On the Nan'an Mountain outside the capital, there was not only the Xingfu Temple. On the shady side of the mountain, there was also an abandoned mountain temple that had been deserted for a long time.
Few people knew about it, though.
Due to the long - term lack of human presence, the weeds outside the temple had grown as tall as a person.
It had gotten dark, but there was light in the temple at this moment.
There were several shadowy figures moving inside.
"Big Brother! Will anyone find this place?"
"The most dangerous place is the safest place. No one would think that someone would still be on the mountain!"
Two masked men in black were having a quiet conversation while starting a fire.
They were originally bandits. A few days ago, someone had sent them a message asking them to kidnap a person. They didn't need to kill her. They just had to keep her for one night and then they could let her go.
It was such an easy task, yet they could get a hundred taels of silver.
Although the person they were kidnapping had a high status, they thought it was worth the risk!
After a while, one of them squinted his eyes and glanced at the still - unconscious figure not far away. A devious thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Big Brother, look at this woman. Her features are so delicate. I've never seen such a beautiful woman in my life. Even the top courtesan in the Huayuelou can't compare to her! How about... we brothers have some fun with her?"
The man called Big Brother was more burly. Hearing his brother's words, he couldn't help but feel tempted.
...
Under the hideous stone statue, there was a woman in brocade clothes lying limply. Her hands and feet were tightly tied with hemp ropes, and the originally fair skin was marked with streaks of blood from the tight binding.
This woman was Chu Qing.
When Chu Qing finally woke up, she vaguely saw two figures approaching her.
The drowsiness that had clouded her mind instantly vanished, and she jolted awake.
She had been kidnapped!
She cursed silently in her heart. Then, ignoring the pain in her body, she struggled to sit up.
"Do you know who I am?" Chu Qing spoke first.
At this moment, even though she was tied up and in a vulnerable position, her aura was still imposing.
The two bandits were startled by her gaze.
They were the ones in control, but the calm and composed look of this woman made them feel uneasy.
"How much silver did the person who asked you to kidnap me offer?" Chu Qing continued coldly.
The shorter bandit, feeling that it was embarrassing to be intimidated by a woman's gaze, puffed out his chest and said, "A hundred taels! We just need to keep you here for one night! Then we can get a hundred taels!"
The burly bandit kicked the shorter one hard when he saw that his fellow had spilled all the beans. He said angrily, "What the hell are you telling her so much for!"
Chu Qing understood immediately. They didn't intend to kill her.
Just keeping her for one night could earn them a hundred taels.
If the Princess of Ning disappeared for one night and then returned to the mansion in a muddy and tattered state the next day, if someone with ill intentions spread the word, it was likely that rumors would spread that she had been defiled by villains.
A woman's reputation was very important, and she was not an ordinary person. She had always been well - aware of the power of rumors. If it had been the former Chu Qing, even if nothing had actually happened, the gossips could have driven her to suicide.
However, she didn't really care about such things as reputation. At worst, she would be divorced by the Prince of Ning. The treasures in her treasury were enough for her to live a life of luxury for the rest of her life.
It was just that she wouldn't be able to complete the task given by Meatball, and she might never find out the cause of her death in her previous life.
Hey? Meatball? Why had this guy suddenly gone silent!
When Wei Ying was attacked before, it was still the one to give a warning!
This time, when she was knocked unconscious, it didn't make a sound at all! She didn't believe that Meatball wouldn't have noticed this time!
She tried to call out to Little Meatball a few times, but it was like throwing a stone into the sea. There was no response.
Suppressing her anger, Chu Qing carefully thought about a countermeasure.
They didn't want to harm her life, but just wanted to make her unable to hold her head up in the capital.
It was really a good plan.
Chu Qing looked up and happened to see the two bandits looking at her with lewd eyes.
"Let me go, and I'll give you a thousand taels." Chu Qing said calmly after a moment of thought.
The two bandits were shocked and exchanged a look.
A thousand taels?!
...
When Wei Ying returned to the mansion, the sun had not yet set. Just as Wei Ju had reported that Chu Qing and Xu Xin had gone to the Xingfu Temple, Xu Xin came back in a panic with a group of maids.
Seeing Wei Ying, Xu Xin first showed a look of joy. Then, as if remembering something, she said hurriedly, "Your Highness! Sister is missing!"
"What?"
Wei Ying, who had been calm just now, instantly turned gloomy.
Seeing Wei Ying's reaction, Xu Xin was a bit scared, but she still continued, "Sister may have been kidnapped! What if... what if she is defiled by bad guys... How can she live on?"
Seemingly because of her excessive worry about Chu Qing, there were tears in Xu Xin's eyes.
Seeing Xu Xin say this, Luoluo immediately retorted anxiously, "Our mistress will never be defiled so easily!"
Liu Xin, who had been thinking about what she had seen when she went to look for Chu Qing before, quickly interjected, "Your Highness, our mistress disappeared in the bamboo forest of the Xingfu Temple. There were no signs of struggle at the scene."
Wei Ying nodded to show that he understood. He shook off Xu Xin's hand that was trying to grab his sleeve and immediately turned around and set off with a few secret guards to look for her.
After hearing that Chu Qing was missing, he panicked for the first time.
After leaving the city, Wei Ying immediately lit a signal flare. Soon, almost all the secret guards of his Earth Team were mobilized.
"Don't miss a single inch. Don't alert the enemy."
Wei Ying commanded in a deep voice. After receiving the order, everyone instantly disappeared into the darkness.
"Your Highness, our people reported that they saw figures in an abandoned mountain temple behind the mountain when they were patrolling."
"Let's go." At this moment, Wei Ying regained the murderous aura from the battlefield and headed straight for the mountain temple.
He hoped that it was not too late.
...
After the two bandits whispered to each other for a while, the burly bandit walked up to Chu Qing, looking down at her from above. Then he sneered and said, "Why should we trust you? What if you go back on your word when you get back?"
Seeing that the other party was not stupid and could think carefully, Chu Qing curled her lips and said, "You should know that I don't care about a thousand taels. But if you do something bad, I might lose my will to live and kill myself. If I die, do you think you can still get that hundred taels?"
Seeing the wavering look on the bandit's face, Chu Qing squinted her eyes and continued, "Moreover, if I die, do you think the Prince of Ning will let you go? Or, do you think the Chu family will let you go? The Chu family has nothing but money. As long as there is money, they won't have any trouble finding someone to deal with you."
The shorter bandit showed a hint of fear and then looked at the burly bandit.
Seeing that she had temporarily managed to hold the two of them back, Chu Qing secretly let out a sigh of relief. At least they would be a bit more cautious and wouldn't act recklessly.
However, she didn't know what choice the two of them would make later.
"We'll go out and discuss. You'd better stay here quietly and don't make a sound. Otherwise, we'll make you suffer!" The burly bandit warned Chu Qing fiercely and then walked out of the temple with the other one.
After seeing the two of them go out, Chu Qing started to look around to see if there was anything sharp that could cut the ropes.
When she saw a broken porcelain shard in the distance, ignoring the inconvenience of being tied up, she immediately lowered her voice and crawled towards the porcelain shard. Because she was using too much force, the hemp ropes had already dug into her flesh.
Just then, there was a low grunt from outside, and then everything went quiet.