"Help! The Princess Consort has fallen into the water!"
Chaos erupted on the ship. As soon as Tong Cheng'er fell into the water, she was entangled by the palace maid. She couldn't open her eyes underwater and was being held tightly. She could swim, but it was no use.
She wasn't strong enough to break free from the palace maid.
Surrounded by water, her head grew heavier and heavier, and she could vaguely hear the sounds of panic from the boat.
Rulan jumped in the water the moment Tong Cheng'er fell in, but the water was murky, and even if she could barely open her eyes, she couldn't see where Tong Cheng'er was.
At this point, Tong Cheng'er was starting to feel the strain; her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.
At this moment, in the Ministry of Personnel, Yinzhen was writing something, but for some reason, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable, as if something had happened, and he could not sit still.
This feeling was truly unbearable, so he said to Su Peisheng, "Prepare the carriage and return to the manor immediately."
Sensing the urgency and unease in his tone, Su Peisheng quickly replied, "Yes."
After saying that, he went to prepare the carriage.
On the way back to the mansion, Yinzhen repeatedly urged the coachman to hurry up.
In the lake, Tong Cheng'er felt like she was about to faint when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her wrist. As she regained her senses, she realized something was wrong; it felt like a knife was cutting her wrist!
Then, she completely lost consciousness.
The palace maid sensed that she had stopped struggling and quickly pulled her out of the water. Once out of the water, the Crown Princess said anxiously, "Quickly get Fourth Sister-in-law out of the water."
Rulan had just emerged from the water when the boat was full of the Crown Princess's people and Tong Cheng'er's people, all of whom were still in the water!
The people around the Crown Princess were very strong, and they quickly pulled Tong Cheng'er out of the water.
Then, the Crown Princess said anxiously, "Quickly sail the boat back and fetch the imperial physician."
At this moment, the nanny beside the Crown Princess took out a porcelain bottle and began to collect blood from Tong Cheng'er's wrist.
At this point, the ship was full of the Crown Princess's people, so naturally no one could stop them.
The boat swam towards the shore, and at that moment, Rulan also swam to the shore. As soon as she got ashore, the Crown Princess said in a flustered manner, "Quickly, go and fetch the imperial physician."
Rulan quickly went over, turned Tong Cheng'er over, and patted her repeatedly. Tong Cheng'er coughed and spat out two mouthfuls of water.
woke up.
When she opened her eyes again, Tong Cheng'er felt as if she had been through another world.
Then, she felt her head was heavy, her nose was uncomfortable, and her throat was sore. As soon as she raised her hand, she found that there was a not-so-small cut on her wrist, which was still bleeding.
"Madam, you're finally awake!" Rulan had a look of relief on her face, but before she could even feel happy, she saw the wound that was revealed when Rulan raised her hand.
Rulan asked with a worried look, "What happened to your wrist?"
How did you manage to cut your wrist after falling into the water?
Tong Cheng'er was somewhat sober this time. She coughed and said, "Help me up first."
Rulan helped her up.
The Crown Princess secretly winked at the palace maid who had fallen into the water with Tong Cheng'er. The maid immediately knelt on the ground and said, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been seasick, I wouldn't have slipped and pushed Fourth Princess into the water. I deserve to die. Please punish me, Fourth Princess."
At this opportune moment, the Crown Princess spoke up: "What happened today is my fault. It is I who have caused my fourth sister-in-law to suffer so much. This maid will be handed over to my fourth sister-in-law for disposal. I will not plead for her."
Upon hearing the Crown Princess's words, the palace maid lowered her head and trembled, looking utterly pitiful.
The Crown Princess's series of actions left Tong Cheng'er somewhat bewildered.
She's already pleaded so much; if we were to hold it against her now, wouldn't it seem a bit too heartless of her?
However, when she thought about how she had been pushed into the water and held so tightly that she couldn't move, she suddenly realized that it didn't matter whether it was humane or not; the key thing was that she felt wronged and someone had to take responsibility.
So Tong Cheng'er said, "Your Highness is so generous. Since you've said so, I, as your sister-in-law, can't possibly refuse you. I'll keep this palace maid."
After saying that, the Crown Princess's face stiffened slightly for a moment, and then she said, "Of course, of course."
Tong Cheng'er nodded, "That's certainly the right thing to do."
Tong Cheng'er was soaking wet, but she didn't bother to change her clothes. She asked the palace maid directly, "You were the one who brought me ashore. You seem to know how to swim. Why were you holding onto me in the water?"
The palace maid lowered her head, her voice trembling: "I had a leg cramp when I fell into the water, it wasn't on purpose."
"Oh, so how come you, as a palace maid, have a knife on you? I think you did this to my wrist."
Before the palace maid could even look up, she said aggrievedly, "This servant didn't bring a knife. If Fourth Princess doesn't believe me, she can have someone search me."
She acted as if she had nothing to hide, which annoyed Tong Cheng'er.
"So, it turns out I'm the one who slandered you."
The palace maid muttered softly, "This servant doesn't have any."
Tong Cheng'er looked at the wound on her wrist: "Could it be that a ghost cut me?"
No one spoke, and the palace maid just knelt there.
At this moment, the Third Prince's wife and the Fifth Prince's wife had just come down from the boat. Upon seeing this, the Third Prince's wife immediately said, "Rulan, Ruxue, why haven't you taken Fourth Sister-in-law to change her clothes yet?"
The Crown Princess's expression darkened upon hearing this: "Third sister-in-law is right. Why don't you go change your clothes first, Fourth sister-in-law, before we talk about anything else?"
Tong Cheng'er glanced at the Crown Princess and felt that something was off about today, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. After all, falling into the water did seem to have an element of accident, although she felt that the accident was very deliberate.
I didn't intend to kill her. She got a cut on her wrist, but it wasn't a big one and it wouldn't leave a scar once it healed.
It seemed like an accident, but Tong Cheng'er felt something was off.
You can change your clothes anytime, but this matter cannot be left unresolved.
There happened to be a house nearby, so she said directly to Ruxue, "Ruxue, take some people to get the clothes. I'm in the yard next door; I have some things to take care of right now."
Ru Xue: "Yes, Madam."
After saying that, she left.
After instructing Ruxue, she said to Rulan, "Rulan, go find someone to retrieve it from the lake. My wrist can't possibly be cut innocently."
She was certain that the murder weapon was not on the palace maid who had fallen into the water with her. In the water, she was also certain that the palace maid had deliberately cut her wrist. This matter could not be ignored.
However, as soon as she said this, the Crown Princess's face immediately fell.
"Fourth sister-in-law, your words make it sound as if I have done something improper to her. You have been wronged today, but Xue Lan's mistake was unintentional. Perhaps it is inappropriate to do this!"
Tong Cheng'er smiled slightly and said to the Crown Princess, "My master and the Crown Prince have a good relationship. I did this for the sake of our brotherly bond. Today, the Crown Princess brought people to my residence saying she wanted to go boating on the lake. As a result, I was pushed into the water by the people you brought and almost lost my life. My wrist was cut for no reason. Can't I even find out the cause?"
Finally, she added, "The Crown Princess's protectiveness of this palace maid named Xue Lan makes one wonder if the Crown Princess herself orchestrated it!"
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