The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1074 - 1074 520 Jiaojiaos Anger (First Update)_2

Chapter 1074: 520 Jiaojiao’s Anger (First Update)_2 Chapter 1074: 520 Jiaojiao’s Anger (First Update)_2 She had lived on the desolate and frigid frontier for many years, often mingling with the herdsmen. She had tended sheep, worked the fields, and done dirty, exhausting jobs. Her hands were no longer the delicate, pampered hands of nobility; her face, too, had lost the crystal-clear complexion of Yu Xue due to exposure to the elements and the harsh sun.

Yet, she still carried an air of imperial nobility.

“Ah!”

Princess Ning An stumbled again.

Soon after, the Medical Officer also took a fall.

There was no helping it, the snow was too deep.

“Princess! Let me carry you,” Lianlian said with concern.

Princess Ning An waved her hand, “You can’t carry me. I’m too heavy.”

As she spoke, she looked back at the path they had taken.

Even though it was night, the moonlight reflecting off the snowfield made the Back Mountain appear quite bright, so much so that their uneven footprints were scattered all over the ground.

“Hurry, they’ll catch up to us soon!”

Princess Ning An said, gasping for breath.

Gu Jiao narrowed her eyes and asked Princess Ning An, “Where is the secret passage?”

Princess Ning An lifted her somewhat sore hand and pointed towards the woods behind them, “Through this forest, there is an ancient well, the passage is beneath it… if I remember correctly.”

The last sentence made the Medical Officer’s eyelids twitch. “Princess, what do you mean ‘if you remember correctly’? Do you know the secret passage or not?”

Princess Ning An said with difficulty, “I’ve only seen the blueprint of the secret passage in the Study Room. I think I remember…”

“Ah…” The Medical Officer was at a loss for words.

If she had remembered it wrong, without anywhere to go, wouldn’t their deaths be even more tragic?

“Let’s go,” Gu Jiao said.

The Medical Officer clenched his teeth and followed.

Having already escaped, there was no possibility of going back now.

Lianlian and the Medical Officer supported Princess Ning An while Gu Jiao carried the Red-Tasseled Spear, keeping a safe distance from the group.

They made their way through the forest to the vicinity of the ancient well.

The ancient well was covered with a thick layer of snow, and it took them a long time to locate the well cover.

“It’s locked!” the Medical Officer said in despair.

Gu Jiao extended the Red-Tasseled Spear, raised her hand to pick the lock, and easily broke it.

The Medical Officer was left dumbfounded: “…”

Gu Jiao lit a fire stick and threw it down the well, using the light to get a clear view of the well’s walls and the scene at the bottom.

A soft ladder hung on the wall of the well, and the bottom was empty and unthreatening for the moment.

“I’ll go down first.”

Gu Jiao said.

“Be careful!” Princess Ning An told her.

“Hmm.” Gu Jiao nodded slightly, grabbed the Red-Tasseled Spear, and leaped down the well without using the ladder.

Everyone was surprised to see her jump straight down without the ladder.

Gu Jiao picked up the fire stick, looked around, and then called up, “There is a passage down here and no danger for now. Come on down.”

“Princess, you go first,” Lianlian said.

Princess Ning An nodded and slowly descended to the bottom of the well on the soft ladder.

Lianlian followed close behind.

Carrying a bundle on her back, she nearly got stuck in the well opening.

“Throw the bundle down,” Gu Jiao instructed her.

“Okay, Gu Jiao, catch!” Lianlian tossed the bundle to her.

Gu Jiao caught it deftly.

Lianlian carefully made her way down.

Once she steadied herself, she looked up to the well opening, “Medical Officer, come down quickly!”

The Medical Officer had one leg over the well opening, but the other leg refused to move: “I-I-I-I… I’m scared of heights…”

“It’s not high! There’s a ladder!” Lianlian said.

The Medical Officer shivered in terror, nearly crying, “I can’t do it, I really can’t…”

Just then, the sharp cries of soldiers carried from not far away: “Sir! They’re over there!”

The Medical Officer swung his leg over and scurried down the ladder in a flash!

Everyone: “…”

Gu Jiao handed the fire stick to the Medical Officer and quickly climbed to the well’s mouth, closing the well cover, which had a mechanism built into it. She twisted the iron rod underneath the cover, and it locked from the inside.

She jumped down and said to the group, “Go!”

They entered the secret passage.

It was pitch black in the passage, and although Gu Jiao was initially able to use the fire stick, after walking a distance, even that was no longer possible.

“Lianlian, take out the Night Light Pearl!” Princess Ning An said to Lianlian.

“Okay!” Lianlian took out a Night Light Pearl from the bundle that was even larger than a fist.

Gu Jiao had never seen such a large Night Light Pearl and found it quite novel.

Princess Ning An looked down and gave a bitter smile, “It was a gift from Mother on my birthday.”

Gu Jiao did not know what Princess Ning An felt when she brought up her aunt again. The aunt had done everything possible to prevent this marriage, yet driven by love, Ning An had stubbornly married the prince, only to be met with calculation and betrayal.