Chapter 3

"It's truly heaven's blessing, heaven's blessing!" Li Xu is ecstatic. They are not dead! His life is finally saved! "Come here, come here, take them away!"

In the wind and rain, the soldiers carry the two out of the broken temple and are about to send them to the carriage where Qing Ling is, when Li Xu suddenly calls out: "Wait."

These three people have ruined their faces and committed suicide; since they didn't die this time, it's hard to say what they will do next! There are still more than ten days of travel from here to Qiongyue! After some calculation in his heart, Li Xu says in a deep voice: "Separate them, put one in each carriage, and do not allow them to meet again. Also, put Mizui Powder in the water they drink; they must be sent to the Qiongyue Kingdom alive!"

"Yes!" The three are immediately stuffed into three carriages. Before reaching Qiongyue, they will have no chance to meet again, and no chance to walk off the carriages.

Qing sisters, don't blame me; if you want to blame someone, blame yourselves. Who told you to be so beautiful, who told you to be so talented, who told you to be famous throughout the Six Kingdoms? The women Qiongyue Kingdom named, let alone ruined faces, even if you die, you must die in Qiongyue. Everything is fate!

Early spring, a season of vibrant colors. The Qiongyue Kingdom is powerful and prosperous, and the capital, Huan Yang, is naturally full of scenery everywhere. Before even entering the city, one can hear the bustling noise inside. On both sides of the official road, there are many merchants and commoners entering and leaving Huanyang City; it is very lively.

The breeze brushes the face, birds sing and flowers smell sweet. Seeing that they are about to reach the gates of Huanyang City, Li Xu is both happy and afraid! Happy that after more than ten days of rushing, they have arrived safely, but afraid of the faces of the three young ladies...

Inside the carriage, a slender arm is struggling to grab the low window lattice, but unfortunately, before it can touch it, it falls weakly again.

Just a little more!

Zhuo Qing tries to stretch out her right hand again. This time it is a little better; her fingertips can touch the window sill. Taking a few deep breaths, Zhuo Qing uses her left hand to try her best to support her body. After a lot of tossing and turning, she barely manages to sit up straight.

The sweat on her forehead slides down her cheeks, and the wound on her right cheek hurts severely, which also makes Zhuo Qing more awake.

She has been locked in this small space for many days. Someone feeds her medicine containing a large amount of midazolam every day. For the past few days, she has been pretending to be in a deep coma, so they just poured a few mouthfuls and gave up. Her mind is still clear now, but her limbs are still weak.

Where is Gu Yun? Were they taken away together after being attacked in the office? Who are these people? What do they want to do? What kind of place requires choosing a carriage as a means of transportation? Where is she now? Zhuo Qing's usually shrewd mind is spinning rapidly, hoping to find some clues, but unfortunately, what surrounds her mind is a pile of questions.

The moving carriage suddenly stops. Outside the carriage, a familiar male voice sounds respectfully, almost obsequiously: "My Lord, the three Qing young ladies have been delivered. You see..."

She recognizes this voice; it has often sounded outside the carriage these past few days. He should be the executor of this kidnapping operation.

The environment outside seems a bit noisy. Zhuo Qing listens carefully. After a while, a slightly deep male voice replies coldly: "The Emperor has already issued an oral decree: the eldest Qing sister is to enter the palace immediately, the second sister is to be sent to Prime Minister Lou's mansion, and the third sister is to be sent to General Su's mansion. Lord Li, you have worked hard; please return!"

The Emperor? Enter the palace?

Which country in the world is still implementing an absolute monarchy? It turns out she has been transported out of China. From their conversation, she can be sure that there are three people kidnapped together. Is Gu Yun among them?!

Zhuo Qing holds her breath and continues to listen.

Outside the carriage, Li Xu immediately bows and replies: "Thank you for the Qiong Emperor's grace."

The ceremonial officer does not look at Li Xu much, his gaze sweeping over the three carriages, asking: "Which carriage is the eldest Qing sister's?"

Pointing to the carriage in the middle, Li Xu replies quickly: "This is the one."

Two men dressed in palace attire quickly walk toward the carriage, pulling the reins, following the ceremonial officer's command: "Return to the palace!"

The group enters the East City Gate and moves slowly.

Outside the city gate, there are two other teams. Seeing the servants, one knows the master. Li Xu only takes one look to know that the one on the left in blue shirts, gentle and polite, must be from the Prime Minister's mansion, and the one on the right in gray cloth, sturdy and tall, is naturally the house general of the General's mansion.

