Zhi Wan jumped in fright and obediently retreated. The man, his face an icy mask, took her place. To Wei Jinyi, who was still thrashing in the water, he said in a cold, deep voice, "If you don’t want to drown, grab the branch!"
It’s hard to say if it was his freezing tone or simply that she could finally reach the branch he held out, but Wei Jinyi obediently reached out and grasped it.
Just as he was about to pull her onto the bank, Lu Zhan suddenly turned to Wei Jinyi’s maid. "You, pull her up!"
The maid, whether she hadn’t heard or was simply too frightened, stood with her head bowed, motionless.
A flicker of impatience crossed Lu Zhan’s brow. His voice turned to ice. "Do you not care about preserving your lady’s reputation?"
The maid’s eyes darted about nervously.
Lu Zhan scoffed and commanded directly, "Chen Jiu, you do it!"
Chen Jiu glanced at the drenched Wei Jinyi in the water, his expression hesitant.
’She’s completely soaked. What if she takes this chance to cling to and refuse to let go?’
’He had no desire to marry such a spoiled young lady.’
Seeing him dawdle, Lu Zhan’s tone sharpened. "Chen Jiu!"
Chen Jiu stiffened. No longer daring to hesitate, he hurried forward.
But just as he reached for the branch in his master’s hand, the maid seed to snap out of her daze. She rushed forward, grabbing the branch from Lu Zhan before Chen Jiu could. "There’s no need to trouble you. I’ll do it."
Chen Jiu let out a huge sigh of relief.
’Thank goodness the maid ca to her senses.’
’Otherwise, my reputation might have been ruined!’
Lu Zhan released his grip and stepped away.
As he turned to leave, his eyes landed on Zhi Wan standing nearby. His handso face grew stern, and he rebuked her coldly, "Was the lesson from falling into the pond last ti not enough for you?"
Zhi Wan’s face flushed, her lips parting slightly. "I..."
"Don’t try to be a hero next ti. You won’t always be so lucky!" Lu Zhan cut her off, his voice grave.
Zhi Wan lowered her head and mumbled softly, "I know..."
Lu Zhan paused. Hearing Wei Jinyi being hauled onto the bank, he didn’t linger any longer and strode away with Duan Ling and Ouyang Lei.
As she watched the man’s retreating figure, Zhi Wan suddenly felt sothing was amiss. ’Why did my cousin say that?’
’How did he know she had fallen into a pond before?’
One sumr afternoon last year, she couldn’t sleep, so she ca to the garden alone to admire the lotuses.
Seeing the beautiful lotus seed pods, she couldn’t resist picking one, so she stood at the edge of the pond and reached for it.
But she accidentally slipped and fell into the pond.
She had been terrified, thrashing in the water and screaming for help.
But because of the sweltering heat, the garden was empty at that ti of day.
Just when she thought she was going to drown, soone suddenly pulled her out of the water.
By the ti she caught her breath, the person who saved her was long gone.
She hadn’t even gotten a clear look at who her rescuer was.
The incident was too embarrassing and involved her reputation, so she never told a soul. She had tried to find her rescuer in secret, but to no avail.
’But how could my cousin possibly know about it?’
’Could it be... that my rescuer was actually my cousin?’
Realizing this possibility, Zhi Wan’s breath caught in her throat.
"Miss, I’ve brought help!" Just then, Dongxiang rushed over with several servant won.
Zhi Wan snapped out of her thoughts. She glanced at Wei Jinyi, who was now sitting on the ground looking utterly dazed. She paused, then shook her head. "It’s alright now. She’s been rescued. Thank you for your trouble."
Dongxiang breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as she’s safe."
"My lady, are you alright?" Wei Jinyi’s maid, Yihong, asked tearfully.
Wei Jinyi, whether she was scared stiff or for so other reason, sat there blankly without speaking.
Zhi Wan walked over. "Yihong, help your lady back to her room to change. Brew her so ginger soup so she doesn’t catch a cold."
