Chapter 142 - 141: The Forbidden Words (Third Update)

Chapter 142: Chapter 141: The Forbidden Words (Third Update)

Young Madam Zhao’s head had already tilted to the side of the carriage wall, evidently unconscious.

Looking back now, there were indeed too many suspicious points during their journey. First was the carriage itself, which looked plain and overly simplistic, clearly not something the Song Mansion would possess!

But at the time, they were in a hurry, and since she trusted Young Madam Zhao, she overlooked this suspicion!

Moreover, the entire carriage only had one driver! Even if Young Madam Zhao was in a rush and didn’t bring along her maidservants, how could it be that the Song Mansion would only send out one driver, knowing they were escorting their Young Madam!

The only possibility was that this carriage wasn’t from the Song Mansion, and the driver was not from the Song Mansion either!

Xu Jing hurriedly pinched her arm hard to awaken herself with the pain, then bent down to extinguish the incense burner in the center of the carriage and swiftly opened the windows on both sides.

The only place in the entire carriage that could have contained a sedative was this incense burner.

After doing all this, she was already exhausted. Initially, she just felt her head growing dizzier, and after such vigorous actions, she realized her limbs had gone limp, unbeknownst to her at what point.

Now she feared the incense’s sedative was stronger than she had anticipated, a type that penetrated her body faster with greater movements.

She could only sit down to rest for a while, while trying to gather her thoughts, which felt like mush, to figure out what on earth was happening.

This matter should have nothing to do with Young Madam Zhao; rather, Young Madam Zhao was the one who was set up.

From the start, this scheme was clearly aimed at Young Madam Zhao.

She was most likely an accident in this scheme, inadvertently implicated by Young Madam Zhao!

Xu Jing couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.

Reaching for such high branches like the Song Family truly isn’t that easy!

After resting for a while, feeling her mind clear a bit, she was just about to get up and wake Young Madam Zhao when the carriage suddenly stopped.

Her entire body tensed as she sensed the driver in front jump off the carriage and was about to open the door; she quickly lay back on the seat and closed her eyes, pretending to be unconscious.

Soon, she felt the carriage door open, and a deep male voice sounded, "They’re all out cold. That gentleman’s sedative is indeed effective. Take them inside."

"Yes."

The one responding was evidently two slightly older women.

Xu Jing tried to steady her breathing, feeling herself being effortlessly carried by a stout woman. As she walked forward, she heard the woman carrying her say, "Be careful, that’s a lady from the Zhao Family, the Young Madam of the Song Family. If anything goes wrong, it’ll be us who’ll suffer if the Zhao and Song Families clash."

"Ha."

Another woman’s voice came, echoing with faint sarcasm, "We’ve already captured them, and we’re still afraid of trouble from the Zhao and Song Families? Besides, who knows if this Young Madam will even make it out alive?"

The woman carrying Xu Jing seemed to sigh lowly, with a hint of melancholy, "As long as she has a clear conscience, she’ll come out of here, at least that’s what I hope for. I still hope the lady will be alright in the future.

But Fifth Lady is dear to her heart, the lady can’t bear to see the murderer of Fifth Lady go free, and I can understand that."

The other woman stayed silent for a while. When she spoke again, her voice carried suspicion and discontent, "Who’s that woman you’re carrying? Didn’t Madam instruct Little Tao to only bring Young Madam Zhao?"

"I don’t know, but since she’s here, there’s no way we can let her go before things are done. She can only blame her own bad luck."

Soon, it seemed they entered a room; Xu Jing felt herself being placed on the ground. Then her mouth was roughly pried open, and something like a pill was forced inside.

It couldn’t have been anything good, and while Xu Jing was "unconscious," she couldn’t refuse to swallow, so she faked swallowing it, secretly hiding the pill under her tongue.

After all this, the two women seemed satisfied, and soon, the sound of a door closing was heard.

Xu Jing waited quietly for a while, ensuring no other sounds came before she slowly opened her eyes and sat up, immediately freezing in place.

What she saw was that she was sitting on the floor of a tastefully decorated and comfortable room, with an orange and red ru yi pattern carpet covering the floor, making it neither cold nor hard.

