When Qiao Nian woke up, it was still pitch dark in front of her eyes. It seemed that something was covering her eyes.
Subconsciously, she raised her hand, only to find that her hands were tied together.
Then she suddenly remembered everything that had happened in the teahouse!
So now, where was she?
The surface beneath her was quite soft. She should be lying on a bed. Faintly, she could hear some noisy sounds from outside.
She was still in Chunshan Street!
This should be an inn on Chunshan Street.
However, with her eyes covered, she couldn't determine exactly where she was, nor did she know what time it was.
How long had she been abducted?
Just as she was thinking, the sound of the door being pushed open reached her ears.
The two men were back.
Qiao Nian could hear the footsteps of one of them approaching her, as if to check if she was awake.
She didn't dare to move a muscle.
Thankfully, the man didn't notice that she was already awake. He just laughed and said, "Big brother, the knockout drug you bought this time is really good!" Then he walked away.
"That's right! I heard it's the medicine from Yaowang Valley!"
A smell of wine wafted over. Evidently, the two of them started drinking.
"Big brother, why are there so many officers outside? Could they be after us?" one of them asked, sounding rather gloomy.
The other replied, "You fool, those aren't officers. Have you ever seen an officer with so much murderous intent?"
As he spoke, the man took a sip of wine, his tone solemn. "In my opinion, those are soldiers who have been on the battlefield and killed people."
After these words, there was a moment of silence.
Both of them seemed to be in a rather bad mood. Qiao Nian could only hear the sound of them drinking. It was quite a while before she heard the man ask again, "So, are those soldiers after us? Just for that young lady from the Marquis Mansion?"
"Maybe!" the man said with a sigh. "If I had known this business was so difficult, we should have asked for more money. But it's okay. As long as we stay hidden in this inn and don't show our faces, even if the whole street is full of soldiers, they won't be able to find us. We just need to let this girl go at dawn."
"Ah, it's really strange. Why do you think he paid so much money just to have us lock this girl up for one night and then let her go? And he repeatedly told us not to hurt her."
"Have you forgotten what she said earlier? The emperor has betrothed her to the Prince of Ming! But now she's been abducted and hasn't returned all night. Although we haven't touched her, will people outside believe it? By then, the people in the whole capital city could drown her with just their spittle. Does she still want to marry the Prince of Ming? She'll probably be so ashamed and angry that she'll hang herself!"
"Tsk! So ruthless! That's what they call killing someone without spilling blood, isn't it?"
"We're openly bad, but those rich people are secretly vicious! But it has nothing to do with us. Once we let her go tomorrow morning, we can get the money and go home. We won't have to take risks for the next ten years! Come on, cheers!"
At this point, the two brothers seemed to have extremely wonderful imaginations about their future. From clinking glasses to drinking heartily, and finally getting drunk and unconscious, Qiao Nian didn't dare to make a single sound throughout the whole process.
She didn't even dare to move her toes.
It was not until the two men were snoring thunderously that she dared to slightly move her already numb hands and feet.
Qiao Nian secretly rejoiced that the two men trusted the knockout drug from Yaowang Valley so much that they both got drunk.
But obviously, they had been deceived.
This created a glimmer of hope for her.
However, her hands and feet were so numb that even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain, so much so that Qiao Nian couldn't help but let out a low groan.
Realizing that she had made a sound, Qiao Nian froze again.
Thankfully, the two men's snoring continued without interruption.
She was then certain that the two men should be sound asleep.
Without further hesitation, she started struggling with all her might.
Evidently, the two were experienced. The knots of the ropes binding her were tied extremely tightly. Qiao Nian struggled for quite a while, but couldn't loosen the ropes on her wrists even a little bit.
But she couldn't give up like this.
She had heard the two men's conversation clearly. They wanted to ruin her reputation and break off her engagement with the Prince of Ming!
Although she didn't care about these things and could choose not to marry the Prince of Ming, if Grandmother knew about this, she would surely be heartbroken!
Grandmother's health was deteriorating. Since she had returned to the Marquis Mansion for so long, she hadn't been able to do anything for Grandmother. The only thing she could do now was not to make Grandmother worry in the slightest!
Thinking of the way Grandmother would hug her and comfort her softly, a fire ignited in Qiao Nian's heart.
She couldn't let her fate be ruined here. Absolutely not!
The two villains were sound asleep. This was the best time for her to escape. She definitely couldn't let a rope cut off her future and Grandmother's hope!
With these thoughts in mind, Qiao Nian began to pull her left hand out with all her strength.
Even though the rope on her wrist was so tight that it dug into her flesh, she ignored the pain and forcefully pulled her hand out!
Did it hurt?
Of course it did!
The rough hemp rope rubbed against her skin, feeling like countless knives cutting into her flesh!
But she couldn't give up. She had to escape!
Qiao Nian exerted all her energy and finally felt her left hand being pulled out a little bit, but then her bone got stuck.
She ran out of strength, so she struggled to get up from the bed.
She knelt down and inserted one knee between her two arms.
Pressing her right hand with her knee, her left hand could exert more force!
The pain became even more intense.
Qiao Nian could clearly feel the sensation of the bones in her wrist being gradually separated.
It was so painful!
But Grandmother, Niannian couldn't let herself be ruined here, right?
Niannian must escape, right?
"Ah!"
Finally, after a heart - rending scream, Qiao Nian managed to pull her left hand out. But...
A sharp pain shot through her left wrist, making her whole body tremble.
For a moment, her mind went blank due to the pain.
But fortunately, the pain also brought her back to her senses.
She didn't dare to hesitate for a second. After shaking off the rope on her right hand, she tore off the cloth covering her eyes.
Dim candlelight hit her eyes. She immediately saw the two drunk men lying on the table and several wine jars beside them.
They had drunk a lot. Even her heart - rending scream hadn't woken them up.
Qiao Nian secretly let out a sigh of relief. She looked down at her left hand. It was covered in blood from the scratches of the hemp rope, and it hung limply, clearly dislocated.
But she didn't have time to tend to the injury on her left hand. Instead, she quickly used her right hand to untie the rope on her feet and then rushed out like her life depended on it.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she rushed out of the door, she bumped into a solid chest.
She looked up abruptly and saw a tall man looking at her in surprise.