Chapter 297 Consequences
Meng Lingge couldn't see what was happening outside the carriage, but she could hear screams and sounds of fighting rising and falling.
Cao Ran's voice resounded in all directions.
"Protect the Princess's safety! The Princess is inside the carriage; you must ensure her safety!"
Meng Lingge was startled. These words seemed to be genuinely for her safety, but emphasizing her location so loudly always seemed a bit like protesting too much.
The sound of arrows fell silent, and the fighting intensified.
Meng Lingge looked up and saw many men in black rushing out of the darkness from below the car window, fighting with her soldiers.
Cao Ran and his men were also fighting, but it was clear that he was holding back his attacks. The men in black did not kill his men, but instead chased after the eight soldiers that Wen Zhiming had left for her with their knives.
Cao Ran really did have designs on someone else!
But Cao Ran is still pretending to protect her, clearly not wanting her to discover his true colors.
If Cao Ran wanted to kill her, he wouldn't need to be so secretive now. He could just swarm her with his men and kill her to silence her.
What exactly is he trying to do?
The unease in her heart confirmed Meng Lingge's suspicion that even if Cao Ran did not intend to kill her, he certainly harbored ill intentions.
Her soldiers couldn't hold out for much longer, and it was unclear whether her bodyguards had caught up in time. Once these men dealt with the last few soldiers, she and her two maids would be like fish on a chopping board, at their mercy.
Thinking of this, Meng Lingge no longer hesitated, turned to Qiu Lan and Lu Shui and said, "Hold on tight," before quickly climbing to the driver's seat.
The coachman had already been shot by an arrow and was dead.
Meng Lingge silently apologized and pushed the person off the carriage, then raised her whip and drove the carriage away forcefully.
The two horses were startled and stopped neighing. After being whipped, they immediately took off running wildly.
Screams and the sound of chasing came from behind.
Meng Lingge dared not stop and continued to whip the horse vigorously. Lushui and Qiulan were shaken from side to side inside the carriage, and they held on tightly to the window to avoid falling out.
Meng Lingge gripped the reins tightly with one hand and brandished the whip with the other, not daring to loosen her grip even slightly, despite the long, bloody welt left on her hand.
She managed to steady herself with a strong survival instinct, but the bumpy ride made her dizzy and nauseous, and she couldn't help but want to vomit.
Just as Meng Lingge was about to give up, two bodyguards caught up with her, jumped onto the carriage from the left and right, pushed Meng Lingge into the carriage, took the reins and whips, and galloped forward.
Their horse-training skills were excellent, and the carriage did not slow down, but the bumpy ride was slightly better.
One of them turned around and said to Meng Lingge.
"Your Highness, we have two men holding off the pursuers, but they won't be able to hold them off for long. If we continue on this road, we'll be caught up soon. You need to decide immediately whether to continue on the main road and fight them or change course?"
With too many pursuers, it would be difficult for the guards to protect the three of them.
Meng Lingge made a decisive decision.
"Change lanes."
As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage turned onto the tree-lined path on the right.
Unfortunately, it rained lightly last night, and the carriage left two tire tracks after entering the narrow road. I'm afraid it still won't escape the eyes of the pursuers.
Sure enough, not long after entering the alley, they heard another sound from behind. The two guards sped up, but they were still unable to shake them off completely.
The path ended at a mountain road with no other exits on either side, so the guards had no choice but to grit their teeth and drive the carriage up the mountain road.
Meng Lingge stuck her head out of the window to observe the road conditions. After running for a while, she found that there was a cliff ahead and she needed to turn right immediately to get onto the normal path.
As the sounds from behind grew closer, Meng Lingge steeled her resolve and ordered, "Drive straight ahead. Before the carriage plunges off the cliff, lead the three of us out, making sure our feet don't touch the ground and we leave footprints."
In a flash, the two guards understood Meng Lingge's plan. Meng Lingge pushed Lushui and Qiulan to the car door to make it easier for the two guards to move.
In a short while, the carriage reached the edge of the cliff. The two guards seized the opportunity. One grabbed Meng Lingge, while the other grabbed Qiu Lan and Lu Shui and jumped off the carriage, landing on the grass. Then they leaped up and used their lightness skills to jump into the dense foliage above.
Two fast horses pulled the carriage down the cliff together, making a huge noise.
Almost simultaneously, Cao Ran led his men to this place and stopped at the fork in the road.
The group walked to the edge of the cliff, looked down, and their faces were filled with panic.
Some soldiers were so anxious they were pacing around in circles.
"General, this cliff looks bottomless. The princess is most likely dead. What should we do? How can we explain this to the King of the Northern Frontier?"
Cao Ran's face was also pale. He looked at the wheels on the ground and carefully examined the footprints next to them, but he couldn't find any trace of someone jumping off the carriage.
He didn't want Meng Lingge dead, because he had seen Wen Zhiming's feelings for Meng Lingge. If Meng Lingge died, Wen Zhiming was capable of anything.
He didn't want to cause such serious consequences.
However, Wen Zhiming's deep infatuation with Meng Lingge and his clear statement that he had no intention of taking any other women after becoming emperor were unacceptable to him.
Firstly, emperors needed to enrich their harems by taking in more daughters of officials, thus creating a political power struggle between the court and the harem. This served to both consolidate imperial power and divide the court. It was indispensable for the monarch.
Secondly, he has a daughter who is quite fond of Wen Zhiming. He previously thought that with his relationship with Wen Zhiming, he could at least grant his daughter a concubine position. Cao Ran had even boasted to his daughter.
If Wen Zhiming refuses to take other women as concubines, it will not only be detrimental to his throne, but also leave Cao Ran's daughter with no chance at all.
After much deliberation, Cao Ran came up with a compromise.
He guessed from Meng Lingge's figure that she was pregnant, so he wanted to create an accident to make Meng Lingge miscarry, and preferably be unable to get pregnant in the future. This way, Wen Zhiming would not be in despair, but would also have no way to refuse other women.
So, he first ordered his trusted subordinates to take Meng Lingge away, planning to cause an accident on the way and then come to rescue her. This would not only achieve the desired effect but also allow him to escape suspicion.
However, Meng Lingge did not trust others and was unwilling to take the back roads after going with him, which forced him to carry out the second plan: to hire someone to assassinate her and delay the rescue in order to achieve his goal.
Of the people he brought, only a few trusted confidants knew his plan. The others thought they were facing a real assassination attempt, so they acted very convincingly. In addition, two experts appeared out of nowhere and slowed him down, and the situation eventually turned out to be beyond his control.
Cao Ran's brows were furrowed into a deep frown.
Judging from the situation at the scene, it was obvious that Meng Lingge and the others panicked and went down the cliff along with the carriage. At such a height, the chances of survival for the pregnant woman and the other two girls were extremely slim.
Now, not only has the problem of Meng Lingge's unborn child been resolved, but Meng Lingge's life has also come to an end.
But Cao Ran wasn't happy at all. He knew that when he returned, he would face the storm of grief that Wen Zhiming would feel after losing his beloved.
He might not be able to handle it.
With Wen Zhiming only one step away from becoming emperor, such a major event has occurred at this time. If Wen Zhiming loses control, the world will descend into chaos.
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