freenovelworld Chapter 222: Kidnapped
Chapter 222: Kidnapped
“She has indeed become less obedient; it seems her heart is with Gu Chang’an, not His Highness.” Zhou Qianqian’s brows relaxed further.
"But no matter what, she is a member of the Shen family. What the Shen family cares about most is legitimacy and ancestral rules. Even if they don't help His Highness, they will definitely deal with Prince Yi."
The palace maid understood.
"Even if she were to deal with Shen Li, do you think she could handle it?" Zhou Qianqian said with disdain. "She's the kind of person who would believe a lie I tell her easily. What makes her think she can compete with Shen Li?"
"So, should I not reply to her?"
"Ignore her, deal with the message she sent, and don't leave any trace."
"But Master, what if she gets desperate and goes to the Gu family to implicate you? There's no guarantee that Shen Li won't report your surveillance of her to the Crown Prince." The palace maid was quite worried.
“You need evidence to do things. What evidence does she have?” Zhou Qianqian retorted.
The palace maid then realized that her mistress always sent verbal messages, while Liu Yue would write notes. Her handwriting was obviously not from elementary school, as it was stumbling and awkward.
“Your Majesty is wise. We’ll leave her alone. I’ll burn the note right away.” The maid said and went to take care of it.
Zhou Qianqian continued to count her gifts, but her thoughts inevitably drifted to Shen Li. She was determined to get rid of this person, but not now.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Shen Li was not surprised to hear the news that Zhou Qianqian was pregnant. Judging from Zhou Qianqian's pregnancy and childbirth progress in her previous life, she was naturally fertile and would definitely get pregnant as soon as she stopped taking the medicine.
In this way, not only will Yue'er not have to get married, but the bond between the Crown Prince and the Zhou family will also become closer, and the Crown Prince will be more likely to be implicated if the Zhou family is in trouble.
The weather at the palace gradually cooled down, and one needed to wear an outer robe in the mornings and evenings to avoid feeling cold.
Although there was always resistance to the implementation of Gu Chang'an's policies, it was progressing steadily. Emperor Cheng was very satisfied with this and rewarded Gu Chang'an several times. The last time, he promoted him to Minister of Revenue.
A Minister of Revenue in his early twenties—unprecedented.
Surprisingly, this move did not draw any criticism from the court. It seems that everyone has seen the achievements of Gu Chang'an in leading the Ministry of Revenue for a year. The national treasury is indeed much fuller, and it looks like it will become even fuller in the future.
Shen Li's life was routine. She spent her days copying memorials from various places in the Hanlin Academy and studying the documents. She gained a general understanding of the various departments and regions of the court, and she finally understood why most of the cabinet ministers and ministers of the six ministries came from the Hanlin Academy.
Studying here for a few years before going out will allow you to have a thorough understanding of all matters of the court, including its affairs and the ways of the court, so that your future decrees will be accurate and enforceable.
Shen Li was very satisfied with and enjoyed this official position. The palace was very close to the Gu residence, with a mountain road in between. Although it was built in the mountains, it was a proper official road, wide enough for a dragon carriage drawn by nine horses to pass through.
"Yudie, we haven't had rice cakes for several days. Shall we go for a walk at the market?" Shen Li said to Yudie, who was traveling with her in the carriage.
“If Miss wants to eat it, I will go and buy it.” Yu Die put down her book: “Why do you have to go yourself?”
“Sitting in a carriage all day is quite boring. Walking around will loosen up my muscles and bones,” Shen Li said, and then asked the driver to stop the carriage.
"Alright, I'll help you." Yu Die jumped out of the carriage and helped Shen Li down.
The servant wanted to follow the two of them, but Shen Li waved her hand and said, "We'll be right back. We don't need so many people with us. Let's go back."
"Miss, it's safer to take it with you," Yu Die advised.
"No need, I don't think anyone would want to harm me." Shen Li took the lead and walked downstairs, and Yu Die could only follow.
The market was especially lively in the afternoon and evening. After buying rice cakes, Shen Li continued to stroll around, completely unaware that she was being watched.
"Don't move." A deep male voice came from behind. Shen Li felt a chill on her lower back, probably because a sharp blade was pressed against her.
When Yu Die saw the gleaming dagger, she opened her mouth wide and dared not utter a sound.
“Follow me, walk forward,” the man said.
"I'm leaving, don't do anything rash." Shen Li's voice trembled.
Two men quietly followed behind Yu Die. Although the two men were not armed, the three of them had blocked all their escape routes, leaving them no choice but to follow them forward through the crowd.
Shen Li could feel the dagger being put away. She walked to the entrance of a small alley ahead and was led to a carriage. The person behind her got into the carriage and tied her and Yu Die's hands in front of her.
Once the carriage started moving, Shen Li could finally see the person who had tied her up. He was very tall and strong, and looked fierce and powerful, but he didn't seem like an assassin.
"Who...who are you?" Yu Die asked.
The burly man's eyes were fixed on Shen Li, clearly showing no interest in such a young girl. Upon hearing this, he simply said coldly, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, or I'll cut your tongue out."
Yu Die was clearly frightened, but having traveled the world since childhood, she had seen it all. What she feared was what this man might do to her young lady.
A young lady from a respectable family, she's too weak to even kill a chicken. Even if she were allowed to escape, she probably wouldn't get far. What would she do if she encountered these thugs?
She was so anxious she almost cried.
"Do you know who my young lady is? If you release us, we can give you money." Yu Die felt she couldn't just sit and wait to die, so she started to negotiate.
Those who travel the world are all doing it for a living; money is the biggest temptation.
"This little girl is so noisy." The burly man frowned and used a piece of cloth to gag Yu Die.
Shen Li reassured her with her eyes, signaling her not to struggle.
"You're quite calm, aren't you afraid?" The burly man was somewhat surprised to see Shen Li carrying a food box as she got into the car.
They'd done this kind of thing plenty of times, but let alone such a young girl, even a grown man would be terrified if he were tied up. They'd never seen anyone so composed.
It was as if this wasn't their car, but her own.
"Since you're already tied up, there's probably no point in thinking about it." Shen Li said, then added, "Good sir, I promise I won't run away. Can you untie the ropes so I can have something to eat?"
"..." Yu Die stopped struggling and began to look at her young mistress with an incredulous expression.
Miss, are you scared out of your wits? You're still thinking about food?
"What tricks are you playing?" The burly man became more wary of Shen Li, but upon closer inspection, he realized that such a girl could pose any threat.
“I won’t make things difficult for you. You can tie me up when we get there. I have a hundred taels of silver in my sleeve. How about I buy my freedom for the rest of the journey?” Shen Li continued.
"Really?" The burly man hesitated.
Nobody knows about this money, but once he takes it, it's his own.
"Really?" Shen Li raised her hands, gesturing for him to untie them.
After much deliberation, the burly man finally untied the package, and sure enough, he received a silver note containing a genuine one hundred taels of silver.