Doomed to be Cannon Fodder

Long Heng gestured towards his servants and had them exit the room en masse. However, as a result, no one was left to pour tea anymore.

Minister Lin didn’t mind that either, only saying, “There are some issues within our inner residence, and I hope that Your Highness can offer some assistance in solving this issue.”

“I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for this prince to be handling the affairs of your inner residence, right?” Long Heng tightened his grip on his teacup. Is Minister Lin losing his grip on reality? At the same time however, since things had fallen to this extent, the situation probably wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

Minister Lin opened and closed his mouth a few times before continuing, “There have been quite a few burglaries in my residence lately, and even the authorities are powerless against the burglars. That’s why I can only come here to ask Prince Li for some assistance.”

“Hah! Minister Lin, you must be joking. If the authorities can’t deal with the burglars, then how do you expect me to act against them? All I have with me are some brutish soldiers, how could they handle the meticulous tasks that are normally handled by the authorities?” Who cares about the actual truth of this matter? Since I’ve already pushed away the responsibilities, just get the hell out already! Stop hindering my business with Madame Bai!

Minister Lin could feel the veins start to pop out on his forehead. He’s a prince who wields a significant chunk of military power, he should at least be a little concerned when his father-in-law’s house is being raided by burglars, right? Despite all that, he doesn’t even hesitate to push all the responsibility to the authorities. It’s as if he isn’t even a concerned party at all.

However, this matter definitely had to be handled by Long Heng. How could the authorities possibly be able to take on ruffians from the jianghu? Moreover, there were a couple of things that had to remain hidden from the authorities, or his daughter’s good name would be ruined beyond all repair. In addition, since Long Heng was able to retrieve her last time, there was a strong chance that he was deeply involved with the matter as well. Naturally, there shouldn’t be any misunderstandings concerning his daughter.

But, he had no idea how distant Long Heng felt from the situation. He only sat coldly off to the side, as if he hadn’t heard Minister Lin’s request. Minister Lin had no choice but to continue trying to persuade him. This was because the attitude of this future son-in-law towards his daughter’s matters was really a bit lacking. “Prince Li, at the end of the day, both our families are related through marriage. If anything happens to the Lin family, it would be equally bad for you as well.”

“Oh? And why would that be?” Minister Lin gritted his teeth. It was too difficult for him to talk about that matter after all. So, he could only change the topic by saying, “This thief is extremely powerful. He dared to actually kill the maidservants and servants in my estate. If he isn’t disposed of as soon as possible, I’m afraid that he will cause great misfortune later on.”

If the burglar forces my daughter to do some unduly things, then things will really get ugly.

Long Heng naturally knew what he was trying to imply. If that man was so infatuated with her that he actually decided to chase her all the way back to her home, then he surely would never let her off the hook easily. Long Heng would surely be speechless if she ended up bearing that man’s child.

But just as Minister Lin had mentioned just now, it didn’t matter whether he cared about Miss Lin or not. At the end of the day, the two of them were engaged. If a disgraceful scandal were to concern her, then it would be very easy to embroil him into things. And so he asked, “Then what suggestions does Minister Lin have?”

“It is very dangerous at my home right now and I’m most worried about my daughter. So, I wonder if Prince Li could just take her into the Prince Li Manor...”

“Absolutely not.” Long Heng refused without a second’s hesitation. “My mother is currently not in the estate. If outsiders were to get wind of this, I’m afraid that it would be a drastic blow to Miss Lin’s reputation as well. Isn’t that right?” What is this Minister Lin thinking? Is he trying just anything in a desperate situation?

Minister Lin was indeed getting desperate. That was why he’d conjured up such an idea. However, he didn’t know that Old Madame had left the estate. Since the official lady of the estate wasn’t home, it was indeed inappropriate and inexcusable for his daughter to enter the estate. Now he’d suddenly found himself in a new dilemma.

Long Heng suddenly thought of nèe Bai. She had suffered through quite an ordeal lately and had gone through no small degree of fright in the estate as well. It was probably a good idea to take her out on a small trip and relax a little. And so, after some consideration he said, “Then why not to Red Maple mountain villa? It’s the private property of the Prince Li manor, and, Yongning Temple isn’t too far from there as well. You can send Miss Lin to the temple as a front and escort her over to the villa at the middle of the night when no one will notice.”