The room was not small, containing all the usual furnishings, and it was brightly lit, allowing Xu Jing to clearly see everything around her.

——In this room, besides her and Young Madam Zhao, there were indeed other women!

These women, two were lying on the floor like her, and two were placed on a long couch on the side. Even further inside, in the bedroom, Xu Jing couldn’t see clearly, but she sensed someone seemed to be on the bed!

And these women seemed to be around the same age as her and Young Madam Zhao, and from their attire, they were clearly ladies from affluent families.

What on earth is going on!

At this moment, a moan came from beside Xu Jing, Young Madam Zhao seemed to shake her head painfully and slowly came to.

Seeing Xu Jing in front of her, she appeared dazed, "Doctor Xu? How are you here?"

Apparently, still confused.

Judging by this, although the sedative was strong, it didn’t last long. After Young Madam Zhao woke up, the other ladies gradually regained consciousness, and after a brief daze, some began to sense something was wrong.

Seated on the long couch, a woman dressed in a light blue skirt, her hair styled in a cloud-like bun, looked gentle and quiet. She slightly furrowed her brows, somewhat panic-stricken, "Where on earth is this? What is going on?"

By now, Young Madam Zhao had also gathered herself and before she could marvel at their situation, she exclaimed, "Fu Yue, why are you here? And... and Liuyun, you’re here too?"

Fu Yue referred to the woman in the light blue skirt on the couch.

Liuyun was the cute and affable-looking woman sitting beside her in an orange plaid upper garment and lake-green skirt.

"Shaohua?!"

The two women, seeing Young Madam Zhao, immediately rushed over, utterly bewildered, "Today... isn’t today An’er’s birthday feast? Shouldn’t you be hosting the banquet at the Song Mansion?"

Young Madam Zhao glared at them, "I was about to ask you! I was wondering why you were so late, turns out... turns out you ended up here!"

"Liu Fuyue! Guo Liuyun! How are Zhiyi and I here, was this your doing?"

An indignant voice suddenly interrupted the increasingly confused conversation among the three women.

Liu Fuyue and Guo Liuyun slightly furrowed their brows, turning to see who was speaking. It was one of the two women who had lain on the ground with Xu Jing earlier.

One was dressed in a light yellow plaid upper garment and deep red chest-length skirt, glaring at Liu Fuyue and Guo Liuyun with indignant jet-black brows. The other was in a cyan skirt, clinging closely beside her, though she said nothing, her expression was equally unpleasant.

Before Liu Fuyue and Guo Liuyun could respond, Young Madam Zhao derisively laughed, "Chen Xi, Shen Zhiyi, didn’t expect you two to be here, talk about a narrow escape. What, you have the nerve to question Fu Yue and Liuyun, but not me?"

They were evidently wary of Young Madam Zhao; though still visibly indignant after she spoke, they didn’t say anything further.

Young Madam Zhao snorted softly, "Same old, still too timid, it’s disgusting."

Chen Xi and Shen Zhiyi seemed to grit their teeth but still dared not speak.

Among them, Xu Jing was the most perplexed, but even though she didn’t know anyone here besides Young Madam Zhao, she could easily tell that all the women here, like her and Young Madam Zhao, had been inexplicably captured here.

She glanced at the door not far away, walked over, and tried to push it.

As expected, the door was locked from the outside.

Needless to try, the windows of this room were surely locked too.

It was as if the others only now noticed Xu Jing’s presence; seeing her unable to open the door, their expressions changed instantly.

Chen Xi couldn’t hold back, her voice trembling slightly, "The door... is locked? Who did this!"

Xu Jing slowly scanned all of them, calmly saying, "Whoever did this is unknown for now, but your being captured here should relate to Wang Wuniang’s gruesome death half a year ago."

Mentioning Wang Wuniang seemed like uttering a forbidden phrase. As soon as Xu Jing said it, all the women’s faces visibly paled.

A thought growing ever more concrete in Xu Jing’s mind, she said, "If I’m not mistaken, everyone here has some connection, deep or shallow, to Wang Wuniang, possibly related to her death!"