newbobooks Chapter 588 He's been kidnapped!
Chapter 588 He's been kidnapped!
At the restaurant manager's command, several burly waiters immediately surrounded the private room and blocked the door.
The young prince was still very young and had never seen anything like this before. His face turned pale, and he instinctively shrank behind Gu Qingchen.
"What do you want to do?" Gu Qingchen took a step forward, shielding the three boys behind him, his small body standing straight.
"What are you doing?" the shopkeeper sneered. "Paying back debts is a matter of course! If you don't have money, don't even think about leaving this door!"
Just then, a few shady-looking men walked in. The leader, a man with triangular eyes and a face full of fat, immediately yelled at the shopkeeper, "Old Zhang, what's all this commotion about? Can't a man have a drink?"
Upon seeing these people, the shopkeeper put on a smile: "Oh, Brother Wang, a few brats tried to dine and dash, we're dealing with them right now."
The man with the triangular eyes, referred to as "Brother Wang," glanced at the four children in the room. When his gaze fell on the young prince's bright yellow robe, his expression clearly changed.
He stepped forward and pretended to mediate, saying, "It's no big deal, just a few kids. Here's what we'll do, Lao Zhang, this meal is on me, you let them go."
The shopkeeper was taken aback, somewhat surprised, but since someone was paying, he was naturally happy to do a favor.
"Brother Wang is so generous." The shopkeeper immediately changed his tune.
Brother Wang smiled and said to Gu Qingchen and the others, "Little ones, don't be afraid, come with me, I'll take you back to the academy."
Gu Qingchen became suspicious; the man's smile seemed malicious.
But given the current situation, they have no other choice.
The group followed Brother Wang out of the restaurant and turned into a quiet alley.
As soon as they entered the alley, the smile on Brother Wang's face vanished. He gave a wink to the people behind him, and several of them immediately surrounded him, one by one, covering his mouth and dragging him deeper into the alley.
Gu Qingchen struggled desperately, but she was no match for a grown man.
Qian Zhenyun was so frightened that tears streamed down his face, and he shook his head, sobbing.
Lin Jiayou remained silent, but his eyes were as cold as ice.
After an unknown amount of time, they were roughly pushed into an abandoned woodshed, and the door was slammed shut.
The woodshed was dark and damp, filled with a musty smell.
Qian Zhenyun's sobs could no longer be contained: "Waaah... Sister, I told you we shouldn't have come out! What do we do now? Are they going to sell us?"
"What are you crying for!" Gu Qingchen was also panicking inside, but he refused to back down verbally. "You're not dead yet! What's the use of saying all this hindsight now?"
The young prince sat on the ground, his eyes red-rimmed. He had never suffered such humiliation in his life.
“It’s all my fault,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t have insisted on eating.”
"It's not your fault!" Gu Qingchen immediately retorted, walking to the young prince's side. "Those bad people were just too wicked!"
Lin Jiayou leaned against the wall and calmly said, "They probably saw His Highness's clothes and thought we were rich, so they wanted to kidnap him and demand a ransom."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingchen immediately glared at the young prince: "It's all your fault! I told you to change your clothes, but you wouldn't!"
The little prince, glared at by her, pouted and got angry: "I told you not to come out and run around! You insisted on coming out!"
"Wasn't it you who kept insisting on watching me tear down the roof?"
"But you were the one who suggested it first!"
Several people were arguing in the woodshed, blaming each other.
Just then, the broken door of the woodshed creaked open, and the triangular-eyed elder brother of the Wang family walked in with two other people.
"What's all the noise about?" He glared fiercely at the children. "Shut up, all of you!"
The woodshed fell silent instantly.
The elder brother walked up to the young prince, reached out and pinched the fabric of his clothes, and chuckled, "Little fellow, when are your family coming to deliver money?"
The young prince straightened his back; although he was afraid, he still maintained his royal demeanor.
"How dare you! Do you know who I am? When my father finds out, he'll take your heads!"
Brother Wang was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter with those around him.
"Hahahaha! This Empress? Father Emperor?" Brother Wang laughed until tears almost streamed down his face. "Little brat, are you getting carried away with your acting? Which opera troupe is your father the head of?"
“That’s right, I think this outfit is a theatrical costume!” a thug next to him chimed in.
Gu Qingchen's face flushed red with anger. She stood up abruptly, pointed at her brother's nose, and yelled, "Open your dog eyes and see clearly! Do you think you can touch the dragon robe he's wearing? This is His Highness the Crown Prince! Kidnapping the Crown Prince is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"
Her shout was so powerful that it startled the thugs.
The elder brother carefully examined the young prince and saw that although he was in a sorry state, there was indeed an indescribable air of nobility between his brows.
But then he thought about it again and found it absurd.
"Bullshit prince!" he spat. "A prince like you can come out on the street and fool around? Can't even afford a meal costing three taels of silver? You little brat, don't try to fool me! If you say another word, believe me, I'll tear your mouth apart!"
As he spoke, he reached out to grab Gu Qingchen.
"You dare touch her and see what happens!"
Lin Jiayou suddenly rushed out from the corner, grabbed Wang's leg tightly, and bit down hard.
"Ouch!" Brother Wang cried out in pain and kicked Lin Jiayou away.
Lin Jiayou slammed his head against the wall, letting out a muffled groan, but gritted his teeth and didn't cry.
"You've gone too far!" Brother Wang was completely enraged. He grabbed a wooden stick from the side and shouted, "I'll beat you little bastards to death today!"
He raised the wooden stick high, ready to strike Lin Jiayou on the ground.
"Stop!" Gu Qingchen screamed and rushed over without thinking, standing in front of Lin Jiayou.
The wooden stick swung down with a whooshing sound.
"Clang-!"
With a loud crash, the door to the woodshed was kicked open from the outside and shattered into pieces.
The blinding sunlight streamed in, and a tall, imposing figure stood in the doorway, draped in a dark cloak, his face ashen, his eyes cold as knives.
Behind him, rows of heavily armored guards surged in instantly, their gleaming swords drawn, completely surrounding the small woodshed.
The entire woodshed was deathly silent.
Brother Wang and the two thugs stood frozen in place, holding wooden sticks, their faces draining of color at a visible speed, their legs trembling like leaves.
Gu Junze's gaze swept across the entire room, finally landing on his own daughter.
Seeing her, though covered in soot, standing unharmed protecting another child, with an indomitable flame still burning in her eyes.
The heart that had been pounding in his chest finally settled back into place.