Chapter 48: Stealing a Wife (Part Two)

Jiang Wu had been picked up by a carriage carrying Bai Su’s token.

Being a newcomer who knew few people, she assumed no one would deliberately scheme against or trouble her. It was only when the carriage actually drove out of the capital and headed toward a remote, desolate place that she finally realized she had been far too careless.

Jiang Wu tried to protest to the driver outside, only to discover that the previously honest and submissive driver had been replaced by the man in black she had seen on her very first day entering the capital.

"This is Lord Chu's arrangement. Madam need not worry; please just sit tight."

After looking at him for a moment, Jiang Wu silently retreated back into the carriage.

It was not that she was unworried, but rather that the icy, frost-like expression in the man in black’s eyes—as if he were looking at a pig meant for slaughter—dared her not to say another word.

Amidst her mounting anxiety, the carriage drove all the way to a remote location. The moment she caught sight of Chu Ling’s figure, Jiang Wu could not quite describe the mixture of relief and deepened unease churning within her.

Chu Ling seemed to be waiting for her specifically.

"Lord Chu? Why are you here?"

Jiang Wu did not get down from the carriage; she asked from inside, her hands gripping the wooden frame so tightly that it betrayed her nervousness.

It was hardly surprising that she felt uneasy. This looked like the middle of nowhere, completely deserted, giving off the ominous vibe of a place where people were murdered and their bodies disposed of.

Chu Ling answered with complete composure, "Naturally, to take Madam Liang to see Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Right now, Jiang Wu had not the slightest desire to see her. She cursed herself inwardly, wishing she could slap some sense into her own head: as a mere commoner, she should have just looked after herself—what business did she have sticking her nose into the affairs of a princess?

"Perhaps..." she suggested cautiously, "Both Her Highness and My Lord must be extremely busy. It's not strictly necessary for this humble woman to see her."

"We've already come all this way, and now you don't want to see her?" Chu Ling took two steps toward the carriage, looking puzzled, before a sudden smile bloomed on his face as he caught sight of her tense, tightly clenched hands. "Or is it that Madam Liang is afraid of me?"

A man who was usually devoid of smiles suddenly wearing such an expression—even if it was only a faint one—was dazzling enough to momentarily blind the eyes, yet Jiang Wu felt mostly vigilance and fear.

She truly was riding a tiger and unable to dismount now.

She actually wanted to say that her fear was not aimed at any specific person; whoever happened to be standing opposite her at this moment would terrify her just the same.

In reality, however, she could only force a smile. "Lord Chu jests. This humble woman believes you to be a man of integrity, so why would you make things difficult for a weak woman like me?"

Chu Ling’s eyebrows flicked up ever so slightly. He let her flattery pass without a word and merely extended a hand toward her. "That being the case, Madam, please step down from the carriage."

It was the hand of someone who practiced martial arts—not sufficiently fair or delicate, marred even by light calluses and scars.

Fortunately, the knuckles were distinct and the fingers proportionate and slender, making it a handsome hand nonetheless.

Jiang Wu rapidly turned it over in her mind: wasn't this gesture a bit too presumptuous? Without a moment's hesitation, her mouth refused. "Thank you for the trouble, Lord Chu, but I can get down by myself."

Hearing her say this, Chu Ling uttered not a single word and withdrew his hand.

The hand he placed behind his back slowly opened and gently closed, using the motion to rein in a patience that was already wearing thin.

This woman's guardedness was truly excessive.

He took two steps back.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Wu cautiously scrambled down. She cursed herself a second time, swore a solemn oath that she would never dabble in such foolishness again, and finally had no choice but to silently trail behind Chu Ling.

"Since I said I would let you see Princess Qingyang, I naturally will."

There was a hint of stubbornness in the man's voice, as if his sole purpose was merely to grant Jiang Wu this meeting with Bai Su.

It was only a beat later that Jiang Wu thought to wonder: how did he know she wanted to see Bai Su? Did Bai Su tell him?

While she was lost in these stray thoughts, a familiar figure came into view not far ahead.

Bai Su!

All her anxiety settled into certainty the moment she laid eyes on that white figure. She offered a silent repentance for her recent suspicions of Chu Ling, her reason barely managing to halt the cry that rose in her throat.

The girl was a princess now; that familiar name could no longer be tossed about casually. Should she pay her respects as one ought to a princess?

