It was already late October weather. The cold of early winter condensed on the grass and trees, then scraped against Lin Hao’s body, giving her the feeling that the depths of winter had arrived early.

Her heart was colder than ice.

The man had already put away his dagger. His hand gripped her like a giant clamp as he forced her forward, completely ignoring the branches that struck her body and scratched across her exposed skin.

Lin Hao keenly sensed the murderous intent of the person holding her hostage.

She deliberately fell back half a step, seeing clearly the taut lines of the man’s face and the coldness in his eyes.

A pure kidnapper seeking ransom money shouldn’t look like this.

She still remembered the bandits she encountered when fleeing the capital in her previous life. Even those people didn’t have this kind of coldness that approached indifference in their eyes.

He wanted to kill her, didn’t he?

Once this speculation arose, Lin Hao’s entire body turned ice cold.

The mountain was not easy to traverse. From time to time, startled birds would take flight, flapping their wings toward the sky. Occasionally, one could see rabbits running wildly.

Lin Hao wanted to memorize the route but found she couldn’t do it.

Everywhere were similar trees and rocks, with no special scenery to leave a deep impression, and no opportunity to leave markers.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the man pushed aside some vines and shoved Lin Hao inside.

Lin Hao stumbled but barely managed to steady herself.

This was actually a sizeable cave, narrow on the outside but wide within. At the very back, straw had even been laid down—clearly it had been scouted beforehand.

The man took one step and was right in front of Lin Hao.

After entering the mountain, Lin Hao’s hands had been bound with a handkerchief. Facing the man’s approach, she could only choose to observe the situation calmly.

The man walked past her, reached into the straw, and pulled out a rope.

Before she could even react, Lin Hao was grabbed by the man, pushed to the ground, and tied with the rope to a protruding rock.

Having done this, the cold expression on the man’s face relaxed somewhat as he leaned against the stone wall to recover his strength.

Lin Hao moved her hands bound behind her back, gave up on futile efforts, and tried to extract some information from the man: “We have no grievances or enmity. Why did you kidnap me?”

The man glanced at her.

Lin Hao showed a frightened expression: “My, my family all dote on me greatly. As long as you don’t harm me, any amount of money can be discussed.”

A seventeen-year-old young lady, with exquisite beauty and a gentle voice—such pleading would shake even a heart of stone. The man stared at her fixedly for a moment, then pulled a cloth from his sleeve, wadded it into a ball, and stuffed it into her mouth.

Lin Hao’s heart sank.

Even for the relationship between kidnapper and hostage, being unwilling to exchange even a single word was enough to shatter her illusions.

Who wanted to kill her?

Lin Hao’s first instinct was to think of Chen Mu, but Chen Mu was currently in the Jinlin Guard prison.

One speculation after another emerged, all related to Emperor Pingle’s faction. Those who would use this kind of method to kill her surely wouldn’t be the noble ladies with whom she’d had minor friction.

Lin Hao’s gaze unconsciously fell on the man’s expressionless face. Her chaotic thoughts were suddenly cleaved by a sharp sword in that instant, and a guess surfaced in her mind: Master Fox!

It seemed she wasn’t being overly suspicious. At the clinic, she had very likely guessed correctly, which brought this mortal calamity upon her.

Various scenes from the clinic flashed through her mind like lightning, finally freezing on the image of making eye contact with Doctor Gu.

Could it be that from just that one moment of eye contact, Master Fox had become suspicious and wanted to eliminate this hidden danger in its infancy?

This keenness, this decisiveness, this cruelty—all of it sent chills down one’s spine.

If her speculation was correct, why would this person demand ransom money?

A new doubt arose. Before Lin Hao could think it through carefully, the man suddenly moved. He strode out of the cave without looking at Lin Hao even once from beginning to end.

Lin Hao stared intently at the cave entrance for a full quarter-hour, but the man didn’t return.

She experimentally moved her hands. As she moved, the rope binding her hands actually tightened even more.

Lin Hao quieted down. The light in the cave changed subtly, but that person still didn’t return.

The racing carriage hadn’t even stopped fully when Baozhu jumped down, rushing inside like a whirlwind, leaving the gate guard dumbfounded.

“Old Madam, Miss has met with disaster!” Running breathlessly before the old madam, Baozhu’s face was covered in tears.

The old madam saw Baozhu’s appearance and stood up abruptly: “What happened to Ah Hao?”

The clever senior maid, seeing this situation, immediately quietly instructed a junior maid to go inform Madam Lin.

Baozhu was gasping for breath, her lips trembling: “A person kidnapped Miss into Wuyin Mountain and wants us to bring ten thousand taels of silver to the ruined temple in the mountains to ransom her.”

The old madam’s body swayed. She sat back on the bed to steady her mind: “Ah Hao went to her cousin’s home, so where did she encounter this villain? Was she injured?”

Baozhu hastily wiped away tears. Both panicked and frightened, she couldn’t control her body’s trembling at all, but forced herself to calm down: “Young Master Feng saw Miss to the alley entrance. Miss got into the carriage parked by the roadside and said she felt stuffy, telling this servant to sit outside. At that time, this servant didn’t think much of it, but actually the villain was already inside the carriage compartment… When passing Wuyin Mountain, the villain made us stop the carriage and took Miss into the mountain…”

As she was speaking, Madam Lin rushed in: “Mother, has Ah Hao met with disaster?”

The old madam appeared much calmer now and explained the situation once through.

Madam Lin’s face turned deathly pale. She grabbed Baozhu’s wrist and asked: “Did that person injure Ah Hao?”

“Miss wasn’t injured at that time, but he kept the dagger pressed against Miss’s neck the whole time…” Baozhu choked with sobs.

“Find her at the ruined temple on the mountain in three days? Why wait until three days later?” Thinking of what her daughter might encounter, Madam Lin completely lost her composure.

“Perhaps the villain wants to leave time to gather the ransom money, or perhaps the villain wants to arrange an escape route…” The old madam shook her head. “No one knows what such vicious villains are thinking. But one thing is certain—to rescue Ah Hao, we cannot lose our heads first. Duofu, make a trip to Prince Jing’s mansion and ask the Prince Jing’s heir to come.”

The senior maid Duofu acknowledged and quickly walked out.

When Qi Shuo heard that the General’s Mansion had come to request his presence, he instinctively felt uneasy.

Because of the Crown Prince’s incident, all officials and nobles had suspended marriages, banquets, and such events. The postponement of his and Ah Hao’s wedding had already been discussed between the two families. If they needed to discuss anything further, it would be a matter between the elders. Suddenly calling him over inevitably made one think too much.

Qi Shuo quickened his steps. Before long, he arrived at the General’s Mansion and saw the pale faces of the old madam and Madam Lin.

It was as if a heavy hammer had violently struck his heart.

“Has something happened to Ah Hao?” he asked.

Though his heart was being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, his face remained calm.

“Ah Hao has been kidnapped.”

Qi Shuo clenched his fists hard and listened as the old madam explained the situation.

“I’ll enter the mountain immediately.” He took a deep breath and spoke these words in as calm a tone as possible.

The old madam stopped him: “Heir, don’t act rashly. The villain said that in three days, only two people from our side may go to deliver the ransom. During this time, if anyone is discovered entering the mountain to search for her, he will harm Ah Hao.”

Three days—

Qi Shuo frowned tightly. For some reason, this timeframe made him vaguely uneasy.