jdhmnovel Chapter 288 Rescue
Chapter 288 Rescue
Although it was winter, the palace gardens were still ablaze with color, especially the plum garden and chrysanthemum garden, which were truly a riot of colors.
It's also everyone's favorite place to go.
Ning Wushuang did not leave the palace. She and Youyi found a sheltered spot in the plum garden to sit and chat. They had only exchanged a few words when they heard someone approaching, so they immediately fell silent.
"Remember to push the one in the light blue cloak into the lotus pond later," a eunuch's voice said.
"Yes," came the voice of a palace maid.
"If you do it well, you'll benefit from it."
"Yes, Eunuch Xi," the little palace maid hurriedly replied.
After that, the two went their separate ways.
Youyi swallowed hard and whispered in Ning Wushuang's ear, "Isn't that the one wearing the light blue cloak..."
Ning Wushuang nodded: "Let's go take a look."
So the two of them quietly headed towards the Chrysanthemum Garden, because only the path to the Chrysanthemum Garden had a small bridge with a lotus pond underneath, while the Plum Garden had no water.
From afar, a group of girls could be seen chattering as they walked over. Leading them were Gong Xuer, wearing a light blue cloak, and Lan Tingwan, wearing a light white cloak.
Ning Wushuang called Nongqi over and gave him some instructions, then walked towards the group of people.
"Greetings, Princess Wushuang." As soon as everyone saw Ning Wushuang, they hurriedly curtsied.
"No need for formalities." Ning Wushuang raised her hand. "Are you going to the Chrysanthemum Garden? We're going there too, let's go together."
“Okay.” Lan Tingwan was the first to nod. She actually liked Ning Wushuang quite a bit, but everyone always liked to compare her to Ning Wushuang, which made both of them quite awkward. In the future, they would just greet each other at most when they met.
However, when she was at Wanbaolou last time, she felt that Ning Wushuang seemed to have changed. She was no longer as aloof as before and had become cute. If we put aside their identities, it would be nice to be friends with her.
Gong Xuer was also quite happy.
The girls then walked together.
However, the other girls were lagging behind, after all, their status was quite different from Ning Wushuang's.
“Little sister Xu’er, your cloak is quite beautiful.” Ning Wushuang suddenly looked at Gong Xu’er.
"I made this myself." Gong Xuer was immediately delighted upon hearing this. "I designed it myself." She even twirled around as she spoke. "Does it really look good?"
"It's really beautiful." Ning Wushuang nodded. "Can I switch with you?"
"Huh?" Gong Xuer looked at Ning Wushuang's pure white fox fur cloak with some surprise. After all, her cloak was worth a fortune.
"Here, take this." Ning Wushuang said, handing her cloak to Gong Xuer.
Gong Xuer couldn't refuse, so she handed her light blue cloak to Ning Wushuang.
“I like it too.” Youyi quickly reached out his hand.
Gong Xuer couldn't help but look at Lan Tingwan. How could she have snatched such a simple cloak?
Ning Wushuang frowned and looked at Youyi.
Youyi chuckled.
Ning Wushuang then handed the cloak to Nongqi, saying, "You can wear this for now."
Nongqi then draped another cloak he had prepared over Ning Wushuang's shoulders.
Gong Xuer frowned even more deeply.
Just then, another group of people came over, and they met on the small bridge.
They greeted each other and were just about to pass each other when they heard a splash, followed by someone shouting, "Someone has fallen into the water!"
Everyone was startled. When they saw the pink and blue cloak floating on the water below, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Some even shouted, "Miss Gong has fallen in!"
Just then, a splash was heard, and someone jumped into the water and quickly carried a person ashore.
However, when everyone saw who had saved the person, they were all stunned. No one expected it to be the Third Prince.
"Quickly, summon the imperial physician!" The Third Prince's teeth chattered from the cold. "Miss Gong..."
"Third Prince, I'm here!" Gong Xuer realized what was going on and turned pale with fright. However, she didn't want anyone to tarnish her reputation, so she quickly stepped forward.
"You..." When the Third Prince saw the white fur cloak on Gong Xuer's body, his face, which was already pale from the cold, turned even whiter.
"Isn't this Miss Liu Qi?" someone exclaimed.
The Third Prince looked down at the girl in his arms with her eyes tightly closed, his face involuntarily contorting slightly. However, to maintain his image, he didn't throw her away, but quickly stuffed her into the arms of a guard: "Take Miss Six or Seven to see the imperial physician." After saying that, he glanced at everyone, "No matter who it is, it's good that she's alright." Then he turned and left.
Ning Wushuang pursed her lips, thinking, "She's really good at pretending." But she wasn't wrong. She just looked at Gong Xuer.
Gong Xuer happened to be looking at her too. After staring at each other for a long time, the two smiled knowingly.
"Thank you." Gong Xuer bowed to Ning Wushuang. She hadn't understood why he wanted her cloak before, but now she knew that he had saved her life.
After the palace banquet ended, in the carriage leaving the palace, Ning Wushuang told the Eldest Princess about the Sixth and Seventh Misses.
"Hehe." Princess Qiaochu laughed, "You cunning devil, are you trying to disgust the third prince?"
“Mother, how is what you’re saying disgusting? I’m helping him achieve his goal.” Ning Wushuang hugged the princess’s arm. “After all, the Liu family is of high social standing. Anyway, he won’t give her the position of principal wife, so it’s fine for the seventh young lady of the Duke’s mansion to be a concubine.”
Princess Qiaochu nodded, a smile playing on her lips: "You're absolutely right."
When Emperor Gaozu raised an army to overthrow the previous dynasty and establish the Great Zhou, he conferred titles upon the meritorious officials who followed him in founding the country. There were ten major families in total, including two dukes: the Zhuang family, Duke of Zhenguo, and the Liu family, Duke of Dingguo.
This young lady, Liu Lingling, is the eldest son of Liu Shan, the current Duke of Dingguo, who was born out of wedlock.
Since the passing of the old Duke, the current Duke of Dingguo, Liu Shan, has been an incompetent ruler who indulges in all sorts of vices, including eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring. He is particularly fond of women and has countless wives and concubines in his household.
His sons completely inherited his virtues, and even his illegitimate sons had many wives and concubines.
Liu Junci's wife was Bai Jin, the half-sister of Marquis Zhenbei Bai Jianming. However, Bai Jin was childless, so all his children were born out of wedlock.
Liu Lingling was born to one of his concubines.
If a concubine's seventh daughter, born out of wedlock, were to actually become the third prince's concubine, that would not only be an insult to the Liu family, but also an insult to the third prince himself.
More importantly, Liu Lingling's appearance is quite ordinary. Although she is not ugly, she is not pretty either.
While the Third Prince's act of diving into the water to save people was understandable, the fact that they had been intimate meant that he had to give an explanation. Even if he wanted to deny it, Liu Shan and his son Liu Junci would not let it go, and there was bound to be some drama to watch.