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The carriage swayed precariously on the edge of the cliff.
"Ahhh——" Rui Wangfei turned pale, as she sat in the half of the carriage suspended outside the cliff, just a misstep away from tumbling down and breaking her bones!
"Don't move!"
Gu Jiao instructed.
Rui Wangfei was trembling in extreme fright, but hearing Gu Jiao’s words, she tried her best to keep still.
Gu Jiao cautiously moved towards Rui Wangfei, gently lifting the curtain. She extended her hand to the terror-stricken Rui Wangfei and said, "Don't be afraid, give me your hand."
Rui Wangfei timidly stretched out her hand, yet as soon as she moved, the carriage began to shake violently, making her quickly draw her hand back in fear.
Fear and tears filled her eyes as she muttered, "I... I dare not..."
Gu Jiao consoled her, "It's alright, I have the carriage secured. You can come over slowly."
After glancing at Gu Jiao's foot and seeing that she had indeed placed it on the carriage floor, Rui Wangfei gritted her teeth and mustered up her courage to inch closer to Gu Jiao.
With each movement, she could feel the carriage slipping a bit.
"I…I'm scared…"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Gu Jiao softly said, "Don't be afraid, I'll hold you."
Rui Wangfei looked at Gu Jiao's determined gaze and a huge wave of courage surged in her heart. She steeled herself and took a step towards Gu Jiao.
However, just as Gu Jiao grasped her fingertips, an arrow flew past, brushing against Gu Jiao's sleeve!
"Hiss--" Gu Jiao gasped, her hand slipping and failing to grab Rui Wangfei's hands.
Rui Wangfei tumbled back to the other end of the carriage, and the whole carriage suddenly plummeted down!
Gu Jiao quickly grabbed the carriage shaft with one hand and drew out a dagger with the other, stabbing it fiercely into the rock on the edge of the cliff.
Rui Wangfei felt that nearly the whole carriage was suspended in midair.
She stared at Gu Jiao who was desperately grabbing the carriage, her body seeming to be ripped apart. Her tears spilled out, "Young Miss Gu… just let go… you'll fall too…"
Gu Jiao did not let go, "Come here… Grab my hand… Hold on tight…"
Whoosh!
Another arrow shot at the carriage, the immense impact causing a huge pressure on Gu Jiao.
But that was not the most dangerous; the most dangerous was the increasing number of arrows being shot at them, several of which flying by Gu Jiao's side, not knowing when and which one would hit her.
"Young Miss Gu…"
"No time, hurry!"
Whoosh!
Another arrow flew over, cutting off a strand of Gu Jiao's hair.
With tears in her eyes and while gritting her teeth, Rui Wangfei mustered all her strength and courage, lunging towards Gu Jiao!
She hugged Gu Jiao's arm.
In almost the same instant, Gu Jiao released the shaft and instead gripped her wrist.
With no one pulling it anymore, the carriage plummeted quickly down the cliff and Rui Wangfei shut her eyes with a sigh.
She did not fall; she was caught by Gu Jiao.
Just as Gu Jiao was about to pull her up, several masked assassins rushed at her.
In the nick of time, a long sword emerged, piercing the chest of one of the assassins.
The assassins detected something amiss, yet they did not confront the enemy and instead continued charging towards Gu Jiao.
The owner of the sword leaped forward, blocking the way before Gu Jiao.
Both sides engaged in a fierce battle, and Gu Jiao hastily pulled Rui Wangfei up.
Rui Wangfei was so scared to death that she slumped in Gu Jiao's arms after coming up. Then she looked at the man and called out ‘Ning Wang' before passing out.
It turned out to be Ning Wang.
Gu Jiao cradled Rui Wangfei and turned towards the opposite side.
By then, three of the assassins had already been slain by Ning Wang, and one of them, upon seeing the dire situation, fled in a hurry.
Ning Wang gave an order, "Catch him! Alive!"
Not far away, the guards from Ning Wang Residence chased the assassin in the direction of his escape.
Ning Wang wiped the blood on his sword with a handkerchief and put it back into the scabbard before coming up to Gu Jiao and Rui Wangfei, asking, "Are you all right?"
