The cruel little princess

Little did she know that as soon as His Royal Highness Prince Rui finished speaking, Concubine Shu's expression immediately changed, and she glared at him angrily! However, she soon regained her composure.

This good-for-nothing son! All he does all day is indulge in romantic affairs! If this continues, how can his father trust him with such confidence and entrust him with such important tasks? No! She must hurry up and persuade the Emperor to grant Yan'er and Xing'er a marriage!

Zhang Yuyan's face changed from the rosy pink just now to the bright red now. It was nothing but anger!

"Mother! Please come and take a look!" Prince Rui came up to Concubine Shu, half dragged her to the window, and placed the telescope in Concubine Shu's hand.

"Mother, please look at the pond in the Imperial Garden. The beautiful woman in the sapphire blue palace dress is the Princess of Rui'an! Isn't she worthy of my son's majestic grace?" His Royal Highness Prince Rui did not forget to praise himself.

Zhang Yuyan sat where she was, gripping the handle of her teacup with both hands. She looked dignified and quiet, but her hands, gripping the handle so tightly that they turned pale, betrayed her uneasy state of mind.

Concubine Shu looked at His Royal Highness Prince Rui with some resignation, but she still looked out the window as he said. Through the telescope, she saw the woman by the pond in the distance. She was indeed very beautiful. But she was thinking, "What's so good about this woman? How can she compare to Yan'er?"

Concubine Shu glanced at Zhang Yuyan again and saw that although she appeared calm on the outside, a hint of dissatisfaction lingered in her eyes. Concubine Shu thought to herself, "Yan'er is well-educated and well-mannered, and has an outstanding appearance. Why can't she catch Xing'er's eye?"

His Royal Highness Prince Rui was still talking excitedly on the side. Concubine Shu couldn't bear to dampen his enthusiasm, so she said perfunctorily, "Well, the Princess Rui'an is indeed as beautiful as a flower."

Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness Prince Rui immediately became delighted and said, "Mother, please help me ask for marriage from my father!"

The Concubine Shu smiled helplessly and said, "Okay, okay, I'll observe her character carefully at the palace banquet later." In fact, her eyes were moving, and what she was thinking about was how to embarrass the Rui'an County Master at the palace banquet later.

His Royal Highness Prince Rui nodded in satisfaction, and then continued to look at the scenery outside with the telescope. Empress Shufei sighed softly, thinking secretly how to convince the emperor to let Yan'er and Xing'er get married.

Zhang Yuyan quickly recovered from her previous anger and annoyance. She glanced at Feicui who was standing behind her, and Feicui immediately understood what she meant and went down to make arrangements.

Not long after, when Shen Youyou and the others were chatting happily, a little palace maid came over respectfully carrying a plate of snacks.

Shen Youyou thought she was going to the pavilion next to her to place some snacks, so she pulled Zuo Qingqing and Xu Qingxue to stand to the side, closer to the lake.

As the young palace maid walked past them with the snacks in her hand, she bowed and said, "This servant greets the Princess of Rui'an County and the two young ladies!"

Shen Youyou raised her hand slightly, "No need to be polite!"

The little palace maid stood up and said, "Thank you, Princess!" Just as she was about to move forward with the snacks, her skirt was caught by her foot. She accidentally bumped into Shen Youyou next to her. She looked like she was going to fall into the water!

Shen Youyou suddenly felt a sense of crisis, so she activated her defensive ability in time. She tapped the ground with her toes, used her internal force to turn sideways, and took a step forward to move three meters away.

But Xu Qingxue, who was standing next to her, was not so lucky. She was about to reach out to help the little palace maid, but unexpectedly the other party sped up and crashed straight into her, leaving her no time to dodge. She could only watch herself being knocked into the lake.

"Ah--" Xu Qingxue screamed and fell into the freezing cold lake water.

"Qingxue!" Shen Youyou shouted in horror, wanting to rush over to save her, but it was too late.

Zuo Qingqing was so frightened that her face turned pale and she stood there at a loss as to what to do.

The young maid knelt on the ground in panic, kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Please spare my life, my Lady! Please spare my life, my Lady! It was all my carelessness, please forgive me, my Lady!"

Shen Youyou took two steps at a time and came back, and with a grappling move, she pinned the little palace maid to the ground. She then pulled out the belt from the little palace maid's waist and tied her hands and feet, making her unable to move.

"Qingqing! Go call for help!" Shen Youyou forced herself to calm down and said to Zuo Qingqing. She then looked at Xu Qingxue, who was thrown into the water by the impact. She was obviously not a good swimmer. She was floating in the water, struggling further and further away from the shore.

Zuo Qingqing ran hurriedly to call for help.

