Chapter 690: Who Are You? 2 (1/2)

At the halfway mark up the mountain, Muxiang noticed a signal hidden in the bushes and made a discreet hand gesture.

A group of masked men on horses abruptly charged out from either side of the silent mountain road. They immediately got into a skirmish with the guards of the Anyuan Estate.

One of the strong masked men, wearing a short tunic with bunched up sleeves, charged straight towards Countess Jing’an with his sword drawn.

Wenqing had been about to rush to Chu Lian’s side, but she had no choice but to draw her own sword and block the man’s attack for the countess instead.

The clashing of swords resounded in the forest.

Muxiang was shouting for the guards to protect Chu Lian, but Laiyue and their stronger guards were all blocked by the masked men.

The palanquin that Chu Lian was seated in was stolen away by the two grey-clad porters carrying her. Another man stuffed a rag in Muxiang’s mouth and carried her away with them.

The masked men seemed to lose all desire to fight once they had completed the kidnapping. One of their leaders made a hand signal, and the group of masked men dispersed just as quickly as they had arrived.

In just a short fifteen minutes, there was only a group of injured guards and the shell-shocked Countess Jing’an left at the halfway mark of the mountain.

When Countess Jing’an realised that Chu Lian had been kidnapped, she collapsed to the ground in fright and roared angrily, “Chase them down! No matter what, you have to bring Sanlang’s wife back safely in one piece!”

Her voice was trembling as she gave orders to Laiyue, “Hurry, send some men to pass the news to Third Young Master, Master and Prince Wei’s Estate! Quickly!”

Their family soldier, Huang Zhijian, had already led a party of guards after the kidnappers. Laiyue quickly instructed some men to send the report. He didn’t dare to lead the pursuit himself at the moment since Countess Jing’an was still here. They had already lost one of their madams, they couldn’t let anything happen to the other.

So her two porters had been part of the setup.

She looked around her surroundings constantly, but since this was the forested area of Mount Lanxiang, other than bushes and trees, there was nothing she could use as landmarks.

She pressed her lips and accidentally brushed against the pouch at her waist, causing some tiny fragments to fall out.

Under these pressing circumstances, no one noticed the light-coloured powder falling from Chu Lian’s ouch.

Chu Lian turned her gaze to Muxiang, who had been tied up and was being carried on someone’s shoulder. The maidservant’s head had been covered by a cloth bag, so she couldn’t see the servant’s expression at the moment.

However, what seemed strange to Chu Lian was how Muxiang had reacted at first. She had struggled with all her might at the start, but after they had left the line of sight of Laiyue and the others, Muxiang had suddenly stopped moving as if she had fainted.

The two porters carrying the palanquin were sprinting madly. Chu Lian didn’t dare to do anything but hold on to the palanquin for dear life.

Finally, once the kidnappers had lost the guards in pursuit and made a long detour around the forest to throw them off, they stopped by a thatched hut.