by Ning er
Yun Qian Meng had originally thought that she would be able to swim back to the surface. But she had underestimated just how heavy the traditional clothing she was wearing would get when it was wet. And as fate would have it, her legs had actually gotten tangled by the seaweed within the lake. She only felt that the lake water was chilling her to her bones, and the longer she left the ground, the more heavy her body felt, even her breath was starting to wear thin……
While her vision was becoming blurry, a black shadow swam towards her rapidly. Yun Qian Meng held her last bit of air to widen her eyes, only to see the slight glittering of gold on the other person’s black clothes and that his handsome face was filled with an anxious, worried expression as he approached. Only when he saw Yun Qian Meng’s seaweed-wrapped figure did his anxious eyes gradually relax as he extended his arms. With a flash of his hands, the weeds around Yun Qian Meng’s feet were immediately torn to shreds. The man then supported Yun Qian Meng’s body from behind as he pulled her up to the surface……
“They came up! They came up! Yun xiaojie has been found by Chu Xiang!” As the two of them broke out the surface of the lake, the people on the ship all shouted out in excitement. Below them, Qu Zhang Qing also quickly had his boat rowed over!
After they managed to get close, Qu Zhang Qing watched as Chu Fei Yang carried Yun Qian Meng onto the boat and laid her down. Yun Qian Meng was also still conscious, immediately forcing herself to spit out all of the water she had swallowed.
Seeing this, Qu Zhang Qing finally released his hanging heart and sincerely thanked Chu Fei Yang, saying, “Many thanks to xiangye!”
Yet Chu Fei Yang didn’t have time to bother with Qu Zhang Qing and quickly grabbed the blankets that were prepared on the boat to cover Yun Qian Meng’s body. Seeing that her face was still pale and her breathing still unsteady, he immediately commanded, “Bring the boat to the shore directly. How can you let other people see her like this?”
Seeing that Chu Fei Yang was still thinking about protecting Yun Qian Meng’s reputation at such a tense moment, Qu Zhang Qing nodded hurriedly and instructed the Hai wangfu’s servants to row towards the lakeside.
The people on the ship saw that Yun Qian Meng seemed to have been rescued by Chu Fei Yang and wanted to take a look at Yun Qian Meng’s current condition. However, she was shielded from their sight by Chu Fei Yang and Qu Zhang Qing. Noticing that the boat was moving directly to the shore without returning to the ship, they had no choice but to retrieve their gazes in disappointment.
Hai Tian had been staring at the situation even more nervously than anyone else. However, when she heard everyone shout that Yun Qian Meng had been rescued, and saw how Chu Fei Yang held Yun Qian Meng in his arms with her own eyes, her heart immediately overflowed with hatred. Her veins bursting as she formed fists with her hands, she glared towards them with an incomparably malicious gaze. Everyone who saw this felt their hearts shake with fear, but it also made them cement the truth that Hai Tian had pushed Yun Qian Meng into the lake even further. In just a moment, the crowd had suddenly come up with their own conclusions about the matter!
Jiang Mu Chen and Rong Yun He were both still continuing their search underwater when they heard the commotion from above and finally stuck their heads out of the water. After the servants told them that she had been found, they were pulled back onto the small boats and rowed towards the shore along with the ship.
Chu Fei Yang’s group who reached the shore first didn’t wait for the ship to catch up. Instead, Chu Fei Yang made the prompt decision to carry Yun Qian Meng, even ignoring Qu Zhang Qing, as he took large steps towards Hai wangfu’s entrance!
“xiangye, it’s better to let me carry Meng’er!” After all, Yun Qian Meng could be considered Qu Zhang Qing’s little sister. If he carried her, it wouldn’t really be criticized by others.
“No need!” But Chu Fei Yang’s expression was currently extremely ugly. His body was radiating a cold aura that kept people away. Without even thinking, he immediately rejected Qu Zhang Qing’s suggestion!
Yun Qian Meng also wanted to open her mouth to agree with Qu Zhang Qing. But having lost too much air after being underwater for too long, her body was currently completely powerless, even speaking was too difficult. She could only shiver slightly within the blankets in Chu Fei Yang’s arms, as she started to feel somewhat dizzy and sleepy.
Chu Fei Yang noticed her shivers and immediately understood that she was still feeling cold after being submerged in the ice-cold lake for so long!
