Luck Reliant Beauty – CH 071

Chapter 71: Dark Night

During the rest of the journey, although the noble ladies were rather cold towards Jiang Mi, they didn’t target her as much as Princess Qingyue had done before. Furthermore, with Wang Yu’s deliberate protection along the way, Jiang Mi had a relatively easy time.

Pointing to the verdant mountains and clear waters ahead, Wang Yu, cracking her whip, said, “That’s Mingyu Manor. Decades ago, this area was deemed auspicious by feng shui masters. Coupled with its beautiful scenery, many nobles built estates here, and now it’s become a small Shu Capital.”

She turned to Jiang Mi, smiling, and said, “Because of its terrain, this place is especially cool and comfortable in summer, a veritable summer retreat for nobles. It’s said your mother used to live here for months on end!” And now it was June, already the height of summer in Shu.

Jiang Mi followed Wang Yu’s gaze, so familiar with her mother’s omnipresent presence in Shu Capital that she was almost oblivious to it.

At this moment, Wang Yu rode closer to her and whispered, “Mother asked me to thank you. She said you weren’t properly entertained when you visited last time. From now on, you can treat the Wang family as your own. Mother even instructed the servants to prepare a courtyard especially for you, Jiang siblings.”

Wang Yu’s attitude this time was completely different from her previous gentle yet arrogant demeanor. This time, her gaze towards Jiang Mi even held respect!

Of course, Jiang Mi’s unparalleled talent truly deserved her respect!

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Jiang Mi bowed her thanks and then turned to look at Mingyu Manor ahead.

Mingyu Manor was indeed a picturesque place. As soon as one approached, a refreshing aura, seemingly imbued with spiritual energy, swept over them, instantly dispelling their sweat and making them feel relaxed and invigorated.

Looking at the small bridges and flowing water on both sides, the crisscrossing farmland, and then at the mountain peak behind Mingyu Manor that concealed many pavilions, Jiang Mi couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is truly a wonderful place.”

This time, her praise had barely faded when she heard a noblewoman turn around and say with a smile, “Three of the most prestigious manors in Mingyu Manor belong to your Young Master Cui. If Princess Yihua likes them, why not say a few words to Young Master Cui? A few sweet words and a bit of coquetry? Shu State’s Young Master Cui has it all. Maybe he’ll even give you an entire estate if he likes it!”

The noblewoman spoke quite loudly, and despite knowing Princess Qingyue and the others were nearby, she spoke so clearly, as if Jiang Mi were someone special to Cui Zi Xuan… This was clearly a provocation!

Jiang Mi stared wide-eyed at the noblewoman. To one side, Wang Yu whispered, “This is Wu Jingyi, the niece of Her Imperial Highness the Empress. She’s always been at odds with Princess Qingyue.” For the Empress’s niece to oppose her own elder aunt’s daughter—what could be more foolish? Therefore, Wang Yu added in a low voice, “Although Wu Jingyi isn’t favored, she’s a troublemaker. Be careful.”

Jiang Mi nodded, ignoring Wu Jingyi.

After Wu Jingyi finished speaking, seeing that Jiang Mi’s response wasn’t loud and that Princess Qingyue, not far away, seemed not to have heard, she was somewhat disappointed. She then gave a cold laugh.

In the blink of an eye, the procession entered the main gate of Mingyu Manor.

In this turbulent era, Mingyu Manor was surrounded by a city wall. This wall was quite sturdy, giving those living inside a great sense of security.

Jiang Mi looked up at the city wall, and unknowingly, her carriage, along with the crowd, officially entered Mingyu Manor.

Mingyu Manor was over sixty li from Shu Capital. Although everyone’s horses were fine steeds, after their journey of leisurely riding, it was already evening when they arrived.

For some reason, after entering Mingyu Manor, the noble ladies and young masters did not immediately return to their respective manors but instead chose to spend the night in a row of inn-like rooms not far from the city wall.

Like the noble ladies, Jiang Mi, tired from riding her carriage all day, enjoyed a comfortable hot spring bath with the help of her maids before returning to her bed early to rest.

…

Jiang Mi awoke with a jolt.

Opening her eyes, Jiang Mi found herself in a swaying, moving carriage.

Jiang Mi snapped to attention!

She sat upright, realizing with horror that she was indeed in a carriage, which was speeding along in the moonlight. As for herself, her wrists and ankles were tightly bound with rope…she had been kidnapped!

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But her kidnappers hadn’t gagged her. Jiang Mi turned her head and, through the occasionally parting curtains, vaguely saw several men in black following closely beside the carriage.

Jiang Mi swallowed hard, then spoke in a hoarse voice, asking, “Who are you? Why have you kidnapped me?”

No one answered her.

After a while, Jiang Mi asked again, “Did you… kidnap the wrong person?”

In Jiang Mi’s mind, among the people she had offended, even if the Empress and the others wanted to harm her, it was all a conspiracy, an internal affair. She truly felt she wasn’t worth kidnapping!

