Chapter Fifty-Two: An Abduction

Jiang Chen was momentarily stunned; he hadn't expected that intimidating Zhao Sanji would yield such an unexpected reward. As he pressed further with his questions, he happened to uncover a shocking conspiracy. Although Zhao Sanji had accompanied Shi Guangjun to Ziyang City in public, making him appear to be a trusted aide of the Minister of Revenue, Shi Wanli, this was not the case at all.

In reality, his true purpose was to secretly sabotage the alliance between the Shi and Lin families, going so far as to kidnap the Lin family's young lady to ensure Shi Guangjun's mission failed. Given this, Zhao Sanji’s real identity was clearly that of an agent for the Shi family's political enemies. Only a sworn adversary would go to such lengths to block this union, unable to bear seeing the Shi family grow stronger.

"Where are your accomplices, and when will they act?" Jiang Chen pressed, holding a stick to Zhao Sanji’s throat. The latter answered at once, "We’re all operating separately, so I don't know exactly where they are. According to our previous arrangement, the operation will begin tonight."

"Once the Lin family’s young lady is in our hands, I’ll secretly sow discord between the Shi and Lin families, making sure they abandon the idea of a marriage alliance forever."

"So that's it. Quite the plan! It seems you're about to succeed," Jiang Chen remarked.

Zhao Sanji hurriedly pleaded, "That’s all I know, please let me go. I swear I won’t say a word."

Jiang Chen sneered. "I could let you go, but I still have some anger to work out. You’ll have to bear with me for a while."

With that, he picked up the wooden stick and gave Zhao Sanji a thorough beating, only stopping when Zhao was knocked unconscious.

Once he’d dealt with the wretched Zhao Sanji, Jiang Chen hurried toward the Lin family estate in the city. He didn’t have much reason to rescue the Lin family’s young lady, but on second thought, if a powerful local clan like the Lin family owed him a favor, that would be quite advantageous.

A favor like this was worth a fortune!

Of course, that depended on his ability to rescue the unfortunate young lady before those villains escaped. Otherwise, he’d have no idea where to even begin looking for her.

In great haste, he finally caught sight of the tall walls and broad compound ahead. Just then, a carriage exited through a side gate at the rear of the estate, turning quickly into the nearest alley, moving in a way that aroused suspicion.

Jiang Chen observed that the carriage moved awkwardly, showing no sign of tilting as it turned, suggesting at least three people were inside. Immediately, he set off in pursuit, suspecting this was precisely the target he sought.

Heading south all the way, they approached the city gates. Ziyang City was strict about who could enter, but those wishing to leave faced almost no restrictions. Thus, the carriage would have no trouble leaving at this hour.

Jiang Chen leaped across rooftops in pursuit, while the carriage maintained a moderate pace—likely an attempt to avoid drawing attention by appearing normal. The men inside had no idea that despite all their caution, someone was silently tracking them. Jiang Chen made no move as they left the city and continued out into the countryside.

The coachman, seeing they’d left the most dangerous area, gradually brought the carriage to a halt.

"Hey, you two, come out and see—which road should we take next?"

A burly hand lifted the carriage curtain, and a masked man poked his head out. "Of course, we go right," he said gruffly. "Our instructions are to hide the Lin family’s young lady for now. Once we’re in the mountains, we find a place to lay low and wait for our reward."

The coachman grinned. "Easy money. Brother, if we always got jobs like this, we’d never have to worry about the rest of our lives."

"You wish. Jobs like this aren’t everyday occurrences. Besides, we’ve kidnapped the Lin family’s eldest daughter—if word gets out, we’re as good as dead."

"Once I get paid, I’m running far away. If the Lin family tracks us down, we’re finished."

After a brief discussion, they hurried on their way. Once they left Ziyang City, the carriage sped up, and the terrain became less favorable for Jiang Chen to take shortcuts.

But by now, he had quietly climbed onto the back of the carriage, easily following the three men as they made their escape.

About an hour later, the carriage entered the mountains and was hidden deep within a dense bamboo grove. The coachman and the two men inside finally relaxed, got out to stretch their limbs, and began fantasizing about how they’d spend their reward.

"Go get things ready. I need to relieve myself," one said, strolling off into the woods. The other two secured the carriage and lit a campfire beside it.

"Why do you think they want to kidnap the Lin family’s young lady anyway?"

"Must be some grudge against the Lin family. Not our problem though. Once we get the money, this is over."

The two chatted idly, until it occurred to them that their companion had been gone too long. A sense of unease crept in.

"Why isn’t Old Liao back yet? That lazy fool, probably slacking off somewhere."

"Hmph. He’s always been lazy. Who cares?"

In truth, Old Liao hadn’t even managed to relieve himself before Jiang Chen knocked him out in the depths of the woods. Now, a pair of sharp eyes was silently drawing near.

"Did you hear something?" one asked.

"I didn’t hear a thing. Don’t try to scare me—I’m not the kind to lose my nerve," the other replied.

Unaware of the danger, one of them was suddenly struck down by Jiang Chen. The last man, startled, realized too late that someone had been following them.

"Who are you? Are you with the Lin family?" he cried, terror in his eyes. The situation was hopeless; they’d taken every precaution, but something had still gone wrong.

Jiang Chen didn’t bother with explanations. He knocked the man out cleanly, then climbed into the carriage and freed the girl who had been tightly bound inside.

But as soon as her hands and feet were free, she drew a dagger from her clothing and lunged at Jiang Chen’s chest.

He leaned back just in time, and though she was so close, the blade missed.

"Hey, calm down! I’m here to save you," Jiang Chen said.

He then caught sight of the dagger—he’d seen it somewhere before.

"It’s you!" the Lin family’s young lady exclaimed, recognizing Jiang Chen immediately. Their eyes met, and an odd tension filled the air.