Even though it was nearly spring in March, there was still a long time before summer. And Mount Yangming had always been a cold place, so the lake was obviously freezing!
Due to his daily martial practice, he was not afraid of the chill. But to a young lady like Yun Qian Meng, it must have been absolutely terrible!
Thinking along these lines, Chu Fei Yang lifted one side of the rug and pulled it over Yun Qian Meng’s head, shielding her from the mountain breeze. He then retracted his arms, pulling her into his embrace even more tightly, as he also quickened his pace!
They had originally walked leisurely for over half a day before they reaching the lakeside earlier today, but now, Chu Fei Yang and Qu Zhang Qing only needed less than five minutes to reach the place where they had stopped their carriages!
“xiangye, you should leave her in Fu Guo gongfu’s carriage! Mi mama will be taking care of her in the carriage. With her care, nothing will happen to Meng’er!” Qu Zhang Qing saw that Chu Fei Yang was about to put her in the xiangfu’s carriage and immediately spoke up to stop him.
Chu Fei Yang only then realized that the xiangfu’s carriage did not have anyone looking after it and immediately turned around. Heading towards Fu Guo gongfu’s carriage, he personally put her down inside before he withdrew with a cold expression.
“Why were you not at the scene, protecting her just now?” Completely ignoring his completely soaked clothing, Chu Fei Yang’s cold eyes suddenly swept towards Qu Zhang Qing who was standing guard beside the carriage.
Qu Zhang Qing was also already racked with guilt at the current situation. At the moment, he didn’t even know how to face Chu Fei Yang’s question.
But Chu Fei Yang didn’t continue to make things awkward for him, instead raising his head to look at the signboard above Hai wangfu. Smiling coldly, he said, “The great Hai wangfu, truly a place full of traps and secrets!”
In the carriage, Mi mama was shocked at the drenched, shivering Yun Qian Meng. She immediately pulled the blanket away to examine Yun Qian Meng’s body, making sure that she was not injured anywhere before she could letting out a sigh of relief. She then nimbly brought out a change of clothes and quickly helped Yun Qian Meng into them. Finally, she undid Yun Qian Meng’s hair and took out a towel to help her dry her hair. But as quickly as Mi mama had done this, Yun Qian Meng still felt somewhat dizzy, leaving her with a terrible headache.
Mi mama had no choice but to pull out all of the quilts in the carriage. Putting one layer under Yun Qian Meng’s body and covering her with two thick layers, she finally managed to ease the wrinkles on Yun Qian Meng’s furrowed brow.
After everything was set in order, several footsteps were heard from Hai wangfu, as Qu Fei Qing, her servants, and Mu Chun quickly boarded the carriage.
Behind them, Rong Yun He was immediately sent to his carriage by the Rong family’s servants. But just before he went in, he looked at Mu Chun for a bit with pursed lips.
By now, when Hai Wang personally came out to send them off, he saw Chu Fei Yang standing near the entrance while still radiating his chilly aura. Hai Wang immediately asked Qu Zhang Qing with concern, “How is Yun xiaojie? Why don’t you let her rest at the wangfu for today?”
Qu Zhang Qing, however, noticing Hai Tian who was hiding behind the crowd, only coldly replied, “Many thanks for wangye’s kind intentions. However, both my sisters are young ladies, how can they spend a night outside?”
Hai Wang didn’t continue to pester
Qu Zhang Qing when he saw the bitterness in his eyes and instead turned to look at Chu Fei Yang. Seeing him dripping wet, he gently asked, “Chu Xiang, please come in and change your clothes. It wouldn’t do to catch a cold!”
But his politeness only provoked a cold smile from Chu Fei Yang. “wangye, thanks for being considerate! However, wangye should save your attention for your little junzhu! Don’t let anyone treat human lives as a trifling matter!”
After his speech, Chu Fei Yang just sent a glance at Qu Zhang Qing before they both jumped onto their horses. Not wasting their breath with anyone left in Hai wangfu, they led the carriage Yun Qian Meng was in down the mountain……
Jiang Mu Chen just came out of Hai wangfu at this moment. Even though he was soaking wet, he did not seem to notice his sorry figure, only staring fixedly at the carriage in the distance. Finally, listening to a manservant from Chen wangfu, he swept a cold glance at Hai Wang and the others before coldly jumping onboard his carriage.
