Yuan Bao had been gone for a long time and had not returned. Xiao Yun realized something was wrong.
"I'll go take a look. You stay here and don't go anywhere."
Wang Qingyao nodded indifferently and picked up another rose candy bun. Just as she took a bite, before the syrup had fully flowed out, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.
What was going on? Was the bun poisoned? Impossible, Xiao Yun had eaten one earlier...
With no time to think further, her vision went black. Before she completely lost consciousness, she felt someone supporting her...
When people are unconscious, their thoughts are scattered.
Wang Qingyao dreamed of when she was very young, squatting in the dirt playing with mud. Someone pointed and gossiped behind her, "How pitiful, her parents divorced at such a young age, and neither of them wants her..."
But she didn't feel pitiful at all.
Her father and mother rarely came home even before they divorced. She had grown up with her grandparents since she was little. Apart from being older, her grandparents were no different from her parents. Later, as she grew up and the country allowed for second and third children, she saw parents older than her grandparents!
Moreover, although her parents didn't come home, they provided ample living expenses each month, enough for her to live like a little princess in the countryside. After they divorced and remarried, they continued to provide child support. The payments were always sufficient and timely.
Wang Qingyao's memories of them were vague. Because she never had them, she didn't miss them at all.
Some of her childhood friends were left-behind children. Although their parents returned once or twice a year, their feelings towards them were still indifferent.
Emotions needed to be cultivated, whether it was familial love or romantic love.
She felt she was better off than those left-behind children. She wasn't short of money, and her childhood was happy.
But why would a happy childhood involve working? Wang Qingyao's dream suddenly changed. She saw her younger self wearing Hanfu, sitting in front of a computer, reconciling financial statements. Her superior stood behind her with a submachine gun, the muzzle pressed against her head, urging her to hurry.
She shouted, "I'm going to be a princess, why do I still have to work overtime?"
Her eyelids suddenly fluttered open, and Wang Qingyao woke up. She moved and found herself bound tightly to a pillar. It was a dilapidated abandoned temple. The merciful Guanyin statue had only one eye left, and incense sticks and candle holders lay scattered on the ground.
She had been kidnapped. Wang Qingyao thought calmly, while also being puzzled. Why would they kidnap her? In terms of value, Xiao Yun was much more valuable than her.
A masked man in a brown robe was dozing against the offering table. Wang Qingyao used her clairvoyant eyes to look at his face. It was an ordinary face, unrecognizable.
She called out to him, "Hey, brother, I'm awake."
The man was startled awake. He glanced at her and ran out without a word.
What was going on...
Wang Qingyao tried to break free from the ropes, twisting and turning with all her might. The ordinary-faced man entered with another masked man.
Wang Qingyao stopped twisting awkwardly and explained, "My back is itchy."
The two men walked up to her.
The man who entered later wore a blue long gown, had a square face, a hooked nose, and a mustache. He was also unrecognizable.
Wang Qingyao was sensible. "Big brother, please don't hurt me. We can talk about anything."
The hooked-nosed man clasped his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice, "Answer my questions properly, and I won't hurt you."
Wang Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't after money or her virtue, so everything could be discussed. She forced a sincere smile. "Sir, please ask whatever you wish. I will tell you everything I know."
The hooked-nosed man was satisfied with her compliance. He cleared his throat and asked, "Did you write 'The Secret History of Palace Concubines'?"
Wang Qingyao froze. She never expected her kidnapper to be interested in this. Had she encountered a fervent fan?
"Yes... I wrote it."
"Who did you hear this story from?"
"I made it up."
"Made it up?"
The kidnapper frowned, looking unconvinced.
Wang Qingyao quickly said, "It's really made up. I'm best at writing these melodramatic dramas, like sisters falling in love with the same man, wealthy heiresses being swapped, lovers ending up as siblings, hahaha... cough cough..."
Under the hooked-nosed man's displeased gaze, Wang Qingyao's voice gradually died down.
"Miss," the hooked-nosed man said, "I don't have time for your jokes. If you don't tell the truth, don't blame me for being impolite."
He gave a signal, and the ordinary-faced man "swish"ed out a large saber and held it to Wang Qingyao's neck. The silver glint made Wang Qingyao's face turn pale.
She was a typical case of not shedding tears until she saw the coffin. Only then did she belatedly feel fear, her hands and feet trembling involuntarily.
"No, no, no, I'll tell the truth, I'll tell the truth," she said shamefully. "Actually, it's not entirely made up. I admit I borrowed from others."
"Who?"
Who? She didn't know either. She had read so many online novels, she had long forgotten the authors' names. Besides, even if she remembered, they wouldn't know them!
Wang Qingyao trembled. "I don't remember."
The hooked-nosed man's face darkened. Wang Qingyao immediately changed her tune. "There were too many people, I can't remember all the names. I think there was one called Tang Jia Wu Shao, and others like Liulian, Xian Hua, Da Zhizhi..."
Hooked-nosed man: "..."
Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the urge to hit her. "Miss, I'm not joking. I'll give you one last chance. If you don't tell the truth, your beautiful little face won't be safe."
Wang Qingyao was about to cry. She wasn't joking!
She was wrong, she was wrong, wasn't that enough? She shouldn't have thought that because she was in ancient times, no one would hold her accountable for borrowing and blending plots! Wuwuwu, she wouldn't dare anymore, she would never dare again! Support original works! Plagiarism is shameful!
"I'm not joking either," she said with a mournful face. "I've read many storybooks, and these people are all storybook writers..."
Seeing that she didn't seem to be joking, the hooked-nosed man was silent for a moment before asking, "Whose work did you borrow from for the first three chapters?"
"Huh?" Wang Qingyao stared at him blankly. Did they have to be so detailed? Was this person from the cultural department of the Great Sheng Dynasty?
But the first three chapters could only be described as cliché. Who borrowed from whom was hard to say!
Seeing the hooked-nosed man's insistent look, it seemed she wouldn't be let go today without naming someone. Wang Qingyao swallowed and said weakly, "Tang Jia Wu Shao."
"Where did you buy his books from?"
"An... an old book stall."
"Which old book stall?"
After telling the first lie, the subsequent lies flowed more smoothly.
"At the Da Xiang Guo Temple, I bought it on the day of the Wan surname transaction. The stall owner's accent didn't sound local. I didn't see him again when I went back later. He might have gone back to his hometown. You might not be able to find him, hehehehe..."
Hooked-nosed man: "You don't need to worry about whether I can find him or not." With a flick of his sleeve, he actually intended to leave.
Wang Qingyao shouted, "Big brother, help me untie these ropes first!"
Neither the hooked-nosed man nor the ordinary-faced man paid her any attention. They walked out of the dilapidated temple in a few steps, leaving Wang Qingyao to shout herself hoarse.