Chapter 126 Ultimate Goal
"Hmm..." When Ye Wanning woke up, she found herself in complete darkness.
Where am I...? She shook her still dizzy head, feeling weak all over. She clearly remembered taking care of Wenzhen back then, but now... where am I...?
Just as she was pondering this, she suddenly heard a sound from not far away. Ye Wanning was startled and quickly shrank back. A moment later, it seemed as if a door was opened and light came in. A masked man carrying a torch walked in.
"Who are you?" Ye Wanning cowered in the corner, using the torch in the man's hand to get a better look at her surroundings. She... was actually in a prison cell! Looking around, Ye Wanning frowned. She vaguely remembered smelling a strange fragrance before she fainted, so now... She bit her lip, watching the man slowly approaching her, and asked in a low voice, "Where is this?"
"Welcome, Princess Consort of Jin." With that, the man walked to the side and sat down, giving a wink to the person standing next to him.
Seeing this, they quickly lit the lamps, instantly illuminating the surroundings. Ye Wanning's heart sank; just as she had suspected. She composed herself, looked at the man, and said calmly, "So this is how you welcome people." As she spoke, Ye Wanning stood up, intending to walk forward, when suddenly she felt resistance on her right foot. She turned her head and clenched her fists—it was… shackles!
"The Princess Consort of Jin is too clever; it's best to be careful." The man suddenly laughed, the laughter filling the cell and sounding unusually eerie.
"What exactly do you want!" Ye Wanning clenched her fists, looking at the man in front of her with indignation. "Why did you lock me up here!"
"What does Your Highness think I should do?" The man's face was obscured, but he raised an eyebrow and looked at Ye Wanning. Without even looking, one could guess that he was looking at her with a mocking expression. "Perhaps, if Your Highness can guess, I will let you go."
"You!" Ye Wanning gritted her teeth, looking at the man in front of her, feeling extremely angry. After a pause, as if she had thought of something, she looked at the man and smiled provocatively, "How about we make a bet? If I can guess who ordered you to arrest me, then you..." Ye Wanning lifted her foot, looked at the man in front of her and smiled, "...will remove the shackles from my injured foot, how about that?"
"Oh?" Upon hearing Ye Wanning's words, the man couldn't help but chuckle. "I'd like to hear who the princess is guessing."
Ye Wanning smiled at the man, paused, then parted her red lips slightly and uttered two words, "Crown Prince..."
As soon as she finished speaking, the man suddenly froze. Seeing this, Ye Wanning couldn't help but chuckle. "I only said two words, and I haven't finished speaking yet..." Ye Wanning glanced at the man and smiled meaningfully. "Your reaction is so strong. Could it be that you really are the Crown Prince?"
"If you think so, then so be it." As if realizing that something was wrong with his emotions, the man suddenly calmed down. He looked at Ye Wanning and smiled, "I had heard that this Princess Consort of Jin was exceptionally intelligent, but now that I see her, she's nothing special."
"Is that so?" Ye Wanning smiled, looking at the man with a nonchalant attitude. After a while, she looked at him and said lazily, "I have never said that I am smart. It is you who keeps saying that I am smart. I feel a little embarrassed."
"Your Highness is truly amusing." The man looked at Ye Wanning and suddenly burst into laughter. "You still have the mood to joke with me at a time like this? Aren't you afraid?"
"Not afraid?" Hearing this, Ye Wanning couldn't help but laugh. "How could I not be afraid? Of course I'm afraid, but..." She looked at the man, her eyes suddenly darkening, "I won't show it to you even if I'm afraid."
"Hahaha." The man squinted and carefully examined Ye Wanning. "Speaking of which, the princess is indeed a wonderful person. It is no wonder that my master..." Before he could finish speaking, the man suddenly paused. He looked at Ye Wanning with a flickering gaze, as if he had said something wrong. He stopped and quickly added, "It is no wonder that Prince Jin treats you so well."
