"What did you say?" Chu Feng was momentarily stunned and couldn't react.
Bai Zheng struggled to hold up three fingers and emphasized, "Mental distress compensation, thirty thousand taels of silver. Didn't Young Master Chu just ask what kind of money the Prime Minister's Mansion would send me? Thirty thousand taels. As long as Young Master Chu pays me this amount, my Bai Mansion will let this matter go, and the Prime Minister's Mansion will naturally remain safe."
Chu Feng stared at Bai Zheng in shock. After all, he was the one who had kidnapped her. Was this girl out of her mind? She was tied to the bed, unable to move her hands and feet, yet she dared to turn around and ask him for money. Was she crazy?
Chu Feng's face darkened. "Are you daydreaming? For old times' sake, if Miss Bai apologizes and pleads for mercy today, I might consider not letting those..."
Bai Zheng interrupted directly. "If Young Master Chu can't reach a private settlement with my Bai Mansion today, then my father will have to report this to the Prefectural Magistrate's Office. All the on - lookers can testify that it was you, Chu Feng, who kidnapped me. There are both witnesses and evidence. Even the Son of Heaven is equal to the common people before the law. Young Master Chu can just wait to go to prison and face the charges!"
"After the Marquis of Dingyuan knows about this, he will report it to the Emperor. By then, if the marriage alliance between the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion and the Bai Mansion is ruined by the Prime Minister's Mansion, and if Yan City is defeated, how can the Prime Minister's Mansion bear the Emperor's wrath? If Yan City wins, my cousin will be rewarded in Yongding for his great merits. Whether it's for public or private reasons, he will avenge me. How can a dissolute young master like you go against my cousin who is at the height of his power?"
After saying that, Bai Zheng stared coldly at Chu Feng. Her cold look was like the north wind in the coldest winter, making one's hands and feet feel icy cold.
Chu Feng looked at Bai Zheng in shock and couldn't even speak.
Originally, he thought she was just a weak woman at his mercy. It wouldn't be a big deal to kidnap her for a lesson when she annoyed him. It was just a small marriage matter, and the Crown Prince would surely side with him. But now, Bai Zheng had elevated the marriage to the level of national affairs...
If, as she said, things would get very troublesome!
"Does Young Master Chu still remember the Western Liang spy that the Crown Prince just uncovered in the corruption case some time ago? Now that Young Master Chu has caused such a ruckus, will some interested people discover that this is the Prime Minister's Mansion colluding with the Western Liang to disrupt the Great Zhou's military morale? A mere Bai Zheng may not be able to make the Emperor kill the Prime Minister's Mansion, but what about the crime of colluding with external parties and betraying the country? The Prime Minister's Mansion may not just be exterminated!"
"You're talking nonsense!"
Chu Feng's face turned green with anger, but more than that, he was deeply shocked.
When did this woman become so powerful? She had turned their personal feud into a crime of betraying the country that he could never bear.
Betraying the country was a crime that would lead to the execution of nine generations of one's family!
"What evidence do you have?" Chu Feng looked at Bai Zheng, his eyes flickering.
Bai Zheng smiled and looked at Chu Feng as if he were a fool. "For such a once - in - a - lifetime opportunity to suppress the Crown Prince, do you think my Bai Mansion needs to find the evidence?"
Chu Feng's face turned ashen.
Yes, at this time, Feng Jingxuan, Feng Jingyang and others would all jump out to take advantage of the situation. Why would Bai Zheng need to worry about the evidence?
"Tell me, what on earth do you want?" Chu Feng said with a straight face.
"Young Master Chu, is this how you ask for someone's favor, by tying them up?" Bai Zheng looked at the knots on her wrists and said discontentedly.
Chu Feng gritted his teeth. "Come here."
Xin Nu immediately rushed into the room. "Did you call me, Young Master?"
"Untie her!"
Xin Nu was stunned and subconsciously asked, "Ah?"
Chu Feng impatiently pushed him. "Hurry up and untie Miss Bai!"
"Yes, yes..." Xin Nu responded while clumsily untying the ropes on Bai Zheng's hands and feet.
Bai Zheng got off the bed, rubbed her wrists, and looked at Chu Feng with a smile on her face.
Chu Feng found her smile extremely dazzling, but he had to endure it. He said to Bai Zheng, "Today's incident was just a misunderstanding. I'll send someone to take Miss Bai back right away. Xin Nu, go prepare the carriage!"
Just as Xin Nu was about to go out, he heard Bai Zheng say lazily, "No need."
Chu Feng looked up and saw Bai Zheng slightly curling her lips. Looking extremely charming, she walked up to Chu Feng and said, "I have something important to do outside the city. Thank you, Young Master Chu, for bringing me here. I can walk the rest of the way by myself." Then she was about to leave.
"Stop!" Chu Feng shouted. "Even if Miss Bai wants to go outside the city, you should go back to the Bai Mansion first."
Although Xin Nu didn't know what had happened between them, when he heard his master stop Bai Zheng from leaving, he quickly ran in front of Bai Zheng and blocked the door.
Seeing this, Bai Zheng turned back and raised her eyebrows at Chu Feng. "Is Young Master Chu planning to kidnap me again?"
Chu Feng rubbed his forehead. He had never thought so much before he kidnapped Bai Zheng. Now he realized what a hot potato he had caught!
If the Bai family really reported the matter to Feng Linche, not to mention Feng Linche, the old prime minister and the Crown Prince would tear him apart.
Thinking of this, he forced a smile and said, "Miss Bai, I just invited you here as a guest. How can it be called kidnapping? Since you're not willing, I'm just about to send you back."
Bai Zheng smiled enigmatically. "Go back? Do you think you can kidnap me whenever you want and send me back whenever you want? Doesn't Young Master Chu know the saying 'it's easier to invite the gods than to send them away'?"
"What on earth do you want?" Chu Feng gritted his teeth.
"If Young Master Chu sends the thirty thousand taels of silver to my mansion earlier, my father won't go to the Prefectural Magistrate's Office." Bai Zheng crossed her arms and said leisurely.
"What thirty thousand taels?" Chu Feng's face was extremely ugly. "Bai Zheng, don't push your luck! You either go back with me and say this was just a misunderstanding, or we'll just fall out. Anyway, my Prime Minister's Mansion is facing a great disaster. I'll drag your Bai Mansion down with me even if I have to die!"
Bai Zheng said calmly, "I never thought Young Master Chu was so stingy before. Thirty thousand taels of silver can buy the lives of everyone in your Prime Minister's Mansion. Yet Young Master Chu would rather kill me and drag my family down than pay the money?"
Chu Feng almost vomited blood!
Why? He was the one who had kidnapped her. He should have been in the dominant position in this negotiation! But now, he was being led around by this girl!
"Bai Zheng, who on earth gave you the courage to be so arrogant!" Chu Feng was extremely angry. "Since you're so ungrateful, I'd like to see whether your innocence or money is more important! Come here!"
The door suddenly opened, and all the vagrants who had been led out rushed in.
"Today, you must torture this bitch to death!" Chu Feng ordered.
The vagrants had long been lusting after Bai Zheng. Now that they got Chu Feng's order, they didn't care about anything else and rushed towards Bai Zheng one after another.
A cold light flashed in Bai Zheng's eyes. Just as she was about to pull out the hairpin on her head, a dark shadow flashed by quickly.
The vagrants all fell to the ground instantly. Chu Feng's hand that was pointing at Bai Zheng froze in mid - air and couldn't move any further.
A low and gentle voice sounded faintly. "Young Master Chu, is this how you treat the future wife of this Marquis?"