At this moment, someone finally spoke outside. The voice was hoarse, a kind of hoarseness of a voice deliberately lowered. “Your mother offended so many people back then and even ruined the beautiful land of my Former Shu. You don’t even know why we kidnapped you?”

This time, Jiang Mi remained silent for a long time.

In the darkness, Jiang Mi’s bright eyes gleamed. She calmly looked outside, thinking, “This person is bringing up things from over a decade ago; clearly, they don’t want me to know the truth, trying to fool me… However, since they intend to fool me, it means they don’t intend to kill me. Maybe they’ll release me afterward. And with these two things, that’s enough for me.”

Feeling she had had enough, Jiang Mi stopped talking. So, while the man outside listened with annoyance, she peacefully closed her eyes to rest.

…She didn’t know how long they had been traveling when suddenly the carriage stopped.

Just as Jiang Mi opened her eyes, she didn’t notice a bamboo tube tucked into a corner of the carriage, from which smoke was rising. Therefore, after listening to the sounds outside for a while, Jiang Mi felt increasingly dizzy…

Shortly afterward, Jiang Mi fainted. Then, the carriage curtain was lifted, and several men in black carried Jiang Mi off the carriage.

Seeing the men carrying Jiang Mi towards the foot of the mountain, the leader in black, standing beside a short, stout man, said in a low, somewhat uneasy voice, “Brother Fu, I have a bad feeling about this… Her Imperial Highness only meant for us to punish and test Princess Yihua, not to send her to a place like this… This place is a plague camp!”

As soon as the leader in black finished speaking, the short, stout man sneered, saying in a hoarse voice, “You don’t understand… As for Her Imperial Highness, I, Li Fu, know her best. She’s the kind of person who, if someone makes her unhappy for a moment, will make them unhappy for a lifetime! Princess Yihua is lucky; not only does she have King Zhao and others protecting her, but Cui Zi Xuan also has his eye on her. But whether it’s Cui Zi Xuan or Princess Yihua herself, daring to disrespect Her Imperial Highness, they are both enemies of Her Imperial Highness! Think about it, if there were an opportunity to destroy Princess Yihua, to render the proud Cui Zi Xuan helpless, wouldn’t that be something to celebrate for Her Imperial Highness?”

At this point, the short, fat Li Fu pointed his thick, fleshy finger at Jiang Mi and the others who had disappeared into the dark woods and said in a hoarse voice, “I threw Princess Yihua into a place where lepers are imprisoned. What a gratifying thing for Her Imperial Highness that I did… Hehe, don’t those people all say Princess Yihua is lucky? Well, she’s just a little luckier. That way, she can come out of this place safely as a normal person… But by then, who will believe that she doesn’t have the leprosy virus in her body? And that Cui Zi Xuan, doesn’t he always boast of his unparalleled intelligence? I wonder if he would still want Princess Yihua with the leprosy virus still lingering in her body? Would he even want her?”

Although the leader of the black-clad group knew that Li Fu had the carriage heading in this direction to harm Princess Yihua, he had only just learned that Li Fu intended to dump her among lepers! This idea was so insidious, so utterly shameless!

Moreover, someone who did such a vicious and unscrupulous thing was hardly intelligent…Because a truly intelligent person would never dare to offend Cui Zi Xuan so thoroughly! Who was Shu State’s Young Master Cui? He was the eldest son of the Cui Clan of Boling, the heir to a thousand-year-old family. Even the Emperor of Shu didn’t know how many trump cards such a powerful family held and wouldn’t dare to act rashly. Yet Li Fu had offended him so recklessly!

In that instant, the black-clad leader thought of the common people’s opinions of Cui Zi Xuan, and a chill ran down his spine! Moreover, he had a feeling that soon Shu State’s Young Master Cui would find out that he was also involved… It would be better if this feeling didn’t arise; once it did, it chilled the black-clad leader to the bone. Instinctively, he looked towards the dark field behind him, because he had a feeling that Shu State’s Young Master Cui’s men were watching this scene from there…

And sure enough, the black-clad leader’s intuition was right this time! Not far behind him, in the bushes, lay in ambush two people. However, these two Cui clan soldiers, who had followed the carriage all the way here, also had a drastic change in expression. They glanced in the direction Jiang Mi had disappeared. One of the soldiers whispered, “This time, the Young Master underestimated Li Fu’s madness! Quick, go back and report this to the Young Master. I’ll try to sneak in and see if we can rescue Princess Yihua!”

“…Yes!” the second soldier replied. As he turned to leave, he looked back at the forest where Jiang Mi had disappeared and couldn’t help but mutter, “I’ve heard that Princess Yihua is incredibly lucky… I wonder if she can pull off a miracle in such a desperate situation?”

The first soldier gave a bitter smile and said in a low, hoarse voice, “If she really can pull off a miracle, then she shouldn’t just rescue herself! Ideally, that Li Fu and the master behind him who gave him the idea should also be taught a lesson!” Then, he added softly, “But how is that possible…”

T/N:
Jiang Mi: Hold my tea…