Shen Youyou didn't care about anything else and jumped directly into the water. The icy cold instantly surrounded her! But she didn't care about that. She endured the coldness of being soaked in the lake and the stiffness of her limbs, and slowly swam towards Xu Qingxue in the lake.

And His Royal Highness Prince Rui, who was on the high building, carefully observing Shen Youyou with a telescope, happened to see this scene! He was anxious and threw down the telescope to run out to save her.

"Okay, where are you going?" Concubine Shu held him back.

"Oh, mother! Don't stop me! I just saw Princess Rui'an fall into the lake through a telescope! I have to go save her!" His Royal Highness Prince Rui said impatiently.

"Ah? Fell into the water? How could you survive if you fell into the lake in such cold weather?" Concubine Shu tightly grabbed her son's sleeve and prevented him from taking another step outside. "Don't do anything stupid!"

"Oh, mother!" His Royal Highness Prince Rui impatiently pushed away Concubine Shu's hand, "Princess Rui'an is the one I like, so of course I have to save her!" After saying that, he strode out of the greenhouse.

While the mother and son were pulling each other, no one noticed the faint smile on Zhang Yuyan's lips in the corner.

Xu Qingxue in the water gradually lost the strength to struggle. Seeing that she was about to be pushed further away by the water, Shen Youyou called out to her, "Qingxue...sister!" She shouted, but the biting cold made her voice tremble, with a kind of broken beauty. "Qingxue! Don't be afraid...relax! I...come...to save you!" Shen Youyou struggled to swim towards the center of the lake.

The water in the lake was icy cold, freezing the very blood. Shen Youyou shivered in the water, but her gaze remained fixed firmly on Xu Qingxue in front of her. She gritted her teeth, paddled with all her might, and swam forward.

Every stroke required tremendous effort, and the cold water continued to erode her strength. But she didn't dare stop, because she knew that time was running out and Xu Qingxue's life was in danger.

Finally, she approached Xu Qingxue. Xu Qingxue was struggling in the water, her face as pale as paper, her lips purple, and her eyes filled with fear. Shen Youyou reached out and grabbed Xu Qingxue's arm tightly, trying to pull her to her side.

"Qingxue! Hold on! We'll be ashore soon!" Shen Youyou encouraged loudly.

In this day and age, a woman's reputation is more important than anything else. If Sister Qingxue is rescued by a man, even if he is an ordinary guard, Sister Qingxue will have to marry him.

Therefore, she must rescue Xu Qingxue to the shore before others arrive!

However, Xu Qingxue's body had become extremely heavy, and Shen Youyou felt that her strength was gradually running out. Her breathing became rapid, and a sense of despair surged in her heart.

But, is she going to give up just like that? Is her life going to end so hastily? She won't accept this! My destiny is in my own hands! A strong desire to survive suddenly burst out in Shen Youyou's heart! She wants to live! She has to bring Qingxue back to the shore! She can't die! She still has a lot of things to do! Life is short, enjoy it while you can! She hasn't made a lot of money yet so that her father can provide relief to the soldiers without any worries, take care of the old and weak soldiers, nor has she seen her brother get married and have children, let alone marry Chu Huaijin, so she can't die!

Shen Youyou suddenly opened her eyes wide again, gritted her teeth, and pulled Xu Qingxue towards the shore with all her might! Seven meters! Five meters! … ​​Three meters… Two meters… One meter! Finally, before Zuo Qingqing's call for help arrived, Shen Youyou had dragged Xu Qingxue to the shore!

Shen Youyou and Xu Qingxue lay on the ground, their waists still submerged in water! Shen Youyou was completely exhausted! But at least they were safe for the time being!

Shen Youyou gasped for breath, soaked to the skin, and shivered with cold. Zuo Qingqing finally arrived with her mother and some maids and servants! They hurriedly brought blankets to cover them, and asked with concern if they were injured.

Shen Youyou glanced at Zuo Qingqing gratefully, then turned to look at Xu Qingxue. She saw Xu Qingxue with her eyes tightly closed, her face pale, and her breath weak.

"Call the doctor!" Shen Youyou shouted anxiously. She tried to prop herself up to feel Xu Qingxue's pulse, but after several attempts, her hands and feet became stiff and weak, and she fell to the ground.

Everyone was going to carry Shen Youyou and Xu Qingxue to the side hall to wait for the imperial physician to come and treat them. Before that, Shen Youyou looked directly at Madam Zuo, "Madam Zuo, don't forget to take the tied-up palace maid with you!"

Madam Zuo nodded and said, "Don't worry, County Lady. I can save you some trouble."

After receiving the reassuring reply, Shen Youyou allowed herself to fall into a coma.