Chapter 660 Her Falling into the Water was an Accident, So Was the One Saving Her
“Go and find her!” Shao Yanru said impatiently with a frown.
“Big Sister… I… but what if she doesn’t come?” Shao Jie’er had always been timid and cautious in front of Shao Yanru.
“If she doesn’t come, just think of a way to make her drink some wine. Try your best to make her drink as much wine as possible!” Shao Yanru reached out to pick up the pot in front, which seemed to contain tea but actually contained wine. She poured a cup of wine in front of her, brought it to Shao Jie’er, and said coldly, “The wine is not strong with a light taste. Letting her drink a few mouthfuls is enough!”
Shao Wanru had been drugged and only needed to drink the wine. Even a sip was enough to make Shao Wanru unconscious for a while.
After that, the thing would develop as she wished!
Even if Rui’an Great Elder Princess insisted that Shao Wanru should not marry a guard, Shao Wanru’s reputation would be ruined and Shao Wanru would not be able to marry any prince in the future. She would not allow Shao Wanru to marry either Chu Liuyue or Chu Liuzhou, who were both likely to be her husband.
“But… but…” Shao Jie’er was still hesitating, but seeing Shao Yanru’s hard look, she was so scared that she stood up in a hurry like a mouse in front of a cat.
She was very rude in front of Shao Wanru, but was extremely timid in front of Shao Yanru.
She had to get out of the pavilion. When she saw several princes coming from the opposite side, she stopped with her countenance changing slightly and decided to stay there. If she could marry into one of the princes’ mansions, even if she could not be the legal wife, it was better than ending up alone. It was such a rare opportunity, so of course, she would stay.
Although she had seen them, there was still a distance between her and them.
After Shao Jie’er stood still, she bit her lip and turned back. She had to tell Shao Yanru about it. Otherwise, Shao Yanru and Madam of Duke Xing would not spare her when she went back.
“Big Sister, what… what’s wrong with you?” Turning around and returning the pavilion, Shao Jie’er looked at Shao Yanru, who blushed, in astonishment, looked at the cup on the ground and asked.
She had just left for a while, but Shao Yanru had got drunk.
Shao Yanru came here in a hurry, led by the palace maid in Honored Consort Shu’s palace. After bringing Shao Yanru here, the palace maid had already left.
There was no one else in the pavilion except for Shao Yanru!
Looking at Shao Yanru, who was leaning against the fence, narrowing her eyes, and seemed to have fallen asleep, Shao Jie’er recalled that Shao Wanru had said that if Shao Yanru could not get married, it would be difficult for her to get married. At the moment, a spell of wrath rose from her heart. She came over and carried Shao Yanru to the fence.
When she came here before, she had noticed the terrain. The light gauze in the pavilion flew in the wind, but it hid most of the pavilion. She didn’t know if it was a coincidence that there was a small gap on the other side of the pavilion. It was not big, but it could allow a person to get through.
“Miss!” Shao Jie’er’s maid said in a trembling voice with her face changing dramatically.
“Help me! Quick!” Shao Jie’er said with a pale face, looking fl.u.s.tered and cold.
Shao Wanru’s words rang in her ears like a spell and made her forget her fear at the moment. She had such a good opportunity now. Either marrying Prince Yue or Prince Zhou could be considered a fair marriage for Shao Yanru. Moreover, Shao Yanru got herself drunk. Why did Shao Yanru get drunk in such a short time? Maybe it was because Shao Yanru had a poor capacity for drinking.
There might not be such a rare good opportunity in the future. Shao Jie’er felt her heart beat faster and her hands were sore, but she still dragged Shao Yanru to the gap.
Under her fierce eye, her maid hurried over to help. Although both of them were girls and in a panic, they managed to push Shao Yanru down.
“Big Sister… Big Sister… you…” After pus.h.i.+ng Shao Yanru down, Shao Jie’er felt sore all over and fell by the fence. She reached out as if intending to grab Shao Yanru’s clothes while shouting in panic.
She did grab Shao Yanru’s clothes, but she pushed Shao Yanru out with great strength instead of pulling Shao Yanru.
Immersed in the cold lake water, Shao Yanru suddenly sobered up and immediately shouted in panic, “Help, help!”
Meanwhile, she pounded the surface of the lake hard.
Although she was proficient in lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting, she did not know how to swim. What was more, it was in the winter. As soon as she was immersed in the cold water, her clothes became heavy and dragged her down.
The maid behind Shao Jie’er also shouted desperately.
In fact, it happened in a short time. After Shao Jie’er came in and saw Shao Yanru got drunk, she made a decision and pushed Shao Yanru into the water decisively with her maid. Moreover, Shao Yanru struggled and shouted loudly for help. A group of guards pa.s.sed by the sh.o.r.e nearby. Hearing the sound of someone falling into the water, several guards immediately jumped into the water.
At this moment, Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou had come near, looking at the scene in front of them with their faces changing dramatically.
Chu Liuyue didn’t expect that Shao Yanru would fall into the water. Shouldn’t it be the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion? He had met Shao Wanru several times three years ago. However, even if his impression of Shao Wanru stayed three years ago and his memory had been blurred, he couldn’t mistake Shao Wanru for someone else. The person in front of him was obviously Shao Yanru, not Shao Wanru.