“Alright, then we will go with your plan.” Minister Lin didn’t expect that Long Heng would think of a solution that quickly. It was quite a relief to him.

“However, when you return, please inform the young lady that when she enters the Red Maple mountain villa, she must keep a low profile at all times. So, please ask her to wear plain clothes and enter the manor as a maidservant to prevent others from noticing her.”

As to prevent who from noticing her, Minister Lin, I’m sure you’re well aware whom that is.

“You... Alright. I’ll explain it to her clearly when I return. Only, Qianzi has always had a weak physique ever since youth, so please be kind to her, Prince Li.” Minister Lin clenched his fists. He was actually looking forward to getting them married as soon as possible. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry so much anymore. Yet, Prince Li refused to call upon the Lin residence and officially propose marriage. He’d delayed the wedding again and again, causing Minister Lin much anguish.

Is ‘weak’ really a good word to describe her physique? She’d already been tossed around by that man to such an extent and yet, she doesn’t seemed to have developed any problems.

The word ‘weak’ was extremely inappropriate when it came to describing her. Moreover, what was Minister Lin trying to imply by saying that? Was he hopeful that something would happen between Long Heng and his daughter while they were together? He gave a cold laugh inwardly and said, “Minister Lin, if there is nothing else, please hurry on back for the preparations!”

That cold and arrogant look was back again. Minister Lin honestly didn’t have another reason to stay, so he rose to take his leave. As for Long Heng, he was still feeling quite unhappy. He was only trying to become intimate with nèe Bai in his own home, but people was always coming to make trouble for him. But on the bright side, the Red Maple mountain villa really did have a very beautiful view and was a good place for a trip.

Since plans had been made, the trip was a foregone conclusion. Luckily, there wasn’t much to do in the army camp these days and the emperor wouldn’t ask a prince to attend court every day. As such, Long Heng ordered some men to start preparations for the journey and proceeded to inform nèe Bai personally.

But he hadn’t expected that she still hadn’t returned when he arrived at Winter Garden. He couldn’t help but frown as he walked towards the outside of the meeting quarters. Noticing that people were still standing around, he couldn’t help but start to lecture them sternly, “It’s such a chilly place in here. What is the matter that you have yet to finish discussing?”

These servants were really too irresponsible, making her freeze in the room like that!

But the servants felt wronged as well. Ye-mama was the person who had the most authority to speak, so she walked up to Long Heng and spoke in a polite tone, “The mistress has fallen asleep just now and still hasn’t woken up!”

She seems exhausted. Just what did Your Highness do to her? But how would she dare to say such things to the prince?

Long Heng felt a little guilty because the expression in Ye-mama’s downcast eyes seemed a little accusatory. Could it be that he had done something wrong?

He coughed lightly and walked into the the room to see Bai Xiangxiu still lying there asleep on the heated platform in roughly the same posture when he’d left. Except, now there was an extra pillow beneath her head and she was covered by a cotton blanket. Xiao Shi was dutifully waiting by her side and quickly curtseyed when she saw Long Heng come in.

Long Heng knew that this room wasn’t normally warm. It was just a room used for distributing items. Although the heating platform was nice and warm, the warmth in this room could not be compared to the warmth of the rooms in the various residences.

Yet, she was deep in slumber. Therefore, it wouldn’t do to just wake her up and drag her away. If he couldn’t drag her away, then why not carry her away? With his speed, it wouldn’t take the two of them long to arrive at Winter Garden. Long Heng wanted to do just that, but as soon as he lifted her head, he could feel that the person in his arms just wasn’t being very cooperative.

She actually twisted around to raise her hand to hit him. She even exerted her strength and slapped his chest, frowning, “Stop fooling around. Let me sleep a while longer.”

“......” Long Heng was rendered speechless. This girl’s sleeping habits really weren’t very that great. It seemed that she was a very irritable person when she was awakened by others.