Chapter 80 The boat lost its balance after falling into the water
Only the eldest wife and Pei Huaian knew that Pei Huaijin was poisoned. Old Madam Pei thought that it was Zhu's secret recipe that made her eldest grandson have a stomachache, so she called Zhu to Chunxuan Hall and scolded her, telling her not to rush into any treatment and not to give him all kinds of messy things to eat.
"I asked someone to calculate, and it seems that Brother Jin has a strong chance of having children. We should just be patient and wait..." The old lady also wanted to have her eldest grandson's child as soon as possible, but having children also depends on fate. Since the young couple has already started to have children seriously, they should just wait patiently.
There is another happy event now, and the old lady wants to take care of it personally.
The youngest grandson came back at the end of last year and successfully passed the entrance examination to the Imperial College in March this year. The old lady originally planned to hold a celebration banquet in the mansion, but then she thought that it was the middle of spring and the flowers were in full bloom, which was a good time for outings. It would be more fun to hold a flower-viewing banquet in a courtyard outside the capital, where we could have tea and admire the flowers.
The old lady had another reason in mind when she personally organized this flower viewing banquet.
Last year, a tea party was held in the mansion. All the families in the capital tacitly brought their girls of marriageable age to the banquet. The old lady fell in love with Shen Yunshu at first sight at the banquet.
Unfortunately, this girl, chosen from among thousands, married the wrong person, Xiao Qi, who is now His Royal Highness the Grandson of the Emperor. Later, she followed the Grandson of the Emperor into the palace. A few days ago, she heard that she had passed the examination to become a female official. Only then did the old lady know that she and His Royal Highness the Grandson of the Emperor had been divorced for some time.
This year, a new batch of girls waiting to be married appeared in Beijing, and the old lady wanted to choose a suitable girl for her own grandson, Xiaoqi, so she changed the celebration banquet into a flower-viewing banquet.
Because Shen Youran's eye disease had recently recurred and she couldn't look at the account books, she handed over all the housekeeping matters in the mansion to her second aunt, and Aunt Xiao also took a leave of absence.
Counting the days until her sister's return from confinement, Shen Youran went back to her parents' home. It wasn't that she went back to complain, but she was just feeling overwhelmed and wanted to find some comfort from her sister.
When Shen Yunshu saw that her sister was depressed and her eyes were red, she knew that she must have encountered something big.
It was only after her questioning that she learned that Pei Huaijin had been poisoned.
"Is this poison really impossible to cure?"
"I've consulted all the hospitals in the capital, and they all say there's no antidote. My father-in-law even asked the imperial physician to come and see him, but he was also helpless."
Shen Yunshu's heart sank. "How could this happen? Why was he poisoned?"
"It was that day at the Southern Imperial Garden. We encountered an assassin. He was shot with a poisoned arrow, but the imperial physician failed to diagnose it at the time, leading to the misunderstanding about the best time to detoxify." Shen Youran finished speaking, then warned her sister, "The arrow was likely aimed at the Imperial Grandson. That's why my husband didn't want His Highness to know about this, fearing he would blame himself. So, sister, please don't tell His Highness..."
"Okay." Shen Yunshu looked at her depressed sister and asked, "So what are your plans next?"
Chen Youran hugged her sister's arm and sighed, "He wants to divorce me and ask me to find another good man. He also said that Liang Liulang is not bad, but if I miss him, there will be no such good man in the future..."
He was always so clear-headed and rational. She had never seen anyone find another husband for his wife.
Shen Yunshu touched her sister's hair and said, "I'll go to the palace and find a chance to ask the Imperial Hospital. Maybe there's a way."
Shen Yunshu now lives in the Forbidden City. During the day, she has to go to the palace to study with other female officials. Only after she completes her studies can she obtain a specific rank and position.
Xie Heng often went to see her, and since he couldn't hide from people in the palace, he just came openly.
As the number of times increased, their relationship could no longer be concealed. The aunt who was in charge of teaching them could not stand it anymore and told the Empress Chenfei about it.
Unexpectedly, Empress Chen not only did not scold her, but praised her for her good aptitude and asked her aunt to teach her well.
Shen Yunshu knew that the Empress Chen's attitude towards her was the same as His Majesty's attitude towards her. Since the Empress Chen did not care about Xie Heng's relationship with her, it meant that His Majesty's attitude towards her had also softened.
Today, she returned to her parents' home and asked about her father's recent situation. She learned that her father was once again valued by His Majesty. She became more and more certain that with her passing the examination to become a female official, His Majesty's suspicion of the Shen family had been dispelled.
However, since His Majesty had established the rule that women in the harem were not allowed to interfere in politics, it was still unknown whether she could be together with Xie Heng again in the future.
But it doesn't matter even if they can't be together. She likes Xie Heng, but this is not the only pursuit in her life. Without entering the harem, she will have a broader world.
The next day she went to the palace to study as usual. During the break, she lied that she was not feeling well and wanted to go to the Imperial Hospital to see the imperial physician, so she asked her aunt for a quarter of an hour's leave.
The aunt probably thought that she was going to see Xie Heng again. Although she was dissatisfied, she still let her go because of the Empress Chen Fei's suggestion.
Although it was her first time going to the Imperial Hospital, she had previously experienced menstrual pain due to taking contraceptive pills, and it was an imperial physician named Chen who diagnosed her pulse. So she went directly to find Imperial Physician Chen and asked him for help.
