A Good Country Wife-Chapter 689 - 682 - _1

Lin Yue’s feeling became even stranger. Xin’an City would close its gates at a certain time, and if they wanted to exchange in the city, they would choose the morning or daytime, so that even if there were any unexpected situations, those people could escape stealthily. Instead, they chose dusk. If the city gates closed, wouldn’t it be like trapping a turtle in a jar? Or perhaps they were utterly confident, or maybe this had something to do with Ceng Lu.

Lin Yue initially thought it was Ceng Lu’s doing since she had no quarrels with others recently, and only Ceng Lu had set his sights on her. However, the information from Liu Aniu proved that this matter was unrelated to Ceng Lu.

Although that scoundrel Ceng Lu was a mess and not very capable, Lin Yue didn’t believe he could pull this off without leaving a trace. When she first heard Liu Aniu’s report, she was still somewhat doubtful of Ceng Lu and left people to watch for any movements there, but she mostly believed this was not done by Ceng Lu. Now, it seemed too early to conclude. Judging by the fact those people dared to set the exchange location within the city, even if it wasn’t Ceng Lu’s doing, he was not uninvolved. At the very least, those people must have expected that the government wouldn’t intervene.

Thinking of this, Lin Yue felt a bit more settled. If this matter was related to Ceng Lu, then those people would be from Xin’an City, and her chances of winning would increase. Since there was no disturbance from Ceng Lu’s side, she trusted in Liu Aniu’s capabilities, and she guessed that the problem most likely lay with the people around Ceng Lu, especially the avaricious glare she witnessed that day. Lin Yue had felt very uncomfortable at the time.

Even now, she remembered the uncomfortable feeling when Quan An looked at her fiercely that day, as if she had been targeted by a poisonous snake. Later, Lin Yue had made inquiries and found out Quan An’s background. He was just a lackey beside Ceng Lu, whom Ceng Lu couldn’t even handle, so she didn’t take Quan An too seriously. But now, she thought that maybe Quan An had a hand in this matter.

The more Lin Yue thought about it, the clearer her thoughts became. The previously unclear points made sense when following this line of thought. If Ceng Lu had delegated the matter to Quan An, it would have been normal for Liu Aniu’s men, who were only focused on Ceng Lu, not to notice anything amiss. Moreover, Quan An seemed like someone deep and cunning, full of schemes, and even if someone was watching him, he would find ways to cover his tracks.

However, although she was quite certain in her heart, Lin Yue didn’t dare to take the matter lightly or to make a hasty decision before everything was settled, because everything was still based on her speculations. Aside from the fact that those people set the location inside the city, there was no concrete evidence. Even so, Lin Yue felt much lighter, because if things were as she suspected, those people’s strength wouldn’t be too formidable, at least easier to deal with than the Hidden Guards sent by the Yin Family last time. Now, with the Hidden Guard she had borrowed from the Jiang Family, she wasn’t sure she could fully handle the situation, but her personal safety was assured.

Having made some guesses, Lin Yue had some new ideas on top of her previous arrangements. She didn’t instruct Haishi to stop the carriage or send someone back with a message; that would have been too conspicuous. If it really was someone as calculative as Quan An, there might be spies on the road watching, so she just casually threw something out of the carriage window, unnoticed even by Haishi and another Hidden Guard brother who were driving up front.

Upon reaching the city, Lin Yue didn’t stop anywhere and directly instructed Haishi to drive to the address given. But when they arrived, there was no one there. Lin Yue didn’t know what those people were planning, so she had to have Haishi stop the carriage and wait on the spot.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, those people probably confirmed that Lin Yue had only brought Haishi with her and didn’t bring anyone else, and they sent over a short man with a masked face carrying a note with an address on it.

"Our boss tells you to get to this place within half an hour, or else we’ll tear up the ticket," said the short man before he turned into a small alley and vanished in the blink of an eye, showing they had chosen this address for their own convenience in moving and monitoring.

With Haishi and the Hidden Guard brother, it wasn’t that Lin Yue couldn’t catch someone at this point, but she was on someone else’s turf, and who knew how many people were secretly watching; it wasn’t appropriate to alarm them. Moreover, since the kidnappers had Dalang and his brothers’ lives as leverage, if the people were from Ceng Lu’s side, Lin Yue had no doubt they would dare to act against Dalang and the others. To them, human lives were nothing, and they probably believed deeply that Lin Yue could never guess who was causing trouble behind the scenes. Even if things didn’t work out, they could push all the blame on the bandits from Longhu Mountain. So to avoid leaking information, Dalang and his brothers’ lives were likely to end in these people’s hands. The thought made Lin Yue’s heart clench; she was caught between a rock and a hard place. Even though she was furious, she could only swallow her anger until Dalang and his brothers were rescued.

"Haishi, do as they say," Lin Yue ordered, handing the address to Haishi and silently praying that Dalang and his brothers were still safe. Even if they suffered, their lives were not threatened, for which she would be eternally grateful. She feared they would not keep their promise and had already harmed the children.

Previously, Lin Yue hadn’t been so worried, thinking that whatever the reason, Dalang and his brothers would be safe until she arrived. But then that short man behaved so arrogantly, threatening to tear up the ticket at every turn, clearly not caring for the children’s lives, which caused Lin Yue to worry so much.

Dalang and his brothers had their hands and feet tied, confined in a dark little room. Since they had been captured by that group, they’d been locked in there without going out again. During the day, those people would only come in to feed them a few buns and water before leaving, not bothering with them otherwise.

This time was the same; after the men in black left, Dalang and the others stretched their hands out of the loosely tied ropes and pulled out the gag from their mouths. The ropes binding their limbs had already been untied by their joint efforts, but they hung them on themselves loosely to mislead the kidnappers. Even though the ropes were untied, the place was walled off to the west, with only a small window for ventilation. The only iron door for entry and exit was locked from the outside, making escape impossible.

"Brother, what should we do? These walls are too solidly built, probably made of blue bricks, and the floor is paved with stone slabs, so digging through isn’t an option. That window is so small; even the youngest among us, Si Lang, can only stick his head out. We can’t escape at all. It sounds like those people want to threaten Mother with us. What if Mother falls for these people’s tricks in trying to save us?" San Lang, having heard the men in black’s conversation, was starting to lose his patience.