Lin Mengya, who was furious a while ago, suddenly calmed down.

She coldly looked at the Empress and then at the group of accomplices around her. Suddenly, she realized what she had omitted this time.

Actually, she was deliberately misled.

She had been indeed very cautious. After entering the courtyard, she checked inside and outside in person, and she had also confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the meditation room. That was why she had lost the best time to turn the tables.

Moreover, since the day Aunt Yan began to look for Beauty Cheng, she had carefully guarded against outsiders taking this opportunity to do something evil in her room.

But, Beauty Cheng was already dead back then.

Perhaps, from the day she moved in, Beauty Cheng was already in the dry well in her courtyard.

Unfortunately, she had not noticed it.

Besides, Lin Mengya had also guessed why she had not found out about Beauty Cheng’s body.

That was because Beauty Cheng’s body must have been frozen in ice. In this way, the ice would slow the decay of the body as it melted.

As a result, she had not smelled any stench at first.

In the following days, because the smell of incense was too strong, she failed to detect the stench.

The more acute a person’s sense of smell was, the more she couldn’t stand the strong smell.

In fact, from the moment she stepped out of Prince Yu’s Mansion, the conspiracy against her had started to keep going on, but she had never realized it at all.

Instead, she had focused all her attention on the fake moves of the Empress.

In this battle, she had completely lost her opportunity.

“What are you going to do with me?”

Having thought through all this, Lin Mengya had completely recovered the calmness that she had been proud of.

Now all the guilt was perfectly pinned on her. Moreover, she could not defend herself now, and the Empress would not give her a chance to do that.

It was the first time that Lin Mengya had lost so badly in a battle.

However, it also made her understand that there was always someone better than her.

Compared with the Empress’s meticulous mind, her tricks were a little childish.

“Alas, you…no matter how much you hate Beauty Cheng, you shouldn’t kill her. Somebody, lock Princess Yu up in the woodshed for the time being. No one is allowed to visit her without my permission. I’ll ask His Majesty to make a decision when we return to the Capital City.”

The Empress maintained her usual elegance, but there was no warmth in her eyes when she looked at Lin Mengya.

Perhaps, in her eyes, Lin Mengya was the equivalent of a dead person.

Lin Mengya was accused of murdering the imperial concubine and of sabotaging the religious ceremony.

Such a crime was enough to kill Lin Mengya, the most favored and dazzling Princess Yu.

Maybe that was far from enough.

Lin Mengya grinned, but she didn’t let those people touch even her clothes.

She failed, badly indeed.

But if the Empress thought that she could destroy her family in this way, she had looked down on Lin Mengya.

“I can walk on my own.”

Looking up, Lin Mengya was still the honorable Princess Yu. Even though she was going to the simplest woodshed, her expression was still the same as when she went to a magnificent palace.

The palace servants behind her did not dare to act rashly.

They just followed closely behind Lin Mengya, so that the girl would not have any chance to escape.

The Empress was very meticulous. Lin Mengya did not see anyone along the way from the Grand Hall to the woodshed.

The woodshed was in the most dilapidated courtyard. Lin Mengya was pushed to an extremely dark room.

Then the door was slammed shut.

It would be difficult for her to escape. Moreover, if she really escaped, the Empress would charge her with fleeing to escape punishment.

What was more, this matter might not go as the Empress wished that Lin Mengya was dead meat.

In the shabby woodshed, there was only a pile of dry straw for Lin Mengya to sit on.

She sat quietly on the straw. There was a moldy smell in the air, but she felt it was more refreshing than the strong fragrance.

Her mind, which had been dulled by days of incense, was now sharp again.

She figured out all the things that had happened in the past few days and combined them with her own conjectures, and she soon connected all the things together.

The Empress’s plan seemed flawless, but there was one point that it was easy to slip up.

That was Lin Mengya’s motive for killing Beauty Cheng.

After all, she was not an ordinary person. Those officials in charge of interrogation had to consider the will of the emperor, Long Tianyu, and the Lin family, even if they were instructed by the Empress.

Moreover, Long Tianyu was no longer fighting alone in the court.

Because of the Crown Prince’s misconduct, there had already been calls for a change of the Crown Prince among the court officials and the people.

