Chapter 678 Xie Ziyan is not gentle
"If Your Majesty is troubled, perhaps this humble official can help you find out. Your Majesty need not worry too much." Xiao Yu's voice was somewhat concerned.
Jiang Fenghua smiled and said, "If I need Lord Xiao's help, I will have to trouble you."
Xiao Yu was stunned. "This humble official will not hesitate to serve Your Majesty with utmost loyalty."
Jiang Fenghua didn't expect Xiao Yu to say that, so she changed the subject, "Your trip to Yuzhou to attend Zhang Jingpin's funeral went smoothly, didn't it?"
"It went fairly smoothly, but there's one thing..." Xiao Yu hesitated before continuing.
“There are no outsiders here, so please speak freely,” she asked.
Xiao Yu said, "When I went to Yuzhou, I learned that Consort Zhang had a childhood sweetheart in her hometown. That person went to the Zhang family several times, hoping to see her one last time, but was stopped by Lord Zhang and Madam Zhang. I even met that person once after Consort Zhang's tomb was completed. Only then did I learn that he was Consort Zhang's cousin, a scholar who had passed the imperial examination. Because Consort Zhang went to the palace to be selected as a concubine, he became despondent. However, Madam Zhang said that Consort Zhang did not like her cousin."
Jiang Fenghua said, "After all, Consort Zhang is the birth mother of the Fourth Princess, so these things should not be spread outside."
“Yes,” Xiao Yu said.
Just then, a palace maid ran over and said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Miss Xiao Chu and Princess Yan have fallen into the lotus pond!"
Jiang Fenghua suddenly stood up from her seat. "How are they? Have they been rescued?"
"She's been rescued, but Miss Xiao Chu has choked on water and fainted. The imperial physician has already gone there," the palace maid added.
"Take me there quickly." Jiang Fenghua didn't even have time to hurry and left.
Xiao Yu followed closely behind, staring at Jiang Fenghua's back, not daring to utter a single word of comfort.
When she arrived at the garden, she saw that there were other children there as well. The Second Prince Xie Hongrui and the Second Princess Xie Yanhuan were both there, each being protected by a palace maid. There was also a little girl she didn't recognize, who looked older than them.
Jiang Fenghua remembered that the Fourth Princess Consort had said she would bring her daughter to play with Yan'er, and guessed that she might be the Fourth Princess Consort's daughter, Xie Ruoyi. She saw that she was being comforted by her wet nurse, and her face was full of tears, as if she had been crying.
Just then, Xie Ziyan, who was shivering from the cold, suddenly walked up to Xie Ruoyi and shoved her to the ground. She said bitterly, "Give me back Xiao Chu! It's all your fault! You're a bad sister! I don't have a sister like you!"
Xie Ruoyi was pushed to the ground and started crying loudly again.
Just as Jiang Fenghua was about to step forward to help her up, the Fourth Princess rushed to her daughter first. She even pushed Xie Ziyan, causing her to stumble. Jiang Fenghua quickly caught her daughter to prevent her from falling to the ground.
Before Jiang Fenghua and Xie Ziyan could speak, the Fourth Princess Consort burst into tears, "Yi'er, where did you fall? It's all my fault for not protecting you properly."
When Xie Ruoyi saw her mother arrive, her cries were so loud they seemed to shatter her eardrums, as if she had really hurt something to make her cry like that.
The Fourth Princess was in a panic, pacing back and forth. She said to the wet nurse, "What are you standing there for? Go and fetch the imperial physician! Where is the little princess injured? I'll make you pay! I'll teach you a lesson for taking good care of Yi'er. How have you been taking care of her?"
She was so angry that her wet nurse and maid were terrified and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. "We didn't expect Princess Yan to suddenly rush over and hit the princess."
Xie Ziyan got angry and pointed at Xie Ruoyi, saying, "She was the one who pushed my fourth brother into the lotus pond and deliberately pushed Xiao Chu into Yuan'er's walker, causing Xiao Chu and me to fall into the lotus pond together. The imperial physician said that Xiao Chu was unconscious. She's wicked."
