Transmigration: Reverse Exploitation, the System Works for Me

On the other side, Qingzhu helped Yu Ying'er walk quickly towards Jiuzhou Qingyan. She felt uneasy, as if something bad was about to happen.

Qingzhu said with a sob in her voice, "It's all my fault. Of all the places to go, I had to lead Your Highness towards the Bitong Academy and stumble upon such a thing."

"Your Highness, please hold on, let's hurry back to the banquet. As soon as we get back, I will immediately send someone to invite Aunt Chunrong."

Waaah, although Prince Guo was smiling just now, the smile didn't reach his eyes, and it was obvious that he had ill intentions.

Yu Ying'er's eyes widened. "Qingzhu, what do you mean? Are you saying that Zhen Huan wants to harm us?"

Qingzhu stamped her foot, hating her mistress's slowness!

Forget it, let's save our energy and hurry back. Once we see Auntie, we'll be safe!

The two were about to cross a stone bridge. When they reached the middle of the bridge and were about to step off, they both slipped and fell into the water with a cry of surprise.

"Ah, Your Majesty—" Qingzhu felt a chill run through her body, not because of the lake water, but because of this obviously strange accident.

She instinctively turned to look for Yu Ying'er, and saw her splashing around not far away. She quickly called out, "Your Highness, calm down, don't panic, don't be afraid. You can swim. Think of Aunt Chunrong!"

The only thing Qingzhu was grateful for at that moment was that her aunt liked to plan ahead and was afraid that something might happen to her mistress in the garden, so she specially asked a young eunuch who knew how to swim to teach the mistress and the palace maids who served her closely to swim.

In her panic, Yu Ying'er had completely forgotten that she could swim, but the name "Chunrong" instantly brought her back to her senses, and she quickly recalled her swimming techniques.

Seeing that she had stopped thrashing about, Qingzhu was relieved. Just as she was about to swim towards her, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her legs from underwater and pulled her down.

The bamboo, caught off guard, gulped down a large mouthful of lake water.

After the contents of ghost stories and tales about water ghosts and substitutes flashed through her mind, the chilling sense of impending death jolted her awake.

Bah! What a damned water ghost! Someone wants her and the Empress to die!

Prince Guo!

Oh no, Your Majesty!

Qingzhu was filled with hatred. She fumbled in her hair, pulled out a silver hairpin, held it in her hand, and stabbed it fiercely at the eunuch who was pulling her leg downwards.

A string of bubbles rose to the surface, accompanied by blood spreading in the lake water, and the eunuch, in pain, released his grip.

Qingzhu dared not linger, hurriedly shoved the hairpin into her hair, and quickly swam towards the surface of the water.

Breathing in the air, Qingzhu awkwardly wiped the water off her face, but there was no sign of the Empress on the lake!

Fortunately, bubbles rose from the lake, and Qingzhu gritted her teeth and plunged back into the water.

Although her vision was blurred underwater, she still saw her mistress being pulled towards the bottom of the lake by a person dressed in blue.

She swam over, grabbed the hairpin from his hair, and stabbed it at the man. She missed twice, but finally pierced his flesh. The man cried out in pain and vomited a string of bubbles, but he still wouldn't let go.

Qingzhu was panicked; she had no strength left.

At this moment, Yu Ying'er suddenly followed Qingzhu's example, pulled a hairpin from her hair, and used all her strength to poke the person who was holding her.

Finally, after stabbing someone somewhere, the other person finally let go.

Still not satisfied, Yu Ying'er kicked him and used the momentum to swim upwards.

When she kicked out, the bottom of the flowerpot hit the person's forehead. Although the water resistance reduced the force, it still left a unique pattern on the person's forehead.

"Cough cough cough..."

"Cough cough cough..."

The master and servant had escaped death. After reaching the surface, they coughed and swam desperately toward the shore, not daring to waste a single moment.

"Your Highness, how are you?" Once they reached a shallow area where they could stand, Qingzhu helped Yu Ying'er up with concern.

Yu Ying'er waved her hand, "I won't die."

Her face was filled with fear. "Quick, let's go, let's get out of here."

Ignoring their aching limbs, the two stumbled ashore with sheer willpower. Qingzhu helped Yu Ying'er toward the direction of Jiuzhou Qingyan, but Yu Ying'er grabbed her arm.

She shook her head at Qingzhu, panting, "No, I won't go to the Nine Provinces Banquet. I'll go back, go back to find my sister, find my sister!"