“Tian’er! Come with me to the study!” After all the guests had left, Hai Wang finally discarded the refined smile on his face, shouting severely while sending a fierce glare towards Hai Tian.
Chapter 72: Wangfei and Junzhu coming to apologize | Chu Wang Fei
母妃 mufei – mother; main wife
君王 junwang – prince (rank)
本妃 benfei – I; this consort
臣女 chennü – I; this subject (girl)
院首 yuanshou – (imperial) hospital director
太医 taiyi – imperial physician; doctor
太妃 taifei – imperial consort
娘娘 niangniang – title for consorts
As the carriage jostled roughly along the road, Yun Qian Meng began to feel her whole body burning up. She really felt as if her entire being was stuffed in a burning stove. Her usually fair complexion was flushed completely red, as she couldn’t help but tighten the frown on her delicate eyebrows in pain. However, she bit down tightly and didn’t let out a single word of complaint.
Qu Fei Qing noticed her pain. Her eyes reddening, she hugged Yun Qian Meng through her covers, hoping that it would help her feel a little better. However, Yun Qian Meng’s condition did not change. She felt as if she was in an icehouse at times, while also feeling like she was burning in a fire at others. Even though she was hugged tightly by Qu Fei Qing, her body still couldn’t stop shivering!
Qu Fei Qing saw this and recalled that there was no one in the xiangfu who will be able take care of her sincerely after all. Hence, she passed Yun Qian Meng to Mu Chun and Mi mama before pulling up the carriage’s curtains from a corner, calling out to Qu Zhang Qing who was keeping guard alongside the carriage, “dage, we need to go back to Fu Guo gongfu directly! Meng’er’s condition is not good!”
Qu Zhang Qing immediately felt worried when he heard this from his little sister. But in the end, men and women were separate. He could not enter the carriage. He only nodded seriously and told her to lower the curtains, to prevent the cold breeze from sneaking inside. Then, he called over the xiangfu’s Captain Liu and told him to go back to the xiangfu first. He wanted him to report the news about Yun Qian Meng getting sick after falling into the lake to Yun Xuan Zhi, and let him know that Yun Qian Meng would be resting in Fu Guo gongfu for the next few days.
Captain Liu was actually also blaming himself for letting his own eldest miss meet with trouble at Hai wangfu. Not willing to just let the eldest miss recuperate in Fu Guo gongfu, he spoke up in refusal, “It would be best if we brought da xiaojie back to the xiangfu!”
Seeing that Captain Liu didn’t want to let her go, Qu Zhang Qing tightened his grip on the reins of his horse until the blue veins on his arms seemed to burst out. With an increasingly cold expression, he dismissively replied with, “What’s the matter, are you worried that our Fu Guo gongfu will treat our own granddaughter badly? You should just think about reporting this matter back to Yun xiang. If he’s not satisfied, he can just come to see our laotaijun!”
After his spiel, Qu Zhang Qing just ignored Captain Liu. He tightened his legs around his horse’s abdomen, sending the black steed galloping to the front of the carriage procession.
“xiangye, Chen Wang’s carriage is currently tailing behind us!” Qu Zhang Qing announced as he approached Chu Fei Yang. Even though he was still completely soaked, Chu Fei Yang’s natural aura of sovereignty was not diminished in the slightest. Instead, his current cold expression reminded Qu Zhang Qing of Chu Fei Yang’s usual demeanor at the military camp. For a moment, he was filled with respect towards the senior official that was always fearless in the face of danger!
“I heard that you encountered a wolf attack earlier today?” Chu Fei Yang didn’t take particular notice of Chen Wang, instead bringing up an entirely different question. Qu Zhang Qing’s expression froze for a second before he quietly confirmed that it was true.
After hearing Qu Zhang Qing’s affirmation, a slight smile actually curled onto Chu Fei Yang’s solemn face. His eyes gradually turning cold, he slowly said, “Since Chen Wang likes to chase after tails so much, we should just let him do so! It will also save us some trouble!”
He just wanted to see what intentions Chen Wang was still having towards Yun Qian Meng. At the same time, he wanted to see how Yuan De taifei would react when she saw her own son like that!
As howling wolves were heard in the distance, the carriage and the horses just continued travelling noisily along the long road……
It was already 9 o’clock at night by the time they reached Fu Guo gongfu. Concerned and worried about her children who had yet to return to the fu at such a late hour, Ji Shu Yu had sent her personal maid, An mama to ask around at the gatehouse quite a few times. She also made sure that the servants had prepared all the sedan chairs, only waiting for Qu Zhang Qing and Qu Fei Qing to come back!
