Chapter 28 Miss Ruan fell into the water
Before Gu Qingxu could think further, Young Master Yuan enthusiastically pulled her aside and earnestly asked her to guide him in archery techniques.
There were fewer people in the pitch-pot area compared to the archery area. Feng Rongrong walked angrily towards the pitch-pot area and saw Ruan Xingzhu intently throwing arrows into the pot from afar.
Seeing Ruan Xingzhu, she couldn't help but recall the scene where Gu Qingsu stole the spotlight earlier, which added to her displeasure.
With a bittersweet feeling, she slowly walked to the pitch-pot area. The pitch-pot was placed beside the pavilion, with clear lake water beside her. A gentle breeze blew, and the lake surface shimmered, creating a truly tranquil atmosphere.
As Feng Rongrong approached, Ruan Xingzhu had just thrown in two arrows and was preparing to throw in the third. She was completely focused on aiming at the mouth of the pot and paid no attention to Feng Rongrong's arrival.
Just as she was about to throw the arrow, she suddenly felt a force pushing against her. Caught off guard, she lost her balance and fell straight into the lake beside her.
Ruan Xingzhu was startled and instinctively cried out. With a splash, Ruan Xingzhu fell into the water.
Upon seeing the person fall into the water, Feng Rongrong's smug smile instantly froze. Her eyes widened in terror. She had only intended to slightly distract Ruan Xingzhu, preventing her from jumping in; she had never imagined pushing her into the water.
In an instant, the women around panicked. One of the noble ladies screamed in terror, "Oh no! Miss Ruan has fallen into the water!"
Gu Qingxu, who was instructing Young Master Yuan on archery, heard the exclamation and his expression tightened instantly. He hurriedly dropped what he was holding and rushed over.
When she arrived, Ruan Xingzhu had already been pulled ashore by several people. She was lying on the ground, pale-faced and coughing incessantly. Her clothes were soaked and clung tightly to her body, and her hair was wet and stuck to her cheeks. She looked utterly disheveled.
Seeing this, Gu Qingxu felt heartbroken and quickly stepped forward to help her up. He patted Ruan Xingzhu's back to help her catch her breath, his eyes full of concern and heartache.
Seeing Ruan Xingzhu soaked to the bone, her small face as pale as paper with fear, she frowned and her eyes filled with deep worry.
They were thinking of finding a cloak to keep Ruan Xingzhu warm, but it was summer, and the women were all wearing light clothing, so they didn't have any extra garments. Some men were wearing robes, but why would they easily offer a robe to a complete stranger?
Just as Gu Qingxu was frowning and extremely anxious, Liang Yejing hurriedly stepped forward from the crowd, quickly took off his outer robe, and said, "Use this to cover Miss Ruan."
Gu Qingsu didn't have time to think much. She took the robe and gave Liang Yejing a grateful look. Although it was summer, Ruan Xingzhu was always petite and delicate. Gu Qingsu was worried that Ruan Xingzhu would catch a cold, so she quickly wrapped her tightly in the robe.
Seeing that Ruan Xingzhu's cough gradually subsided and her complexion regained some color, Gu Qingxu asked softly, "Are you feeling better?"
"Cough...cough." Ruan Xingzhu nodded slightly, forcing a smile to make Gu Qingxu worry, and said weakly, "I'm feeling better."
Seeing that Ruan Xingzhu's complexion was gradually warming up, Gu Qingxu couldn't help but frown and ask with concern, "How did you fall into the water?"
Although the place for pitch-pot is close to the lake, pitch-pot does not require running around, so how could someone fall into the water under normal circumstances?
"I..." Ruan Xingzhu wasn't really sure how she fell into the water. She only remembered that when she was about to throw an arrow, a force suddenly hit her, and she lost her balance and fell into the water.
She couldn't help but glance at Feng Rongrong in the crowd. It was Feng Rongrong who had bumped into her for some reason, which caused her to fall into the water.
Seeing Ruan Xingzhu looking into the crowd, Gu Qingxu couldn't help but look up coldly, trying to find out who had pushed Ruan Xingzhu into the water.
Everyone tensed up when they were swept by Gu Qingxu's extremely oppressive gaze. Although they hadn't pushed Ruan Xingzhu themselves, they were still somewhat intimidated by Gu Qingxu's cold stare.
One of the bolder ones quickly spoke up, afraid that Gu Qingxu would misunderstand and come after him. His voice was a little anxious: "We don't know. We were all far away from Miss Ruan at the time. Only Miss Feng was with her."
Feng Rongrong, who was mentioned, was already feeling a little guilty. At this moment, her face froze, and she looked nervous and hurriedly tried to explain herself.
"I didn't, don't talk nonsense." Her voice was extremely sharp as she tried to break free, but she couldn't hide her panic.
Gu Qingxu keenly noticed Feng Rongrong's guilty conscience and couldn't help but recall the humiliation she had suffered at his hands earlier, so she went to Ruan Xingzhu to get revenge.
If Gu Qingxu could have let her off the hook with just a few words before, this time she actually pushed her into the water. Luckily, the lake wasn't deep and nothing serious happened, but if the lake had been deeper, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he helped Ruan Xingzhu to her feet. Then, Gu Qingxu slowly stood up and stared at Feng Rongrong, who was standing not far away.
Staring directly at her like that by Gu Qingsu, Feng Rongrong felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her throat, her breathing became rapid, and her expression shifted slightly.
She tried to appear calm, but her hands unconsciously twisted the handkerchief in her grasp, almost to the point of tearing it to shreds. She lowered her head slightly, repeatedly protesting, "I really didn't. It's true I was standing next to her, but I..."
