Song Xibai was not as strong as Wei Hong, so in the end, Wei Hong jumped in first and pulled Du Chenghui ashore.

In that short while, the other palace servants also came to their senses and rushed over to help.

Two soaking wet people lay on the bank, neither of them speaking.

With a cold expression, Song Xibai took off his cloak and covered Wei Hong with it, then turned to the crowd and said...

“Du Chenghui has accidentally fallen into the water. You guys, quickly carry her back. And you two, go find Lin Mama, who is by the Crown Princess’s side, and quickly fetch the imperial physician.”

She finished speaking in one breath, then her expression suddenly turned serious. She pointed at a palace maid who had squeezed into the crowd and shouted sternly.

"Seize that palace maid who bumped into someone!"

Everyone was visibly taken aback, especially Cao Chenghui, whose expression changed slightly as he whispered.

“Xi Liangdi, that’s Du Chenghui’s personal maid…”

"So what?"

Song Xibai suddenly turned her head, her cold gaze fixed on Cao Chenghui.

Cao Chenghui's remaining half-sentence was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say it no matter what.

Song Xibai turned her head and glanced back and forth among the palace servants.

"What, does what I say not carry any weight?"

The palace servants snapped out of their daze and immediately pounced on the young maid. Several strong and quick old women blocked the maid's escape route, grabbed her arms, twisted them behind her back, and casually tore off her belt and tied it up.

"Take him back and lock him up in a separate room. He will be interrogated when the Crown Prince and Crown Princess return."

After giving his instructions, Song Xibai looked at the old woman who was twisting the palace maid's hands and said...

"You come here and keep a close watch on her. Do not let anyone get close. If you fail to do so, you will be punished the same as her."

The old woman's pupils contracted, and she nodded hastily in fright.

Then, Song Xibai softened his tone: "If you do well, you'll be rewarded."

After saying that, he took off a bracelet and handed it to her.

The old woman was both surprised and delighted. She stuffed the bracelet into her bosom and gripped the palace maid's arm tightly with both hands, preventing her from moving an inch.

Song Xibai dared not delay any longer and immediately led everyone back to the East Palace.

Instead of having Du Chenghui escorted back to her residence, she directly ordered him to be taken to her room.

The entire east side hall was thrown into chaos. Some were boiling water, some were changing clothes, and some were searching for people. Amidst the commotion, Song Xibai took the opportunity to check the pulses of both of them and only felt relieved after confirming that they were alright.

With the Crown Princess absent, no one in the Eastern Palace could make decisions. Upon receiving the news, Lin Mama immediately retrieved her token and sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to fetch someone while simultaneously informing the Crown Princess.

Renshou Palace is closer to the East Palace, so the Crown Princess returned before the imperial physicians.

"What on earth happened? How could someone suddenly fall into the water?"

As soon as the Crown Princess entered the room, she questioned him sternly.

Song Xibai remained calm, stood up, bowed, and then began to explain.

"Just now, Du Chenghui and Cao Chenghui came to ask me to go admire the plum blossoms together. Perhaps the path by the water was slippery, because Du Chenghui accidentally fell into the water."

She paused, and seeing that the Crown Princess's expression had softened slightly, she continued.

"However, the palace maid next to Du Chenghui seems to have some problems. I have had her arrested and detained separately, and handed over to the Crown Princess for trial."

The Crown Princess frowned: "Du Chenghui's palace maid?"

Wei Zi, who was behind her, stepped forward and whispered a few words of advice. The Crown Princess looked enlightened.

"In that case, Your Highness, we will discuss this further when you return before deciding on a course of action."

As the two finished speaking, the Crown Princess's expression relaxed considerably.

Song Xibai's report and actions were very straightforward. She immediately ordered people to rescue Du Chenghui after he fell into the water, and she arrested him without interrogating him privately, but locked him up directly. So far, there seems to be no problem.

The Crown Princess also didn't believe that Song Xibai would target an insignificant person like Du Chenghui.

After much thought, I realized there was more to this story.

This is not something she can decide on her own; it depends on what the Crown Prince says.

"As for Du Chenghui, after the imperial physician has examined her, let her go back to her own room! It's not appropriate for her to be taking up your space."

The Crown Princess pulled Song Xibai down to sit, her tone much more affectionate than before.

Song Xibai gave a polite smile.

“What’s inappropriate about it? Du Chenghui looks rather frail. If he falls into the water, he might get sick. We can’t just move a sick person around like that, can we? It would be bad if it worsened his condition. Anyway, there’s plenty of space in my house, so it’s not a big deal.”

Seeing that she insisted, the Crown Princess stopped trying to persuade her.

The two sat for a while and drank half a cup of tea before the people from the Imperial Medical Academy finally arrived.

The doctor who arrived was, coincidentally, the same one who had treated Song Xibai the first time.

Song Xibai remembered that his surname was Fu.

Doctor Fu first examined Du Chenghui, prescribed a medicine, and instructed him to take good care of him. Then he looked at Wei Hong.

Wei Hong was much better off than Du Chenghui; she had just caught a cold, and after taking two doses of medicine and sweating it out, she was fine.

But Du Chenghui was indeed weak and seemed to have some cold symptoms. Falling into the water in the dead of winter would have aggravated his cold symptoms, which was no small matter.

Physician Fu left two prescriptions. Song Xibai asked Fuliu to bring a young palace maid with him to the Imperial Pharmacy to get the medicine, in order to avoid any further mishaps.

Before long, the entire East Palace was filled with a strong smell of Chinese medicine.

The Crown Princess stayed for a while before leaving, and Song Xibai dismissed everyone else.

She sat on the chair at the foot of the bed, looking at Du Chenghui with his eyes tightly closed, and suddenly spoke.

"Stop pretending. Everyone's gone, and the deed's done. What's the point of pretending to be asleep? Do you think you can stay asleep forever?"

Du Chenghui, lying on the bed, trembled, and his body under the covers couldn't help but shake.

Song Xibai moved forward a little.

"I'm just curious, we have no grudge against each other, why would you use such a self-destructive method to frame me?"

"Is it to vie for favor? Then you should have heard what Physician Fu said just now. You were already weak, and falling into the water will only worsen your condition and may damage your very foundation. Do you understand what I mean? You will have difficulty conceiving in the future. As a woman in the harem, without favor and without children, how will you live your life?"

Song Xibai's voice pierced through everything and entered Du Chenghui's ears.

She couldn't help but cover her face and cry.

Song Xibai was just trying to scare her.

Although cold-related illnesses are difficult to treat, they don't cause sterilization or damage to the root cause, so they can be cured with proper care.

However, the Crown Prince doesn't seem to like Du Chenghui, so she is indeed out of favor. Since she is out of favor, it is highly likely that she will not have children in the future.

Therefore, what Song Xibai said wasn't actually wrong.

After Du Chenghui had been crying for a while, Song Xibai finally spoke again and asked.

"Now, can you tell me who sent you to frame me?"

Du Chenghui, a nobody, usually doesn't have a high profile and doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do something like this out of jealousy or vying for favor.

There must be someone behind her.

Is it Zhu Liangyuan?

Or is it Guo Liangyuan?

However, the person Du Chenghui mentioned was beyond Song Xibai's expectations.