Chapter 640 Captured?
Seeing that the people in front of him were not the ones he had arranged to feign kidnapping, but rather real assassins, Shang Hong immediately became alert and said coldly, "Who are you? How dare you assassinate the Empress? Don't you have a death wish?"
"We came specifically to take her life precisely because we know she is the Empress. We only want Jiang Fenghua's life; the rest of you who want to live should run away!"
Upon hearing this, Shang Hong felt insulted. How could he, the commander of the Imperial Guard, be a coward? He said coldly, "Protect the Empress, kill without mercy."
Everyone stood in front of Jiang Fenghua. Jiang Fenghua's original intention was to lure out Su Qingqing, but now it seemed that only a group of assassins had come. Su Qingqing was very cautious and would not easily show herself.
Shang Hong and his men were definitely going to do everything in their power to save her, and she had already instructed Ao Xue and the others to wait for Su Qingqing to appear before they showed themselves.
She needs to think of a solution...
At this moment, Shang Hong's men had already started fighting with the men in black. She spotted a small path and quickly made a decision, saying to Shang Hong, "Lord Shang, I'll retreat and hide over there. You should fight off the enemy first."
Before he could think, the enemy had already attacked. The empress did not know martial arts. She could hide, but if she wanted to run, she should run towards the main road in the direction she was going back.
Shang Hong didn't understand what she meant. Before leaving the palace, the emperor had instructed him to protect the empress's safety.
Jiang Fenghua's escape route was exactly what Aunt Zhao wanted, so she followed in that direction. The madam had given the order: if possible, assassinate her; if not, capture her alive and bring her back.
Empress Jiang was just a woman with no power to even kill a chicken. Once she left the palace, there were fewer people protecting her, making it easy to capture her.
Seeing the masked woman leading the group chasing after her, Jiang Fenghua had no choice but to take a gamble. If it was her own enemy, or even someone who had wiped out her entire Manchu clan, she would definitely want to capture them personally and take revenge.
Consort Su went from being a consort to a fugitive, and her family was eventually beheaded. This must be considered a blood feud!
Jiang Fenghua tripped and fell while running, and then Aunt Zhao's sword was pressed against her neck. She pretended to be scared and dared not run anymore. "Who are you people? I have no grudge against you recently or in the past. Why... why do you want to kill me?"
Zhao Jin used to be a capable assistant to the Su family, having escaped from the border and protected Su Qingqing. She had heard of Empress Jiang's ruthlessness, but seeing Empress Jiang's appearance today, she couldn't believe that the Empress Jiang they described was a vicious and ruthless empress.
Zhao Jin stood before her, her face veiled, revealing only a pair of cold eyes, her gaze as sinister as a venomous snake. The sword in her hand gleamed in the cold wind, her aura terrifying. "Your Majesty, there's no need for you to struggle in vain! My lady invites you to meet her before I kill you."
"Who is your wife?" Jiang Fenghua shrank back: "She wants to kill me but won't come out to see me. I don't know her at all."
A hint of doubt flashed in Zhao Jin's eyes. She didn't know who the madam was. It was her younger brother who had kidnapped Madam Su and Princess Ling'er.
"You'll understand once you come with me..."
"Alright, I'll go with you, but don't kill me. Even if you do kill me, let me know who wants to kill me, so I can die knowing the truth." She continued, "To be honest, I injured my brain a few days ago and have lost my memory. I don't remember many things now. Why does your mistress want to kill me?"
"Amnesia?" Zhao Jin asked in confusion. She then remembered her master's instructions that Jiang Fenghua was cunning and that she should not be tricked by her.
Hiding in the shadows, Ao Xue and the others were so nervous that their backs were sweating. They dared not let the Empress take any risks, but before leaving the palace, the Empress had told them that no one was allowed to show their faces without her orders.
Su Qingqing must have realized that she had someone protecting her, which is why they weren't in a hurry to show themselves.
Most of Zhao Jin's men failed to escape; only a few subordinates followed. "Aunt Zhao."
Jiang Fenghua's hands were also tied, and she cried out in pain, "Be gentle, it hurts so much! Your master wants to see me, but he doesn't even try to treat me well. How am I supposed to walk in this cold weather?"
"Don't rush, you won't have walked in vain."
Their people had prepared a carriage in advance, and soon Jiang Fenghua was pushed onto the carriage.
She glanced at it casually and saw that the carriage was heading towards the city. Could it be that Su Qingqing was hiding in the city?
However, Xie Shang sent people to search everywhere, but they couldn't find Su Qingqing or her people. They were hiding everywhere like rats.
Shang Hong was about to give chase, but was suddenly stopped by a flying knife shot from the shadows.
He recognized the man; he was one of the Imperial Guards led by Lin Feng. At this moment, he finally understood why the Empress had run off to her death—she had done it on purpose.
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Meanwhile, Helan Yanran had already changed out of her cloak and put on the black clothes that had been prepared for her when she and Jiang Fenghua got into the carriage.
As the carriage passed through the alley, she was picked up by men in black and hidden away. These men were all Shang Hong's people and his confidants.
They had also agreed that the Queen would jump off the carriage at the appointed time, creating the illusion that she had fallen off a cliff and died.
Consort Lan died on the edge of a cliff, and no one would actually go looking for her anyway.
It was already dark when she met Shang Hong. He Lan Yanran's first words were: "Is Your Majesty the Empress injured?"
"No, but she was captured by a real assassin."
"What real assassin? Weren't these people people you arranged beforehand?" Helan Yanran said anxiously. "She was captured because she was trying to help us."
"Don't worry, Lan'er. I think Her Majesty knows what she's doing. When I was about to go to rescue him, I spotted the Imperial Guards around the Emperor. They are the ones who protect the Emperor closely. I guess the Emperor must have left the palace." Shang Hong said happily, "From today onwards, you will no longer be called Helan Yanran, but Lan'er, okay?"
Helan Yanran felt a pang of sadness. The Empress had been right; she no longer even had a surname. How could she still call herself Helan Yanran in her current state? She nodded obediently, "Mm."
“We can be together forever now. There will never be another Consort Lan in this world, only Lan’er,” he said.
He Lan Yanran asked doubtfully, "Where will you take me?"
Shang Hong stared at her belly, "Just focus on giving birth to the baby, and then I'll find an opportunity to change your identity and take you back to the Shang family."
She recalled the Empress's advice to her and asked again, "Will Your Excellency marry Lan'er?"
"Of course, definitely. I will persuade my father. They have wanted a grandson for so many years, but since a few years ago... Anyway, you will definitely be my wife, Shang Hong. I will only love Lan'er in this life. I swear I will never marry another woman."
He Lan Yanran was also very happy to hear this. She did not expect to escape from the palace so easily. The scene of entering the palace for the imperial concubine selection was still vivid in her mind. She thought that with the He Lan family's background, she would at least be one of the favored concubines. She did not expect that the emperor was not the kind of person they thought he was.
She had the opportunity to meet the Emperor, but he didn't like her and only used her as a shield. She only got the chance because of the Empress Dowager's intervention...
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