She paused, seemingly trying to organize her thoughts, before quickly adding, "I really didn't push her into the water."
As she spoke, her face paled with panic, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, wetting the stray hairs in front of her.
Gu Qingxu saw her explanation as nothing more than an excuse. "Really? Then why are you standing next to her? Are you two very close?"
Gu Qingxu couldn't help but scoff and ask, her voice filled with doubt and accusation.
When Gu Qingxu questioned her so pointedly, Feng Rongrong's eyes darted around uncertainly. She couldn't very well say that she went there to prevent her from throwing the pot into the water, could she?
Either way, it would be disadvantageous to her, so she simply insisted that she hadn't pushed Ruan Xingzhu into the water, "I... I didn't push her into the water!"
As she spoke, she didn't even realize that her voice had weakened a bit.
If it were anyone else, Gu Qingxu might have believed it to some extent, thinking that the other party might not have meant it. But Feng Rongrong, who had just yesterday taken advantage of her status to openly steal Ruan Xingzhu's hairpin because she thought Ruan Xingzhu was easy to bully, simply didn't have much credibility with Gu Qingxu.
At this moment, Gu Qingxu's face was as cold as frost as she strode towards Feng Rongrong with firm and powerful steps. With each step she took, she seemed to carry invisible pressure, and those standing next to Feng Rongrong subconsciously made way for her, as if afraid of being affected by Gu Qingxu's anger.
Feng Rongrong was extremely flustered at this moment. She had heard about Gu Qingxu's temper and was afraid that Gu Qingxu would throw her into the water without regard for the consequences.
Swallowing hard, Feng Rongrong mustered her courage and raised her voice to warn, "You don't want to throw me into the water, do you? Let me tell you, if you dare to do anything to me, my father will not forgive you!"
As she spoke, she unconsciously moved her body back, as if afraid that Gu Qingxu would get any closer to her.
"Oh!"
Gu Qingxu gave a cold rebuke, filled with anger and disdain.
Even after all this, she still dared to speak so harshly to her. It seems that she had been too nice to Feng Rongrong the other day, making her think that she was too easy to bully.
However, she was right about one thing: she did want to throw her into the water so that she could experience the feeling of being submerged and soaked by the icy lake water, and let her know the fate of those who bullied her.
"So what if it is?" Gu Qingxu raised an eyebrow, his expression devoid of any hint of jest.
Seeing that Gu Qingxu seemed to be serious, Young Master Yuan inwardly cried out in alarm, fearing that things would get out of control. He quickly grabbed her and anxiously advised, "Miss Gu, don't be impulsive."
Ruan Xingzhu was also afraid that Gu Qingsu might act impulsively to vent her anger, so she hurriedly called out anxiously, "Fifth Sister..."
Whether it was because Young Master Yuan's words had an effect, or because Ruan Xingzhu made her pause, Gu Qingxu stopped in her tracks and no longer walked towards the flustered Feng Rongrong.
Seeing that Gu Qingxu was no longer walking towards her, Feng Rongrong secretly breathed a sigh of relief and her courage returned a bit. After all, she had the powerful and influential Feng family behind her, and she figured Gu Qingxu wouldn't dare to do anything to her.
Before she could even show a relieved smile and say a few words, Gu Qingxu swiftly took the bow and arrow from Young Master Yuan's hand and nocked it.
The movement was executed in one fluid motion, and the arrow on the bowstring flew straight toward him.
Her body suddenly froze, the panic from before washing over her again. Her pupils dilated in disbelief. Gu Qingxu actually wanted to shoot her with an arrow! How dare she!
Upon seeing this, everyone around was shocked, terrified by Gu Qingsu's actions, and dared not even breathe loudly.
Young Master Yuan, who was closest to Gu Qingxu, gasped and regretted taking the bow and arrow with him.
You must understand, these are real arrows. Although they can't compare to the deadly arrows on the battlefield, the consequences of hitting someone are still quite serious.
Feng Rongrong was so frightened that she dared not move, her lips trembling as she stammered, "Gu Qingsu, if you dare to shoot me with an arrow, the Feng family will never let you off."
She tried to make Gu Qingxu know the consequences of provoking her, hoping to make her put down the arrow in her hand. After all, the arrow was in Gu Qingxu's hand, and she was really afraid that Gu Qingxu might accidentally shoot it.
The Feng family? Gu Qingxu sneered. She dared to draw her arrow, so who was she afraid of? If she didn't teach her a lesson today, what would become of the Gu family's reputation?
Gu Qingxu's eyes narrowed, as if she had remembered something. Her expression suddenly changed, and she said coldly, "Feng Rongrong, if you like Yi Mingyu, then go and talk to her yourself. Don't keep coming in front of me to show off your affection."
After saying that, her eyes were full of disdain. It was just Yi Mingyu. Wasn't she targeting her time and time again just because she liked Yi Mingyu? Well then, she would be blunt. Gu Qingsu hated nothing more than underhanded tactics.
Her words stunned everyone, and Feng Rongrong's face burned. In the capital, affection was always expressed subtly; to have her say something so openly and bluntly was incredibly embarrassing.
Before she could argue back, Gu Qingxu curled his lips, loosened his grip slightly, and the arrow swiftly left the bowstring, making a series of sounds.
Everyone was shocked, their eyes widening as they looked at Gu Qingxu, not expecting that Gu Qingxu would actually dare to make a move.
Ruan Xingzhu was also shocked by Gu Qingsu and tried to stop him, but the arrow flew past her.
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