If something happened to Lin Mengya at this moment, some families would have to choose to support her even in order to keep Long Tianyu’s position.

By then, every detail would be infinitely magnified.

Those people were not fools, and thus they could naturally see something fishy about this case.

If she were the Empress, the best way would be to kill her enemy here quietly.

Furthermore, it was literally the only safe place in the temple for her.

As long as she stayed here and waited for the opportunity to return to the Capital City, she would not be in any danger.

However, once she escaped, she would be treated as a fugitive from justice. At that time, everyone would want to punish her.

Once she figured it out, Lin Mengya was no longer bothered by the matter.

She was more worried about her four maids and that little boy, Yinghua.

Given the Empress’s previous means, she might even use more insane tricks. By then, Lin Mengya had to suffer in silence.

Moreover, who exactly was that evil Master Yunshen?

Could it be that he was the Empress’s clandestine means to deal with Lin Mengya?

Everything was so tangled that Lin Mengya didn’t have a clue.

Unlike the distraught Lin Mengya, Princess Tiancheng was all smiles in the Empress’s residence after she learned the news.

As matter of a fact, it was just a coincidence.

Someone had wanted to kill Beauty Cheng and frame Lin Mengya, but had never had the chance before.

As for Princess Tiancheng, she had just encouraged her mother to push the boat along with the current.

Now that Lin Mengya had been locked up, what they were going to do next would be smoother.

“Off you go, I got it.”

After sending away the spy who had been planted beside her mother, Tiancheng stretched her soft limbs lazily and leaned in the chaise longue made of scented rosewood behind her.

Compared with the quiet and elegant meditation rooms outside, she still lived in a splendid room, which was more in line with her status as the first princess.

“Has Master Yunshen come back?”

She raised her eyes. Although Princess Tiancheng was beautiful and charming, her cold eyes always made her palace servants tremble.

The little palace maid did not dare to reply but just nodded slightly. Then she looked down for fear of offending her master.

“Go to Master Yunshen’s room and tell him that I’ve agreed to his terms. He can just do it.”

An evil smile stretched across her perfect lips.

The little palace maid did not see the indifferent look that flashed across her master’s face.

She quickly sneaked to Master Yunshen’s room, not knowing that what awaited her was an extremely tragic fate.

“Your Highness, if she disappears like this, I’m afraid it’ll be hard to explain to Her Majesty.”

Tiancheng’s most trusted maid was the only person in the entire imperial palace, who dared to speak straightforwardly to her.

However, there was no pity on her face.

It was because she had never had any kindness in her heart, just like her master. The reason why she said those words was that this matter would be a little troublesome.

Anyway, that little palace maid’s life was not worth mentioning.

“You’re right. How about this? You can just tell my mother that she went to the back mountain to have fun and fell to her death. Since Master Yunshen has proposed conditions, it’s inappropriate for me to say no. In the future, send someone to search for some girls outside the palace so that I don’t have to give him my own maids. If my mother finds this matter, she would nag me.”

During their conversation, the fate of the little palace maid was decided hastily.

But Tiancheng had been used to this kind of thing. Now, she was full of visions of her own plans.

“Brother Crown Prince? If that idiot takes the throne, Dajin will be turned upside down sooner or later.”

“Why not—”

“By the way, you go to Princess Yu’s courtyard and keep an eye on them. No one is allowed to come in and out at will. If someone barges in, record it. I’ll report it to my mother in person.”

Tiancheng remembered that Lin Mengya seemed to have also brought that little bastard here.

Her lips curled into an evil, cold-blooded smile.

Since Yinghua’s mother dared to go against her mother in the imperial palace, she would teach this reckless woman a lesson.

Moreover, she was trying to clear all the obstacles for her dear brother—the Crown Prince.

She thought in that case, her mother would definitely help her.

“Yes, I’m on it.”

Tiancheng’s trusted maid left respectfully. Everything was ready. Tiancheng felt that everything was so good.

She and her mother had made the Crown Prince and Prince Yu look like a fool.

Even her wise and powerful father was just a person who had to endure all kinds of constraints.

Although she was a girl, no one dared to judge her!

When she had everything under control, everyone would have to submit to her!