Ever since falling into the deep valley and underground river, Nan Kezhi has developed a fear of water. At this moment, she is huddled in Nan Qianyue's arms, coughing and sobbing silently.
"Don't be afraid, it's alright now." Nan Qianyue hugged her tightly to comfort her, while looking up at the palace servants and scolding, "What are you all standing there for? Bring me a few cloaks!"
"Miss!" Green Robe and Ayu, who were left behind in the palace, rushed over with cloaks. They had been notified by the secret guards.
As soon as they moved south, Yue immediately took the cloak and wrapped it around her younger sister.
The commotion was so great that it attracted the attention of the Empress Dowager and the others.
"Quickly, take them to Nuanxi Pavilion to change their clothes!" The Empress Dowager didn't ask any more questions, nor could she ask any more. She directly ordered the palace servants to lead the soaking wet women to change their clothes.
"Qianyue!" The Prime Minister's wife, who arrived a little later, stepped forward and hugged them, her eyes filled with complex emotions and anger. She had only been gone for a short while, and her daughter had been bullied.
"Mother, don't worry, we're fine." Nan Qianyue's expression was resolute, without a trace of panic.
Her sharp gaze swept over the group of women, taking note of those whose expressions were unnatural.
The Prime Minister's wife suppressed her emotions and said, "Go change your clothes first."
...
At Nuanxi Pavilion, the Nan family's daughter and the Xie family's daughter were arranged to change clothes in different rooms.
As if to make amends, the Empress Dowager had the finest palace dresses sent over.
With the help of maids and palace servants, Nan Qianyue and Nan Kezhi changed into clean clothes. Their hair had to be taken down, dried, and then re-styled. Their makeup was also dirty and had to be redone.
"Mother, could you please go and check on Miss Xie? I'm worried that her stepmother might take the opportunity to upset her," Nan Qianyue pleaded, pulling on the Prime Minister's wife's hand as she sat in front of the mirror.
The Prime Minister's wife was a little angry when she heard this. "We shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs. You shouldn't always think about others; you should also take care of yourself."
The dejected Nan Kezhi's eyes reddened again. "I've hurt my older sister again... I always drag her down..."
"Don't cry, little sister." Nan Qianyue tugged at her sleeve and shook it. "If you keep crying, all the makeup that the nanny did for you will be wasted."
Nan Kezhi bit her lower lip to hold back her tears, while glancing at the makeup artist's face through the mirror.
It really doesn't look very good.
“Mother,” Nan Qianyue grabbed her again, “I beg you, please go and see her. If I can leave, I will go by myself, Mother, Mother~~!” She was quite adept at acting cute.
The Prime Minister's wife was not a hard-hearted person to begin with, and seeing her daughter like this for the first time melted her heart.
"Look at you like this, I'm really scared of you." The Prime Minister's wife couldn't suppress the upturned corners of her mouth. She pretended to be helpless, flicked her sleeves, and turned to leave.
The worries of the Southern Migration Month were not unfounded. In Miss Xie's room, sharp, mocking voices rang out in waves.
"Merchants are just so vulgar; are they trying to get some reward by falling into the water, or do they want to become famous..."
Miss Xie sat in front of the mirror, barely suppressing the urge to kick Huang out. The chill in her body had not yet subsided, and Huang's provocation made her whole body tremble uncontrollably.
Lady Huang was foolish, thinking that she could just pretend to be a kind mother in public and reveal her true nature behind closed doors, completely disregarding the palace servants sent by the Empress Dowager.
For Lady Huang, palace maids were just servants who couldn't cause any trouble, but she didn't consider whether they would relay her words to the Empress Dowager.
"Madam, the Prime Minister's wife has arrived."
Huang immediately covered her mouth, her face displaying various expressions, before finally forcing a smile to greet them...
The southward migration has been completed.
She stood up, thanked the dressing matron, and then asked the matron and all the palace servants to leave, saying she wanted to give her younger sister some advice.
"Big sister, what's wrong?" Nan Kezhi sensed her older sister's increasingly serious expression.
Nanqianyue held her hand until the door was closed and no one was outside, then she called for Green Robe and Ayu.
"Are you two sure that the palace dress was sent by the Empress Dowager's people?"
The woman in green spoke first, "Does the young lady feel there's something amiss?"
Ayu continued, "It was sent by the Empress Dowager, but we can't rule out the possibility that someone else tampered with it."
Nan Qianyue nodded, then lowered her eyes to analyze, "Today's fall into the water was definitely not an accident. When I was about to save Miss Xie, someone pushed me from behind."
"I...I was pushed down," Nan Kezhi finally interjected weakly.
She didn't dare to speak up before because she was afraid of disturbing His Majesty's birthday banquet and implicating the Prime Minister's residence.
“See?” Nan Qianyue spread her hands, but then became solemn. “The drowning was just a prelude. Their real purpose is probably yet to come. Based on my experience filming—no, based on my brilliant mind—I must carefully examine this palace dress, and not a single hairpin or ornament on her head can be missed.”
"This servant will check it right away!" Green Robe and Ayu both took over.
Nanqianyue spread her arms wide, cooperating with the inspection while pointing out potential problems, "Is there a hidden clasp inside the belt? Just take the sachet off and check it; there's no need to put it back on..."
"What is this?!" The woman in green pulled a multicolored stone from her belt. It was shaped like a small animal and about the size of a jade pendant.
Ayu's eyes widened, and she snatched it away. "This is a unique colored jade from the Western Qiu Kingdom. Within a range of three zhang, they can use their domesticated butterflies to find the exact location of the colored jade!"
"Wow, Ayu, you know quite a lot." Nan Qianyue wasn't too surprised, and smiled as she took the jade and examined it curiously.
The colorful butterfly seeks the colorful jade; how magical!
The woman in green gave Ayu a cold look, "Didn't you say you were from the village? How could someone from the village know so much?"
Ayu scoffed, "Ignorant and ignorant, yet you don't allow others to be smart? How laughable."
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