C67: Fell Into the Water

Gao Xun was dressed in a blue brocade robe. He was tall and broad-shouldered. He and Zhong Shang stood side by side in front of Yan Yu, appearing neither haughty nor humble.

Yan Yu recognized Zhong Shang. He had been to the palace several times to enjoy the feasts held by Emperor Yuan Hui. He and Zhong Shang didn’t have a deep friendship, and had only exchanged a few words with each other.

He shifted his gaze to the person beside him.

Yan Yu silently studied his facial features. The color of his eyes became darker and darker. Finally, he frowned and had a bad feeling about this.

Zhong Shang patted Gao Xun’s shoulder to make him come back to his senses. “Do you lost mind?”

Gao Xun was stunned when he met Yan Yu’s gaze.

He used to be on good terms with Yan Yu. The two of them had grown up together and were like brothers who could share the same pair of pants. Even though they had been separated since they were seven years old, this didn’t mean that he would forget what he looked like.

Gao Xun was stunned for a long time. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly recalled what Xie Xun had said to him that day at the teahouse.

“My sister is already married.”

“She’s married to the sixth prince.”

What had Zhong Shang said to him?

This is the sixth prince?

Gao Xun’s hands clenched involuntarily as he stared at Yan Yu in front of him, as if he wanted to see through him.

He could not follow what Zhong Shang was saying. All he saw was Yan Yu’s thin lips slightly parted as he slowly spat out two words, “Gao Xun?”

As his voice fell, Gao Xun’s pupils constricted.

Zhong Shang raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, “You two know each other?”

Not only did they know each other, they knew each other rather well.

When he liked Xie Zhen and confided his feelings to him without reservation, he was disdainful and didn’t say a word about it.

Then he left without a word, and it was he who spent seven or eight years with Xie Zhen, growing up with her, and now he comes back without a word and married Xie Zhen.

It’d be a lie to say that he was not angry.

As if venting something, Gao Xun asked very slowly, “Are you Li Yu?”

He slightly lower his eyes, “Impudent.”

Speaking to the sixth prince with this attitude was indeed a bit unruly, but Gao Xun could not help it. If there were no people around, he would have rushed forward to beat him down.

What the f~~k sixth prince?

Was it just because he had changed his identity, he wouldn’t be able to recognize him!

Zhong Shang found there was something wrong between the two, so he exchanged a few words with Yan Yu and then walked out with Gao Xun.

They two men stood in the porch, and Zhong Shang was sitting on the fence, looking up at him, his eyes seemed to be plainly saying: Tell, all the truth.

Gao Xun did not move. He looked calm, but his eyes were filled with disorder. A violent storm was brewing within his eyes.

He could not help but slam his fist against the pillar, his eyes bloodshot as he said, “That bastard!”

He was seething with rage at the thought of his boyhood companion.

He had heard that the sixth prince would be here today and wanted to see who he was. That was why he came to the General’s Mansion.

But who would have thought that he would meet Li Yu, who left just for the sake of entering the palace to become a prince?

Why did he marry Xie Zhen?

Why did he have to touch his little fairy?

There were a lot of people coming and going in the porch, but Zhong Shang just sat there happily, not caring about the looks of others.

He crooked his mouth and laughed at Gao Xun, “The sixth prince used to be living outside the palace for a period of time. This is not a secret. Back then, outside the palace, did you know him?”

Gao Xun gradually calmed down and sat on the other side. “Do you remember who I was looking for?”

Zhong Shang raised his eyebrows. “Yes.”

He parted his lips and a bitter smile appeared on his face. “Now she’s the Prince’s wife.”

Zhong Shang was stunned. His first reaction upon hearing these words was not anything else but to ask, wasn’t the girl he was looking for the round little glutton cat?

In the backyard, Xie Zhen was completely unaware of Gao Xun’s presence. It had been a long time since she met Madam Leng last time, and was always acting like a spoiled child in front of her.

Madam Leng touched the centre of her forehead with one of her fingers. “Since you’re already married, why are you still staying with me?”

Xie Zhen laughed and began to act like a rascal, “Who said that when I grew up, I wouldn’t be able to stay with my mother?”

Madam Leng could tell that she was in a good mood. Ever since she married, she had rarely seen such a sincere smile on her face. She couldn’t help but secretly ask if she had made any progress with the sixth prince.

When she thought of the intimate scenes with Yan Yu, she could not help but blush. “Mother, don’t keep asking me these questions!”

By their side was the general’s wife Madam Jiang and the other wives. If others heard this, could she still keep her good image in the future?

Xie Zhen sneaked a glance back, and fortunately, Madam Jiang was talking to a few people and didn’t notice her.

She listened carefully. It seemed that Madam Jiang was quite interested in the daughters of those madams and kept asking them about their birth date. Her intention couldn’t be more obvious.

General Zhong and Madam Jiang only had one son, and she was doting on him like treating a treasure. It was probably because she spoiled him too much and hence, Zhong Shang’s reputation wasn’t very good. Most people didn’t want to send their daughters into the fire pit.

As to Madam Leng’s two daughters, one was already married, and the other was still young. Thus, they were not within the Madam Jiang’s considerations.

Xie Zhen looked around, but there was no hint of Xie Xun. She was still here, but after a while she was nowhere to be seen.

At first, Xie Zhen and Madam Leng didn’t pay much attention to it. With a servant maid following her, nothing should happen.

When they heard “someone falls into the water”, they didn’t think it would be Xie Xun.

