"Miss San! Where are you?" Meixiang took back her cloak, but she couldn't find Xiangrong. She remembered that Xiangrong was waiting for her by the bridge when she left, so why was she nowhere to be seen when she came back?
Meixiang stood on the small bridge and looked down, scanning every place she could reach, but still found nothing.
She thought that maybe it was too cold, so she went back in a hurry. The two of them took the wrong road and didn't meet each other, so she hurried back.
But when I got back to the room, I found that Xiangrong had not come back at all!
Meixiang was now anxious but didn't dare to say anything, so she could only go back and look again, but still found nothing.
The little girl was so tired that she was out of breath, but she was still rational. After thinking for a while, she went to Tongshengxuan again. She walked straight to the small moon gate of Liuyuan, saw the girl who was on night watch, and asked quickly, "Did you see the third young lady coming here?"
The girl was quite polite to the people in An's Courtyard after receiving the order. When she heard the question, she shook her head and replied, "No, no one came all night. What's wrong? Why did you come here to look for the third young lady in the middle of the night?"
Meixiang stamped her feet anxiously and said, "No, I have to go back and tell Aunt An that the Third Miss is missing!" Then she turned around and ran away.
An was still in a dream. When she was woken up, she was still wondering if she was dreaming. She saw Meixiang crying in a daze and couldn't help asking, "Why are you crying here in the middle of the night instead of staying by Miss Three's side?"
Meixiang cried so hard that she couldn't finish her words. An's personal maid Ping'er could only relay the story: "Meixiang just said that the third young lady is missing."
"What?" An was shocked and jumped off the bed. While putting on her clothes, she asked Meixiang, "What happened? Tell me quickly!"
Meixiang then recounted the entire incident in detail. By the end of her speech, the three of them had already left the yard and were heading towards the artificial lake.
"I didn't dare to shout too loudly, for fear of being heard by others. Maybe I didn't look carefully enough. Auntie, please look for it again!"
An was furious and anxious. She pinched Meixiang and said angrily, "If you can't even keep the young lady under your care, why do you keep a girl like you?"
Meixiang knew she was wrong, so she didn't dare to argue. She just kept saying, "As long as Miss San is fine, Meixiang will let Auntie deal with her."
Ping Erh then advised An: "Don't worry, Auntie. Finding the Third Young Miss is the most important thing right now. Let's go faster!"
The three of them almost trotted to the bridge, but the artificial lake was so quiet at night that there was not a single person in sight.
An Shi became more and more desperate as she searched, and finally she simply sat down by the lake, looking at the tranquil water, and she had the urge to jump in. If Ping'er hadn't noticed something was wrong with her and pulled her back in time, she would have fallen into the water.
At this time, Meixiang shouted from not far away: "Come and see!"
The two of them got nervous and quickly got up and ran over there. When they got there, they saw Meixiang pointing at a place by the lake, her face pale with fear, and she said tremblingly: "Look at this stone, is it broken by someone?"
After she said this, An and Ping'er also looked over. As expected, a half-sized stone had obviously been stepped on and half was broken off, with a new stone stub exposed, which was shocking to see.
"Ping'er." An suddenly calmed down. Although she was still trembling, she was no longer as panicked as before. "Go and inform the old lady. Tell her that... Miss San fell into the water. Please help her."
"Yes." Ping'er responded and ran towards Shuya Garden.
The news that the third young lady fell into the water quickly spread throughout the mansion. Apart from the housekeeper He Zhong and the servants, the first person to rush over was Chenyu.
She rushed to the lake, glanced at An, and then turned her gaze back to the lake. She stared blankly for a while, then whispered to Yilin beside her: "How deep do you think the lake is?"
Yilin replied, "I have heard from Steward He before that the largest artificial lake in the mansion is nine feet deep."
"Nine feet." Shen Yu's lips curled up into a smile, "Nine feet of water, a small person like Rong will definitely drown if he falls in, right?"
Yilin was stunned. In his impression, the Third Miss was always a silent person and it seemed that she had no direct conflict with the Eldest Miss. Why would the Eldest Miss say such a thing?
On the other side, He Zhong had already sent his servants who were good at swimming to jump into the lake to look for someone.
There is a flow hole under the artificial lake of Fengfu. The water is flowing. Even in the severe winter, it has not frozen. But the water is so cold that anyone who jumps in will shiver. No matter how good a swimmer is, he cannot stand the cold.
The servants climbed up again not long after they jumped down, their lips purple and their limbs stiff from the cold.
Chenyu took two steps forward, and put on her bodhisattva face again, looking at those people going into the water and said, "It's too cold underwater. They are also human beings. They will freeze to death."
The servants looked at Chenyu gratefully, as if this young lady was the Guanyin who saved people from suffering. No one had ever cared about their lives, only the young lady did. Although it was just a word, it was heartwarming to these servants even on such a winter night.
However, just as the gratitude was beginning, An heard Madam An shout, "Go get some liquor! As long as you search the lake carefully to rescue Miss Three, each of you will be rewarded fifty taels of silver!"
There will always be brave men when there is a big reward. After hearing An's words, those people who were originally moved by the words of Chen Yu were immediately shocked. Without saying a word, they turned their heads and dived into the water again.
What life or death, in front of fifty taels of silver, it's all bullshit. They do rough work for the Feng Mansion, and their monthly wages are only two taels. Fifty taels is two years' wages, what's the point of fussing about it?
