Chapter 79: Involvement (Part 2)

  As soon as she turned her head, Rong Hua suddenly realized what Chang Ning Bo's fourth miss was getting at. She had been careful to guard against it, but still hadn't prevented it. Yao Hua stepped on a stone and almost fell into the river.

  In a flash of lightning, there was no time to think twice. Rong Hua stretched out his hand and pulled Yao Hua over, but his own feet lost their grip, and he fell down instantly.

  Jinxiu was stunned for a moment, then came back to her senses and hastily shouted, "Quickly come and save someone!" As she spoke, she herself also jumped in.

  ……

  Madam Xue was talking with Madam Wang about the affair of Second Master Tao's left wing in the Zongxue Temple.

  "Thanks to your help, Master."

  Mrs. Xue smiled, "I've also seen the eldest son of Yi Cheng Hou, he's a talented young man." She paused and continued, "To be admitted to Zongxue Academy, one must pass an examination, only those who pass can study there, it's clear that your second master is also a clever child."

  The lady asked again, "Are there also several brothers in the left wing of the ancestral hall?"

  Mrs. Xue sighed, "The seventh child of the fourth house used to attend for a while, but now he doesn't go anymore. His father is going to invite a private tutor to teach him instead."

  The lady smiled slightly. She had heard before that the Xue family had a Seventh Master who was extremely mischievous, and today she heard what Madam said, it was indeed true.

  "Let's change the subject," said Madame Xue, "Later we'll go watch the fireworks. They were originally purchased for the palace, but today they brought some over saying they wanted to test them out. Since several madams are present, let's take a look together."

  The lady said, "That's indeed a blessing to the eyes." The fireworks sent into the palace can't be bad, right? The Xue family is actually able to "co-host" such a good event. With Her Highness in the mansion, it's a whole different level of closeness.

  Just as she was saying this, a servant from the Guo family rushed in and whispered something in Madame Wang's ear.

  Madam Xue's face changed instantly, and she glanced at the elder madam, her complex gaze filled with urgency and apology.

  The old lady's heart sank and she hastily asked: "Is there something wrong, Madam?"

  Mrs. Xue furrowed her brow and said with great concern: "The young ladies were playing, but somehow they ended up falling into the river."

  The old lady's face changed instantly, and she stood up with a "thud". If Yuhua had fallen into the water... She hastily asked Mrs. Tai, "Did you tell me who fell into the river?"

  Mrs. Xue hurriedly let Mrs. Xue the second support her to stand up, "It's the eighth lady of the mansion." As she went to see the first wife, it was clear that the first wife's face relaxed and she didn't seem so anxious anymore. One is legitimate and one is illegitimate, the closeness and distance between them are clearly shown here.

  Mrs. Xue said: "Let's go and take a look. What's going on? How are those maids and servants taking care of the young lady?"

  ……

  The hot spring river is not too deep, but falling into it still requires choking two mouthfuls of water.

  Rong Hua struggled to lift her head out of the water, wiping away the water on her face as she coughed nonstop. She opened her eyes to see someone vaguely jumping down from the shore and rushing to her side, asking anxiously, "Miss, miss, are you okay?"

  It's Jingxiu.

  It's a good thing it's winter now and I'm wearing a lot of clothes, otherwise I don't know how embarrassing it would be.

  Yao Hua's face was also full of concern, "Eighth sister, are you okay?" Her eyes were red-rimmed, "It's all because I saved you." She then wanted to take off the large cloak on her body to give it to Rong Hua to wear.

  Xiang Zhu looked at Rong Hua and then at Yao Hua, biting her lip, wanting to speak but not daring to.

  Ronghua naturally knew what Xiangzhu meant, Yao Hua's body was weak and relied on the large fur coat on her body to block the wind. Yao Hua's illness was most afraid of cold, if she took it off now, she might immediately start coughing from the cold wind. What would people outside say then? The eighth young lady fell into the river but didn't get sick, instead, the second young lady had an onset of her illness.

  All those efforts Yao Hua made to create a good impression have gone down the drain.

  But if he didn't give his cloak to her, she fell into the river because of saving Yaohua. Yaohua was watching from the side, and so many people were watching. Yaohua's virtuous reputation would also be damaged. Now it's Yaohua's turn to be in a dilemma.

  If she hadn't gone to save Yao Hua just now, and if it had been Yao Hua who fell into the water instead, as the one closest to her, she would inevitably be suspected of something. Not to mention that in the Hou Mansion, a hundred mouths would be unable to clear her name; and back home, who knows what kind of trouble she would face.

  Chang Ning Bo Si's trick not only made Yao Hua "relapse" but also put a black pot on her back. When Rong Hua went to see Chang Ning Bo Si again, she saw that she was actually limping and being supported by a maid, and when she saw Rong Hua who had fallen into the river, her face was full of shock.

  She sprained her ankle and fell behind. This reason was enough to clear her of suspicion.

  Rong Hua hastily looked at Xiang Zhu and intentionally gave her a stern glance, "Don't you take care of the second young lady? It's so cold outside. I'm still fine in the hot spring."

  Xiang Zhu heard this and dared to step forward, pulling on Yao Hua's cloak. "Miss, just listen to Eighth Miss, isn't a maid already going to fetch the clothes?"