Fortunately, Doctor Chen did not refuse. He listened to her patiently and then gave his opinion: "This poison really has no antidote. Fortunately, it won't endanger your life for the time being. If you take the medicine and recuperate well, you should be fine for three to five years. The difficulty is that after three to five years, if you are not careful, I'm afraid..."
Shen Yunshu secretly stuffed a gold ingot into Doctor Chen's hand and said, "Doctor Chen, please help me think of a solution."
Doctor Chen calmly returned the money. "This Imperial Hospital has a large collection of medical books. I'll look through them later. Whether I can find a way to detoxify you depends on fate..."
Shen Yunshu had no choice but to take back the gold ingot and bowed deeply to him: "I'm sorry for the trouble you took."
The spring breeze is getting warmer and the flowers are blooming. The banquet has been prepared at Peijiazhuangzi outside the capital, and the invited families have arrived with invitations.
Amidst the white walls and green tiles, beneath the locust branches and bamboo leaves, silk and satin fill the eyes, floating green leaves sway, and the young girl is more beautiful than a flower.
Shen Youran knew the old lady's intention, and learned from her mother-in-law that Pei Huaian liked lively and cute girls. Coincidentally, she knew such a girl.
Liang Qingluo, the ninth lady of the General Guard's Mansion, just came of age this year. Doesn't her appearance and personality perfectly match Pei Huaian's preferences?
Although Zhu didn't like Liang Xu, Mrs. Pei didn't know that Liang Xu liked Shen Youran. She also sent an invitation to the flower viewing banquet to the Liang family. Therefore, when Shen Youran saw Liang Qingluo at the banquet, she naturally took better care of her.
"Come on, I'll take you to meet my seventh brother..." After her sister left Pei Mansion, Shen Youran felt a little lonely. If Liang Qingluo could become her sister-in-law, she would have someone to talk to in the future.
Today is a flower-viewing banquet. Although men and women sit at separate tables, the banquet is halfway through and there are not many people left at the table. Most of them are in the yard enjoying the flowers and chatting, so there is no need to be on guard.
Shen Youran took Liang Qingluo to look for Pei Huaian, but her eyesight was still not very good. She squinted her eyes and searched for a long time, but still couldn't find anyone. Liang Qingluo beside her suddenly stopped and pointed to a place not far away and said: "Sister Youran, I saw Qingjian."
In the locust tree forest and bamboo sea, Qing Jian was leaning against a tree trunk with his arms folded, looking relaxed.
He was Pei Huaijin's attendant. Since he was there, Pei Huaijin must be nearby.
Shen Youran's gaze lingered around him for a moment, and indeed, he saw Pei Huaijin's figure, and Xiao Ci beside him.
However, she was not looking for them at the moment, so she did not go towards them. Instead, she walked forward and continued to search for Pei Huaian. She did not notice that Qing Luo behind her did not keep up with her, but turned around to look for Qing Jian.
When she finally found Pei Huaian and was about to wave him over, she found that a maid said something to him, and he followed the maid away.
Shen Youran didn't think much about it and followed him.
After passing a moon-shaped gate and walking along the corridor, a small clear lake comes into view.
It was a windy spring day and not a good time for boating, so there were few people here. There was only a girl wearing a fragrant yellow jacket standing under the pavilion in the middle of the lake. She looked gloomy and silent, and from a distance, Shen Youran had no idea who she was.
She thought Pei Huaian was here to see the girl, but she saw him continue walking along the corridor and not going towards the pavilion.
He walked fast and with big steps, and Shen Youran was about to catch up with him. Just as she was about to call him to stop, she suddenly heard a "thump" sound...
The beautiful figure under the pavilion just now has disappeared.
Someone fell into the water.
"Seventh brother, hurry up and save people!" Shen Youran shouted to him while running towards the center of the lake.
The railing under the pavilion was broken, and the girl must have fallen down accidentally.
Shen Youran couldn't swim, so when she was halfway through running, she saw a small boat by the lake and turned to run towards the boat.
She passed by Pei Huaian who came to rescue her: "I'm going to go rowing!"
"Okay, I'll go down and rescue people first."
At the same time, the maid who had led Pei Huaian earlier ran to call for help.
Pei Huaian ran to the pavilion, took off his outer robe, jumped into the lake, and picked up the person who fell into the water.
It turned out to be someone he knew.
"Miss Meng, are you okay?"
The other person choked on the water and hugged him in panic: "Seventh Master, help!"
"Don't be afraid, it's okay."
Pei Huaian held her with one hand and held the wooden stake standing in the lake under the pavilion with the other hand. When Shen Youran rowed over, he let her get on the boat first.
"Miss Meng, you go up first."
However, perhaps because she was too frightened, she slipped into the water again as soon as she loosened her arms around him.
Pei Huaian had no choice but to pick her up again...
At this time, the others heard the maid's cry and gathered here.
Although he was eager to save her, if others saw them hugging each other wetly, it would probably damage her reputation.
"Sister-in-law, quickly pull her up." Pei Huaian supported her back and sent her onto the boat again.
Shen Youran cooperated with him, reached out and grabbed Meng Wanxin's hand, trying to pull her up, but for some reason she didn't hold on tightly and she sank again.
As she struggled underwater, the boat on the surface became unstable. In addition, Shen Youran instinctively bent down to rescue her, and the boat under her feet lost balance and suddenly flipped over...
Shen Youran plunged into the lake.
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