"You treacherous scoundrel, you actually came!"

Yet the joyful reunion she had anticipated failed to materialize. Instead, Jiang Wu was greeted by these earth-shattering words.

Princess Qingyang stood with her brows knitted and face frosty; where on earth was there even a trace of the precious, soft, and sweet Bai Su from before?

Jiang Wu’s eyelids twitched, and her ominous premonition instantly intensified.

"Princess." In Chu Ling’s steady, cold voice, there seemed to be a trace of helplessness. "You said that as long as I came here alone, you would seriously consider the matter of our marriage."

Was this... some sort of romantic entanglement between the two of them?

"Hah," Qingyang sneered. "You didn't come alone, did you? Scoundrel, don't think I don't know what dirty scheme you're plotting! Ambitious wolf that you are, I will never allow my Empress Mother to lie with wolves!"

Chu Ling’s gaze flickered slightly.

In the imperial court, the two major factions were currently evenly matched, the most prominent being the struggle between the Empress and Consort Jing.

His uncle’s ascent to the position of Chancellor was, in truth, simply a maneuver by the Emperor to keep those two families in check.

When the snipe and the clam grapple, it is the fisherman who profits.

Qingyang was not wrong; he indeed possessed the ambitions of a wolf. The Empress wanted to rope him in, and he intended to use borrowed blades to kill. Using him? Of course they could, but discarding him after use would not be quite so simple.

As for Princess Qingyang, she had firmly decided he harbored malicious intentions and was relentlessly hounding him over it.

In truth, he had little interest in this marriage himself, but given the current political chess match, he certainly could not be the one to call it off.

Well... this princess possessed a dash of cleverness, though not much, making her quite useful.

"Princess... take a careful look at the person I brought. Do you truly not recognize her?"

With those words, Jiang Wu finally locked eyes with Qingyang.

To be honest, after watching the back-and-forth between these two, she harbored zero expectations of that righteous, indignant young woman suddenly turning back into her familiar little sweet bun and crying out "Sister Jiang" in pleasant surprise.

Even so, the stranger's gaze in the other girl's eyes caused her heart to sink momentarily.

It felt like disappointment.

"I don't care who you brought along. Whoever it is is merely here to be buried with you. Today, I am going to make sure you die here."

The moment the words fell, a swarm of black-clothed figures wearing black gauze veils suddenly materialized from all directions.

Jiang Wu froze once more, utterly bewildered. She had imagined this was, at most, a lovers' quarrel between an unmarried pair; how on earth had it escalated to murder and silencing witnesses? She was completely and utterly an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

"Princess." Chu Ling’s voice dropped a few degrees. "Whatever grievances exist between you and me, the person beside me is innocent. Please allow her to leave."

"Oh? You, a treacherous scoundrel, have actually learned to cherish jade and pity flowers? Do you think that's possible?"

Without him even having to answer, Jiang Wu deemed it impossible herself. She simply could not wrap her head around how her once soft and cuddly little bun had morphed into this terrifying creature.

Qingyang’s gaze flicked back toward Jiang Wu. The woman did possess a certain allure; no wonder she had managed to catch the scoundrel's eye.

Yet for some reason, the moment their eyes met, an ineffable wave of emotion welled up in the depths of Qingyang's chest.

Qingyang swiftly crushed the thought.

She absolutely could not allow her mother to cooperate with this man. Prepare to meet your doom, scoundrel!

The black-clad figures swarmed in from all sides.

For a moment, the clashing of blades echoed ceaselessly through the woods, and leaves rained down in the wake of their fierce movements.

Ordinarily, dealing with this mob would have been effortless for Chu Ling, but now, burdened with protecting Jiang Wu while fighting and retreating simultaneously, he was visibly stretched thin.

It was the first time Jiang Wu had ever faced such a lethal display of blades. Every single stroke lunged toward her without an ounce of hesitation, making the man beside her her sole source of survival.

Her legs had turned to jelly; the only thing she managed to do was keep them from completely collapsing and becoming a dead weight that dragged Chu Ling down.

Even so...

"Ah!" When she saw a gleaming sword flash a mere finger's breadth away from her eyes, she could not suppress a startled cry.

Fortunately, Chu Ling deflected the blade just before it reached her.

