifference whenever he was faced with these infatuated young ladies.
"Leave? Are you really going to leave one day?"
Although Lin Zhongyu was surprised to learn about Lin Mengya’s plan, he was rather looking forward to it.
"That’s right. I don’t really belong here. Xiaoyu, what do you think if I bring you with me when I go wandering in the world?"
Lin Mengya felt a stab of pain when she thought of the day she left.
Some people had left a deep impression in her heart, so much so that it was getting trying for her to think about leaving.
If she did not leave Prince Yu’s Mansion soon, she was afraid that she would not bear to leave at all.
By that time, would she be able to withstand sharing her husband with other women, given her proud personality?
"Yes, Xiaoyu would follow wherever Big Sister goes."
Lin Zhongyu simply did not understand the look of sadness in his Big Sister’s eyes. She and Prince Yu were, after all, a perfect match.
Lin Mengya nodded and tucked her melancholy away. There would still be quite some time before she left Prince Yu’s Mansion. At the moment, there were other more pressing matters for her to handle.
The white tiger had been driven to a wood nearby. All the men participating in ambushing it had already changed into their hunting gear.
Although the night breeze was already blowing, the expression on their faces was that of excitement and eagerness.
The countless torches the men were holding in their hands lit up the entire night sky.
Despite the tiger being some distance away, its roar still echoed throughout the grounds.
What a mighty white tiger. It would still be the king of the forest if it had not been captured by the humans.
Many of the imperial guards in charge of protecting the tents had left. The family members of the royal family and noble families began leaving their tents to take walks outside.
Lin Mengya had not attracted any attention to herself. She merely brought Xiaoyu with her to check out the situation just a little distance in front of her tent.
She could see people among the trees. From time to time, she could hear the tiger’s roar as well as the voices of the men in the forest.
"Big Sister, let’s go back. There’s no point waiting here."
As Lin Zhongyu urged Lin Mengya to retreat to somewhere safe, he secretly enjoyed the feeling of having his hands held by his Big Sister, which made his heart leap.
"Alright, let’s go back... who’s that?"
Just when she turned around to go back to her tent, she glimpsed a shadow flying among the few tents right before her.
"It must be the members of some noble families. After all, most of the family members had gathered themselves in the large tent a moment ago."
Lin Zhongyu, too, lifted his head and looked into the dark. If his Big Sister did not mention it, he would have totally missed seeing that shadow.
"It doesn’t look like it. Why would any family members be going around alone? He seemed to have disappeared around the tent where Sister Yueting’s family was staying. Let’s go check it out."
The two of them tiptoed to the tent where Yueting’s family was staying. The surrounding was very quiet and seemed as if there was no one in the tent.
"Did I see wrongly? It looks like there really was nobody around."
Lin Zhongyu said in a whisper. However, Lin Mengya was sure she saw the figure of someone moving around here. How did that person disappear in the twinkling of an eye?
"Something’s not right. Let’s do a search. I’m quite sure the figure I saw was not just from my imagination. It was a person I saw."
She was sure her eyesight was perfect, so how could she be seeing things wrong?
They searched the surroundings but did not see anything that caught their eyes. Eventually, Lin Mengya lifted the curtain of the tent and saw that it was dark inside, so she could not what was there.
"Xiaoyu, do you have any flint-stones with you?"
Lin Zhongyu took out a pair of flint-stones from his waist and passed them on to Lin Mengya who carefully lit use them to lit up the lamp in the tent.
The orange light emitted from the flame of the candle was warm and gentle. It drove away the darkness and lit up a small area within the tent.
"Big Sister..."
Suddenly, Lin Zhongyu almost cried out but he choked. He was starring with widened eyes, at a spot in front of him.
"What happened, Xiaoyu?"
Lin Mengya had no idea what happened to Xiaoyu. She turned only to see that there was a woman lying on the bed in the tent, and her clothes looked messy.
She walked up carefully and realized that the woman was none other than Elder Sister Yueting.
Elder Sister Yueting was breathing evenly, as if she was asleep.
The pink dress she was wearing was in a mess. It looked as if someone had haphazardly put it on her and her chest was half exposed.
As Lin Mengya approached, she could smell a pungent musky smell, which was characteristic of lovemaking.
Even Lin Mengya, who was still a young virgin, knew what had happened here.
"Big Sister, this..."
Lin Zhongyu may have quite a bit of knowledge about what happened, he was after all a child. He could sense that this matter was not so simple.
"Wait outside and don’t let anyone in. Don’t tell anyone what’s happened too."
Lin Mengya said decisively. Instinctively, Lin Mengya had the urge to protect Elder Sister Yueting.
Little did she expect the just when Lin Zhongyu left the tent, and a noisy clamor sounded from outside.
"How could this little lass do such a thing? I’m going to teach her a lesson!"
It was the ear-piercing voice of Mrs. Yue. Lin Mengya’s heart dropped. Could Mrs. Yue have found out what happened?
"Get out of my way, lad!"
It seemed that Lin Zhongyu was in Mrs. Yue’s way and the two of them got into some kind of conflict.
"No, I can’t let you through, as my Big Sister had instructed, no one is allowed in the tent!"
Lin Zhongyu was persistent. No one was able to break through this line of defense even after some time.
Lin Mengya could not be bothered about the other people, but looking at Elder Sister Yueting, she was at a loss of what to do.
The sleeping beauty began to stir in her sleep. By the time she opened her eyes and saw Lin Mengya, streams of tears flowed down from her eyes.
"Don’t cry, Elder Sister Yueting. You can tell me what happened."
Elder Sister Yueting must have been forced into this. She was definitely unwilling. Lin Mengya could tell that Yueting had been drugged, judging from looking at her...
Who could this shameless b*stard be, and who resorted to such despicable means?
"I’m not longer a good match for Elder Brother Nansheng."
There were hopelessness and heartbreak in her sweet voice.
Lin Mengya had never once heard such a defeated voice in her life.
It sounded like the life in Elder Sister Yueting had been suck dry in an instant. A beautiful countenance had been replaced by a pale face rained of its colors.
Her trembling lips could no longer smile brightly.
Lin Mengya tightened her fists. Who could this be?
"Elder Sister Yueting, you... you better take a rest."
Things had turned out this way and Lin Mengya thought she better find out who did this to Elder Sister Yueting.