Inside the cabin, the itching on Song Yunzhi and her servant subsided, but the scratches started to hurt again.
Hearing the shouts outside, Song Yunzhi disregarded her pain and quickly pulled her dress over, saying to her maid, "Quickly put this on and go out to see if the Qingyi Sect is up to their old tricks again."
The maid's poisoning was more severe than Song Yunzhi's; she felt she wouldn't survive without an antidote.
She grabbed the dress and hurriedly put it on.
Just as the master and servant finished fastening their belts, a guard knocked urgently at the door.
"Madam, something terrible has happened! Our location has been exposed."
Song Yunzhi's head started buzzing instantly; her flawless plan hadn't included a way out.
She panicked and stumbled toward the door, yelling, "Quick, retreat! Let the Qingyi Sect members hold them off in front!"
We've already spent tens of thousands of taels of silver; it's time for them to put in the work.
The guard reluctantly reported, "The people from the Green Robe Sect have already fled."
The door burst open, and Song Yunzhi was furious.
"A bunch of useless trash! They can't even keep an eye on a bunch of rabble!"
"I thought they went into the water to alleviate the effects of the medicine, but who would have thought they would disappear as soon as they entered the water."
Song Yunzhi wouldn't listen to the guard's explanation. She rushed out of the cabin and saw a brightly lit area of lights rapidly approaching from afar.
"Madam, what should we do? The people coming are forming a semi-circle. The Emperor has mobilized thousands of people. We have no chance of escaping." The maid trembled with fear at the sight before her.
The approaching ship was brightly lit, illuminating almost half of the lake, and the guards were shocked by the sight.
No one noticed that a small boat was quietly approaching from behind.
On the small boat, Jiang Shuyue saw that everyone on the painted boat was staring ahead.
With a thought, a packet of cartilage powder appeared in her hand.
Without time to check the wind direction, she held her breath, raised her arm, and threw the medicine packet onto the pleasure boat.
"Madam, be careful!"
One of the guards reacted quickly and swung his sword at the medicine bag.
The medicine packet was cleaved open by the sharp sword, and the cartilage powder scattered in the air like flour.
A faint, exotic fragrance wafted through the air.
"poisonous!"
The guard shouted and quickly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve to hold his breath. The maid helped Song Yunzhi and hurriedly hid in the cabin.
The remaining guards all moved upwind to avoid the wind.
What they didn't know was that after inhaling the cartilage powder, one's internal energy dissipates. This is imperceptible unless one uses their internal energy. The deeper one's internal energy, the better the effect. If inhaled by an ordinary person, the effect is not significant.
In the chaos, Jiang Shuyue seized the opportunity to slip into the space.
She mentally estimated the time, listening intently to the sounds outside.
Her biggest worry was that the pleasure boat would capsize the small boat while moving, and if that happened, she would be in the water when she came out of the space again.
Butterfly and breaststroke are both easy for her, but the lake is too big, and it's difficult for her to swim to the shore in one go. If she wants to swim back, she'll probably have to go back to the lake to rest several times along the way.
"I don't see anyone, hurry up and leave the boat."
A moment later, a woman's urging voice came from beside him.
Then I heard a soft "bang".
Jiang Shuyue's heart skipped a beat. It was true what they said, bad things always come true, and what she feared most came to pass.
The small boat was hit?!
Jiang Shuyue flashed out of the space without hesitation, nearly falling into the lake.
The small boat tilted after being hit, and she instinctively grabbed the edge of the pleasure boat.
As the pleasure boat moved, Jiang Shuyue looked down and saw lake water pouring into the tilting boat.
Her shoes were already soaked, so Jiang Shuyue simply pushed off and jumped onto the painted boat.
Unfortunately, she had no martial arts skills, and this jump only made her grip on the handles a little tighter.
She strained her feet against the edge of the pleasure boat, trying to climb aboard.
Behind her position, the hull of the boat was smooth, and her wet embroidered shoes were slippery, offering no foothold.
The hand gripping the edge was starting to weaken.
At that moment, a rope fell from above, tied in a knot, with the end looped into a loop.
"Mother, quickly put it on your waist."
The sound wasn't loud in the night breeze, but Jiang Shuyue heard it very clearly.
It's every year!
Jiang Shuyue looked up and, sure enough, saw two small heads peeking out of the window above.
It turned out that Chang Le and Sui Sui saw bright lights in the distance, and a long line stretched across the lake, like a fire dragon approaching them.
The two excitedly pressed their faces against the doorway, listening to the sounds outside. When they heard someone say that something was poisonous, Sui Sui knew that her mother had come.
Just before the New Year, he peeked out and saw that the small boat was empty. He was so anxious that tears streamed down his face.
He didn't know whether his mother had boarded the painted boat or fallen into the lake.
Remembering what my mother said, crying won't solve anything. Don't panic when something happens; stay calm and think of a solution.
He quickly picked up a rope and together with Chang Le, they made a lifeline.
Realizing that he and his aunt weren't strong enough, he tied one end of the rope to the foot of the bed.
When he peeked out again, he saw his mother's familiar figure.
In order not to alert the guards in front, Sui Sui dared not shout.
The pleasure boat was moving, and Jiang Shuyue almost slipped off. She gritted her teeth and clung to it tightly.
She looked at the rope swaying in front of her but dared not pull it. If she let go of one hand, her whole body would fall into the lake.
Sui Sui saw this and was anxious. "Auntie, Mother is out of strength. I'll go distract the bad guys, and you go save Mother."
"Wait, watch me. If we go down, the bad guys will catch us, and it will also expose that your mother is here." Chang Le grabbed the rope and swung it above Jiang Shuyue's head.
She wanted to find the right opportunity to lower it down.
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