Chu Liuzhou also froze for a while, because he didn’t expect to see Shao Yanru suddenly fall into the water in front of him. He reached out to take off his cloak and wanted to jump into the lake. He was much stronger than Chu Liuyue. Although it was a little cold in winter, he had a good relations.h.i.+p with Shao Yanru anyway.
Chu Liuyue grabbed him. He didn’t want to get into the water indeed, but he didn’t want Chu Liuzhou to get into the water either. He said, “Second brother, let’s go to the pavilion which is near her. Maybe we can pull her up directly!”
“Okay!” Chu Liuzhou looked around and found Chu Liuyue’s words made sense, so he agreed and ran to the pavilion.
However, before they ran into the pavilion, Chu Qing jumped into the lake quickly and held Shao Yanru in his arms in front of them. They didn’t know when he ran past them.
Although Shao Yanru was not heavy, her clothes in the lake were so heavy that Chu Qing could not come ash.o.r.e at once. Two guards swam over from the other side and helped Chu Qing carry Shao Yanru to the pavilion. In the pavilion, Shao Jie’er had reached out in an attempt to hold Shao Yanru’s hands and burst into tears in panic.
Chu Liuyue’s face darkened and almost became livid because Chu Qing held Shao Yanru tightly in his arms in front of so many people. Although she was dressed in several layers of clothes in winter, Chu Qing did that in front of so many people, which had tarnished her reputation. If she married into Prince Yue’s Mansion, she might not be able to become the legal wife.
Reputation was the most important thing for the royal family. Moreover, the one holding her was Chu Qing.
Chu Liuzhou also looked sullen, because he had also hoped to marry Shao Yanru and make her his princess long before and thought that they were in love with each other. However, Chu Qing held Shao Yanru so tightly in front of him. Not only Chu Liuyue, but also a group of guards were present.
After such an accident, his father would definitely get the news. He and Chu Liuyue got into the same trouble that they couldn’t marry Shao Yanru in the future.
Neither his father nor his mother would agree to it!
Finally, they were pulled ash.o.r.e. Shao Yanru kept s.h.i.+vering with cold and her face turned pale. Chu Liuzhou threw the cloak in his hand over with his face darkening. Shao Jie’er took it and hurriedly wrapped Shao Yanru up tightly with it. Chu Liuyue looked sullen and instructed the eunuchs to help Shao Jie’er and her maid carry Shao Yanru to the warm room on the sh.o.r.e.
If Shao Yanru didn’t change her clothes after staying in the lake for a while in cold winter, she would probably get sick.
Chu Qing also climbed up from the lake and shook the water off with his face turning pale with cold. After saluting with joined hands to Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou, he also hurried to change his clothes.
It became strangely quiet in the pavilion. Both Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou looked sullen because neither of them had expected this.
Why did she suddenly fall into the lake?” After a long while, Chu Liuzhou said coldly and struck a pillar beside him. He wanted to marry Shao Yanru so that Duke Xing could support him. But now that his plan had been ruined, how could he not be angry?
“Let’s go and find out what happened!” Chu Liuyue, who couldn’t calm down either, said with his face darkening.
The two of them got out of the pavilion and headed for the nearby warm room.
When they entered the yard, they saw Shao Jie’er walking around in the yard with a fl.u.s.tered look. Seeing Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou come over, she hurried over, knelt down in front of them, and said sadly, “Please save me, Your Highness.”
“What happened exactly?” Chu Liuzhou asked impatiently.
“I don’t know… I was going to find my Fifth Sister, but when I left the pavilion, I saw you coming, so I turned back to tell my Big Sister about it. Unexpectedly, when I returned, I saw Big Sister fall into the lake. I couldn’t pull her back even if I wanted to!” Shao Jie’er said with tears on her face.
It happened in front of them, so Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou could be considered witnesses. Nevertheless, Chu Liuyue knew something else, so he didn’t think that Shao Yanru would be stupid enough to get into the trap she set for someone else. At this moment, when he heard Shao Jie’er mention Shao Wanru, a thought flashed across his mind.
Could it be Shao Wanru’s counterattack?
“Where is the Fifth Miss of your mansion at the moment?” Chu Liuyue asked.
“I don’t know… I saw my Fifth Sister leave. Later, my Big Sister came. At that time, my Fifth Sister had left… I didn’t see my Big Sister drink, but… but later, I found an empty wine cup on the table…” Shao Jie’er was almost incoherent. It was obvious that she was too frightened to talk incoherently.
Shao Jie’er had intended to s.h.i.+ft the blame onto Shao Wanru. However, Shao Wanru and Shao Yanru didn’t meet in the waterside pavilion, which was easy to find out. So she didn’t dare to use the excuse she had prepared before. She grabbed her handkerchief tightly, scared and panicked. Although she gave an incoherent account on purpose, most of it was true.
Shao Yanru drank wine, but she didn’t do it in front of her, and Shao Yanru’s falling into the lake later had nothing to do with her. It happened in such a short time and she did that on the spur of the moment, so no one would expect that it had something to do with her.
“Here comes Honored Consort Shu!” Suddenly, the sharp voice of a eunuch came from outside the courtyard. On hearing it, Shao Jie’er, who was kneeling on the ground, trembled more terribly, curled up into a ball, and looked at the two young princes in front of her pleadingly. At this moment, Shao Jie’er was not only scared but also regretful.
Why did she do that on the spur of the moment?
Now that Honored Consort Shu was here, would Honored Consort Shu believe what she said?