  "That won't do." Yuhua pulled open her cloak, and immediately felt the cold wind invade. She involuntarily shivered, the chill entering her throat, making her want to cough. Taking off the cloak, the clothes underneath weren't very thick, maybe she really would... Thinking of this, she hesitated.

  Ronghua was already being supported by two maids and had gone ashore.

  Her woolen dress was wet and clinging to her body, not only did it fail to warm her up but made her feel even colder, Rong Hua shivered twice.

  Jinxiu beside him was anxious and stomped her feet, "Why haven't you brought over the clothes yet?"

  Ronghua took a glance at the hot spring water, and indeed it was not as warm as staying inside. It's a pity that under the watchful eyes of everyone, etiquette and moral codes restrained her from losing her composure.

  ……

  Xue Mingrui had just returned to the inner court from outside and was passing by Yongchun Hall when he saw a commotion on the other side of the bridge. He looked up and saw a young lady being helped out of the river and onto the shore.

  Xue Mingrui had a young servant intercept and question a maid.

  The maid said: "Just now someone tried to set off fireworks, but accidentally lost control. In the chaos, Miss Eighth of the Tao Manor jumped into the Warm Spring River to save Miss Second of the Tao Manor."

  It was like this all along.

  Xue Mingrui looked back, and the Eighth Miss got out of the hot spring river, her thin body wrapped in wet clothes, although her lips were frozen purple, she was still calm as usual. It was the Second Miss who had been rescued by her, now being supported by a maid standing aside, as if she had suffered a great shock.

  Xue Mingrui took off his cloak and handed it to the little maid, "Take it over to Eighth Miss."

  The maid couldn't help but be surprised, yet didn't dare to slow down, stretched out her hand to receive the cloak and hastily handed it over.

  Xue Mingrui turned around and continued walking forward.

  Rong Hua was just slightly distracted when she saw someone hurrying over from the other side of the bridge, holding a woolen coat. Jin Xiu quickly took the coat and wrapped it around Rong Hua's body. The warm temperature of the coat finally allowed her stiffened body to relax slightly, and a comfortable expression appeared on her face.

  Outside, there was a sedan chair blocking the way, and Ronghua only allowed Jinxiu to support her in passing the bridge. Before Jinxiu could ask the Houfu maid if the old lady was still watching the play on that side, she saw Mrs. Xue Lao, Mrs. Chang Ning Bo, Mrs. Xue Da, Second Lady, and First Lady walking over together.

  Mrs. Xue saw Rong Hua's appearance, her face unchanged, and said kindly: "How can this be? Are you going to get sick? Hurry up and go to my room to change your clothes."

  Mrs. Xue also said: "I'm afraid there isn't a suitable one in the old lady's house," and she immediately sent her maid, "Quickly go to my room and bring it over."

  The elder lady looked at Ronghua up and down, complaining but also showing concern, "How can you be so careless, ending up like this." While speaking, she went to check on Yaohua, seeing that Yaohua was fine before going to check on Changning's fourth miss.

  Although everyone mentioned it lightly, each had their own thoughts.

  Three people came out together, one fell into the river, and one sprained his foot. Everyone has been through this before, so how can you not feel anything unusual in this atmosphere?

  Especially Mrs. Changningbo, she pulled her daughter and asked in public, "What's going on? Why is your foot still sprained?"

  Miss Changning said: "I was originally walking with my second sister and eighth younger sister, but then I accidentally sprained my foot after stepping on a stone, so I fell behind. When I heard a loud noise, I came to my senses and saw that Eighth Younger Sister had fallen into the river."

  Yao Hua also kindly said, "I and Eighth Sister suddenly saw the fireworks and panicked, that's why we stepped on empty air. Luckily Fourth Sister wasn't behind me, otherwise she might have fallen into the river too. Fortunately it was hot spring water, and Eighth Sister didn't get hurt either."

  This remark made everyone like it. The young ladies just met an accident. As a result, she accidentally fell into the river, and even the fact that she saved Yao Hua was not mentioned by Yao Hua. Rong Hua looked at Mrs. Changningbo, and Mrs. Changningbo smiled at Yao Hua.

  Madam Xue frowned slightly on one side, "It's more important to change Miss Eighth's clothes."

  "Come on, let's go! You're all young girls like flowers, and you'll catch a cold if you stay out in the cold."

  Mrs. Xue walked in front, and the mistress and Ronghua followed behind. After a few steps, Ronghua heard the mistress ask, "Whose fur coat are you wearing?"

  The clothes brought by the maid of Xue's mansion, Ronghua didn't think much about it at first. Now that the madam asked, Ronghua looked down and took a glance, the stone-blue cloak seemed to be the one worn by Wu Mu Hou, but she wasn't sure if it was really his. Ronghua shook her head towards the madam and said in a low voice: "It's just something the servant brought over for me to wear."

  The lady heard and said no more.

  In the old lady Xue's house, Rong Hua went into the inner room to change her clothes. After dressing properly, she glanced at a man's large cloak on the table and saw that the inside of it was already wet. If this cloak belonged to Wu Mu Hou, when did he see it? She also remembered the night when bandits invaded the mansion, he suddenly appeared in front of her, and she wiped away the blood on her face before looking at him, feeling so embarrassed.

  There will be an update tonight.

  Less time coaxing children now, and it's even harder to coax them.