Chapter 472: He Goes Berserk (2)
Chapter 472: He Goes Berserk (2)
At the Cining Palace, the empress dowager had also just found out that Ye Zhen had left the capital. She sighed and complained to Aunt Cheng. “The emperor must have scared her. Otherwise, why would she not even dare to enter the palace, and instead choose to run away? She said she didn’t want to marry the emperor, yet he insisted on taking a fancy to the little girl.”
Aunt Cheng covered her mouth and smiled. “Princess is a beauty beyond compare and adorable. Aren’t you also fond of her? His Majesty is valiant and in the prime of his life, how could he not be tempted upon seeing the princess?”
The empress dowager snorted. “Didn’t Ye Zhen look good in the first place?”
“Empress Dowager, back then Qin Wangfei… She was too repressed and hid everything in her heart. If she was like the princess, how could the emperor be cold to her for two years?” Auntie Cheng said softly. In the end, it was just that her fate was different.
“If she wasn’t from the Ye Family, perhaps it would’ve been different.” The empress dowager sighed. “Let’s not talk about her anymore. Ajia is still worried about Yaoyao. I don’t know where Mister Chen will take her, it’s better if she doesn’t encounter danger,” she said.
“Princess is a blessed person. No matter what happens, she can come back safely.” Aunt Cheng comforted her.
♚
Ye Zhen and the others were indeed in danger.
It was unknown where their carriage had been hidden. Inside the inn, several burly men had inexplicably appeared. That sharp broadsword was placed on Huangfu Chen’s neck. Dai Mei and Quan Fu were tied up. Ye Zhen wanted to save him but saw her master winking at her.
“Innkeeper Liu, this has been a good month of business, unexpectedly, there are so many people.” The ringleader guffawed and slapped the innkeeper’s shoulder.
The innkeeper surnamed Liu only smiled dryly, looking at Ye Zhen and the others with guilt in his eyes.
“Take them away. We’ve been in need of manpower recently,” the leader barked loudly.
Someone pulled Ye Zhen’s carriage over. Dai Mei and Quan Fu had already been tossed into the carriage.
“Who are you?” Ye Zhen asked in a deep voice. To actually capture someone in broad daylight, is there still an imperial law?
“When you get to where you should go, you will naturally know who I am.” The leader chuckled and said, “Look at how well you look, slender and tender. Maybe you don’t have to go down to work.”
Ye Zhen was shocked. Could it be that they had met a kidnapper? No, no, it didn’t look like it. Who are these people?
“You guys… You rob the good people, do you still have imperial law in your eyes?” Ye Zhen demanded angrily. Even if this place was remote, it shouldn’t be without official patrols ah!
The leader burst into loud laughter that only got savage with time. “Stinky brat, what the hell is imperial law?”
Ye Zhen was so infuriated by their insolence that she was rendered speechless.
Huangfu Chen gently nudged her with his shoulder, indicating that she did not need to continue. These people must not be as simple.
“Let’s go. Throw them into the carriage and take them away,” the leader ordered as he took out a silver ingot from his chest and gave it to Innkeeper Liu. Then, he strode out, mounted his horse, and left with his men.
Inside the carriage, Ye Zhen nervously looked at Huangfu Chen. “Master, what should we do? Who are they?”
“Looks like someone from the army.” Huangfu Chen whispered into Ye Zhen’s ear. “I didn’t find anything peculiar last night. Today, I woke up to find that this village doesn’t have any able-bodied men, only some women, children, and the elderly are farming. I think the disappearance of those strong in years has something to do with these people.”
A member of the army? Ye Zhen was shocked. How could this be! How could anyone in the army dare to capture someone so openly?
“Calm down. Let’s go with them and see what’s going on,” said the master to his disciple.
Ye Zhen had never thought that she would encounter such danger on this trip. If these people really weren’t ordinary people, who could they be? From what the ringleader had said to Innkeeper Liu, it seemed that he had not only captured them but also captured quite a few others.
Simply lawless!
“No matter what happens, don’t be afraid. Master is here,” Huangfu Chen softly said to the little girl.
Ye Zhen nodded lightly in response. For some reason, she felt at ease.
♚
Not long after the carriage was driven, someone came in and covered their eyes. He grumbled, “You were drinking tea, but you still didn’t faint. Don’t tell me the knockout drops were useless?”
Ye Zhen blinked. She and her master had long discovered that there was something wrong with the things the innkeeper had sent over, so she added lingquan to the tea. It was the two idiots, Dai Mei and Quan Fu, who actually ate the steamed bun before drinking the tea. She had clearly hinted that they should not eat the steamed bun, but they had actually fainted from the poison.
They didn’t know which way the carriage took, but they felt that the road was getting bumpier. Ye Zhen had bumped into Huangfu Chen several times. He was afraid that she would hit the carriage wall, so reached out to protect her and said in a low voice, “Be careful.”
“Aren’t your hands tied?” Ye Zhen asked in surprise.
Huangfu Chen smiled and said, “I untied them. I’ll tie it up later.”
“——” Ye Zhen was rendered speechless. It turned out that he could still tie it up when he wanted. Then why did he submit to these people? “Master, do you know martial arts?”
“Hmm.” He nodded with a smile.