Having survived a brush with death, Yu Ying'er is now extremely insecure, and the only person in the world who can give her that sense of security is her sister.

Qingzhu's heart skipped a beat. Yes, she couldn't go to the Nine Provinces Banquet!

Prince Guo might have other plans along the way. Going there now would be suicide. Returning to Anlan Garden is the safest option!

"Your Majesty has considered everything carefully. Let's return to Anlan Garden!"

As the mistress and servant walked through the garden in a disheveled state, they inevitably encountered palace maids and eunuchs. Every now and then, Qingzhu would send one or two of them to Anlan Garden to report to them.

She was panicked, not knowing how many people in the garden belonged to Prince Guo, and this was the only way she could think of to protect herself.

With so many palace maids and eunuchs, if even one of them wasn't Prince Guo, and if someone relayed the message back to Anlan Garden, Aunt Chunrong would definitely come immediately with her people.

Qingzhu's approach was correct; they saw Xi Qiao hurrying along in a sedan chair halfway there.

Xi Qiao looked anxious, but was completely relieved when he saw that the two were unharmed.

Yu Ying'er called out to her, her voice choked with sobs, "Sister, Aunt..."

Xi Qiao took her outstretched hand. "I'm here, don't be afraid, my lady."

Yu Ying'er nodded with tears in her eyes.

"Please get into the sedan chair first, my lady. I have already had hot water and a calming soup prepared. You can go back, take a bath, change your clothes, drink some medicine, and have a good sleep, and you will be fine."

"Okay, I'll do whatever Auntie says."

Xi Qiao personally helped her sit down and then gestured for the sedan chair bearers to lift the sedan chair.

Then she walked over to Qingzhu and had one of the palace maids who had come with her carry Qingzhu on her back. "Qingzhu, do you still have the strength? Tell me how you and the mistress ended up in the water?"

Qingzhu winked at her and said what she could say, "Aunt, Her Majesty drank too much at the banquet. I accompanied Her Majesty to sober up. On the way back, we passed a small stone bridge, and just as we were about to go down the bridge, I slipped and fell into the lake."

Qingzhu trembled with fear as she recalled what had happened. "There were people lying in ambush in the lake beforehand. As soon as the Empress and I fell into the water, someone grabbed our feet and pulled us down! They wanted to drown the Empress!"

Qingzhu, clinging to the palace maid's back, fearfully grabbed Xi Qiao's hand and wrote the three characters "Prince Guo" stroke by stroke in her palm.

"To save our lives, Your Highness and I stabbed those two people with hairpins. Aunt, please send someone to investigate immediately."

Xi Qiao's pupils dilated, and he patted Qingzhu's hand with his backhand. "Okay, you can rest assured. I have already instructed Xiao Lezi to guard Anlan Garden."

As she spoke, she walked to the palanquin and said, “Your Majesty, please go back, take your medicine, and get some rest. With Xiao Lezi and Jin Shuang guarding you, no one will dare to harm you. I will be gone for a while and will be back soon.”

Yu Ying'er grabbed her hand, her face pale as she looked at her. Then, just like Qingzhu, she wrote the three characters "Prince Guo" in her palm. "Auntie, do you really have to go? I'm worried. He... he's so ruthless and audacious, Auntie—"

Yu Ying'er's tears flowed instantly. She didn't cry when she fell into the water, nor when she was dragged into the lake, but when she thought that Xi Qiao might be harmed by Prince Guo, she couldn't help but let her tears flow.

Although Xi Qiao didn't know why the two of them were both convinced that it was Prince Guo who did it, neither the original owner Chun Rong nor she were innocent bystanders.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I have not been idle in the palace for many years. Only when the matter is investigated and clarified can I be at ease."

Yu Ying'er then let go of her hand, "Then Auntie should bring a few more people and be sure to pay attention to safety."

"Alright, Your Majesty, go back and get some rest."

Xi Qiao left the Anlan Garden group and headed towards Jiuzhou Qingyan. As she walked, she instructed Xiao Lianzi, who was following her, "Go and check on the small stone bridge that Qingzhu mentioned."

Xiao Lianzi hesitated for a moment, "If this servant leaves, won't Aunt be left without anyone by her side?"

Although Qingzhu and the Empress's words were vague, it was not hard to tell that someone was plotting to harm them.

"It's alright, go ahead, I'm capable of protecting myself."

As long as it wasn't the emperor or empress dowager who wanted her dead, she was confident that her life would be safe.

"Yes, then Auntie, please be careful."