resentment
The poet brewed the tea and personally served the first cup to the princess.
She was beautiful and dignified. Even though the Gao family had fallen on hard times, she was still the legitimate daughter of the Duke's mansion. The Princess Consort showed a hint of approval in her eyes and took a sip of fragrant tea.
"Why don't you go boating on the lake with them?" the Princess Consort asked.
Shi Jun glanced at the people on the lake and laughed, "I get seasick, so I can only watch from the shore."
The reason was reasonable, so the Princess Consort did not ask any further questions and instead chatted with the ladies around her.
Knowing her place, Shijun stepped behind her mother, acting as a dutiful daughter and quietly listening to everyone's conversation. Occasionally, when no one was looking, she would glance up at the Princess Consort, observing her overall demeanor and then looking at her pale-faced mother beside her. Jealousy and inferiority, like the two fangs of a venomous snake, gnawed fiercely at her heart. Underneath her handkerchief, her fingernails dug into her flesh, a reminder not to lose her composure.
Runan must be a fine place to give this princess such an air of grandeur. She wore an emerald hair ornament, a jeweled pendant adorning her forehead, and a string of emerald necklaces around her neck. The necklace was made of gold, with a central gemstone the size of a thumb, flanked by smaller gemstones and pearls, exuding wealth and power.
This is a complete set of jewelry, worth a fortune; the emerald alone is a rare and precious item.
Looking at my mother, she was wearing her dowry from when she got married. Although it wasn't cheap, it was still old-fashioned. Compared to the Princess Consort, she was inferior even to that merchant Wang...
She lowered her head and thought, if I had a mother like that, how could I have been bullied like this...
When she looked up again, Shi Jun's gaze was somewhat gloomy. She glanced at the small boat on the lake, where everything was calm.
But it was only seemingly calm. Gao Yun sat at the bow of the boat, looking at Jing Wan with a gloomy expression.
Gao Yun was fickle and often threw tantrums in front of others, which was common knowledge. Therefore, no one came up to talk to her. Even Qin Xi, who was usually good at socializing, ignored her and only chatted and laughed with other girls.
On the way to the manor, Shijun told her that a few days ago, two wealthy families came to her house looking for her second uncle, wanting to propose marriage on behalf of their sons.
Upon hearing that she had come to see her father, Gao Yun was very happy. It wasn't because she wanted to get married, but because she felt that she was a popular candidate for marriage in a wealthy family in the capital, and she was very proud. Unfortunately, Shi Jun's next sentence cut off all her pride: "Jing Wan is lucky, but it's a pity that she gave up as soon as she heard that she was born out of wedlock."
Gao Yun's expression tightened: "They're looking for that little bitch?"
Shi Jun hummed in agreement and asked, "You don't know?"
Of course she didn't know that her father had rarely spoken to her in the past two years.
Shi Jun continued, "Jing Wan is becoming more and more beautiful. Even my brother wishes he could recognize her as his own sister and protects her all the time. You don't know, because of what happened a couple of days ago, my brother scolded me and blamed me for leaving Jing Wan alone on the mountain."
Gao Yun also knew how protective Bo Jun was of Jing Wan. Last time, she had caused trouble for Jing Wan, and he immediately came to cause trouble for her.
What makes you so alluring to so many men, you little slut?!
“My mother told me that my second uncle wanted to find Jingwan a scholarly family. My mother was surprised and asked him why he didn’t find her a noble family, so that even if she became a concubine, she would be a concubine in a wealthy household. But my second uncle said that he only wanted Jingwan to live a life of comfort and peace, and that finding her a scholarly family of slightly lower social standing, where she could be the principal wife and mistress, would be a happy marriage. After all, he is a father, and his daughter is the one he loves most.” She sighed deeply, her tone full of envy: “I wish I had a father who would think of his daughter like that.”
If the previous words were only enough to anger Gao Yun, the following words were enough to make her lose her temper.
She was someone who was easily swayed by others, and when she heard from Shi Jun that her father cared so much about her younger sister, Gao Yun's eyes even turned red.
Despite growing up alongside Gao Yun, she wasn't particularly close to her father.
As a child, she was very envious of other children being held in their fathers' arms. She shook Gao Yun's hand, wanting to be held by her father like others, but instead, her father patted her head and told her to go play somewhere else.
As she grew older, she got along better with her mother, but she also longed for her father's affection. Whenever she wrote well or could recite articles, she would run to her father and ask him to praise her.
Things were better when her mother was around; her father would praise her a couple of times. But when her mother wasn't there, he would just glance at her without any emotion and have a servant take her away.
Later, a girl named Jingwan came to live with them. Several times when she had conflicts with Jingwan, she saw disgust in her father's eyes. He had also shown the same look to her mother. She never expected that he would look at her the same way.
Thinking back to Shi Jun's words, he only wished for Jing Wan to live a peaceful and prosperous life. What a good father he was! Only when he treated Jing Wan as his daughter could he have such a fatherly and most sincere wish for his daughter.
She spent seventeen years with her father, yet that was less than the four years that little slut came to their house.
Why?! That's unfair!
At this moment, Jingwan was talking to a girl she had just met. Although she was reserved, she was kind and gentle, and a very likable person. She quickly found someone to talk to.
