Ye Li couldn"t held her curses back the moment she fell into the water. Even though she had undergone physical training she was far from the girl in her predestination who had gone through challenging exercises in the teeth of wind and rain. Besides, though she wasn"t the one who was favored in her family, the body she had at the moment truly belonged to a lady who had been delicately brought up so she couldn"t help but feel a little cramp. Lucky for her, Ye Li had seen that coming so she adjusted herself in no time. Then she went towards where Princess Ling Yun was and grabbed her when was struggling in the water and took her down in the water.
With just one look, Ye Li knew that Princess Ling Yun didn"t know how to swim. Ye Li couldn"t help but sneer. Good. Was she supposed to admire this princess for her courage to sacrifice her life for love? How dare she jump into the water not knowing how to swim? Well, then she would let this princess experience for herself what it was like to drown. After this, the princess would sure understand to act according to her means. At first, Princess Ling Yun wasn"t alarmed and bewildered since she knew someone would soon come for her. But after a while she realized that she was sinking at a fast speed so she couldn"t help but struggling more frantically. Ye Li snorted slightly to herself, knowing that someone had joined them in the lake just from the flow of the water. She quickly swam to Princess Ling Yun"s back and knocked her out. Then she dragged her to the other side of the lake and didn"t push her back until she estimated that Princess Ling Yun was at her limit.
It seemed that all the people in the imperial garden gathered by the lake in an instant. The first to arrive was guards of Xi Ling and guards of the imperial garden who were in the lake for the rescue already.
"They are over there!" Someone by the lake suddenly shouted. The crowd looked over and found a part of a colorful silk emerging out of the lake. They then saw Princess Ding appearing out of the surface with her hands supporting Princess Ling Yun. It appeared to everyone that Princess Ding had saved Princess Ling Yun.
Ye Li saw the guards who were swimming towards them quickly and smiled to Princess Ling Yun who was still unconscious: "Wake up, princess. Princess... someone is coming for us."
Since Ye Li didn"t give her a hard knock, Princess Ling Yun regained consciousness soon after she was pulled out of the water. Realizing that Ye Li was smiling at her sarcastically, Princess Ling Yun didn"t care where they were right now and shouted: "Get your hands away from me!" Then she started to struggle violently.
"Princess, don"t move. Be careful..."
"Leave me alone!" Seeing that the guards were there, Princess Ling Yun pushed Ye Li away, convinced that she had her backing.
Great... With all those people looking, Ye Li fell into the water once again with a terrified look on her face because of that push.
Once Princess Ling Yun was out of the lake, her maids who were waiting for her on the land sent her dry clothes at once.
Qing Yu and Qing Xia glared at Princess Ling Yun and said: "Princess, our lady saved you out of kindness. Why did you push her in return?"
Princess Ling Yun raised her head and seeing that many present looked at her with disapproval, she was stunned. This wasn"t how she had planned it! "I didn"t push her!"
Hua Tian Xiang sneered: "Princess, how come you dare to act but don"t dare to take the consequences? Even if you want to lie, please make your lie more convincing. Or do you think that all of us here today are blind?"
Princess Ling Yun said angrily: "It was her who has pushed me down there. I don"t need her help."
Princess Royal Zhao Yang said gloomily: "Princess, do you mean that Princess Ding has pushed you into the lake and then jumped into the water to save you, now that you are safe and sound while she"s still nowhere to be found? You better pray that she"s unharmed or even though you are princess of Xi Ling, we won"t let it go easily."
"Princess... we"ve found the princess..." Qing Yu, who was waiting anxiously by the lake shouted. Qing Shuang and Qing Luan who were in the lake carried Ye Li who was clearly unconscious emerging out of the water. Those who were at the bank helped Ye Li out of the water and threw dry clothes on her. Qing Yu held her hand and took her pulse.
Princess Zhao Yang asked anxiously with her eyes on Ye Li: "How is she? Where are the imperial doctors?"
Qing Yu looked up and said: "Thank you for your kindness, princess. My lady has pa.s.sed out since she drank some water. She"s in good condition. But... at the moment she needs a place to rest."
Princess Zhao Yang looked around and said decisively: "Zhaoxia Chamber is close. Take Princess Ding there."
Ye Li who was still unconscious was carried to Zhaoxia Chamber, leading by Princess Zhao Yang and the crowd followed. Princess Ling Yun who also fell into the lake but who was safe was ignored naturally. Seeing the crowd went away in a hurry, Princess Ling Yun"s expression turned dark.
"Princess..." The maids from Xi Ling who were by her side called cautiously.
"Go away!" Princess Ling Yun said furiously.
Zhaoxia Chamber was in a heavy atmosphere. In the inner chamber, Mo Xiu Yao sat by the bed looking at the unconscious woman lying in the bed with a gloomy face. The imperial doctor took her pulse with the greatest of care.
