The seemingly delicate girl in front had somehow stepped out of Bai Yinan's protective circle. She stood there calmly. When she spoke, her eyes were cold and heartless, and her whole body exuded a compelling aura like a sharp sword drawn from its scabbard.
Chu Feng composed himself. How could he have been intimidated by this unarmed little girl? He broke the frozen silence and ordered, "Take Miss Bai to the carriage!"
The leading guard sheathed his sword and walked up to Bai Zheng. He was about to push her, but seeing that she took a step forward on her own initiative, he withdrew his hand and said, "Please, Miss Bai."
Bai Zheng gave Chu Feng a half - smiling look. "Does Young Master Chu really intend to kidnap me? Are you sure you can bear the consequences later?"
"Whether I can bear the consequences or not is none of Miss Bai's concern. Take her away!"
With a wave of his hand, Chu Feng mounted his horse.
All these people had come on horseback, and they had also brought an empty carriage, presumably for kidnapping Bai Zheng.
At this moment, the carriage was pushed to the gate of the Bai Mansion, and a wooden stool was placed beside it.
Just as Bai Zheng was about to step forward, she heard a commotion behind her.
"Zheng'er!"
"Miss!"
Bai Yinan and the guards shouted.
Seeing that Bai Zheng was really about to be kidnapped by Chu Feng, Bai Yinan's eyes were blood - shot with rage. He wanted to step forward to stop them but was grabbed by the arms by several guards from the Prime Minister's Mansion and couldn't move.
Bai Zheng turned around and smiled at everyone. "Don't worry, everyone. I'll be fine."
After saying that, under everyone's gazes, she walked up to the carriage, lifted the hem of her skirt, stepped on the wooden stool, and then seemed to remember something. She turned back and instructed,
"By the way, Father, if I haven't returned by the time of the Xu hour tonight, remember to send someone to the Yamen of the Prefectural Magistrate. I've been kidnapped. Magistrate Qin, as the local official, should uphold justice for the Bai Mansion."
Hearing this, Bai Yinan was stunned. The guards from the Prime Minister's Mansion who had been holding him back then pushed him aside and mounted their horses.
A look of anger flashed across Chu Feng's face. "Hurry up!"
The carriage sped away in a cloud of dust.
Bai Fu struggled to get up and came to Bai Yinan. "Master, what should we do now? Should we go to the Yamen of the Prefectural Magistrate now or wait until the Xu hour as the miss said?"
Bai Yinan came to his senses and quickly said, "Go to the General's Mansion first and find elder brother!"
Bai Zheng sat in the air - tight carriage. Chu Feng had obviously put a lot of effort into this carriage. There were no windows on the sides, which were usually found on carriages, and the curtain in the front had been replaced by a wooden door, which was locked from the outside.
Seeing this, Bai Zheng simply relaxed and closed her eyes to rest.
The carriage galloped out of the city all the way. The group passed through the official road and disappeared into the forest on one side.
When they arrived in front of a secluded mansion, the carriage door was suddenly opened. Bai Zheng opened her eyes and took a while to adjust her vision before slowly getting out of the carriage. She stretched her somewhat sore muscles after the bumpy ride and said, "Are we here?"
"Go in!" Chu Feng reached out and gave her a hard push.
Caught off guard, Bai Zheng took two or three steps forward before regaining her balance. Immediately, her face darkened and she said menacingly, "Young Master Chu had better be polite to me. Otherwise, when I return all that you've done to me today, you won't feel good."
Chu Feng squinted his eyes and said viciously, "Then Miss Bai should remember carefully what I, Chu Feng, will do to you today."
Xin Nu, who was guarding the mansion gate, stepped forward, called two guards to roughly grab Bai Zheng, and dragged her into the mansion.
Bai Zheng didn't shout. She let them push her onto a big bed and tie up her hands and feet.
Xin Nu picked up a piece of cloth and was about to stuff it into Bai Zheng's mouth. Seeing that Bai Zheng hadn't made a sound from beginning to end and was looking at his action of holding the cloth like he was a fool, he hesitated.
"Sir, should I still stuff this cloth?" After thinking for a while, he still turned back and respectfully asked Chu Feng.
Chu Feng glanced at the cloth. After a moment of thought, he snatched the cloth and was about to force it into Bai Zheng's mouth when Bai Zheng spoke first. "What is Young Master Chu afraid of?"
Chu Feng's movement froze. He stared at Bai Zheng intently, obviously waiting for her to continue.
The corner of Bai Zheng's lips curled up slightly. Her voice was soft, with a hint of mockery. "Young Master Chu has many people on his side, while I've been kidnapped here alone. If I'm not wrong, there should be spies of Young Master Chu within a radius of five li around this mansion. Even if I shout my lungs out, no one will hear me."
Bai Zheng glanced at the cloth in Chu Feng's hand. "So, Young Master Chu, what exactly are you afraid of?"
Chu Feng stared at Bai Zheng expressionlessly. Slowly, he showed a malicious smile, suddenly threw the cloth on the ground, and said loudly, "What about you? Aren't you afraid? Do you know what I'm going to do to you next?"
Bai Zheng quietly looked at Chu Feng, as if waiting for his answer.
Chu Feng squinted his eyes and looked at Bai Zheng like a prey in a cage. He said word by word, "The great gift Miss Bai sent me yesterday makes me feel unworthy. As the saying goes, not returning a favor is impolite."
"Clap! Clap!"
Chu Feng clapped his hands, and seven or eight ugly vagrants walked in with lewd smiles.
Bai Zheng took a look. These vagrants were of different ages. Most of them had festering sores on their skin, yellow teeth, and a stench all over their bodies. Their turbid eyes stared at Bai Zheng lustfully, with lewd smiles on their faces.
They were as disgusting as could be.
Bai Zheng couldn't help but shiver.
Chu Feng was very satisfied with Bai Zheng's reaction. He said with a smile, "I specially selected them to serve Miss Bai. Is Miss Bai satisfied?"
Bai Zheng sighed. "Young Master Chu, I've been polite to you for the sake of the Crown Prince. Why do you have to drag the whole Prime Minister's Mansion into this?"
"Drag the whole Prime Minister's Mansion into this? Hahaha..." Chu Feng seemed to have heard a very funny joke. "Do you think you can do it? Or your useless fiancé?"
Bai Zheng hooked her lips into a smile and didn't care about the mockery in his words. "Does Young Master Chu think that I've been so arrogant since I met you today because of the Marquis of Dingyuan? Do you know why His Majesty is so concerned about my marriage this time?"
Chu Feng coldly looked down at Bai Zheng, who was tied to the bed and couldn't move. "It's just because you've bewitched the Crown Prince and made him plead for you to get this marriage. Or do you think that for just 200,000 taels of silver, the Crown Prince will kill the whole Prime Minister's Mansion for you? Hahaha..." Thinking of this possibility, Chu Feng couldn't help laughing.
"Of course, the Crown Prince won't. But what about His Majesty?" Bai Zheng looked at him like an idiot. "Young Master Chu is not young. How can you say such stupid things? Now the Great Zhou is facing both internal and external troubles. His Majesty is ill with worry and has so much on his mind about state affairs. How could he be so concerned about my marriage just because of a few words of pleading from the Crown Prince?"
Chu Feng immediately thought of a possibility. He said in disbelief, "Do you mean that His Majesty arranged your engagement for other reasons?"