15 - Captured

Chapter 15 – Captured

After bidding farewell to her Master and Third Senior Sister, Bai Yuxiao walked out of the room and holding up the spiritual note, she pretended to read out the poem to Shuang’er and said.

“The Shitai said that as long as I serve my husband wholeheartedly, know my place, and be contented, even if I don’t have any children, I can still live a peaceful life.”

“That’s good, Young Miss. So now you can rest assured.”

“Ai, you don’t know…….recently, Wangye didn’t come to visit my courtyard. I was beginning to panic and feared that I didn’t serve Wangye well enough. That’s the reason why I came to offer incense. There is a restlessness in my heart and now after listening to Shitai’ s advice, my heart feels at ease.”

The mistress and servant had a tacit understanding and regardless of whether anyone is monitoring them at the side, the whole play still had to be performed.

Shuang’er supported Bai Yuxiao into the carriage and after the guard had let down the curtain, he ordered the coachman to return to the mansion.

In the carriage, Shuang’er pushed the curtain slightly aside to reveal a small gap and saw the two guards riding beside the carriage a little distance away. The guards were unable to hear their conversation and so Shuang’er whispered to Bai Yuxiao.

“Young Miss, will you be going out of the mansion during this time?”

“ Wangye is already tired of me, so now is a good time to go out.” Bai Yuxiao said calmly.

However, Shuang’er felt sad for her mistress when she heard. She and Zhaolu, both could see very clearly and understood their mistress’s feelings for the Wangye .

“At the time when Wangye favored Young Miss, why didn’t Young Miss seize the opportunity to please the Wangye and request for a higher status?”

“Are you stupid? There are so many women in the inner courtyards, even if one is favored, how long do you think it will last? Unless one can become his first wife, otherwise even if one is promoted to a higher level, the status of being a concubine will still remain.”

“If Young Miss can become the Wangye ’s Wangfei , it will certainly be a great help to the Wangye and it will be Wangye ’s blessing.”

“Don’t be delusional. The status of your Young Miss is not enough as my father is only just a Chief-of-Staff in the royal mansion. The position of Wangfei had always been held by the noble ladies from third-ranked families or higher. That position will never be mine.”

Shuang’er was unable to accept this fact, for, in her eyes, her Young Miss is the best!

“Until now, the Wangye hasn’t married yet. It was due to his military merits in winning the war in the Northwest that he requested freedom in marriage when the Emperor asked him what he wanted as a reward. From this, it can be seen that Wangye doesn’t want to marry a woman from a prominent family background. I think the Wangye must be waiting for a woman he truly loves.”

“That’s correct. I wonder who will be the girl who is so blessed to be his beloved?”

With a hand propping up her chin, Bai Yuxiao smiled and said in a light and breezy tone. She had never been delusional therefore she could be so calm at this moment.

“I like him for this. He doesn’t rely on his wife’s power, doesn’t desire the throne, and treats all the concubines in the inner courtyards very generously. That’s why I’m willing to be his concubine.”

She is a secret constable, not those harem ladies who had never stepped out of the house. She is well-informed about news from the outside and besides, she receives first-hand news from her father in the mansion. A long time ago before she got married, she already knew a lot about Ling Wang and secretly admired him.

She admires a man like him and although he is a Prince, he is different from other Princes. It is a pity that her mother died early and her father is just a fifth-ranked official. She knew she could never match up to Si Liujing, so later she made plans for her own marriage. She deliberately angered Elder Gao Ge’s son and then told her father to beg the Wangye for help. Sure enough, she was successfully accepted as a concubine by the Wangye .

Since she had accepted the fact that the sons of the royal family would have several wives and concubines, therefore she never got involved in the fight for favor that would make the Wangye annoyed.

Although Shuang’er understood the temperament of her Young Miss, which woman would not try her best to get the favor of her husband that she admires? Young Miss is too generous, right?

“Does Young Miss really like Wangye ?”

“Of course, I like him! If I don’t like him, why should I think of ways to become his woman?”

“Young Miss doesn’t fight for favor, doesn’t try to please Wangye, and doesn’t make the effort to attract the attention of Wangye . This servant thought that Young Miss doesn’t like the Wangye at all.”

“That’s because I can accept it.”

Shuang’er could not help but tighten her lips. She wanted to persuade her Young Miss and was about to speak when suddenly an arrow flew towards the carriage. It shot through the carriage curtains and pierced into the opposite wall panel which shocked both the mistress and servant.

Then they heard the guards outside shouting………

“Assassins!”

Bai Yuxiao and Shuang’er exchanged looks and both could see the shock in each other’s eyes.

Unexpectedly, the assassins are so courageous to carry out such acts even in the imperial city!