"His master?" Ye Wanning couldn't help but chuckle. This Su Wenliang was truly pathetic; was he going to pin all the blame on him now? She pursed her lips, finding the man's behavior somewhat amusing. Such a clumsy attempt at framing someone was a waste of his talent. Since that was the case, why not just play along? She smiled, staring intently at the man, and said, "You just said your master... could it be... you're Su Wenliang's man!"
"Is Princess Consort of Jin confused?" The man smiled and looked at Ye Wanning, saying, "Just now you said it was the Crown Prince, how come you changed your mind so quickly?"
Hearing this, Ye Wanning bit her lip and put on an angry look, "That ungrateful bastard Su Wenliang! I've already helped him leave the city! What else does he want!"
"Judging from the Princess Consort's expression, she seems to harbor quite a grudge against the Third Prince?" The man looked at Ye Wanning and said with unusual ease, "It's a pity I don't know him, otherwise, I would really have to have a good chat with him!"
"Are you mixing things up?" Ye Wanning looked up at the man and suddenly laughed. "Since you don't know him, how do you know he's the Third Prince? Judging from your accent, you don't sound like someone from Chu!"
"What do you mean by that?" Upon hearing this, the man suddenly became agitated and slammed his hand on the table. "Then, according to the Princess Consort of Jin, who am I?"
Seeing the man's intense reaction, Ye Wanning felt even more certain. She couldn't possibly distinguish whether someone had an accent or not; she was just speaking casually. Thinking this, she looked at the man and slightly curled her lips, "You, you're probably from the Qiang Kingdom!"
"You!" Upon hearing this, the man was stunned, looking at Ye Wanning with surprise in his eyes.
Seeing this, Ye Wanning quickly pressed her advantage. She looked at the man and pretended to be extremely agitated, saying, "Tell me the truth, why did you kidnap me? No! It's Su Wenliang, what does he want to do!"
“Princess Consort of Jin…” the man suddenly laughed, “Since the Princess Consort already knows the truth, then I will tell you.” As he spoke, he looked up at Ye Wanning, “Presumably, the Third Prince must have told you before leaving the city that he would persuade the Qiang Kingdom to withdraw its troops, Princess Consort, do you really believe him?”
Hearing this, Ye Wanning was stunned. She looked at the man with a puzzled expression. "What...do you mean by that?"
"Doesn't Your Highness find it strange? What benefit would it bring to the Third Prince to ask the Qiang Kingdom to withdraw its troops?" After a pause, the man chuckled, "If that's the case, then why ask the Qiang Kingdom to withdraw its troops?"
"You mean..." Ye Wanning's face suddenly turned pale. She looked at the man with disbelief, "He was lying to me?"
"Of course." Upon hearing this, the man nodded.
A thought flashed through her mind, and Ye Wanning stiffened, staring at the man with terror in her eyes. "Then, why did you kidnap me here..."
"I presume the Princess already has the answer in her heart?" The man squinted at Ye Wanning, a smile playing on his lips. "A Princess as clever as she is, you simply can't fool her!"
Were they kidnapping her to blackmail Su Wenzhen? The thought suddenly filled Ye Wanning with dread. She stared at the man for a long while before finally asking, "What...what are you trying to do?"
"Now that the Prince of Jin is overseeing the country, if we can find his weakness," the man suddenly burst into laughter, "then the State of Chu will be nothing more than a piece of cake!"
Ye Wanning was startled. Looking at the man, her body trembled slightly. "It's impossible... Don't even think about it..."
"Your Highness, please rest assured." The man smiled and looked at Ye Wanning. "The Third Prince has told us to take good care of you. If anything goes wrong..." The man chuckled, "I'm afraid I'll have to suffer the Third Prince's wrath. I don't want to create a rift between us over such a trivial matter..." The man glanced at Ye Wanning, "and cause a rift between us and the Third Prince!"
"..."
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