"You're the one who followed the Second Princess?" Lanqin sized up the maid named Juxiang.
"It was this servant who followed," Juxiang said cautiously.
"How did the Second Princess fall into the water?" Lanqin asked.
"Today, this servant followed the princess to the area outside Lan Yue Residence to admire the fish. Unexpectedly, the princess became so engrossed in the moment that the stones she stepped on were a bit slippery. This servant was not paying attention and failed to catch the princess. I beg the concubine to punish me!" Juxiang immediately knelt down and said.
"What are you doing? I'm asking you a question, not scolding you. Get up and speak!" Lanqin was a little confused by Juxiang's kneeling.
"This servant failed to take good care of the princess; it is all my fault. Please punish me, Consort!" Juxiang dared not get up.
"Where did you fall into the water?" When Lanqin moved the Second Princess in, she specifically had everyone check every place and make sure that all the dangerous spots were repaired.
"It's over there in the fish farm!" Seeing Lanqin's intense focus on the spot where she had fallen, Juxiang felt a little uneasy.
"Cui Niang, go and see where the Second Princess fell into the water." Lanqin gestured for Juxiang to take Cui Niang to check.
After the two women left, Dr. Lin also came out carrying his medical kit.
"Reporting to Consort Lin, the Second Princess caught a cold when she fell into the water. Now the cold has seeped into her body, and she has developed a high fever. I must go and prepare medicine for her immediately!" Doctor Lin said.
"Go quickly, you go with Doctor Lin," Lanqin said to the round-faced maid who had reported.
Lanqin, supported by Xicha, entered the Second Princess's room. She saw that the Second Princess had changed her clothes, her wet hair was wrapped in white gauze, her face was as pale as snow, and her drooping eyelashes covered her lower eyelids like a feather fan.
"You are all the Second Princess's personal maids, how come only Juxiang went with you? It's the dead of winter, and everywhere is slippery, how could you be so careless?" Lanqin scolded the three maids.
"It's all Erlinzhu's fault, Aunt, please don't blame them." The Second Princess hadn't actually fallen asleep; she woke up immediately upon hearing Lanqin scolding the maids. After speaking, she coughed violently, and the maid serving by the bedside quickly went to pat her back.
"Elinzhu, your aunt scolded your maids. It's really because they were careless. How could they let their mistress fall into the water? Why did you go over there to look at the fish? It's cold today, and the fish are all at the bottom of the water. What can you see?" Lanqin looked at the Second Princess protecting her maids so much, as if what she had just said about them was the same as what she had said about her.
"The princess has been feeling depressed these past few days, and she's also afraid of upsetting the concubine, so she's been staying cooped up in her room. She's been thinking about going over to the fish pond to clear her head," said the maid named Zhaodi. She was born into a family, and both her parents were servants in the Fourth Prince's household.
"Why are you afraid I'll be unhappy? I've sent Nianxue over a few times, and she always says she's not feeling well." Lanqin's anger flared up upon hearing this.
“Zhao Di, don’t talk nonsense. It was because I wasn’t careful that I fell into the water. It has nothing to do with anyone else.” The Second Princess said while shedding tears.
"Erlinzhu, your aunt isn't blaming you. Ever since you moved here, your aunt has always wanted to treat you well, right? And it's still the same now. Don't overthink it, just take good care of yourself. Once you're better, you can have a meal at your aunt's place, okay?" Lanqin suppressed her discomfort and said kindly to the Second Princess.
A faint smile appeared on Erlinzhu's lips as she said, "Auntie, you don't resent me for pleading for my stepmother?"
“Auntie has never held a grudge. The Second Princess was raised by the Fujin for several years, how could she not have any affection for her? However, you shouldn’t think about so much now. Take good care of your health. Falling into such cold water in the dead of winter is really bad for your health. Auntie has a few old ginseng roots, I’ll have Shuiling bring them over later,” Lanqin said gently.
“Thank you, Aunt! Erlinzhu thought that Aunt would resent Erlinzhu, so she didn’t go when Aunt Nianxue came to invite her. Erlinzhu was being unreasonable!” said the Second Princess.
Lanqin sat down on the edge of the Second Princess's bed, touched her hand and said, "It's all in the past, don't take it to heart."
Lanqin gave a few more instructions on taking good care of the Second Princess before leaving.
Just then, Cui Niang and Ju Xiang returned and ran into Lan Qin, who was walking out of the door.
The three of them walked along the covered walkway toward Lanqin's house.
“My lady, I followed Juxiang to check where the Second Princess fell into the water. The fish pond over there is surrounded by pebbles. If you stand there to watch the fish, you shouldn’t slip in, unless you stand on the pebbles yourself. But no one would be stupid enough to stand on those, would they?” Cui Niang said.
"What did Juxiang say?" Lanqin asked, frowning.
"She said that the Second Princess saw a white-tailed goldfish and barked to feed it, which is why she stood on those pebbles," said Cui Niang.
"Did you see any fish swimming up?" Lanqin asked as she walked.
"I've looked for a long time, but there are no fish at all. In this cold weather, the fish would all be at the bottom of the water," said Cui Niang.
"How could the Second Princess see the fish?" Xi Cha couldn't help but ask.
The three of them returned to Lanqin's room in the blink of an eye. Geng and Song were talking when they saw Lanqin come in, so they quickly went up to greet her and asked about the Second Princess.
"It's nothing, just a cold. Soaking in such cold water for a while is already quite good," Lanqin said.
"Heavens! It's so cold! Her body is so delicate, I hope she doesn't catch a cold!" said Madam Song.
"Serve the meal, we can talk while we eat!" Lanqin instructed.
After the maids set up the table, the three of them sat down around it. After the hot pot was served, the maids set up another table, and the maids of Song and Geng went over to eat.
"Watching fish? In this cold weather, aren't all the fish sinking to the bottom?" Geng asked as Lanqin explained why the Second Princess had fallen into the water.
"Yes, but she said she went to check on the fish that had fallen into the water. What could I possibly question? If the Master heard that, he'd say I was mistreating the Second Princess. So I had no choice but to turn a blind eye and just went along with her, telling her to take good care of herself," Lanqin said. It turned out that the things she said by the Second Princess's bedside were things she knew about the drowning incident, but deliberately kept quiet about it. If she had pressed the Second Princess for answers, the Fourth Master might have blamed her for not fulfilling her responsibility to look after the Second Princess, for insisting on asking why she had fallen into the water without considering her feelings and health. That's why Lanqin said those things by her bedside.
"She was afraid you would resent her for pleading for the Fujin (princess)," said Madam Song. "But using such a self-harming method is rather foolish. It's the dead of winter; if she gets frostbite, it would be a huge loss!"
Lanqin looked at Song Shi and said, "Perhaps she didn't fall into the water, but just had her maid soak her."
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