The carriage that Bai Yuxiao was sitting in carried the emblem of Ling Wang Mansion and the saddles of the horses also carried the same emblem. Therefore, it meant that those people knew the carriage and horses belonged to Ling Wang Mansion.

Thus Bai Yuxiao intuitively guessed that those people were related to the group of people who attacked the Wangye .

It was unexpected that the other party would attack the family members of the Ling Wang Mansion.

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When Shuang’er at the side noticed something amiss, she immediately assumed a protective posture to shield her mistress. Outside the carriage, there were sounds of fierce fighting and the two guards were busy fighting off the attackers.

“Be careful, the arrows are poisoned!”

Bai Yuxiao warned Shuang’er in a low voice. She could still remember Si Liujing was poisoned when he was attacked.

Shuang’er nodded to express she understood and then pushed aside the curtain vigilantly to take a look.

“Young Miss, there are six people in the other group. The enemies outnumbered us, should we escape first?”

Bai Yuxiao also took a look and made a guess. “The other party most probably doesn’t want to kill me but just wants to capture and take me as a hostage. Let’s act accordingly and remember not to let the guards discover we know martial arts.”

Just as they finished talking, the curtains were suddenly lifted and a masked man dressed in white stepped forward to grab Bai Yuxiao. Shuang’er immediately struck him.

The other party probably did not expect that the seemingly weak personal maid would be skilled in martial arts. Caught off guard, he received a punch on his face and fell off the carriage.

“Young Miss……. flee!”

Shuang’er held on to Bai Yuxiao and jumped out of the carriage. The mistress and servant pretended to run for their lives. When two assassins saw them, they immediately caught up and tried to capture them. However, their outstretched hands ended up empty as the two women were slippery and evasive. No matter how they tried to capture the women, they failed and were even attacked by them.

The masked men probably did not expect that both the mistress and servant to be skilled in martial arts. Their martial skills were well concealed and the masked men were negligent. Besides, their intention was not to hurt the women, so they were apprehensive and as a result, they were attacked by the mistress and servant.

On the surface, both the mistress and servant were calling for help but at the same time, they were subtly attacking the masked men. The women were doing everything like jabbing their eyes, kicking their calves, and kicking their family jewels which almost took their lives. The women’s moves were all aimed at the men’s most vulnerable parts which could cause intense pain.

It was especially so with the masked man who was kicked on his family jewels and it felt so painful that he had to cover his lower body. His whole body was shaking badly whilst the other masked men looked at him sympathetically. But when the masked man glared back at everyone with murderous intent, everyone hurriedly shifted their eyes away and dared not look at him directly anymore.

The masked man who received a kick on his family jewels was clearly the leader of the group. He waved his hand in anger and the rest of the masked men seemed to have received amnesty. They no longer display any courtesy and immediately made a fierce effort to capture the women.

One of them swung a sword at Shuang’er and she hurriedly responded. However, it was difficult to fend off an attack empty-handed and she received a cut on her body. It felt so painful that she let out a cry.

“Shuang’er!” Bai Yuxiao was shocked. She was afraid the masked men had murderous intentions so she immediately stopped concealing her martial skills and made fierce moves to counter.

The masked man who had his family jewels kicked gestured to the others. His meaning was that the woman must be captured otherwise if she is allowed to escape, they would receive punishment!

Shuang’er’s martial arts skill was not as good as her mistress’s and besides, there was a large number of opponents, so she was quickly subdued.

The other party placed a knife on Shuang’er’s neck and shouted at Bai Yuxiao. “If you don’t surrender, she will be killed!”

Bai Yuxiao stiffened and cursed in her heart. However, after thinking it over, they did not show any intention to kill her all this while, so they must only want to capture her. Perhaps it would be better to go along with them for the time being and use this opportunity to find out the identity of these people.

“Don’t hurt her. I’ll go with you.”

Two masked men stepped forward to hold her arms and took her away. Shuang’er called out to her in anxiety but before she could speak, she was tapped on her mute acupuncture points* by the other part.

(Mute acupuncture points – When the mute acupuncture points are tapped, the person cannot speak for several mins to several hours. Acupuncture points on a human body control several functions. When certain acupuncture points are tapped or pressed, some senses and nerves in the human body can be rendered dysfunctional. Acupuncture points are widely used in Chinese Traditional Medicine.)

When Bai Yuxiao saw it, she knew she must not let them tap her mute acupuncture points, therefore, she pretended to be obedient.

As their mistress was held captive, the two guards naturally dared not act rashly. Bai Yuxiao was put inside the carriage and taken to a house. After entering the house, two masked men led her into a room and Shuang’er was also brought in.