Xie Zhen looked around, but there was no sign of Xie Xun and only then did she start to panic.

It was late autumn, and the water was ice-cold. If she was in the lake for a bit longer, she would most likely die.

She rushed to the lake with Madam Leng. She had already sunk to the bottom, so she couldn’t confirm who it was.

Xie Zhen was too worried to cry. She laid her body on the water’s edge and kept calling her name. “Ah Xun, Ah Xun!”

Zhong Rou had already jumped into the water to save her before they arrived. After a while, she managed to rescue her from the water.

Who else could the little girl lying on the shore be but Xie Xun?

Madam Leng’s heart ached so much that she couldn’t even ask what was going on. She hurriedly got the servant maids to take off her clothes and wrap them around Xie Xun to keep her warm.

As the lady who took charge of inner matters in the mansion, Madam Jiang immediately sent Xie Xun to the guest room to change her clothes and constantly apologize to Madam Leng.

After all, it would be her fault that something had happened in her backyard.

Both Madam Leng and Xie Zhen’s hearts were tied to Xie Xun and there was no time to wonder why Xie Xun fallen into the water.

Xie Xun was already in a coma, and no matter how they tried to wake her up, she couldn’t react.

Zhong Rou wrung the water out of her clothes, took Xie Xun from Madam Leng’s arms, and laid her flat on the ground. After pressing a few times against her chest, she spat out a few mouthfuls of water before slowly waking up.

Zhong Rou picked her up and stepped forward. “I’d take her to the guest room. My mother will get a doctor first.”

She was taller than most of the girls, and it took no effort to pick up the little Xie Xun, and in the blink of an eye she was several steps away.

Returning to her senses, Madam Jiang ordered the servant maids to get a doctor as soon as possible.

Being anxious for Xie Xun, Xie Zhen and Madam Leng followed Zhong Rou to the guest room.

The servant maids in the general’s quickly brought over some clean clothes and changed them for Xie Xun and Zhong Rou.

Before long, the doctor arrived, pinching Xie Xun’s wrist to feel her pulse. “First, give her a bowl of ginger decoction. It might heat her up in a moment. I’ll leave a prescription for her first. If she gets fever, then you’d give her the medicine.”

Apart from this, the doctor also told her not to get any cold. Fortunately, she had been rescued in time, otherwise it would be detrimental to her body. In the future, she would be in trouble when she recuperated.

After sending off the doctor, Xie Zhen personally fed Xie Xun a bowl of ginger decoction to dispel the cold.

Xie Xun was already awake, but her body was somewhat hot. He was still in a daze. “Elder sister, I didn’t fall in on purpose …”

Xie Zhen touched her forehead, and it was actually hot. She comfort Xie Xun, “it’s not your fault, Ah Xun, take a good rest. No one blames you.”

Xie Xun grabbed her sleeve and said with lingering fear, “Someone pushed me …”

She was scared. When she fell into the water, she thought she was going to die. The water was cold, and she choked several times. For the first time, she experienced what was called despair.

But then someone put an arm around her waist and saved her, and she wanted to ask who it was, but her head grew heavier and heavier as she lost consciousness and she fainted.

When Xie Zhen heard her last words, she took her hand in hers tightly, being shocked.

At that time, there were many people in the backyard, as well as quite a few girls who were wandering around the lake. They had just returned to the capital and had never offended anyone.

When Xie Zhen came out the room, she saw Madam Leng was thanking Zhong Rou.

Madam Leng’s face was still pale. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if Zhong Rou didn’t save Xie Xun …

She was not an emotional person, and she rarely cried. But now her eyes reddened as she said, “Thank you, Miss Zhong.”

Her tone was sincere.

Zhong Rou hurriedly replied with a bow, “It’s not a big deal. Madam, there’s no need to do that.”

She had changed back to her girl’s clothes. She wore a white and sky-blue ice dress and an ink cape. Her hair was adorned with a crystal hairpin and a jade hairpin, which was completely different from her valiant and valiant appearance just now.

Xie Zhen had thought she was strange before, but now she thought she was beautiful to the extreme.

Madam Leng wanted to tell Xie Liqing about it in the front, and tell him to prepare the carriage and bring Xie Xun home in advance.

There were only Xie Zhen and Zhong Rou, as well as servant maids left at the door.

Even though Madam Leng had already thanked her, Xie Zhen still said, “Thank you for saving Ah Xun. If it wasn’t for you, I’m afraid…”

Zhong Rou looked at her. “Do you know why she fell into the water?”

Xie Zhen said bluntly: “you saw it?”

Just as Zhong Rou was about to speak, she caught a glimpse of a figure nearby. Turning her head to look, she saw Zhong Shang and another person walking towards her.

Zhong Shang was afraid that Gao Xun would fight with the sixth prince if he stayed in the front, so he took him to the backyard. He didn’t expect to hear that someone had fallen into the water, so he came to the guest room to take a look.

At first glance, he saw a girl wearing a green blue shirt and a white dress. She was not like the other girls, who wore only a gold hairpin with emerald threads. Her skin was radiant and her cheeks were sparkling. She was one of the most stunning beauties in the world.

Before he reached her, Gao Xun stopped.

Zhong Shang took two steps forward and looked back at him. “Why do you stop?”

He did not answer, but looked straight ahead.

He looked along.

Xie Zhen noticed two eyes, tilted her head and turned to meet Gao Xun’s gaze.