As if waking from a dream, Yihong hastily helped Wei Jinyi to her feet. "My lady, let’s go back."
Wei Jinyi remained silent, allowing Yihong to support her. As she brushed past Zhi Wan, she shot her a cold glare.
Zhi Wan saw this, and her brow furrowed imperceptibly.
"What happened? How did she end up in the water all of a sudden?"
Just then, Lady Wei, having heard the news, hurried over, looking extrely anxious.
She had instructed her servants to watch Wei Jinyi and keep her away from Lu Zhan.
But her subordinates, seeing that Lu Zhan wasn’t in the estate, hadn’t followed her into the garden.
Who would have thought that in just a few short hours, she would get into trouble.
Though she was not particularly fond of her niece, she couldn’t allow anything to happen to her on her own estate.
Seeing Wei Jinyi standing there safe and sound, Lady Wei could finally breathe again.
As soon as she saw Lady Wei, Wei Jinyi burst into tears and threw herself into her arms. "Aunt!"
Her clothes were completely drenched, and as she threw herself into Lady Wei’s arms, Lady Wei’s own dress was instantly soaked.
Lady Wei had to restrain herself from pushing the girl away. Instead, she patted her on the back. "There, there, you’re fine now, aren’t you? Stop crying and go change your clothes."
Wei Jinyi nodded between sobs.
"Aunt," Zhi Wan said, walking over with an apologetic look. "It’s my fault. I wasn’t watching Jinyi closely enough."
Lady Wei said, "How could this be your fault? Besides, Jinyi isn’t a three-year-old. Does she really need a babysitter? An incident like this must have frightened you as well. You should go get so rest."
"Alright." Zhi Wan felt a wave of relief that she wasn’t being blad.
A flash of resentnt and indignation crossed Wei Jinyi’s eyes.
’If Zhi Wan hadn’t ddled and found that branch, my cousin would have had to get in the water to save ...’
Lady Wei quickly left with Wei Jinyi.
Lu Lan, who had been quiet the whole ti, clutched her chest. "When Sister Jinyi fell in just now, I was scared to death! Thank goodness she’s alright."
Ouyang Zhenzhu scoffed. "We might have been scared to death, but she was never in any real danger."
Lu Lan paused, looking at her blankly. "Sister Zhenzhu, what do you an?"
Ouyang Zhenzhu snorted coldly and said no more.
Zhi Wan spoke up, "Lu Lan, you also had quite a scare today. Go back and get so proper rest."
"Alright, Sister Zhi Wan," Lu Lan replied obediently and left with her maid.
Once they were alone in the garden, Ouyang Zhenzhu spoke freely.
She said indignantly, "Inviting us to fly kites... her intentions were never pure. Her real target was Mr. Lu. What a scher, using all of us so completely."
"It’s a good thing you were quick-witted enough to find that branch. Otherwise, at such a critical mont, Mr. Lu couldn’t just stand by and watch her die, could he? He would have had to get in the water to save her. Then she would’ve had her excuse to latch onto him."
Zhi Wan was silent.
Everything had happened so suddenly, and with Wei Jinyi screaming for help, she hadn’t thought to suspect anything.
’Thinking back on it now, it all seems far too coincidental.’
’The kite in the tree, falling in the water, Lu Zhan’s arrival...’
Rembering how frightened she had been, Zhi Wan couldn’t help but feel a surge of indignation.
Wei Jinyi was so calculating, playing all of them for fools.
"How did you realize she did it on purpose?" Zhi Wan asked.
"I didn’t at first," Ouyang Zhenzhu said thoughtfully. "My suspicions only started when Mr. Lu appeared. Then, when I saw Wei Jinyi’s maid acting completely unconcerned about her lady’s reputation being ruined, I guessed their target was Mr. Lu! Besides, your cousin must have realized it too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ordered Chen Jiu to be the one to save her!"
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