“Give up hope!”
Ning Kun, who was lying on the ground, somehow struggled and spat out the rag stuffing his mouth. Watching Chu Tang hand the note and Xiao Xun’s seal to Little Rabbit, he let out a cold laugh.
“You may have taken the heir hostage, but you have no escape—you won’t even make it out of this room—”
Before he could finish speaking, Little Rabbit had already run to an old woman’s side. This old woman was one of those who had helped subdue Tie Ying earlier.
“Rat Granny,” Little Rabbit said. “Send it out.”
The old woman cheerfully acknowledged and took out a mouse from her clothing. She wrapped the note and seal in cloth and tied them to the mouse’s body, then tossed it on the ground: “Good grandson, off you go.”
The mouse scurried away and disappeared into the hall, running along the wall to who knows where.
Ning Kun’s voice abruptly stopped. This was a group of petty thieves and rogues who had strange methods of transmitting messages.
“But!” he shouted sternly again. “What you’re doing is completely futile. Even if you send the message out, you can’t get out, and no one outside can fight their way in. If you stop now—”
Before he could finish, Chu Tang walked over, bent down, and slapped him across the face.
Before Ning Kun could recover, he received two more slaps in succession.
“Now I’ve offended the people close to the heir as well,” Chu Tang said, shaking her hand and frowning. “The path is completely blocked.”
With that, she flicked her hand dismissively.
“Little Rabbit, gag him properly.”
Little Rabbit bounced over, lifted her foot and pressed it against Ning Kun’s neck. Ning Kun’s eyes rolled back and he fainted.
“Now he can’t talk,” Little Rabbit said with a grin.
Chu Tang let out a long sigh and looked around. More than ten people surrounded the hall, encircling them, but this provided no sense of security at all.
Just as Ning Kun had said, they had no escape. They had kidnapped the heir, but did they really dare kill him?
If they didn’t kill the heir, they would be killed.
If they killed the heir, they would also be killed.
No matter how you looked at it, this was a dead end.
Chu Zhao had told her to stop Xiao Xun and then wait. In her panic and confusion, she had forgotten to ask—wait until when? One day, two days, three days? Or one year, two years?
Chu Tang raised her hand and tapped herself on the head: “Chu Zhao, oh Chu Zhao, why did I lose my mind and listen to you?”
……
……
Chu Zhao was also waiting, watching the sun rise and set, the light and shadows shifting in the prince’s hall.
A’Le sat in a chair and nodded off, then suddenly woke up. Before her eyes were fully open, she quickly stood up and assumed a protective stance.
“A’Le, go back to sleep for a while,” Chu Zhao said with a laugh.
A’Le rubbed her eyes: “I won’t sleep anymore. We’ll be eating soon.” She sat up straight and looked outside. The doors and windows were all open, and she could see bright daylight outside, but she could also see soldiers standing like a forest.
That day, Chu Zhao had told Prince Zhongshan to think carefully. Prince Zhongshan had glanced at Chu Zhao, said nothing more, and left.
They were confined here.
They would be eating breakfast soon, A’Le thought. This was the fourth breakfast—this time Chu Zhao had proactively requested tea and three meals a day, and the people of Prince Zhongshan’s manor had no intention of starving them, delivering everything on time as requested.
“I wonder if things are going smoothly over there or not,” A’Le couldn’t help muttering. After speaking, she quickly looked at Chu Zhao. “Miss, I’m not afraid. Even if Miss A’Tang fails, I’m not afraid.”
Chu Zhao laughed heartily: “Yes, if we fail, we’ll all die together. There’s nothing to fear.”
When she had just been reborn and awakened, she had been a little afraid of death. But now, having made up for all her regrets, she had no attachments or worries.
A’Le nodded: “If I die together with Miss, I have nothing to fear.”
After speaking, she glanced at Ding Dachui.
Ding Dachui was stunned. Him too? Well, without the Empress, he had wasted all this time, and he’d have to go back to being a bandit—but no, if something happened to the Empress, the chief would definitely not let him off. He was dead either way.
“Me too,” he said, copying A’Le’s words. “If I die together with Miss, I have nothing to fear.”
Chu Zhao laughed heartily.
Footsteps came from outside, but this time it wasn’t breakfast being delivered. Instead, Prince Zhongshan entered leaning on his cane, which struck the ground with a thud.
The laughter in the hall also stopped.
Prince Zhongshan looked at Chu Zhao: “Miss Chu seems very happy.”
Chu Zhao looked at Prince Zhongshan’s gloomy face and smiled: “It seems the Prince is not very happy.”
Prince Zhongshan looked at this girl, who sat calmly in her chair with an expression between a smile and something else—
The first time they met, although Chu Zhao’s gaze had been unfriendly and her words abrupt, she had at least appeared to be a proper young lady from a respectable family.
And now? No matter how you looked at her, she had a certain… bandit air?
Prince Zhongshan sat down: “Miss Chu, you’ve already been the Empress, so why do you have the manner of a rogue now? You’re nothing like your father.”
Did she resemble her mother then? Chu Zhao was momentarily distracted. Mu Mianhong didn’t look like a rogue at all—she collected herself and pushed away that name.
“Then the Prince doesn’t understand that people can know someone’s face but not their heart. If my father weren’t a rogue, he wouldn’t have reached his current position either,” Chu Zhao said with a smile. “The same goes for me.”