Chapter 200 Fang Shijie? It's you again!
Jiang Ling was now cornered at the end of the alley, with a cold brick wall behind her and four men in black holding long knives in front of her.
She was panting heavily, knowing there was no way to escape.
She forced herself to calm down and tried to negotiate:
"Heroes! My name is Jiang Ling. I am just a merchant visiting the capital. I have never met any of you before. Have you come to the wrong person? If you want money, I have silver on me, and I can give it to you!"
However, the group of men in black looked indifferent and didn't bother to answer her question.
One of them stepped forward, raised his knife, but instead of slashing at Jiang Ling, he chopped at the brick wall next to her, as if in a show of defiance.
The other person stretched out his rough hand and suddenly covered Jiang Ling's mouth and nose, and a pungent smell of medicine entered her nasal cavity.
Jiang Ling felt dizzy and the sleeping pills in her hand fell to the ground. She then completely lost consciousness.
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When Jiang Ling woke up again, she found herself lying in a woodshed filled with miscellaneous items.
His hands and feet were bound with thick hemp rope, and his mouth was stuffed with strips of cloth.
The woodshed was filled with dust and a musty smell, with only a small window overhead letting in a sliver of light.
She composed herself and looked up at the small window. She saw that the sky outside was already tinged with orange-red sunset clouds, confirming the time.
She has been missing for most of the day.
She touched the pocket of her clothes with her bound hands. Fortunately, the sleeping powder was still inside. This was her only chance.
She slowly twisted her body, trying to find any possible opportunity to escape.
Her gaze swept across the dimly lit woodshed, and suddenly, she stopped.
Beside the woodpile in the corner, there was another person, also bound, lying there, seemingly still unconscious.
What she found even more unbelievable was that, by the dim light, she could make out the profile of the person's face, and it turned out to be Fang Shijie!
How could it be him?
Jiang Ling's mind immediately went into overdrive.
She had always suspected that the assassination attempt against her today was related to Fang Shijie. Although there was no evidence to support this claim, her intuition told her that it was definitely related to Fang Shijie.
But now, this suspect has also become a prisoner, sharing the same fate as himself?
This made her previous assumptions waver.
In the dim light, she analyzed the situation of the day.
Two groups of assassins arrived today, and there's a high probability they weren't together.
Although the two groups of men in black were dressed very similarly, she could clearly see the surprise in the eyes of the first group of men in black when they saw the second group!
The first group of men in black seemed to be after her, but it was more likely that they were using her as a cover to kill Zhao Jingxing.
The second group of men in black came directly at her without any hesitation or uttering a single word.
Jiang Ling took a deep breath of the cool night air, and the conclusion had already come to mind.
The people behind the first group of assassins wanted to kill Zhao Jingxing and used her name to carry out the assassination.
As for the second batch, she had always suspected it was Fang Shijie's doing, but now...
Jiang Ling turned her head and looked at Fang Shijie's profile in the dim light.
My guesses suddenly lost their direction.
If it weren't for Fang Shijie, who else in Beijing had she offended?
Why did they kidnap her but not kill her?
My mind is in complete turmoil, and I have no clue what to do.
With her bound feet, she struggled to kick Fang Shijie twice.
"Hmm..."
Fang Shijie let out a low groan and slowly woke up.
He blinked blankly at first, but when he realized his situation and Jiang Ling beside him, his face immediately showed astonishment and worry.
The mouth, stuffed with cloth, whimpered and tried to say something, but couldn't produce any clear sounds.
He struggled to sit up, but looked quite disheveled due to the ropes binding him.
Just then, heavy footsteps sounded outside the woodshed, accompanied by two rough, hoarse voices talking:
"The boss has spoken! These two hostages are extremely valuable; you'd better keep a close eye on them!"
"Of course! One is the head of the Fang family's caravan, and I've heard he has mountains of gold at home; the other is always seen with General Cheng's sister, so he must be a high-ranking official's relative. With these two together, the ransom will be at least double!"
"Hehe, once the invitations are sent out tomorrow, our Black Wind Stronghold will be able to get a new batch of swords..."
Black Wind Stronghold...
Mountain bandits?
Jiang Ling kicked Fang Shijie, pouted, turned her back, and waved her hands, which were trapped behind her back.
He gestured for him to bring his mouth closer so he could remove the gag from it.
Fang Shijie understood immediately. He twisted his body, trying not to make too much noise, and bent down to put the gag in Jiang Ling's hand.
Jiang Ling's hands were tied, making it difficult for her to exert any force. It took a lot of effort to tear the gag out of his mouth.
Then, Jiang Ling used the same trick again, handing the strip of cloth in her hand to Fang Shijie.
The moment the strip of cloth was torn off, Jiang Ling couldn't help but exhale twice.
Fang Shijie moved closer to Jiang Ling, lowered his voice, and his expression became serious.
"Miss Jiang, we've probably run into bandits who've kidnapped us."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling's suspicions about Fang Shijie dissipated considerably.
If he really orchestrated this himself, he wouldn't have gotten himself involved, would he?
I just wanted to discuss a collaboration with her; there was no need to set up such a grand scheme.
Perhaps there's something she doesn't know?
Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore.
Right now, escaping is the top priority.
She winked at Fang Shijie, signaling him to be quiet, then tried to move her body so that her back was to him, and reached her hands, which were tied behind her back, toward his bound wrists.
Fang Shijie immediately understood and struggled to adjust his posture, and the two of them finally touched.
In the darkness, relying on their sense of touch, they clumsily began to untie the knots on each other's wrists.
The process was extremely slow, my fingertips went numb due to poor blood circulation, and the rough hemp rope chafed my skin, causing waves of stinging pain.
Time passed slowly, and the sunset outside the small window was gradually replaced by dark blue.
Finally, Jiang Ling felt her wrist loosen!
Fang Shijie actually untied the knot on her hands first!
She quickly freed her hands and immediately turned around to help Fang Shijie untie his restraints.
"Young Master Fang, we need to find a chance to leave here quickly." Jiang Ling lowered her voice, listening warily to the sounds outside the door.
“Miss Jiang is right.” Fang Shijie moved his numb wrists and glanced at the woodshed.
He walked to the door, peered through the crack for a moment, and then picked up a relatively sturdy piece of firewood and held it in his hand.
"There are only two guards outside the door, and the defenses are not strong enough. We need to take advantage of their inattention and knock them unconscious."
Jiang Ling shook her head, moved closer to him, and whispered:
"No, that would be too noisy and would attract other bandits. Besides, we don't know the terrain, so it would be difficult to escape quickly."
If they are caught and brought back, they will definitely be tied up again and kept under strict guard.
They might even suffer physical pain.
Fang Shijie considered carefully and said, "Then what do we do now? We can't just sit here and wait to die."
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