Chapter 138 After Marrying the Crippled Prince, 18 Water
Yun Shuxue stood up, holding her wine glass, her posture exceptionally elegant: "Your Highness is a man of refined tastes. I wonder if Your Highness enjoyed the pipa music at today's family banquet?"
She was merely using the power of the Prince Cheng's mansion as a pretext to intimidate others.
Lin Jinyuan, always a busybody, clapped lightly, as if he wanted to stir up trouble: "Not bad, you played very well."
With a smile, he asked Yun Chiyi again, "Does Madam think it's good?"
Yun Chiyi gritted her teeth inwardly, nodded with a forced smile, and naturally had to go along with his wishes since she was a guest.
Yun Chiyi glanced at Chen Yao's expression. Her face naturally exuded a gentle, kind, and timid demeanor. Who would have thought that she had schemed so hard to cause Yun Shuxue to suffer a massive hemorrhage during childbirth, resulting in the death of both mother and child?
Yun Shuxue had already drunk a little wine, her face flushed, but her eyes coldly glanced at Chen Yao: "Yes, sister's skills are so amazing, and my husband is also infatuated with you. He even sent people to find this pipa from afar."
Her eyes revealed resentment as she looked at Gao Qi: "My husband cherishes talented women. The servants in the manor are all saying that you are going to build a tall building for my sister in this lake so that she can cultivate her body and mind every day. My husband, building a tall building will cost a fortune. I think it must be the ignorant servants spreading rumors."
Gao Qi avoided her gaze, his hand stroking something in his chest.
With red eyes, Yun Shuxue asked unwillingly, "Is that so, my husband? It's all just a rumor, none of it is true."
A breeze blew, making Yun Shuxue's tears tremble as if they were about to fall.
Gao Qi glanced at Lin Jinyuan furtively. Shen Yao behind him coughed lightly. Gao Qi stood up reluctantly, clutching a roll of paper in his right hand.
"Your Highness, I would like to ask you to be my witness today."
When Yun Shuxue saw what Gao Qi was holding, her face turned pale instantly: "Gao Qi! What do you want to do!"
Gao Qi spread a letter of divorce on the dining table: "I was deceived by you to marry you, a concubine's daughter, as my legal wife. Who knew that after you entered the family, you would be arrogant, domineering, extravagant and licentious. Now I only want to marry Chen Yao as my secondary wife, and you hire someone to kill me."
"Yun Shuxue, your heart is so vicious that the Gao family dares not keep you. I want to ask the Prince to be my witness and I want to divorce you."
Gao Qi's voice was particularly loud, as if he had suffered injustices for generations, and he spoke with such spittle flying that it landed on the food on the table.
Yun Chiyi and Lin Jinyuan had no appetite. The couple sat quietly, watching the drama that had been suppressed in the Gao family for months finally erupt.
Yun Shuxue also roared, "Gao Qi, you've been blinded by that vixen!"
"It's all that bitch's fault!"
Enraged by the letter of divorce, she felt a sharp pain in her chest and, clutching her stomach, slapped Chen Yao across the face with one hand: "You bitch, what did you say to Gao Qi this time? I'll skin you alive today!"
Seeing this, Yun Chiyi kicked Lin Jinyuan, who quickly pushed Gao Qi next to him, saying, "Shuxue is pregnant, don't disturb the fetus."
Gao Qi sighed deeply and rushed forward, shouting, "You poisonous woman, stop!!!"
Yun Shuxue mistakenly thought that Gao Qi couldn't bear it anymore. In the next instant, Gao Qi grabbed her hand, pulled her away, and shielded the aggrieved and tearful Shen Yao behind him, completely shattering Yun Shuxue's illusion.
"Yun Shuxue! Haven't you made enough of a scene?!"
Yun Shuxue burst into tears: "Sister, did you see that? When have I ever suffered such injustice?"
She cried and roared as she lunged at Chen Yao. In an instant, chaos erupted on the boat as the three of them wrestled together, causing the boat to tilt back and forth and creating waves.
Lin Jinyuan steadied himself on the edge of the table, his gentle expression fading from his face: "Gao Qi, why did you have to get involved and cause trouble..."
Before he could finish speaking, the boat capsized.
Screams rose and fell as the lake water surged up, burying Yun Chiyi underwater. She instinctively thrashed about, swallowing several mouthfuls of water as her body sank uncontrollably.
She couldn't swim, and in a daze, she saw Lin Jinyuan holding onto the railing of the boat with one hand, half of his body submerged in the water.
One had been feigning lameness for years, and the other had just recovered from muteness. At this critical moment when their lives hung by a thread, Yun Chiyi struggled to stick one hand out of the water and spoke in a hoarse voice to Lin Jinyuan, who had jumped into the lake.
"I can't swim..."
As Yun Chiyi finished speaking, her body slumped down heavily. Her fingertips were light and airy. The lake shimmered, and a slender hand grasped her fingers, pulling Yun Chiyi into a seemingly nonexistent embrace.
Lin Jinyuan carried her through the water, hooking his arm around her waist and pulling her ashore.
Lin Jinyuan walked along a dimly lit, deserted path, the shadows of the trees providing natural cover. Yun Chiyi, lying on top of him, coughed up a few mouthfuls of foul-smelling lake water.
The two stared at each other, the air thick with awkwardness as the lie was exposed.
Suddenly, the tree branches swayed, and Chaosheng, who seemed to have jumped out of nowhere, fell from the tree.
"Go and fish Yun Shuxue out."
The tide surged and disappeared in a flash.
From the center of the lake came Yun Shuxue's scolding voice. Before long, Chaosheng lifted her by the shoulders and stepped on the ground.
