Wang Fu suddenly became interested and leaned closer to Yang Meiqin: "What do you mean?"
Yang Meiqin leaned close to Wang Fu's ear and whispered a few words, her face full of malice.
Wang Fu's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something. Then he hesitated.
Seeing Wang Fu hesitate, Yang Meiqin seized the opportunity to say, "Miss, why should we have an unpleasant falling out because of Gu Nanjiao's instigation? You hate him, and I hate her too. How could I possibly help her harm you? I've realized that this Gu Nanjiao is not simple. She has many people and great power, so we can only resort to underhanded tactics."
"If you hesitate, that young master Bai will surely be snatched away by her in time."
Wang Fu's face instantly turned ugly: "She's a married woman, no wonder Young Master Bai wouldn't even look at her."
"So what? Her husband is at most a poor, pedantic scholar. Young Master Bai is rich and powerful, and he likes a beautiful married woman like her. It's not impossible for the two of them to get together."
Thinking of how he had repeatedly suffered losses at Gu Nanjiao's hands, and how even Bai Luochen, whom he had longed for, was about to be snatched away, Wang Fu's face was extremely gloomy: "Just do as you say!"
If open methods don't work, then try covert ones. As long as it's done quietly, no one will notice.
So what if her father knew people in the government? So what if her husband was a scholar? As long as it's handled cleanly enough, no one will find out.
...
When Gu Nanjiao wasn't busy, she went back to Hama Village to check on the growth of the kudzu root powder.
They ran into Huang Qingqing on the way, followed by Lu Yanping, who was meek and obedient.
After chatting for a while, Gu Nanjiao learned that Huang Qingqing was now working as a cook at Bai Luochen's saltpeter plant, and that Lu Yanping had recently been kept in line by her, obediently moving stones. The two of them had made quite a bit of money through their hard work.
Li still wanted to scold her at the drop of a hat, but strangely enough, Lu Yanping actually protected her once.
Huang Qingqing blushed slightly and asked Gu Nanjiao, "I don't want a divorce unless absolutely necessary. If Lu Yanping can change for the better, I'll accept my fate for the rest of my life. I don't want my parents to worry about me."
Gu Nanjiao could only say, "You can make your own judgment. After all, it's your family matter, and I shouldn't interfere."
After saying that, the two parted ways.
Gu Nanjiao shook her head. How could Lu Yanping possibly change? A leopard can't change its spots.
As Gu Nanjiao walked down the street, she didn't notice that three people were staring at her from behind.
As it grew dark, Gu Nanjiao regretted talking to Huang Qingqing for so long. Otherwise, she might miss the oxcart to the county town.
It seems I'll need to buy a horse-drawn carriage when I get back.
Gu Nanjiao walked very quickly, and when she reached a secluded spot, she vaguely sensed someone following her. She turned around and saw several shifty-eyed men.
Did she encounter a kidnapper? Or is someone trying to harm her?
She realized something was wrong and ran towards the wider road, hoping to find someone to help her.
But those shifty-eyed men followed closely behind. Gu Nanjiao was, after all, a woman, and no match for men. She couldn't outrun them and was quickly subdued. They gagged her with rags, bound her tightly, and shoved her into a dilapidated carriage.
The carriage was moving fast and hurriedly. Gu Nanjiao forced herself to calm down, wondering if someone was trying to frame her or if she had encountered a kidnapper. Either way, she would suffer. She had to find a way to save herself.
There were three men surrounding Gu Nanjiao: two in the carriage and one driving the horse-drawn carriage.
With a sharp, monkey-like grin, he looked at Gu Nanjiao and said, "You little wench, you ran pretty fast."
Gu Nanjiao met his gaze; her eyes were calm, which surprised him.
"If it weren't for the fact that there were a lot of us around you, we really wouldn't have been able to catch you."
With a lewd grin, he stroked his chin and said, "This little wench isn't bad looking. How about... we have some fun first?"
With his pointed snout and monkey-like face, he slapped the head of the shifty-eyed man: "Look at you, so impatient. Aren't you afraid of attracting the attention of the authorities? You can have your fun when we get to the brothel."
The shifty-eyed man scratched his head and then fell silent.
Gu Nanjiao listened intently to the sounds outside when the carriage suddenly stopped, seemingly having collided with an oncoming carriage.
Bai Su abruptly pulled on the reins and angrily shouted, "How did you drive? You startled my young master! Can you take responsibility for that?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was blind and didn't see the road ahead clearly."
