The midday sun was shining wantonly, making the earth scorching hot. The blood on it was still bright red, exuding the atmosphere of rampant killing just a moment ago.
Zhou Jing'an knelt on one knee on the ground, his head lowered, and a handkerchief tightly clenched in his hand.
The light yellow silk handkerchief was stained with blood and sand, and had long lost the softness it had in the hands of its owner.
The air around was silent, and rows of corpses were neatly placed nearby, half of them were men in black and half were secret guards.
Ye Song, Ye Bai and Xiao Jia were bandaging the wounds, with ugly expressions on their faces, with resentment and guilt prevailing.
They all lowered their heads, but kept observing the surprisingly quiet person in front of them with their peripheral vision.
Everyone was being scorched by the scorching midday sun, and the sweat and blood that fell down mixed together seemed to be scorching their anxious hearts.
Finally, Ye Song couldn't bear it any longer. He ignored the doctor who was bandaging his hands and knelt on the ground with a plop.
As soon as he knelt, all the others knelt as well, and the sand on the ground was shaken into a tiny arc by their movements.
The wound on Ye Song's abdomen had only been half bandaged when blood began to drip out again.
His face was pale, but stained with blood.
"Sir, I failed to protect you well. Please punish me!" His voice was firm and trembling.
The others also said in unison: "Please punish me, sir!"
This was the scene Xiang Feng saw when he came here with several teams of secret guards under the order of the emperor. He glanced at the people squatting and kneeling on the ground without moving, and he unconsciously slowed down his movement of getting off the horse.
Zhou Jing'an lowered his eyes to look at the silk handkerchief in his hand, his fingers gently stroking the two osmanthus flowers embroidered on the corners.
Upon closer inspection, his hands were shaking slightly uncontrollably.
The other hand holding the knife handle turned white due to the force, and the veins were prominent.
He slowly stood up and turned around in the scorching sun.
Everyone lowered their heads even lower, and only Xiang Feng, who was standing beside him, looked up quietly and saw his red eyes.
But it was not the red-eyed look that Jiang Ling was familiar with.
His eyes were flooded with bloodthirsty red, his gaze was sinister and dark, and hidden beneath was a heartache that seemed ready to break at any moment.
Zhou Jing'an put the handkerchief into the lining of his outer shirt, and the two osmanthus flowers were right next to his heart.
His voice seemed calm, yet deep like a pool.
"Go to Qingchun Mountain."
-
Jiang Ling tilted her head and smiled, feeling somewhat relieved that she had guessed correctly and deliberately left behind the handkerchief embroidered with osmanthus flowers.
I hope Zhou Jing'an can understand what she means.
"Boss Han, are your Tangquan and Jinguiyuan businesses failing? Why are you kidnapping people?"
The person in front of him smiled gently, like an elegant scholar with a pale face.
Han Jin casually tossed the blood-stained sword to his subordinate, "Mrs. Zhou is indeed different from ordinary ladies."
He raised his eyebrows slightly, revealing a teasing expression that was completely different from before. "No wonder he was able to hold Zhou Jing'an so tightly in his hands."
The two of them often showed affection right under his nose, and he had witnessed with his own eyes how Zhou Jing'an treated Jiang Ling like a treasure.
Jiang Ling shrugged and said nothing.
"Then you dare to tie me up."
Han Jin sighed and laughed, "The situation is pressing. I hope Madam Zhou will forgive me."
Jiang Ling curled her lips, somewhat annoyed that he was still pretending to be so friendly.
Han Jin made a gesture, and someone came forward and took Jiang Ling to a cave.
Jiang Ling didn't struggle at all, just followed obediently, and was even able to chat with Han Jin peacefully.
"Have you always been one of theirs?"
"What favors did they promise you?"
"Did you kidnap me to threaten my father and Zhou Jing'an?"
"What then? What are you going to do?"
There were only two torches burning in the dark cave. Jiang Ling turned around and saw Han Jin's dark and impatient face.
"Mrs. Zhou, there's no need to say so much at this time, right?"
He turned to leave, but was stopped by Jiang Ling.
"I have one last question."
Han Jin turned around and signaled to her that this was the last time he would listen to her.
Jiang Ling looked at him and asked seriously, "Will you kill me?"
She looked calm and composed, and it was impossible to tell that this was a question concerning her life.
Han Jin really couldn't understand the woman in front of him.
Is she really not afraid at all?
"No comment."
He left after saying this. He wanted to reconfirm the deployment to prevent any accidents.
So Jiang Ling was placed in this cave. Someone at the entrance prevented her from leaving and tied her hands and feet.
The hemp rope was very rough and it rubbed against her socks and skirt, not to mention her wrists. She originally wanted to twist the rope herself to loosen it, but as soon as she twisted it, her wrists were scratched and bleeding. Jiang Ling gave up immediately.
"Silly, can you help me untie the rope?"
Fox frowned, "Host, we can't leave too many traces in this world. Besides, even if we untie you, you can't escape. We'll just have to ask them to bring a new rope."
Jiang Ling's mouth turned down, "Okay, that's right."
She ran to the door again. One of the gatekeepers was the woman in the carriage. Jiang Ling tried to get close to her, intending to appeal to her emotions and reason with her, to move her and even bring her into his camp.
But they ignored her the whole time, making her talk in vain.
After struggling for a long time, Jiang Ling finally sat down on the big rock in the cave and broke it down.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com