Chapter 67 I Never Expected It
Chu Chengyi opened the bamboo tube, and a paper roll as thin as an embroidery needle came out.
When he opened it and saw clearly what was written inside, he used his inner strength to turn it into dust and blew it away into the wind.
"Let's go."
The guard who delivered the letter put away the mailbox and left quickly.
Chu Chengyi and his party continued to go to Yeonbokgung Palace.
Before the palace banquet begins, the male guests will gather in the flower hall of Yeonbokgung Palace.
The female members of the royal family would go to the East Palace to pay their respects to Yu Jinyi, and to Fenghua Palace to pay their respects to the Empress.
The families of some concubines would also take this opportunity to visit them, chat about family matters and give them some personal messages.
Therefore, today's palace is bustling with people coming and going.
Yu Jinyi's Jinseyuan and the Empress' Fenghua Palace were both extremely busy.
In the Yu Garden, some of the young men and women from various mansions who entered the palace with their families gathered here to play after visiting the East Palace and Fenghua Palace.
"Let's go see if the Bi Bo Lake is frozen. If the ice is thick, maybe we can go skating."
When a bunch of young boys get together, they can never be quiet.
Swinging on the swings while looking at flowers and plants is something that only girls can do. They are men who stand tall and proud, so of course they want to do something challenging.
"How do you skate? If the ice breaks, won't you fall into an ice cave?"
Someone objected, but there was curiosity in their tone.
"You are stupid. If you want to go on the ice, you must let others try it first before you go down."
From the contemptuous tone, it can be heard that this is what he often does in his own house.
Who else could go down to the lake to test the ice except the servants in the mansion?
"Young Master Luo is right. Young Master Luo is really good at having fun."
Young Master Luo is the Empress’ nephew from her mother’s side and the eldest grandson of Duke Xuan’s family, Luo Yongsen.
At the age of twelve, he already had considerable influence among the new generation of young dandies in the capital.
He has already said that he is going, and his servants will definitely not be able to stop him.
Except for those who were young or timid and did not go with him, most of the boys in Yu Garden followed him.
The Bi Bo Lake in Yu Garden is not very big, and in summer it only takes an hour to go around the lake by boat.
But the water is more than ten feet deep, and even in the dry season of winter, it will only drop to half of its original depth at most.
The huge group of people soon arrived at the edge of the Bi Bo Lake.
It snowed a few days ago, and there was indeed thick ice on the lake.
"You, go down and try it."
When Luo Yongsen saw it, he pointed to one of his servants and asked him to go down to the lake to test the thickness of the ice.
"Hey, little one, I'll go down here."
The boy was thin and had a fawning look on his face.
It can be seen that she often tries to please and flatter Luo Yongsen on weekdays.
"Look, he can walk on the ice, so this ice must be slick."
Luo Yongsen said this and asked the servant to take him in as well.
What he called ice skating was nothing more than tying two polished and curved bamboo boards to the soles of his shoes and letting people hold on to them while walking on the ice.
Seeing how happily he was walking on the ice, the people on the shore began to get eager to try.
"Shall we go down and try it too?"
"Okay, let's give it a try."
......
"How dare you? This is the lake in the garden. It is my turn to go down first."
When the people who were ready to make a move heard that the prince was coming, they immediately knelt down to greet him.
The visitor is the eighteenth prince, Chu Chengzhao, eight years old this year, the eldest son of the Queen.
"I knew my cousin would come, so I prepared skates for you early in the morning."
Although Luo Yongsen was standing on the ice, he still knelt down to greet Chu Chengzhao, then stood up and invited him to go down to the lake.
When he went with his mother to the Empress' Palace to pay respects, he called Chu Chengzhao over.
But it was because the Queen wouldn't let him out that he came here to play.
"Cousin, have you prepared ice skates for cousin Xuan?"
Chu Chengzhao took the skates handed to him by the servant of Duke Xuan's Mansion and looked at Luo Yongsen on the ice.
"Of course he was prepared, but he was too timid to come down."
Luo Yongsen glanced lazily at Wang Zixuan who was standing on the shore.
Wang Zixuan was the eldest grandson of the Wuwei General's Mansion and was born in the same year as Chu Chengzhao.
His mother was the Queen's twin sister, Luo Xinran.
"Cousin Xuan, you don't dare to skate?"
Chu Chengzhao also looked at Wang Zixuan.
"To reply to cousin Zhao, it's not that Zixuan doesn't dare to skate, but he is worried that if the ice cracks, it will be difficult to rescue, so he doesn't want to take the risk."
Although Wang Zixuan is young, he is quite calm and won't be fooled at all.
"Today, there are guards guarding the garden. Not to mention you, even if everyone here falls into the water, they will be able to rescue you."
Chu Chengzhao didn't take it seriously and signaled the eunuch to help him tie on his skates.
"If you don't go down, I won't play with you anymore."
After Chu Chengzhao finished speaking, he let two eunuchs help him onto the ice.
Wang Zixuan was helpless. Although he was the same age as Chu Chengzhao, they had been at odds since childhood.
The more he urged, the more Chu Chengzhao wanted to try.
So, he could only watch Chu Chengzhao go down into the lake.
When the others saw Chu Chengzhao had already gone down to the lake, they no longer hesitated and asked the servants to take them to the ice, regardless of whether they had skates or not.
“Crack~”
There was a sound of ice cracking.
"The ice is cracking, hurry to shore."
Someone cried out in surprise.
When the children near the shore heard this, they all turned around and ran back.
Those who have gone further away dare not delay any longer.
But the ice was slippery and you couldn't run just because you wanted to.
On the contrary, the more anxious you are, the easier it is to fall.
In just a few moments, the surface of the lake was littered with bodies falling here and there, and there were wails of grief.
"Wang Zixuan, you still want to run away? Come down and save us."
Luo Yongsen also heard the sound of ice cracking, and his legs were already shaking with fear.
"Did you know that the ice would crack? If you don't come down to save me, then tell me that you knew about it and see if my mother will let you go."
Chu Chengzhao also stared at Wang Zixuan, his face full of anger.
"I'm not running away. I just want to call the Guards to rescue people."
No matter how calm Wang Zixuan is, he is only an eight-year-old child.
And he knew that although the queen was his aunt, she did not like him.
Therefore, deep down, he didn't want the Queen to know about this.
"You, run quickly and call the Guards to rescue them."
Chu Chengzhao pointed to one of his eunuchs on the shore to run errands.
Then he no longer paid any attention to Wang Zixuan, but lowered his head and moved towards the shore step by step.
"Cousin Xuan, if you don't want to skate with me, then forget it. But can you lend a hand and help me get ashore?"
In winter, the water level drops, and the ice surface is still about the height of an adult's thigh from the shore.
Chu Chengzhao approached the shore and extended his hand to Wang Zixuan.
The eunuch who followed him had already reached out to support one of his arms, but he stubbornly refused to let them support the other arm.
Seeing this, Wang Zixuan had no choice but to reach out and hold him.
What he never expected was that after Chu Chengzhao was pulled up, he slipped and fell into the lake.
Being helped onto the ice surface by someone is totally different from falling onto it.
So when he fell, the ice cracked even faster.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com