Bai Su clearly didn't accept the other party's apology: "What's the point of having officials if 'sorry' is so useful? You've committed murder, arson, and trafficking of women, and you're running away so fast, like a starving ghost reincarnated."
Bai Luochen frowned impatiently: "Alright, alright, I still have a long way to go, don't bother with them, let's go."
Bai Luochen's voice reached her ears, and Gu Nanjiao's heart leaped with joy. She was about to shout for help, but her mouth was stuffed with a rag, and her hands and feet were bound. But she knew this was her only chance to ask for help. Taking advantage of the fact that the weasel-faced man and the shifty-eyed man weren't paying attention, she suddenly mustered all her strength and rushed out. The two noticed Gu Nanjiao's movement and, just as she was about to rush out, pulled her back and held her down firmly.
Gu Nanjiao tried her best to ram the carriage, but she was outnumbered. So she tried to kick it with her feet. In the struggle, the bronze token given to her by Bai Luochen fell off. As the carriage drove away, Gu Nanjiao kicked with both feet, and the bronze token and the embroidered shoe on her right foot fell out of the carriage together.
Neither of them expected Gu Nanjiao to struggle so fiercely, so just in case, they raised their arms and chopped down.
Gu Nanjiao felt a sharp pain in her neck and then lost consciousness.
Just as Bai Su was about to drive away, he was drawn to the embroidered shoes on the ground. Next to the shoes was a small yellow tag that looked very familiar. He vaguely remembered that it had fallen off the carriage just now.
Bai Su handed the bronze plaque to Bai Luochen: "Young Master, look, isn't this a bronze plaque from our Bai Family Bank? It's a five-thousand-tael plaque. It fell down with this embroidered shoe."
Bai Luochen examined the bronze plaque closely, and the more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. He remembered giving Gu Nanjiao one before. Combining this with the embroidered shoes that Bai Su had picked up, Bai Luochen's eyes narrowed slightly: "This is bad!"
"What's wrong, young master?"
"Quick! Follow that carriage ahead. Get off at the next intersection and go to Nanxiang Academy to find Lu Yanzhao. Ask him if this embroidered shoe belongs to Gu Nanjiao."
...
Gu Nanjiao was awakened by pain; her head throbbed terribly. She was groggily carried off the carriage. The alley where the carriage stopped seemed familiar; she vaguely remembered being here before…
Shaking her aching head, Gu Nanjiao remembered that Yang Meiqin had come here suspiciously before, and she had followed her. It seemed to be a brothel.
Could it be that Yang Meiqin is trying to harm her?
With such great power, how could Yang Meiqin command people right under the noses of Madam Wang and Wang Fu?
Regardless of whether someone wants to harm her, she can't just sit and wait to die now.
Gu Nanjiao's mouth was stuffed with a rag, her tongue pressed down underneath, and she tried to push the rag out, but she couldn't muster any strength.
So Gu Nanjiao simply knelt down on the ground, buried her mouth between her knees, and rubbed it little by little, hoping to get some external force to spit out the rag in her mouth.
Persistence pays off. Gu Nanjiao finally spat out the rag from her mouth, moved her numb tongue, and began to use her teeth to untie the hemp rope on her arm bit by bit.
...
As darkness fell and Gu Nanjiao still hadn't returned, Madam Lu anxiously looked towards the door many times. Still, there wasn't a trace of her. So, she went to Jiaoniang Pavilion and Meiwuzhai, but still couldn't find Gu Nanjiao there.
Lu's mother was really worried then, and ran to Nanxiang Academy again, wondering if Gu Nanjiao had gone to find Lu Yanzhao?
In the academy, Lu Yanzhao always felt restless and couldn't concentrate on reading a single word in the books.
Upon learning that his mother had arrived, Lu Yanzhao asked in confusion, "Mother, why are you here?"
Has Jiaojiao come to your place?
"No, what happened?" Lu Yanzhao looked at his mother, who was in a hurry, and had a vague sense of unease.
"Jiaojiao is still nowhere to be found. I've searched everywhere." Mother Lu looked anxious and kept rubbing her hands together.
Just then, Bai Su ran over, holding up an embroidered shoe. Seeing Lu Yanzhao, she asked:
"You're Gu Nanjiao's husband, right? Look, aren't these her shoes?"
"These are Jiaojiao's shoes!" Mother Lu snatched the embroidered shoes, her hands trembling with fear. These were shoes she had made herself for Gu Nanjiao.
"Gu Nanjiao seems to be in danger!"
"What?"
Lu Yanzhao's pores tightened suddenly, and before Bai Su could finish speaking, he rushed out of the academy.
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