There were only three people on the boat: the boatman, Qiao Ziming, and Shen Yaxin.
Shen Yaxin was looking straight ahead at the pavilion in the middle of the lake, but suddenly felt her feet get wet. Looking down, she discovered that the small boat had started to leak.
And it kept leaking more and more; in the blink of an eye, the leaking lake water had already reached above her ankles.
"The boat is leaking!"
After exclaiming in surprise, they looked towards the shore.
We were already far from the shore and even further from the pavilion in the middle of the lake. The boat was leaking, and it was clear that neither turning back nor continuing forward would be feasible.
"Your Highness, what should we do?!"
Shen Yaxin was already panicked and could only place her hopes on Qiao Ziming.
Qiao Ziming's expression was also not good. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he looked coldly at the boatman.
"It was you who did this!"
As he spoke, he stood up abruptly and grabbed the boatman by the neck.
Qiao Ziming's actions made the small boat even more unstable. Shen Yaxin instinctively grabbed Qiao Ziming's leg. Seeing that Qiao Ziming was not trying to solve the problem but was making things difficult for a boatman, she said disapprovingly, "Young Master, let's try to get ashore. This boat is about to sink!"
After saying that, he looked towards the shore and was about to call for help when he saw the boatman suddenly fight back. In the struggle with Qiao Ziming, the small boat capsized completely.
The boatman, who could swim, swam swiftly towards the pavilion in the middle of the lake. However, Shen Yaxin, who could not swim, was terrified by this sudden turn of events and clung tightly to Qiao Ziming, refusing to let go.
Qiao Ziming is a swimmer, but being held by Shen Yaxin like this prevented him from moving freely, and he choked on several mouthfuls of water.
He wanted to forcefully shake the person off, but with so many people watching from the shore, if he stood by and did nothing, he might incur the wrath of the entire Shen family.
So he could only reach out and put his arm around Shen Yaxin's slender waist, shouting at her, "Calm down! I can swim, I'll get you ashore!"
…
The crowd on the shore gasped in shock when they saw the small boat capsize, and some even prepared to jump into the lake to rescue the damsel in distress.
But Bai Mengying stopped them all.
"Everyone, calm down. Zimo can swim, he and Miss Shen will be fine! If you go down to rescue them now, there might be accidents. We should stay calm, especially in times like these!"
Upon hearing this, everyone was forced to calm down, but only a very few people were genuinely worried about Shen Yaxin's safety.
Most of the women watched all of this with a "let's see what's going on" attitude.
Most of the men, however, regretted missing a chance to be a hero and save the damsel in distress.
If he could take the opportunity to have physical intimacy with Shen Yaxin, he could then take the opportunity to marry a woman like Shen Yaxin who is both talented and beautiful.
Although Shen Yaxin stopped struggling, it was still very difficult for Qiao Ziming to swim to the shore with a living person in his arms.
Perhaps because he was only thinking about swimming to the shore as soon as possible, Qiao Ziming ignored the warm and soft touch under his palm, while Shen Yaxin was still in a state of shock and did not notice anything unusual about her body.
It wasn't until the two reached the shore and could touch the ground that they realized something was wrong.
Sometime during the night, Shen Yaxin's clothes had come undone, and Qiao Ziming's large hand was now resting unimpeded on her slender waist...
Qiao Ziming hurriedly let go and quickly went ashore. When he saw Bai Mengying in the crowd, he wished he could just strangle her!
All of this must have been designed by Bai Mengying!
No wonder they insisted on giving him the top spot; it turns out they were waiting for him to get it!
Just like three years ago, they will stop at nothing to frame others in order to protect their own reputation!
When Bai Mengying saw Qiao Ziming looking at her, she didn't flinch at all, but instead smiled gently at him.
He then shouted loudly, "Miss Su! Please go and check on Miss Chen!"
When Su Muxi heard Shen Yaxin shout that the boat was leaking, she knew that she had been put to use, so without Bai Mengying's instructions, she went to meet her and pulled Shen Yaxin ashore.
Immediately, a kind young man took off his outer robe and draped it over Shen Yaxin's shoulders.
However, the next moment, the young master's worry and tenderness turned into surprise and disdain.
This was because Shen Yaxin's face was no longer obscured by a veil, revealing her entire face.
The lead powder that originally covered the spots had long been washed away by the lake water.
Although the dense spots on my face have faded considerably compared to a few days ago, they still look quite frightening.
"Miss Chen...your face..."
Someone spoke incredulously, bringing Shen Yaxin back to her senses from her shock.
He subconsciously reached out and touched his face, then suddenly realized something was wrong and hurriedly pulled at his robe to cover his face.
The shame and indignation she felt made her too ashamed to face anyone.
The secret she had kept hidden for almost ten years has been exposed today!
Looking at Su Muxi in front of her, Shen Yaxin shouted angrily, "It's all your fault! If you could remove the freckles from my face, why did you have to play tricks on me!"
The maid, Biyuan, rushed over at that moment, grabbed Shen Yaxin and hugged her tightly, crying out, "Miss! How could Heaven do this to you! Your innocence has been ruined, and your face has been disfigured! Waaaaah..."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Ziming and Su Muxi spoke in unison.
"I was merely saving someone in a moment of crisis! How can you say my innocence has been ruined!"
"Your young lady already had dark spots on her face, and she only came to me for treatment three days ago. How can you say she was disfigured?"
Bi Yuan's face showed resentment, as did Shen Yaxin, who was in Bi Yuan's arms.
Before the two could speak, a sinister female voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
"Su Muxi! You're going to die!"
Su Muxi was always alert to her surroundings, so she noticed a veiled woman running towards her the moment she saw her.
The silver needles that had been prepared beforehand were flicked out of her hand and pierced the woman's body, but even so, Su Muxi was still a step too late.
The woman ran over carrying a small jar. As Su Muxi flicked out the silver needles, she spilled the liquid from the jar.
A strong smell wafted in the air. Su Muxi knew what it was and quickly reached out to block it with her sleeve.
However, to her surprise, Qiao Ziming stepped forward in time and stood in front of her.
"ah!"
Qiao Ziming roared in pain, his back was scalded and oozing blood.
This turn of events was so sudden that everyone was stunned.
Su Muxi was the first to react. While pulling Qiao Ziming's wrist towards the lake, she said to the crowd, "Grab Qiao Zixi!"
She knew from the voice that the veiled woman was Qiao Zixi.
She just never expected that Qiao Zixi would actually splash her with ferrous sulfate oil...
And she also knew what Bai Mengying had prepared for her.
After all, not just anyone can enter the literary gathering. Qiao Zixi must have had someone help her to be here, and she was certain that the person who helped her was Bai Mengying!
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