Nodding in courtesy, Li Xu smiles: "Two lords, the one in this carriage is the second Qing sister, and the one in that carriage is the third Qing sister."

Sending people forward to pull the carriages, the two bow slightly to Li Xu and leave in the south and north directions respectively.

The three carriages are led away separately. The soldier asks in a low voice: "Lord Li, what should we do now?"

Raising his horse whip, Li Xu shouts loudly: "Go, rush back to Haoyue Kingdom overnight."

The Qiong Emperor actually didn't even let them enter the palace gate before sending them away, and didn't even look at them before casually giving the two young ladies away! But thinking about it, it's also true; they are just a few gifts sent by a small country. Does the Qiongyue Kingdom still need to welcome them grandly and set up a banquet? Looking back at the three carriages moving further and further away in three directions, Li Xu sighs softly: Three young ladies, pray for your own blessings.

The carriage runs again, not fast. Zhuo Qing leans against the carriage wall and slowly lifts the bamboo curtain a little. The bright sunshine makes her close her eyes immediately, and it takes a while to slowly adapt. Looking at the world outside the window, Zhuo Qing is stunned. What... what kind of place is this!?

How long has it been since she saw such a blue sky? The air carries a faint smell of grass. On both sides of the road, the towering trees are thick and lush. Looking ahead of the carriage, Zhuo Qing is stunned. Four men in blue shirts are riding on shiny black horses in front. They still have long hair! Their attire is too strange.

Looking down at her fiery red ancient wedding dress, Zhuo Qing faintly feels that things are not as simple as kidnapping. Reaching out to touch her hair, she gently pulls a strand from her bun. Black hair? No, her hair is brown! And, it's not this long!

Zhuo Qing's usually calm heart beats a little fast. Lifting her wide sleeves, the skin on her right arm is as smooth as jade. Zhuo Qing's hands begin to shake uncontrollably. This is not her body! There is a ten-centimeter-long scar on her right arm!

What on earth is going on!

Zhuo Qing clenches her hands into fists. She must calm down to figure out what on earth has happened!

Unfortunately, before Zhuo Qing can calm down, the carriage suddenly stops abruptly, almost throwing her out of the carriage.

On both sides of the road, more than a hundred people suddenly rush out from the dense bushes, all dressed in cloth clothes, ranging from teenagers to people in their tens. What they are holding is... shoulder poles and hoes!

Lan Ziqi is stunned. They don't look like bandits. The sword that was already prepared to be unsheathed slows down, and he asks loudly: "Who are you people?!"

Who knew this group of people would not listen to any explanation, only hearing a sturdy man in their midst shout: "Rob!"

Without any formation, a group of people rushes up, the target being the only carriage.

Lan Ziqi and the three guards immediately draw their swords to face them, but unfortunately, there are too many of them. Several men climb onto the carriage, whip it, and run away. Seeing the carriage run away, these people do not linger in battle, scattering in all directions. The sturdy man who just shouted "Rob" runs all the way, shouting: "Go back and tell Prime Minister Lou, if he wants his woman back, let him come to Niu Family Village himself!"

If it weren't for the few hoes left on the ground and the missing carriage, they would simply not believe what just happened!

Everything is like a farce!

The guards look blankly at Lan Ziqi and ask: "What should we do?"

"Go back and report!" What else can we do! Lan Ziqi has a bitter face. He is just a small guard in the Prime Minister's mansion. Steward Jing pointed him to pick someone up, never thinking that such a thing would happen at the foot of the capital!

After running wildly for more than half an hour, the carriage finally stops. There is a commotion outside. After a while, a loud male voice sounds outside the carriage, still quite polite: "Young lady, please get off the carriage."

Zhuo Qing curses inwardly. She would like to get off the carriage, but the problem is that her hands and feet are weak now, and she can barely sit up, so how can she get off the carriage!

There is silence in the carriage for a long time. Wu Si waves his hand at the group of big men behind him, signaling them not to make noise. She is a young lady, and if they make such noise, they might be frightened. Coughing lightly to clear his throat, Wu Si deliberately lowers his voice and says in a low voice: "Young lady, don't be afraid. We are not bad people! We just want to see Prime Minister Lou, so we robbed you. But don't worry, we won't hurt you. When we see Prime Minister Lou, we will let you go!"

(End of chapter)