An arm wrapped around her waist. Having never been touched at this spot by any man other than Liang Qian, Jiang Wu inevitably stiffened all over.

"Hold onto me."

The man's voice sounded right above her head. Jiang Wu hesitated—for only a fraction of a second—before obeying his command.

This was no time to be squeamish or overly concerned with propriety, she told herself. Wrapping both arms around Chu Ling’s waist from the side, she initially hesitated to hold on too tightly, only for the man to suddenly leap upward using *qinggong*.

Now she needed no further prompting; Jiang Wu clung to him for dear life.

Though broad-shouldered and tall, the man's waist was remarkably slender, allowing her to grip him securely.

Looking down from above, Chu Ling glanced at her.

That face, even cast in terror, remained breathtakingly lovely enough to evoke deep pity. It wasn't that memory had beautified her; memory was simply incapable of rendering every single inch of the beauty that had grown straight into his heart.

Now that he finally held the person he had yearned for so long, it was exactly as he had imagined—a waist easily spanned by two hands, her soft body pressed tight against his, provoking a primitive craving in his flesh to draw even closer.

This little drama had been staged primarily for Qingyang and the Empress, but this latter half... was performed purely for the woman in his arms.

This was an unprecedented experience for him.

Still... feeling the reliance conveyed through Jiang Wu’s tight embrace, his mood was surprisingly good.

According to plan, after tumbling down a small cliff, they finally managed to shake off their pursuers.

Though Jiang Wu had been the dead weight holding someone else back, she was utterly exhausted by this point. She sat to one side to recover her strength while turning over the whirlwind of events in her mind.

There were simply far too many things that didn't add up.

And far too many questions she wanted to ask.

Once she calmed down, she looked over at Chu Ling. She originally intended to demand a clear explanation, but unluckily caught sight of the man in the middle of stripping off his outer garments.

Startled out of her wits, she snapped her head away in an instant.

Jiang Wu didn't bother asking what he was doing; without guessing, she knew he must be inspecting his injuries. By rights, she ought to offer a word of concern, but considering the current awkwardness, she simply kept her mouth shut and waited for Chu Ling to sort it out himself.

Really, she cursed herself yet again—she should have stayed safely locked inside her house today no matter what.

However...

"Madam Liang."

Chu Ling’s voice sounded from behind her.

Jiang Wu shuddered. Without turning her head, she replied directly, "Lord Chu."

Silence stretched behind her for a moment, as if the man were deep in thought. A soft sigh drifted over, and after what seemed like a prolonged hesitation, Chu Ling spoke again: "Madam Liang, I've lost all strength in my arm. Could I trouble you to help me?"

As the dead weight who had dragged him down for most of the day, Jiang Wu apparently had no grounds to refuse.

With no other choice, she turned around.

The man’s hair was disheveled, his clothes stained with streaks of blood, and his outer robe hung open in a chaotic mess.

Stripped of his usual solemn dignity, he exuded a dangerous, bewitching aura.

Such allure was normally meant to beguile, but it evidently failed to sway the woman before him. Believing she ought to act flustered and awkward over such an intimate display, she had instead, in the span of these brief moments, somehow settled into the detached calmness of someone merely looking at a painting.

"How may this humble woman assist Lord Chu?" she asked with complete equanimity.

Jiang Wu had thought it through: in the middle of an escape for their lives, nobody cared about such conventions. The more squeamish she acted, the more awkward it would become.

With that realization, she cast aside her inhibitions and put on a mask of absolute nonchalance.

She often helped out at the medical clinic anyway; she would just pretend she was dealing with a patient.

"I’ve been hit by a hidden weapon. Would Madam be so kind as to check it for me?"

He truly looked too weak to move.

Jiang Wu had no choice but to step forward, carefully peeling back his garments to reveal the toned yet unexaggerated muscles characteristic of a martial artist. Ignoring all of that, her eyes went straight to his chest, where a poisoned dart was indeed embedded.

Fortunately, it hadn't penetrated deeply.

"Should I pull it out directly?" Jiang Wu asked, uncertainty lacing her tone.

"Yes. However, my left hand cannot move, and the dart may be poisoned. Madam, please be careful."

It was shallow enough that extraction wouldn't be difficult; the problem was the dark, blackened discoloration spreading around the wound, just as he had warned about the poison.

Oh no. Was he actually going to die here?