As An mama was about to inquire at the gatehouse once again, she heard the sound of vehicles and horses coming from the paved limestone roads. She immediately went outside through a side door, finding Fu Guo gongfu’s carriage gradually coming to a stop outside the main entrance.
“laonu sends greetings to shaoye! You and xiaojie have finally returned, furen has sent laonu to look so many times!” An mama quickly stepped forward and bowed to Qu Zhang Qing. Then, noticing the person beside him, she bent her knee respectfully, saying, “laonu sends greetings to xiangye!”
At this moment, they all heard the sound of a horse at full sprint coming from the other side of the road. As they looked over puzzlingly, they only saw a young man in an ash gray robe on the horse’s back, rapidly cracking a horsewhip to urge his horse onward……
“Jiao Da!” Recognizing this person, Chu Fei Yang called out immediately.
Jiao Da who was supposed to be by Chu Nan Shan’s side immediately tightened the reins on his horse. As the horse came to a grinding halt just before Chu Fei Yang, he called out respectfully, “xiangye, wangye is calling you back for something urgent!”
Chu Fei Yang nodded slightly, but turned around on his horse to look at the carriage behind him for a while. Then, he finally tightened his feet around his horse and rushed towards Chu wangfu with Jiao Da!
After Qu Zhang Qing saw Chu Fei Yang leave first, he quickly dismounted and told An mama to get someone to bring the sedan chairs beside the carriage. Then, he reminded Qu Fei Qing and the others to help Yun Qian Meng down carefully.
Yun Qian Meng’s vision was currently extremely fuzzy due to her high fever. She only heard the galloping noises gradually get further and further away from the quiet streets. Yet, in the distance, the slight shimmer of the gold streaks on a black robe was clearly reflected in her eyes. However, before she could take a closer look, she was carefully moved onto the sedan chair by a crowd of servants.
Following behind Fu Guo gongfu’s carriage from the start to finish, Jiang Mu Chen watched until Yun Qian Meng was brought inside Fu Guo gongfu before he finally changed course to go back to Chen wangfu.
Qu Zhang Qing
waited until Chen Wang left, then finally sighed in relief. He told Mi mama to follow Captain Liu back to the xiangfu to report the day’s incident, and then walked inside himself.
As Yun Qian Meng was carried to Qu Fei Qing’s Ting Yu Xuan, Ji Shu Yu, and even Gu laotaijun hurried over as soon as they received the news!
All the servants hurried to kneel and bow when they saw Gu laotaijun, but her attention was completely focused on Yun Qian Meng!
She brushed away the servants supporting her and moved quickly to the side of the bed. Seeing Yun Qian Meng’s flushed face, she immediately reached out and touched her forehead, only to jump in fright at the terrifying temperature!
“Are you all dead? Quickly go and call Nie yuanshou over!” Gu laotaijun suddenly bellowed in anger. The servants in the room all held their breath, terrified by her imposing aura. Only Ji Shu Yu managed to keep her composure. She quickly shot An mama a glance, having her withdraw from the room to send one of the butlers outside to Nie fu.
Everyone else was still frozen by Gu laotaijun’s anger. When they heard her ask someone to call for Nie yuanshou, the retired Imperial Physician that only looked after the few nobles and princes he was friendly with, they only felt startled, feeling an additional layer of respect for the young miss!
If other people could figure it out, Ji Shu Yu naturally immediately understood what was happening. Still, after she had married into Fu Guo gongfu for so many years, the number of times she had seen Gu laotaijun actually get angry was easily counted with the fingers on one hand. For Gu laotaijun to get so furious this time, Ji Shu Yu’s heart sank as she too immediately rushed to the side of the bed. Finding Yun Qian Meng in an unconscious state, she felt a dear pain in her heart as she finally understood why Gu laotaijun reacted so strongly.
“This won’t do! Someone, quickly bring some of xiaojie’s clean clothes for biaoxiaojie to change into! Her clothes are soaked and can’t be worn again! Mu Chun, go take a dry handkerchief and help Meng’er dry her hair! It won’t do if she gets a headache from this!” Ji Shu Yu shouted out a chain of commands, sending everyone in the room into a flurry to get things done.