Princess Royal sat by the side and asked with a frown: "How is Princess Ding?"
The imperial doctor thought for a while and glanced at Mo Xiu Yao before he said: "Your Highness, My Lady, the princess is in good shape. Only that... She might have been startled. Later I will prescribe some medicine to help calm her nerves and warm her up."
Princess Royal said: "Well, if everything is fine, how come that the princess is still unconscious?"
The imperial doctor said: "Well... The princess is a woman after all. I"m afraid that she has choked some water all of a sudden and thus pa.s.sed out. But it isn"t serious so I think she will wake up with some rest."
That Ye Li had carried Princess Ling Yun out of the water and Princess Ling Yun gave her a sudden push occurred to Princess Royal again and her face turned darker. She nodded and said: "Leave us and take care of the medicine."
"Yes, my lady."
There were only Princess Zhao Yang and Mo Xiu Yao left in the chamber. Princess Zhao Yang stood up and said: "Xiu Yao, take care of the princess. I"ll uphold justice for her."
Mo Xiu Yao nodded slightly: "Thank you, aunt. But I think we better wait after Ah Li wakes up."
Princess Zhao Yang sighed slightly and nodded: "Well, let"s do it your way. Keep your princess company. I"ll leave her to you."
Seeing that Princess Royal had left, Mo Xiu Yao rolled his wheelchair forward and stared at the woman who was deep asleep for a good while before he finally asked: "Ah Li, do you prepare to sleep through tonight"s royal banquet?"
Ye Li"s eyelashes fluttered and her eyes opened slowly: "How did you know it?"
Mo Xiu Yao shook his head and said slightly: "Feelings. Even the imperial doctor couldn"t tell, how could I tell?" Recalling how surprised and puzzled the imperial doctor was and could only say that she was unconscious due to shock, a trace of smile appeared in Mo Xiu Yao"s eyes.
"Ah Li, I never know that you are such a hero to save someone else in danger." Mo Xiu Yao looked at Ye Li and said with indifference.
Ye Li had no choice: "I didn"t have another option. If I haven"t saved her, I would be the one who pushed her into the lake."
Mo Xiu Yao"s eyes changed: "Princess Ling Yun did insist that you pushed her outside just now."
"Outside... she"s a tough one. How could she still make a scene after all that she has been through?" Ye Li was amazed. She did give Princess Ling Yun a hard time under the water. It was unexpected to Ye Li that she could still throw a scene instead of going to the imperial doctor. Thinking of the reason that had put her through all this, Ye Li narrowed her beautiful eyes and stared at the half of Mo Xiu Yao"s pretty face that wasn"t covered by his mask and said: "Come to think of it, Your Highness... what happened today started because of you. Do you have anything that you want to say?"
Mo Xiu Yao raised his eyebrows and looked at her with confusion.
Ye Li snorted slightly and said: "Princess Ling Yun is blind in love with you. Besides, she has made a solemn vow that she would definitely become the legitimate princess of Prince Ding"s Manor."
"Princess Ling Yun of Xi Ling?" Mo Xiu Yao frowned.
Ye Li stared at him with dangerous eyes: "Don"t tell me you did make a promise to this princess." If he did swindle a girl of seven or eight years old, such a sc.u.mbag... deserved to be beaten to death!
Mo Xiu Yao shook his head and looked at Ye Li with a serious face: "I"m sure I"ve never met her."
"How come she cried and stirred up trouble wanting to marry you and jumped into the lake herself if you haven"t met? Or... is it because of the status of Prince Ding"s Manor?" Ye Li was confused. She didn"t think that Mo Xiu Yao was lying. In fact, there wasn"t much possibility that Mo Xiu Yao knew Princess Ling Yun.
"Well... it seems that getting herself into Prince Ding"s Manor doesn"t quite match the interest of a princess from Xi Ling. If Xi Ling wants to form an alliance by marriage, it will be best if Princess Ling Yun is married to His Majesty."
Mo Xiu Yao glanced at her. He seemed to be a little surprised: "How do you know that Xi Ling wants to form an alliance by marriage?"
"What else will they what taking a princess all the way here? Just a little visit?"
Mo Xiu Yao said: "It"s well known that Xi Ling and Great Chu haven"t been getting along. Though it has been peaceful for the past few years but both sides know that there will be war sooner or later. Generally, Xi Ling won"t really send a princess to cement relations with Great Chu by marriage."
Under such a circ.u.mstance, the princess was just a hostage and nothing more than a poor victim once war started.
Ye Li frowned. They were right. The emperor of Xi Ling didn"t have to send his daughter to the enemy even though he had more daughters than he could afford since both sides were well aware of what would happen.
Seeing Ye Li lying in the bed with a frown, Mo Xiu Yao"s eyes grew warmer: "Don"t bother yourself with that any more. We"ll know the answer at tonight"s banquet."