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Princess Consort burst into tears. "How could Yi'er push the Fourth Prince's carriage, and even push Xiao Chu? Xiao Chu is her own sister. She loves Xiao Chu too much to ask. Princess Yan is also Yi'er's sister. She always takes good care of her sisters. How could Princess Yan say such a thing?"
She glanced at Jiang Fenghua beside her and said, "Your Majesty also saw that Princess Yan pushed Yi'er. Yi'er is usually very well-behaved and sensible; she would never do such a thing." This implied that she had personally witnessed her daughter pushing someone, and that Princess Yan was indeed unruly and that the Empress should discipline her.
"This princess doesn't have such a vicious sister." Xie Ziyan completely disowned Xie Ruoyi as her sister, which really angered her.
Unexpectedly, the more Xie Ziyan said that, the harder Xie Ruoyi cried, completely losing control of her emotions: "I'm not a bad sister, waaaah..."
Jiang Fenghua frowned, took off her cloak and draped it over her daughter's shoulders, "Yan'er's clothes are all wet, hurry up and take the princess to change her clothes."
Xie Ziyan grabbed her mother's hand and ran towards the side hall, "Mother, quickly go and see Little Chu, she's unconscious."
Upon entering the side hall, Jiang Fenghua saw Xie Hongyou tenderly standing beside Jiang Ruochu, with Hongxiu, Lianye, and others also there, protecting Xie Hongyuan in their arms.
Ao Xue's clothes were also wet, it seems she went into the lake to rescue someone.
When Aoxue saw Jiang Fenghua arrive, she said, "Your Majesty, it's all our fault."
She wasn't a very good swimmer, but luckily the lotus pond wasn't deep. She jumped in and rescued Xie Ziyan immediately. Because Jiang Ruochu was too young, she sank and choked on water as soon as she fell into the lotus pond. Fortunately, she was rescued in time, and the water in Jiang Ruochu's stomach had been expelled.
At this moment, she woke up, and Xie Hongyou asked with concern, "Xiao Chu, are you feeling better now?"
Jiang Ruochu was also terrified. When she woke up, she wanted to find her mother and started crying loudly, "Mother, Mother, Grandmother."
Jiang Fenghua stepped forward and hugged Jiang Ruochu, "Don't be afraid, Xiaochu, your aunt will protect you."
When Jiang Ruochu saw Jiang Fenghua, she stopped crying and her body trembled slightly, clearly quite frightened.
The imperial physician said, "Miss Xiao Chu is fine now. Soaking in cold water might have caused a fever. I have prescribed medicine to dispel wind and cold for both Miss Xiao Chu and the princess. If you take good care of them, they will be fine."
Jiang Fenghua said, "Thank you, Imperial Physician Wang. There is also an injured little princess outside the door. I would be grateful if you could take a look at her and give her some acupuncture. She has been crying so much that she can't breathe properly. I am also worried about her."
Physician Wang naturally heard the crying outside; the sound was strong and didn't seem like someone was ill.
He took his medicine kit and went out again to take the pulse of the Fourth Princess's daughter.
Lianye and Hongxiu also prepared hot water for them to soak in.
After all that fuss, Jiang Fenghua finally asked the servants in the courtyard, "With so many of you watching over things, what exactly happened?"
The wet nurse said, "We servants were in the courtyard with them. At first, Princess Yan and the Second Princess were playing, and the First Prince was reading a book. When the Second Prince came, he joined in the play. Later, after Granny Wang brought Miss Xiao Chu here, the Little Princess also came not long after. The young masters played in the courtyard."
The servants hadn't noticed that the young princess was pushing the fourth prince's walker around the courtyard. Everything was fine until, somehow, Miss Chu and the princess fell off.
They all thought the little masters were just playing around. Who would have thought such a big thing would happen? They're just kids, and nothing like this has ever happened before.
The palace maids and eunuchs were all kneeling on the ground; all they knew was that the little princess was pushing the fourth prince around and playing.
Jiang Fenghua remembered what Yan'er had said: Xie Ruoyi was about to push Yuan'er into the lotus pond. She probably saw it and ran to stop her. In the struggle, she and Xiao Chu both fell into the lake.
How could a child who is not even six years old deliberately push Yuan'er? But she also believed that her daughter would not lie.
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