Seeing his good girl wake up with no injury on her body, Imperial Uncle Xiao said, âYour mother sent someone to tell me that you and Xinâer were kidnapped, so Dad went to Jiu Wangfu to look for you. They said that you were in the Palace, so Dad came here quickly. Dearest daughter, are you hurt?â
When Imperial Uncle Xiao spoke, Xiao Ting finally remembered what happened last night. She looked at the people around her, and said, âHuh? Why are there so many people? The Emperor is such a worrywart. Maybe heâs afraid that weâll run away.â
âGood girl, my good girlâŚâ
âDad, Iâm okay, donât worry. I felt dizzy after drinking some wine yesterday, so I fell asleep here.â Xiao Ting got up and comforted her Dad, who had a few screws loose, and slowly said: âDid you see Xiao Shi?â
âAh? No, where is he? As soon as I heard you had an accident, I ran to you.â
Everyone: ââŚâ Sure enough, the Sixth Miss in Imperial Uncle Xiaoâs family was the most precious. Even if the Sixth Girl was married, sheâs still Imperial Uncle Xiaoâs dearest daughter. Look, he even forgot about his son.
Xiao Ting patted his hand to comfort him, âThen letâs go back and see Xiao Shi. By the way, we need to find that bastard to settle the accounts.â
âBastard? Which bastard dares to bully my daughter? I, your father, will beat him up for you.â Imperial Uncle Xiao viciously said.
âItâs Jiu Wangye. He sent me to the Palace and made me sleep here all night.â
âIt doesnât matter which wangye, I canât beat them⌠uh, if itâs Jiu Wangye, then I should look for little sister Guifei!â
âNo need, this daughter will go back and clean him up.â
âTingâer.â Zhao Hua had also woken up. She rubbed her head and sat up, but still groggy. Xiao Ting quickly helped her and said: âOkay, itâs okay. The sun is out, so we can go back.â
âOh, oh.â
As soon as the two got up, someone from over there announced, âThe Emperor has arrived!â
âThe Empress has arrived!â
âThe Empress Dowager has arrived!â
ââŚâ One after another, a series of announcements were made.
Then thereâs a flurry of salutes.
Zhao Hua completely woke up, pulled Xiao Ting, and jumped off the roof.
The Empress Dowager walked behind the Emperor and asked: âI heard that those two girls were punished here. Where are they?â
Everyone was still kneeling on the ground. When they raised their heads, the two women had long since disappeared from the rooftop, and only Imperial Uncle Xiao was left there, stupidly dazed.
The servants next to him immediately replied, âReplying to the Emperor and Empress Dowager, the Princess, and Jiu Wangfei were here just now!â
Those with sharp eyes saw it and said, âEmperor, Empress Dowager, Princess, and the other one are over there.â
When everyone looked, they saw Zhao Hua and Xiao Ting climbing up a rockery while holding hands.
Anger appeared on the Empress Dowagerâs face as the golden hairpins on her head shook a few times, âEmperor, this is what you said, since they knew they were wrong, they knelt here to reflect all night, is that correct?â
âWhy look at bengong? Are you still dreaming?â
âSomeone come, take them back.â
The Emperor looked at the Empress Dowager in a serene manner, implying that he acquiesced to it.
From the rooftop to the Imperial gardens, from the small bridge to the rockery cliffs, Xiao Ting and Princess Zhao Hua were chased and they ran here and there, even jumping up and down like monkeys.
âTingâer, come up quickly.â
Xiao Ting yelled: âYou pull, my foot is caught.â Theyâre on the rockery at the moment with Zhao Hua pulling her when her foot was caught by someone.
âAiya, theyâre coming up.â
On the rockery, someone came after them again, so Xiao Ting hurriedly said: âThen, you let go and run.â
Zhao Hua let go and Xiao Ting was pulled down. Fortunately, she didnât fall. Just as the man breathed a sigh of relief, he was kicked away. Xiao Ting then raised the hem of her skirt and ran.
Zhao Huaâs martial arts is good. In addition, the Palace Guards didnât dare to really do anything to her, so theyâre always punched and kicked by her. Many people fell into the lake, some were even stuck on tree branches and couldnât move, so they were trampled by a few feet.
On the other hand, Xiao Ting was much more pitiful. Although sheâs well-versed in martial arts, sheâs not that skilled, so she was almost caught several times.
But Xiao Ting wouldnât obediently be caught, even biting and cursing. She was so strange that everyone didnât want to approach her.
When the Empress saw this, she fanned the flames, making the Empress Dowager really angry, âThe opposite, this is truly the opposite. If you donât try your best, just wait and youâll be accomplices.â
When the chasing guards heard that, they wanted to cry without tears. You couldnât discipline the children yourself, why take out your anger on them?
But this time, they became tougher.
Zhao Hua was quickly caught.
Xiao Ting crawled out of the dog hole under the rockery and saw Zhao Hua being arrested. She knew she was dead.
Many people rushed towards her, and Xiao Ting immediately rushed to the lake next to her and plunged straight down.
The surface of the lake was calm and clear. Itâs a scenery in the Palace that was watched by the guards on normal days. The water was introduced from outside the Palace, and there are large groups of lotus leaves inside.
When Xiao Ting jumped, everyone also jumped down, but the lotus leaves were too dense that she couldnât be found even after a while.
As time passed, the Emperor, who was watching the excitement at first, became a little anxious and glared at Zhao Hua, âDoes she know how to swim?â
Zhao Hua was taken aback for a moment, then yelled loudly: âFather Emperor, save her. Tingâer doesnât know how to swim!â
At this time, the Emperor was also impatient, not to mention that Xiao Ting is the Jiu Wangfei, a good friend of his daughter, and the niece of his beloved, so he couldnât let her have an accident.