Gu Jiao raised her eyes and looked at him.
Ning Wang, dressed in a dark blue brocade gown with a sash around his waist, stood tall and strong, his handsome face and bright eyes bearing a resemblance to both Imperial Consort Zhuang and the Emperor himself.
Amongst the imperial princes Gu Jiao had seen, he was the most similar to the Emperor, not only in appearance, but you could also see the shadow of the Emperor in his demeanor.
At the age of twenty-six, which was three years older than the Crown Prince, he was both youthful and mature, with the vigor of a young man and the poise of an adult.
Gu Jiao withdrew her eyes and checked Rui Wangfei’s pulse.
Judging from the condition of Rui Wangfei's pulse, she wasn’t in a bad state, except that she received much fright and shock. Gu Jiao said, "It’s nothing serious. She will wake up soon."
Ning Wang sighed in relief.
Ning Wang didn't ask Gu Jiao who she was, but his gaze was clearly not unfamiliar. He recognized her.
Gu Jiao stared at him curiously; she had no recollection of ever meeting him before.
Ning Wang chuckled and said, "I went to the scene of the incident at the Ministry of Works before and saw the young miss treating the wounded."
Gu Jiao let out an ‘oh’.
The accident back then was so severe that she only paid attention to the injured people, neglecting those who were not hurt.
Ning Wang said, "The young miss has been frightened. Where were the young miss and Rui Wangfei headed? I'll have someone take you there.”
All of the guards of the Rui Wang Residence had been slain by the assassins, and the carriage was gone too.
Gu Jiao said, "We had just come from the nunnery and were on our return journey."
Ning Wang paused, then asked, "Did the young miss accompany Rui Wangfei to pay a visit to Imperial Concubine Dowager?"
Gu Jiao nodded.
Ning Wang furrowed his brow and hurriedly ordered the guards, "You all, quickly go to the nunnery to see if Imperial Concubine Dowager is fine!"
"Yes!"
The guards complied and rushed off to the nunnery.
Ning Wang said to Gu Jiao, "I will have someone send you two back."
Gu Jiao suddenly stopped him, "Why did Ning Wang appear here?"
Ning Wang was chilled to the bone by her sharp gaze, "You’re suspecting this prince?"
Gu Jiao replied sternly, "You appeared too timely."
Ning Wang smiled helplessly, "Young miss, if I had arrived a moment later, the both of you would have lost your lives. If I wanted to harm you, I would not have appeared at all. What's more…"
He glanced at the unconscious Rui Wangfei in Gu Jiao's embrace, "She is the prince’s consort of the Third Prince."
Who didn’t know that Rui Wang belonged to Ning Wang’s faction? Had Ning Wang gone mad to lay hands on the wife of his own people?
Ning Wang explained, "The Emperor is worried about the Imperial Concubine Dowager, so he asked this prince to pay a visit to the nunnery."
This was the truth, he had indeed gone to the nunnery to pay respects to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing.
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing was the Emperor's foster mother, and with news of the Emperor's assassination attempt, she was bound to be distressed.
Not only did the Rui Wang couple take this into consideration, the Emperor, upon seeing the ailing Empress Dowager, immediately thought of Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing in the nunnery as well, thus dispatching Ning Wang specially on his behalf.
Gu Jiao nodded. This matter was easy to verify. Ning Wang shouldn’t be lying.
Therefore, the assassination had nothing to do with Ning Wang.
Then who could it be?
The assailant appeared to be targeting Rui Wang Fei, but it could not be ruled out that they were there to kill her.
Ning Wang gave the carriage to Gu Jiao and Rui Wang Fei, while he himself rode a horse towards the nunnery.
Gu Jiao sent Rui Wangfei back to the Rui Wang Residence.
Before their departure, Ning Wang had sent a guard to the palace to inform Rui Wang, who was already anxiously waiting outside the gates of the residence.
Upon seeing Gu Jiao carrying someone down, he stepped forward in a single stride and took Rui Wangfei from her arms.
He looked at Rui Wangfei, and the worry in his eyes could not be hidden, "Is she, is she alright?"
Gu Jiao replied, "She's fine, she just needs to get some sleep."
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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