Chapter 175 Baochai Falls into the Water

"Miss Bao has fallen into the water! Someone come quick..." Zijuan helped Daiyu to her feet, and then glanced into the water, only to see Baochai sitting in it.

Just now, when Daiyu was about to fall, Zijuan had already grabbed her. Unexpectedly, Baochai suddenly came over and grabbed Daiyu as well. Zijuan was not prepared for Baochai's sudden appearance and slipped. How much strength could Baochai, a weak woman, have? She couldn't possibly hold both of them back. At the critical moment, Lansu grabbed Daiyu's sash and pulled her back. Baochai felt a strong force coming at her, and she couldn't help but let go, falling into the water herself.

Fortunately, the stream in front of Rongyue Courtyard is only a foot deep. Even though the ice and snow have melted and the water has risen a bit, falling into it would only result in a bit of a mess, and there would be no danger to one's life.

Grandmother Jia saw it clearly. Although Daiyu had fallen towards the stream, Zijuan could have easily helped her up and she would have been fine. Baochai's attempt to help was just making things worse. Fortunately, there was the quiet maid Lansu who pulled Daiyu back. Otherwise, if Daiyu had fallen into the water, she might have been even less willing to come here in the future.

Grandmother Jia felt angry just thinking about it:

Last time it was Baoyu who caused trouble, and this time it's Baochai who's meddling again. If it weren't for these incidents, how could Daiyu possibly harbor resentment towards her family?

Alas, after this incident, I fear Daiyu will be reluctant to come over for a long time.

Baochai had already been pulled up by the old women and went to Rongyue Courtyard to change her clothes.

Daiyu, on the other hand, was not frightened at all by what had just happened. Instead, she was comforting Grandmother Jia, because she had never seen her maternal grandmother with such a dejected expression before, and assumed that her maternal grandmother was frightened by what had just happened.

"Grandmother, don't worry. It was my own naughtiness that caused Sister Xue to fall into the water. Grandmother, could you please not tell my nanny?"

Hearing this, Grandmother Jia was very puzzled. "Why can't she know? I'm afraid your Granny Yuan already knows and is on her way."

“Sigh~” Daiyu sighed and glanced at Lansu, Zijuan and the others beside her. “Don’t tell the nanny that I went to the water’s edge. Just say that I was still a zhang away from the water! Otherwise, our pond will really be fenced off, and then what’s the point of looking at it?”

Seeing that Grandmother Jia still didn't understand, Daiyu pouted and said unwillingly, "The old woman said that children can't play by the water without an adult. Zijuan and Lansu can't be considered adults."

“What Granny Yuan said is absolutely right,” Grandmother Jia nodded in deep agreement. “Look how dangerous it was just now.”

“Grandmother, my nanny always makes a mountain out of a molehill. She’s always worried that I’ll be frightened or that I’ll get sick or tired…” Daiyu complained, but her face was full of smiles.

"Don't say that. That's exactly why we feel comfortable letting her take you with her. If she were a shrew or reckless person, how could we feel at ease? You shouldn't take your good fortune for granted."

Regardless of how Grandmother Jia viewed Yuan Hongqu, she could not find a single fault with Yuan Hongqu's care and protection of Daiyu.

Grandmother Jia had to admit that even if Jia Min were reborn, she probably wouldn't be able to do as well as the original Hongqu.

Privately, Grandmother Jia had also thought that since Min'er had been ill, she probably could only take care of Daiyu a limited number of times. So when she wrote letters before, she mostly lamented that Daiyu was in poor health and that she took more medicine than food every day.

However, when Daiyu first arrived at the Rongguo Mansion, she looked rather frail, but now she is probably much stronger than all the other girls in the mansion.

She spoke a few words with Daiyu and saw that Daiyu really didn't take the little thing that had just happened to heart at all. Instead, she was only worried about whether Yuan Hongqu would find out, just like a child who had done something wrong and wanted to hide it from the adults.

"Alright, I won't tell your Granny Yuan, but from now on..."

"I promise I won't get so close to the water again," Daiyu said with a smile, raising her little hand. "I promise I'll stay at least ten feet away from the water unless an adult is with me."

The three sisters and Baoyu were amused by Daiyu's serious expression. Then they heard Grandmother Jia say, "Don't laugh. You should do the same in the future. When you grow up, if you see someone fall into the water, don't think about showing off by trying to save them. You should also be careful not to let anyone trick you into falling into the water. In a family like ours, we are not afraid of anything else, but we are afraid of some petty people who approach us with ill intentions and plot against us."

"Don't worry, Ancestor. A wise man doesn't stand under a dangerous wall. We're far away, so we won't be tricked," Tan Chun said, and the others echoed her sentiments.

"Baochai, my child..."

From inside the courtyard came Aunt Xue's urgent call, and then Aunt Xue walked in quickly, lifting her skirt. Everyone was there except for Baochai. Aunt Xue was anxious and was about to cry out.

“Mrs. Xue, Miss Xue accidentally fell into the water. She only got her clothes wet and is otherwise unharmed. She is changing in her room. You can see for yourself when you go over.” Yuanyang had seen everything clearly just now. She didn’t judge Xue Baochai’s behavior, but seeing the disgust in the old lady’s eyes, she understood.

I overheard the maids talking privately the other day that Master Xue had done a lot of bad things outside, and was bullying people by taking advantage of the Rongguo Mansion's name.

As for Miss Xue's actions just now, she probably wanted to save Princess Lin and curry favor with the old lady, but she overestimated herself and ended up being rescued by the people around Princess Lin.

The old lady must really despise the Xue family.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue hurriedly followed the little girl.

At this moment, Yuan Hongqu and Wang Xifeng also came in. They had heard the news almost at the same time as Aunt Xue. Aunt Xue was worried about Baochai and almost rushed over. Although the two of them were also somewhat worried about Daiyu, after hearing the maid who came to deliver the message give a general account of what had happened, they were not too worried and instead lagged behind.

When Yuan Hongqu came over, she saw that Daiyu's eyes were somewhat evasive and that she was moving closer to Grandmother Jia. She then roughly understood what was going on.

Sigh, as this girl has grown stronger, her personality has become increasingly unruly. If I'm too strict with her, I'm afraid it will stifle her individuality; if I'm too lenient, this is the situation we're in now.

"Grandma, we were really startled when we heard the maid go and deliver a message. Luckily, everyone is alright. If it happened during the first month of the lunar year... ah, ptooey, ptooey!" Wang Xifeng quickly pretended to slap herself, thankfully not saying anything unlucky. She hurriedly chanted, "Amitabha, may Heaven protect us, may everyone be well."

"That's right, everything's fine. Yuanyang will pick out a few things from the storeroom and send them to Miss Xue to calm her nerves."