Since he punished Xiao Ting last night, he had to find another place to sleep. Now, the Emperor didnât dare look back and see Xiao Guifei.
At this moment, Xiao Guifei had already waved her hand to let someone enter the water.
For a while, the lake was full of people, and everyone on the shore was whispering. Some just wanted to watch the excitement. The water in the lake roiled and there were so many people that itâs crowded. When their heads came up, it would very messy.
Xiao Ting hid under a dense canopy of lotus leaves, cautiously exposed her head, took a few breaths then hid again. The people around her kept calling out, but fortunately, there were plants. With so many people, the water became muddy and she couldnât be seen clearly.
Hearing Zhao Huaâs call, she finally knew why. When she jumped down, her body was out of control. It turned out that the original owner didnât know how to swim.
Fortunately, she did!
Just hide here and make them anxious to death. That old witch is too hateful. If she caught an evil spirit in the future, she must let it stay in her palace first, including the Empress, one for each person and scare them to death.
Thinking like this, a figure suddenly floated in front of Xiao Ting. She was just about to hide when she suddenly realized that it wasnât a f***ing human being, but a corpse.
âAhâŚâ
With a scream, Xiao Ting stepped back, but she forgot that sheâs still under the water and holding her breath. The water immediately entered her mouth, her hands and feet became weak, and she became dizzy.
Everyone looked around but couldnât find Xiao Ting. The Emperor ordered all the others to go down so that in the chaos, no one could see Xiao Ting.
At this moment, someone heard a shout, so the people in the water quickly swam towards it, looking for Xiao Ting.
âAh, Tingâer, itâs Tingâer.â
Xiao Ting lost air and her body floated up, so Zhao Hua saw her.
Thatâs the deepest place in the center of the lake.
âHurry up and save people.â The Emperor was also so anxious that his forehead was sweating. He even wanted to shake his guards.
As for the Empress Dowager and the Empress, they had long since lost their voice.
Itâs one thing to cause trouble and be punished, but itâs another thing to lose oneâs life over it.
At the moment, everyone was ordered to go and save her.
Suddenly, the water splashing in the lake became more and more chaotic, and Zhao Hua became anxious at the sight, so she jumped into the water and swam forward.
Xiao Tingâs figure disappeared in a flash as she sank to the bottom of the lake.
âTingâer, Tingâer, you have to hold on!â Zhao Hua shouted, but no one responded.
At this moment, an astonishing figure stepped on everyoneâs shoulders. It floated past them, plunged into the center of the lake, took out a person in the blink of an eye, and turned to the other side.
This figure came so suddenly and quickly with a light and agile posture that looked very elegant.
Everyone became dumbfounded before someone recognized it.
âItâs, Jiu WangyeâŚâ
Xiao Guifei was the first to react. She pushed away the Emperor and stumbled to the other side of the lake.
âImperial doctor, quickly call the Imperial doctor.â The Emperor also followed.
Xiao Ting was in a daze, feeling her cold body warm up which was very comfortable.
Especially since a faint scent of ink still lingered at the tip of her nose, which was different from other inks. Itâs like the scent of bamboo ink.
It smelled good.
She liked it very much.
At this moment, Jiu Wangye was soaked and sitting under the willow tree by the lake. Xiao Ting was leaning on his arms and her pair of small hands tightly wrapped around his waist.
The maids were trying to pry her jade green fingers one by one, but they didnât dare use force, so they couldnât pull them apart after a while.
The Imperial doctors nearby were anxiously spinning around. Theyâd arrived a long while ago, but Jiu Wangfei didnât let go of Jiu Wangyeâs waist. How could they diagnose the pulse?
Jiu Wangye faintly looked down at a certain national treasure that was sleeping soundly in his arms, then waved: âRetreat.â
Then he lifted Xiao Ting up and threw her over his shoulder. (T/N: I, I canâtâŚhahahaha.)
Everyone became dumbfounded. Is this Jiu Wangyeâs way of hugging people?
Looking at her who, even when carried like this, still didnât let go of Jiu Wangyeâs waist, everyone thought that this was a quirk between husband and wife, so itâs not their business.
âBrother Emperor, this minister will take her back to rest first, and then go to the Palace to apologize on another day.â
Jiu Wangye stood there in his blue robe, carrying a person on his shoulders, but still calm and indifferent.
âGo!â The Emperor felt that in the future, Zhao Hua should try to minimize contact with this Jiu Wangfei.
Also, itâs best not to let her into the Palace.
The Emperor asked the Empress to accompany the Empress Dowager to go back to rest, and along the way, the Empress Dowager called out to Princess Zhao Hua, who had caused the disaster.
The Emperor ignored his daughterâs cry for help and asked Xiao Guifei to go back with him.
The most important thing was to be careful of their liver.
Just as the masters were splitting up and preparing to leave, there was another scream from the lake.
But it was from Imperial Uncle Xiao Zhan, who jumped from the center of the lake to the edge as if someone was chasing him from behind.
âGhostâŚâ
âImperial Uncle-daren, whatâs the matter?â Xiao Ting fell into the water just now, so Xiao Zhan naturally jumped down. However, he was unlucky that his cheap son-in-law saved her first, so he swam back slowly.
But he couldnât find the right direction for a while and there were too many people in the confusion, so he swam to the center of the lake.
Unexpectedly, he saw a corpse lying quietly at the bottom of the lake. When he took a closer look, the corpse opened its eyes, and he was so scared that he jumped out and almost drowned.
After listening to him, the Emperor immediately ordered someone to check.
Sure enough, a female corpse was found at the bottom of the lake. The Emperor hadnât sent anyone to check her identity when the court lady following Xiao Guifei suddenly yelled, âTao Zhi, Noble Concubine, itâs Tao Zhi.â