Several servants nearby jumped into the water to scoop up water lilies. Just looking at the chilly water made the ladies on the boat shiver.
Qin Xi was also on the boat, but she told Jing Wan to sit closer to avoid falling into the water.
The girl who was talking to Jingwan was named Lin Fangru. Lin pulled Jingwan a little further inside and said with a smile, "I can't swim, so I can't fall in."
Jingwan smiled and said, "That's alright. I'm a great swimmer. If you really fall in, I'll come and save you."
Gao Yun, who was standing nearby, overheard their conversation and glanced at Jing Wan again.
Qin Xi waved to them again, her face full of surprise, and shouted, "Come and see, there are lots of whitebait over here."
The whitebait like to gather in large groups on the water's surface, and surprisingly, they haven't been scared away by the boats. It's quite interesting. Lin Fangru took Jingwan's hand and said, "Come on, let's go take a look."
The group bent down to look at the whitebait on the water's surface, and they were all quite excited, wishing they could catch the whole group right away.
Unfortunately, the little fish ignored them and disappeared back into the water in the blink of an eye, much to the disappointment of the noble ladies.
Everyone turned around, preparing to go to other places to see if there were any fish. Jingwan did the same, but she tripped over something, lost her balance on her right foot, and after a few thrashings, fell into the lake.
She can swim and wasn't afraid of falling into the water...
The commotion on the lake startled the people on the shore. Qin Ziyou jumped into the water first, keeping his eyes on Jingwan, followed by Dongfang Wuxia on the opposite bank.
Fangru called out Jingwan's name repeatedly and reached out to grab her. Qin Xi calmed down and called to the servants who were cleaning up the water hibiscus to rescue her.
Jingwan's performance was not as good as she had said. She struggled for a couple of moments before sinking into the water and eventually disappeared from sight.
Qin Ziyou was far away, but he and Dongfang Wuxia approached Jingwan in the water.
At that time, she was already submerged in the water, her eyes were open blankly, her whole body was soft and stretched out, and her head was submerged in the water like seaweed.
Qin Ziyou carried her out of the lake. Before she fainted, Jingwan whispered, "Ziyou."
Wuxia was beside him, wanting to take the person from him, but seeing that Qin Ziyou refused to let go, she said urgently, "Young master, you should also consider the young lady's reputation!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Ziyou finally let go, and Wuxia took Jingwan and dragged her onto the boat.
Jingwan had her eyes closed and looked like she was drowning. Wuxia turned her over, raised her feet, pressed one hand against her chest, and opened her mouth with the other.
The movement was a bit awkward, and just as she was about to ask for help, a hand reached out and, mimicking her previous action, lifted Jingwan's chin.
Without a moment to spare, he looked up and saw that it was Gao Yun.
After a few moments, she finally vomited the water out of her stomach. She coughed repeatedly from choking on the water, but she also opened her eyes, which finally put Wuxia at ease.
Li Changying arranged for a small boat to come over. She looked at Qin Ziyou, then at the girl who had fallen into the water on the boat, and said, "Hurry back to shore and change your clothes so you don't catch a cold."
Even if the water in the winter month doesn't freeze, it's still bone-chillingly cold.
Jingwan trembled, hiding in Wuxia's arms, her face still showing no sign of fear.
They went ashore, where the Duchess and Shijun were already waiting. Seeing her in such a disheveled state, having fallen into the water and disrupted the Princess Consort's banquet, the Duchess, though feeling ashamed, still went up to comfort her.
"Poor child!" The princess consort feigned concern and ordered the servants to take the group to the South Garden to change clothes.
Jingwan was so cold she couldn't speak. Wuxia was holding her tightly, clutching her clothes.
Gao Yun was the last to disembark. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Madam Wang pulled her over and looked her up and down. After confirming that everything was alright, she said to her daughter, "Don't stay with that jinx anymore. Nothing good ever comes of it!"
Gao Yun nodded listlessly, without saying a word.
Li Changying didn't come to the female guest's side; his eyes were fixed on Qin Ziyou. He consciously avoided the female guest. His friends were waiting on the shore. When they saw him come up, they just joked with him, saying that he was a hero who had saved a beauty and that the beauty was just waiting to repay him with her body.
The crowd burst into laughter, but then they saw Li Changying standing behind them. They patted each other on the shoulder and tugged at their clothes as a signal, and then, quite tacitly, they all shut up.
When Qin Ziyou finished bathing and got dressed, he came out and saw Li Changying waiting for him in the courtyard.
There were only the two of them there, and he felt it was inconvenient, so he buried his head and walked away, but was stopped by Changying.
"I initially thought you were admiring the scenery on the lake, but I later learned you were admiring the beautiful women on the lake. They were indeed beautiful; even I couldn't help but take a few more glances."
When Qin Ziyou jumped into the water to save the person, Changying only thought he was a kind-hearted man. But when the boat sailed into the middle of the lake and she saw the young man anxiously staring at the person who had fallen into the water, she suddenly understood.
“The second daughter of the Gao family is still born out of wedlock,” Changying said, looking at Qin Ziyou. “I heard from my mother that if the eldest son of the Gao family fails the imperial examination this year, the Qin family will not even consider your brother’s marriage to the eldest daughter. Ziyou, your family will not agree to it.”
"So what?" Qin Ziyou left with a sullen face.
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