Gu Liyue reached out and pinned Jiang Yingyue to one side. A glinting dagger was pressed against Jiang Yingyue's neck.
Jiang Yingyue let out a startled cry. "You... You've gone too far!"
Gu Liyue raised her eyebrows and retorted, "I've indeed gone too far. Jiang Yingyue, I've never harmed you, yet I don't know why you've been making things difficult for me at every turn, pushing me to the limit."
The maid Xing'er pointed at Gu Liyue and shouted, "You... You let go of the young miss. If you don't let go, I... I'll..."
"Will what?" Gu Liyue pressed the dagger harder against Jiang Yingyue's neck. "As for you, if you dare come closer, I'll make your young miss bleed right now."
Xing'er's face flushed bright red. "The young miss is the only daughter of the Duke's Mansion. If you dare harm a single hair on her, just wait. Don't think you can do whatever you want just because the madam is protecting you. The master will never let you off."
Gu Liyue sneered. "So what if he won't let me off? Jiang Yingyue, even a cornered rabbit will bite. Do you really think I have no temper at all? I just don't want to cause trouble. I'm not stupid. It's obvious that you did this on purpose today. Since I'm going to be persecuted by you anyway, I might as well take you down with me. Jiang Yingyue, don't you always think I'm not as noble or outstanding as you? If so, why have you been targeting me again and again? There won't be any more chances. If you want to harm me, well, we might as well just die together."
Xing'er was stunned and shook her head repeatedly. "No... Don't. Let go of the young miss. Let her go. As long as you let her go, we can talk about anything..."
"Last time you framed me by hurting yourself. This time, you were probably going to attack me directly, right?" Gu Liyue gave a desolate smile. "I'm just not fit for this high - class family. I don't want to be the daughter of the Duke's Mansion. All I want is to escape from that place where I'm helpless. All I want is to use my own hands to create a peaceful place for myself. Is that even too much to ask?"
Jiang Yingyue was afraid that Gu Liyue would accidentally cut her throat. She was so nervous that she didn't dare to move a muscle. She stammered, "Yes. Let me go. I'll give you whatever you want, okay? I have plenty of gold and silver. How about a thousand taels? I have a whole set of headdresses. I have a lot of them. I'll give you half. No, no, no. I'll give them all to you. I'll also give you all my clothes. Okay?"
Just then, the carriage stopped. The three people inside immediately fell silent. Gu Liyue's hand holding the dagger was unsteady. She had managed to get this dagger with great difficulty. It was for self - defense and her last line of defense. If her life was in danger, she didn't want to be humiliated.
But what was going on now?
Gu Liyue pressed Jiang Yingyue and asked, "Are the people outside yours?"
Jiang Yingyue looked stunned, as if she hadn't reacted yet. She didn't understand why it was so fast. Even if Gu Liyue's resistance had delayed the time, it shouldn't have been this fast...
Gu Liyue pressed the dagger against her neck. "Speak!"
Jiang Yingyue's face turned even paler. She stammered, "Yes... Yes... But I don't know. I asked someone else to arrange it... Originally, I would get off the carriage first after you fainted. But..."
But Gu Liyue didn't faint. She had been on guard and had taken a heart - clearing pill. The sleeping incense was useless to her.
"What are the people outside here for?"
Jiang Yingyue was so scared that she was about to cry. "They... They are human traffickers from the Fragrant Pavilion. What should we do?"
Gu Liyue didn't quite understand. "What kind of place is the Fragrant Pavilion?"
Jiang Yingyue really started to cry this time. She didn't care about the dagger on her neck and grabbed Gu Liyue's hand. "You... Since you expected that I would harm you, you must have a way to deal with it. What should we do now? Think of a way quickly."
She was babbling incoherently. It was Xing'er who explained, "The Fragrant Pavilion is... a low - class brothel."
There were many types of brothels in the Great Zhou Dynasty. The upper - class ones were the courtesan houses, where the girls either sold their art or their bodies. The people who could visit the courtesan houses were both rich and noble. The lower - class brothels were also divided into countless types. In the lowest - class brothels, one could buy a woman's night of pleasure for just a dozen copper coins.
Gu Liyue was not only surprised but also extremely angry. She pressed harder, and the dagger in her hand pricked Jiang Yingyue. Blood beads immediately oozed out.
"You actually came up with such a vicious plan?"
Jiang Yingyue didn't care about the pain. She sobbed, "Let's think of a way first. Otherwise... None of us three will be able to escape..."
She was extremely scared. When she had someone do this, she was afraid that Gu Liyue would get away using the name of the Jiang family. So she had specifically found the most vicious thugs and told them to kidnap whoever was in the carriage. That brothel was far away on the border. Even if Gu Liyue wanted to come back, it would be impossible.
But now, it wasn't just Gu Liyue in the carriage. There was also her, Jiang Yingyue. She didn't quite understand. Had these people acted ahead of schedule? Gu Liyue had only been holding her hostage for about half an incense stick's time. How could they have arrived so quickly?
In her panic, Jiang Yingyue didn't have time to think carefully. She slumped against Gu Liyue.
A hand lifted the carriage curtain.
The three pale faces inside the carriage made the person outside stare in shock for a long time.
"Master Gu?"
It was Gu Liyue who came to her senses first. She asked softly.
Jiang Yingyue immediately burst into tears. She pushed Gu Liyue away and threw herself into Gu Chengzhi's arms. "Fourth Brother Gu, I'm so scared!"
Gu Chengzhi frowned slightly. He pulled Jiang Yingyue away and looked curiously at the dagger in Gu Liyue's hand. "What are you doing? What's the relationship between you and those people outside?"
Jiang Yingyue felt extremely lucky to have survived this disaster. The Gu family and the Jiang family didn't interact much, but they were in - laws after all. She had known the Fourth Young Master Gu since childhood. Although their relationship wasn't very close, they at least knew each other.
She grabbed Gu Chengzhi's sleeve and pointed at Gu Liyue angrily. "Fourth Brother, it's all her. She wanted to harm me."
Then, she pulled down the collar of her dress and showed Gu Chengzhi the wound on her neck. "Fourth Brother, look. If you had come just a little later, I would have lost my life..."
Gu Chengzhi looked at Gu Liyue with a puzzled look. He saw the young girl covered in cold sweat, leaning against the carriage wall with her eyes slightly closed. She seemed to be exhausted, but her hand still tightly held the dagger. The blue veins on the back of her hand were clearly visible.
She... didn't seem like someone who wanted to kill. She seemed more like she was protecting herself.
Jiang Yingyue was still chattering. Gu Liyue waved the dagger in her hand impatiently. "If you keep making noise, I'll cut out your tongue."
"You... Fourth Brother, look at her!"
Gu Liyue took a deep breath. After calming down a bit, she asked, "Are all those people outside gone?"
Gu Chengzhi pondered for a moment. He was about to say that they had been arrested, but then he changed his words. "They were about to commit a crime. Our patrolling guards saw them and immediately..."
He made a gesture of killing and then put his hand down. He then asked, "What exactly happened?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yingyue finally let out a sigh of relief. Gu Chengzhi had just gotten a new job as the Eastern City Commander of the Capital Guard. If the people were caught by him, according to the upright attitude of the Gu family, she might be implicated.
But now that the people were all gone, it would be much easier to deal with. Later, she just had to frame everything on Gu Liyue.
"It's her! It's Gu Liyue. Fourth Brother, Gu Liyue wanted to harm me. She not only wanted to kill me, but also wanted those people to humiliate me. Fourth Brother Gu, you must avenge me!"