Thus, the search and rescue work for Xiangrong really began.
When the old lady arrived, what she saw was a group of servants who could swim swimming around in the lake, and those who were even better at swimming dived directly to look for them.
The old lady nodded and said, "The Feng family needs such servants."
He Zhong wiped his sweat feeling a little guilty, thinking that if Aunt An hadn't promised the money, who would go looking for her like this!
Unfortunately, the search and rescue work at night in ancient times was too difficult. Without lights, how could anyone see anything clearly with only the moonlight? A group of people searched in the water for a long time, but they didn't find anything.
Some people couldn't stand the cold and climbed up to the shore to drink a sip of wine. After a while, they immediately dived back into the water. The old lady became anxious seeing all this.
"An, come here." The old lady was sitting on a soft chair and could not move easily, so she could only call An to her side. "Let me ask you, why did you want to run out in the middle of the night? Why didn't you keep an eye on it?"
An was almost going crazy with anxiety, so she had no time to talk to the old lady about this. She was not in a good mood at the moment and just casually replied, "She can't sleep and wants to go see the second young lady." After that, she was about to walk back to the lake.
The old lady was so angry that she yelled, "Stop right there!"
An was stunned and stood there.
"How brave are you? You dare to turn your back on me? An, are you crazy?"
An suddenly turned around and glared at the old lady with a pair of eyes that she had never seen before, frightening her so much that she trembled. "What are you doing?"
"Old lady." An Shi spoke up, and asked her in confusion, "Your granddaughter fell into the water, and you didn't care whether she was dead or alive. Why are you investigating whether I was right or wrong at this time? Even if the Third Miss is a concubine's daughter, she is still your granddaughter. Don't you feel sorry for her?"
"How can I not feel bad?" The old lady was so angry that she was shaking. "Aren't you all looking for it? No matter how anxious I am, can't I jump down and look for it together? You guys ran out in the middle of the night without sleeping, and when something happened, the whole mansion was in turmoil, and now you come to question me?"
"I didn't question the old lady,...
I just feel sorry for Miss Three." It is really chilling to be born in such a family.
"Aunt, I found something!" Before the old lady could speak again, Meixiang suddenly shouted, "Aunt, look, these are the third young lady's shoes!"
An ran over quickly and saw Meixiang holding a pair of dripping shoes in her hand. The shoes were made of pink brocade and were made by her for Xiangrong at the beginning of winter this year.
Originally, he still held out a glimmer of hope, thinking that Rong might not have fallen into the water, but when he saw the shoes, An's last hope was shattered.
His tense nerves collapsed in an instant, his legs went limp, and he sat down on the ground with a thud.
Ping Er was so frightened that she rushed to the water, but at this moment, another servant emerged from the water and shouted, "Look, is this handkerchief the Third Miss's?"
Everyone turned their heads to look again. Meixiang was most familiar with Xiangrong's things and recognized the handkerchief at a glance. It was the one that Xiangrong was holding in his hand when he came out tonight.
"My daughter——" An collapsed and burst into tears.
The people in the water gradually came ashore. Even though they had a huge reward, their physical strength had reached its limit.
Chenyu quickly ordered: "Go get a blanket." and won everyone's gratitude.
One of the servants who was considered strong enough to stand up and answer his masters said to the old lady, "I'm afraid it sank too deep. The lake is too big and it's dark at night. We really can't find it."
The old lady nodded, "It is indeed difficult." Then she looked at An who was breaking down and crying, and remembered what she said about Xiangrong being her granddaughter. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart, "Just take your time, and search again later."
The old lady had already spoken, what else could the servants say? They could only nod their heads and helplessly try to keep themselves warm.
At this time, in Han's yard, Fendai was standing in front of Han's bed and shaking her vigorously: "Hurry up and get up! Xiangrong is in trouble, and everyone has gone to see it. How can you still sleep?"
Ah Ju said to Fendai carefully, "Auntie has been sleeping very soundly these past few days, and she is a little lazier than usual."
Fendai didn't understand what this meant, and didn't think much about it. She continued to shake Han, and her voice became louder: "Get up! Get up quickly——"
The last sound was directed directly into Han's ears. The person who was originally "sleeping soundly" on the couch could no longer pretend and woke up in a daze. "Fourth Miss? Why are you here?" She asked while looking outside, "Is it dawn?"
"What are you talking about?" Fendai rolled her eyes angrily. "I've been calling you for a long time, why don't you wake up?"
Han stretched lazily and said helplessly: "Don't you always say that I'm pregnant? Pregnant women are sleepy, and this is normal for me."
"Really?" Fendai didn't understand.
Han nodded, "It was the same when I was pregnant with you."
Fendai's eyes lit up, "So, it's true that she's pregnant?"
"I'm not a doctor." Han thought for a moment and said, "Wait a few more days, wait until the pulse is stable before asking the doctor to come in and take a look. There's still a short time left, don't make mistakes again."
"Yes, yes, yes." Fendai nodded repeatedly, "It's okay to be late, the exact number is the most realistic. Okay, lie down, I'll go by myself."
"Well, be careful then. The lake is dangerous. Don't get too close."
"Hey?" It would have been fine if Han hadn't given any instructions, but after she gave them, Fendai sensed something was wrong. "The lake? How did you know I was going to the lake?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