Yun Shuxue, soaking wet, sat on the ground in a disheveled state, crying and shouting, "Chen Yao, you tried to murder my child and me! Guards! Murder! Murder! Arrest her and report her to the authorities!"
Gao Qi had just climbed out of the water when he heard Chen Yao's cries for help. Before he could even catch his breath, he plunged back into the water.
Shen Yao floated on the water, sobbing and saying, "Young Master Gao, you don't need to care about me. I am just a lowly woman, not worth your trouble."
Gao Qi was almost moved to tears. He hugged Shen Yao tightly and began to swear, "Yao'er, I won't allow you to say such things. I, Gao Qi, only want to grow old with you in this life. Please don't let anything happen to you, please don't let anything happen to you. If anything happens to you, how will I live?"
Seeing this, Yun Shuxue's eyes turned red as if they were about to bleed, and she screamed and fell to the ground.
Her actions startled everyone, except for Yun Chiyi, who noticed the smug smile on Yun Shuxue's lips.
When they were little, whenever Yun Shuxue pretended to faint, Yun Huai'ren would blame Yun Chiyi for the fights between the two sisters. It could be said that Yun Shuxue won many times with this trick.
Yun Chiyi was having a headache from all the commotion. Zhenzhen was squatting next to her and Lin Jinyuan, rubbing her chest and wringing out the water from her sleeves. She was also very busy.
Yun Chiyi gripped Zhenzhen's wrist tightly, urging her helplessly, "Go and call someone, call a doctor."
She suddenly spoke in front of Lin Jinyuan, and Zhenzhen trembled all over, stammering, "Your Highness...Your Highness...is your voice better?"
Zhenzhen's acting was extremely poor, and she frequently glanced at Lin Jinyuan.
Lin Jinyuan's smile slowly rose: "Madam, could it be that you have received divine favor and your throat has suddenly recovered?"
His ambiguous smile told Yun Chiyi that he had known about this for a long time and was waiting for her to be unable to hide it any longer, waiting for her to show her panic when she made a mistake.
Yun Chiyi blinked, her desolate eyes showing no trace of guilt for deceiving him: "So Your Highness knew."
Zhenzhen glanced back and forth between the two. Because the three of them were squatting motionless under the dark tree, it was impossible to see what they were doing. Yun Shuxue, who was lying on the ground, curiously propped herself up and then saw Zhenzhen running towards her in a panic. Yun Shuxue quickly lay back down on the ground.
Zhenzhen helped Yun Shuxue up, and Yun Shuxue fell on top of her, pretending to be unconscious.
Old Madam Gao rushed over with a group of maids and first scolded Gao Qi: "You unfilial son!"
Gao Qi immediately released his grip on Chen Yao.
The old lady glared at him and ordered the servants to help Yun Shuxue back to her room.
“If my eldest grandson is frightened, you pack your things and get out of the Gao mansion with this woman.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Yao hid behind Gao Qi.
The old lady scolded again, "You shameless and rude person, get out of here!"
The two men scurried away from the roadside as if trying to escape. The old lady glared at them a few times, then turned her head and put on a benevolent expression.
"Your Highness, I deserve to die. My unfilial son has no sense of right or wrong, and the strife in the Gao family's inner quarters has implicated you and the Princess."
As she spoke, she tried to kneel down: "I am just a woman with nothing of value. I apologize to you."
Lin Jinyuan waved his long arm and hurriedly called out, "Chao Sheng!"
Chao Sheng quickly supported the old lady's arm, and the old lady looked at Lin Jinyuan in surprise.
Lin Jinyuan sat leaning against a tree, a gentle smile on his lips: "This junior dares not accept such a grand gesture from the old lady. We are all family, there is no need for such formality."
"Madam, you don't need to stay with us. Go and see Shuxue. She was frightened and we don't know how she is now. I am in a terrible state. I will go back to the manor with Madam to bathe and change."
Madam Gao bowed deeply and said, "Your Highness is very magnanimous. I will have that rebellious son come to apologize another day."
Yun Chiyi and Chaosheng helped Lin Jinyuan into a wheelchair and left this place of trouble.
Inside the carriage, the two looked at each other in silence, neither of them speaking.
Late at night, Yun Chiyi was sound asleep after a long day when a fair hand lifted the bed curtains and nimbly climbed into bed.
Yun Chiyi, still half-asleep, kicked him, but Lin Jinyuan, sitting on the edge of the bed, grabbed her ankle.
"Is Your Highness sleepwalking? Even your leg is healed."
Lin Jinyuan chuckled softly: "It must be thanks to the Princess's good fortune."
Yun Chiyi hugged her pillow, twisted her waist and turned her back: "Lin Jinyuan, do you have to make a scene in the middle of the night? Get out, I want to sleep, we can talk about it tomorrow."
Lin Jinyuan climbed into bed and skillfully covered himself with the quilt: "Just as I thought."
Yun Chiyi asked, "What does this mean?"
Lin Jinyuan hooked his arm around her waist and said, "My wife is just as quick-witted as I imagined. It must have been hard on you to keep quiet all this time."
Yun Chiyi turned over to face him: "You came to my bed in the middle of the night, not because I know your secret and you're planning to kill me tonight, right?"
After a moment of silence, Lin Jinyuan burst out laughing in anger: "How could that be?"
Yun Chiyi sneered and asked again, "Really? In my opinion, that's not necessarily the case."
Lin Jinyuan pretended to be stupid: "I don't understand what Madam is saying. Aren't you sleepy? Go to sleep."
He didn't blame her for hiding things, nor did he completely see through her; he simply chose to live with her in a muddled way.
He sensed that she was still looking at him with her eyes open, her calculating gaze lingering on him. He covered her eyes with his palm and said softly, "Go to sleep."
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