CHAPTER 513: CHAPTER 513 AN INCIDENT OCCURS

This place is somewhat secluded.

As the two fell to the ground, voices came from afar.

The man dragged the Hidden Guard behind the rockery, then returned to drag Xingxing.

He casually threw Xingxing onto the Hidden Guard.

From a distance, the scene... was quite indecent.

Quite a few people came by, glanced at it, cursed a bit, and turned away.

Hmm.

No one stepped forward to interfere.

Soon, this area became rarely visited.

Xie Jingchen rode fast to the military camp, the servant delivered the message, then rode back to the residence.

The two parted ways.

Worried about urgent matters, Xie Jingchen hurriedly ran, only to meet the Prince riding towards him halfway.

Xie Jingchen rode forward and asked, "Father, are you urgently looking for me?"

The Prince frowned slightly, bewildered, "When did I look for you?"

Xie Jingchen’s expression changed.

He briefly mentioned that he accompanied Su Jin to the Great Buddha Temple and that the servant had said the Prince wanted him to go to the military camp.

The Prince also felt a bad premonition in his heart.

The Emperor urgently summoned him to the palace for discussions, he couldn’t afford to delay.

Xie Jingchen turned around and hurried to the Great Buddha Temple.

He had been in a rush while coming, now heading back even more hastily.

The urgency was akin to an express courier.

The more urgent, the more likely things may go wrong.

As he rode up the mountain, a carriage was rushing downhill.

The coachman spotted Xie Jingchen, panic evident in his expression, causing him not to grip the reins steady; the carriage bumped over a stone and almost overturned.

Su Jin was bound hand and foot, with cloth stuffed in her mouth.

Initially unconscious, the carriage hit, she was originally leaning left, the jolt made her head hit towards the right.

The pain in the forehead.

Woke her up from the pain.

With cloth in the mouth, bound hand and foot, even if foolish, Su Jin knew she had been kidnapped.

The Hidden Guard and Xingxing chased the thief who stole the hairpin, she ran that way, then everything went black, and she knew nothing.

No idea who kidnapped her, but they surely had guts.

First, they distracted Xie Jingchen, then diverted the Hidden Guard, obviously targeting her.

She visited the Great Buddha Temple as planned, but if not for the purpose of copying Buddhist Scriptures to pray for blessings, she wouldn’t have come today.

Unsure if it was Princess Nanzhang’s instigation or the Old Madam’s scheme.

Or perhaps, both couldn’t shirk involvement?!

This time, she intended to escape, and she’ll ensure they face endless repercussions!

Su Jin felt immensely annoyed within, but for now, clueless of what to do, possessing poison on her yet bound hands rendered it ineffective.

Su Jin tried to move towards the coachman, but the carriage was fast, she bounced back and forth, causing her insides to feel displaced and her body on the verge of breaking apart.

Upon seeing Xie Jingchen return, the coachman panicked.

He must deliver her quickly; otherwise, when the Heir of Prince Zhenbei catches up, his life would be over.

He drove the carriage down the mountain, meeting the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng en route.

The coachman hurriedly approached and said, "My lord."

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng, seeing his flustered expression, asked, "Things didn’t go as planned?"

"They did, the Princess Consort Zhenbei is in the carriage, but plans changed. As I descended the mountain, the Heir of Prince Zhenbei ascended," the servant hurriedly reported.

"He ran urgently, must have realized the trap, when he finds no one at the Great Buddha Temple, he will surely pursue."

Few descending the mountain at this time, easy to trace.

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng could only alter plans temporarily.

"Continue driving the carriage forward; I’ll take her to the separate courtyard," the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng instructed.

The coachman lifted the curtain, only to find Su Jin staring at him.

"My lord, she’s awake."

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng took out a black cloth from his bosom, covering his face.

The Princess Consort Zhenbei is notoriously troublesome; provoking her easily spells misfortune.

If the plan fails, not showing the face avoids retaliation.

The coachman knocked Su Jin unconscious, then dragged her out from the carriage, the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng tossed her onto the horse’s back.

The horse let out a long hiss, nearly rearing up.

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng mounted the horse, whipped it and headed down another path.

The coachman continued driving the carriage at full speed.

Xie Jingchen dashed up to the Great Buddha Temple, asking the young monk where Su Jin and Xingxing were, the monk baffled, "The Princess Consort and Maid left a quarter of an hour ago."

Xie Jingchen became increasingly uneasy.

Exiting the Great Hero Hall, he overheard a woman mumble, "In broad daylight, even a sacred place like the Buddhist grounds can witness such an indecent, shameful act, not afraid of divine retribution."

Feeling something amiss, Xie Jingchen headed that way.

From afar, he saw Xingxing and the Hidden Guard.

Fortunately, they were only unconscious, not killed; Xie Jingchen breathed a sigh of relief.

Unable to rouse the Hidden Guard, Xie Jingchen yanked the silver hairpin off Xingxing’s head and quickly jabbed it into the Hidden Guard’s finger.

"Hiss..."

The Hidden Guard awoke in pain.

"What on earth happened?" Xie Jingchen urgently asked.

The Hidden Guard dazed for a moment, then his expression changed drastically, "The Princess Consort is in trouble!"

He recounted the events to Xie Jingchen thoroughly.

After hearing, Xie Jingchen clenched his fist tightly.

If his guess was correct, Su Jin was in that carriage he encountered while going up the mountain!

Xie Jingchen instantly turned to leave.

The Hidden Guard, upon arising, felt dizzy.

The potent effects of the drug hadn’t worn off, merely pricking a needle only suppressed it partially.

Straining himself, he lifted Xingxing, handed her to the young monk in front of the Great Hero Hall.

"Take good care of her," the Hidden Guard instructed.

Without waiting for the monk’s reply, the Hidden Guard went after Xie Jingchen.

The young monk, "..."

He dreaded serving the Princess Consort Zhenbei and her maid; more daunting even than facing the abbot.

The Hidden Guard urgently chased Xie Jingchen, but with the drug’s effects lingering, he blacked out on the steps, rolling down directly.

Xie Jingchen pursued down the mountain on horseback.

His experience at the Ministry of Justice taught him tracking skills.

Starting from where he met the carriage, he kept noting the wheel tracks.

After descending, the wheel tracks deepened.

But the hoofprints deepened significantly.

Assuming Su Jin was taken from the carriage onto horseback.

He urged his horse onwards.

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng carried Su Jin towards the direction of a separate courtyard, not expecting Xie Jingchen to spot him, hence not rushing.

Hearing urgent hoofbeats behind.

He glanced back.

Indeed.

His soul departed and his courage fled.

In the sunlight, Xie Jingchen’s visage clearly seen.

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng flicked the whip, the lash on the horse’s body was faintly bleeding.

One ran ahead, the other chased behind.

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng dared not confront Xie Jingchen directly.

His martial arts were inferior to Prince NanAn.

Yet Xie Jingchen’s martial arts surpassed those of Prince NanAn.

Focused on escaping, direction was abandoned.

That rush caused a wrong turn.

Realizing too late, the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng had reached the edge of a cliff.

Though neither he nor the horse fell into the abyss, they were at the cliff’s brink.

He jumped off the horse, taking Su Jin with him.

The horse couldn’t halt, fell down the cliff.

Hoofbeats right behind.

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng brandished a dagger at Su Jin’s neck.

Su Jin had woken during the erratic ride with the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng.

The cold dagger pierced her skin, sending chills through her entire body.