"Third young miss! Third young miss, where are you? "Mei Xiang retrieved the cloak but could not find Xiang Rong. She remembered that when she left, Xiang Rong was waiting at the side of the bridge. Why was it that when she returned, there was no trace of her?
Mei Xiang stood on the bridge and looked down. She swept her eyes over all the places that she could find, but she still could not find her.
She thought that Xiang Rong might have been too cold and could not wait to go back first. The two had diverged and did not run into each other, thus she quickly ran back.
But when she returned to her room, she found that Xiang Rong had not returned at all!
Mei Xiang became anxious, but she did not dare say anything. She could only go back and search once more, but she still found nothing.
The servant was so tired that she could not catch her breath. Finally, she still had her reason. After thinking for a while, she went to Tong Sheng pavilion to search. She went straight to the small moon gate in Willow courtyard and saw the servant keeping watch. She quickly asked: "Did you see the third young miss come in this direction?"
The servant had received the order and was quite polite to the people in An shi's courtyard. Hearing her ask, she shook her head and replied: "No, nobody came here for the entire night. What is it? Why did you come here in the middle of the night to look for third young miss? "
Mei Xiang anxiously stomped her foot, "No good, I need to go back and tell concubine mother An that the third young miss has disappeared!" After saying this, she turned and ran.
An shi was still dreaming. When she was woken up, she wondered if she was dreaming. In a daze, she saw Mei Xiang crying and could not help but ask: "It's so late at night. Instead of staying at third young miss' side, what are you crying for?"
Mei Xiang was crying too hard and could not speak properly. She could only have An shi's personal maidservant, Ping 'er, relay the message: "Mei Xiang just said that the third young miss has disappeared."
"What?" An shi was extremely shocked and immediately got out of bed. While putting on her clothes, she asked Mei Xiang: "What exactly happened, quickly tell me!"
Mei Xiang recounted everything that had happened once more. By the end, the three had already left the courtyard and were rushing towards the man-made lake.
"This servant did not dare shout too loudly, fearing that someone else would hear. Perhaps it was because I did not search carefully. Concubine mother, please search a little more!"
Madam An was both angry and anxious. She couldn't help but pinch Meixiang and say angrily, "If you can't even keep an eye on the young miss, what's the point of keeping a maid like you?"
Meixiang knew that she was in the wrong. How could she dare to quibble? She could only say: "As long as Third Miss is fine, Meixiang will be at concubine mother's disposal."
Ping 'er also tried to persuade An shi: "Concubine mother, don't worry. Right now, finding the third miss is the most important thing. Let's go faster!"
The three of them almost jogged to the side of the bridge, but the artificial lake at night was quiet, and there was not a single person in sight.
The more Madam An searched, the more desperate she became. In the end, she simply sat by the lake and looked at the tranquil water. She had the urge to jump in. If Ping 'er hadn't found something wrong with her in time and pulled her back, she would have fallen into the water.
At this moment, Meixiang shouted from nearby, "Come and see!"
The two of them were shocked. They quickly got up and ran in that direction. When they arrived, they saw Meixiang pointing at a spot by the lake. Her face was pale with fright, and she said with a trembling voice, "Look at this rock, did someone step on it and crush it?"
Hearing her say this, An shi and Ping 'er also took a look. Sure enough, it was clear that half of the rock had been stepped on by someone, and a brand new piece of rock was exposed. Looking at it, it was a shocking sight.
"Ping 'er." An shi suddenly calmed down. Although her body was still trembling slightly, she was no longer as panicked as before, "Go and inform elder madam. Just say … third young miss fell into the water and asks elder madam to save her."
"Yes." Ping 'er complied then ran over to Shu Ya courtyard.
News of the third young miss falling into the water very quickly spread throughout the manor. Aside from housekeeper He Zhong and the servants of the manor, the first to rush over was Chen Yu.
They saw her rush over to the side of the lake and glance at An shi before turning her gaze back to the surface of the lake. Staring blankly for a while, she then quietly asked Yi Lin: "Say, how deep is this lake?"
Yi Lin replied: "This servant heard housekeeper He mention it before. The largest man-made lake in the manor is nine feet deep."
"Nine feet." The corners of Chen Yu's lips curled up into a smile, "Nine feet of water, Xiang Rong would definitely drown if she fell in, right?"
Yi Lin was startled. In her impression, the third young miss had always been a silent person. It seemed as though she did not have any direct conflicts with the eldest young miss, so why would the eldest young miss say such a thing?
On the other side, He Zhong had already sent servants who were good at swimming into the lake to look for her.
The Feng manor's man-made lake had an opening at the bottom, so the water was alive. Although it was Winter, it did not freeze. But with such cold water, anyone who jumped in would shudder. No matter how good they were at swimming, they would not be able to endure the cold.
Not long after those servants jumped in, they climbed back up. Each of their lips had turned purple from the cold, and their limbs were stiff.
Chen Yu took a couple steps forward and put on a Bodhisattva face. Looking at the people in the water, she said: "The water is too cold. They are also people. They will freeze to death."
The servants looked at Chen Yu gratefully, as though this eldest young miss was a goddess of mercy. No one had ever cared about their life and death. Only Eldest Miss would. Although it was just a sentence, in the hearts of these servants, even on such a cold winter night, they felt warm.
However, just as this gratitude began, they heard An shi loudly say: "Go bring some wine! As long as you carefully search for the third young miss in the lake, each of you will be rewarded 50 taels! "
With such a large reward, there would definitely be brave men. With An shi saying this, the people that had been moved by Chen Yu's words immediately became spirited. Without another word, they turned around and dove back into the water.
What life or death, in front of 50 taels of silver, it was all nonsense. They did manual labor for the Feng manor, and their monthly wage was only two taels. 50 taels was two years' worth of wages, so what was there to argue about?
Thus, the search for Xiang Rong truly began.
When the matriarch arrived, she saw a group of servants who knew how to swim endlessly swimming in the lake. There were even some who were better at swimming that dove straight down to search.
The matriarch nodded, "The Feng family needs this sort of servant."
He Zhong felt a little guilty and wiped away some sweat. He thought to himself, if it were not for concubine mother An promising money, who would search like this!
Unfortunately, searching at night in the ancient era was truly too difficult. Without a light, what could they see with just the moonlight? The group of people searched in the water for a long time, but they did not find the slightest thing.
Some people could not endure the cold and climbed out of the water to take a sip of wine. After resting for a while, they immediately dove back into the water. With such a commotion, the matriarch also became anxious.
"An shi, come over here." The matriarch sat on a soft chair and could not move, so she could only call An shi to her side, "I will ask you, why did Xiang Rong run out in the middle of the night? Why did you not keep an eye on her? "
An shi was on the verge of going crazy. How could she still worry about saying such things to the matriarch. She did not have much of a good temper and just replied: "She could not sleep and wanted to go see the second young miss." After saying this, she walked back to the side of the lake.
The matriarch angrily shouted: "Stop right there!"
An shi was startled and stood where she was.
"How bold are all of you? You actually dare to give me such a look? An shi, have you gone crazy? "
An shi suddenly turned her head and glared at the matriarch with an anger that she had never shown before. This caused the matriarch to tremble in fear, "What are you doing?"
"Elder madam." An shi spoke up and asked her with great confusion: "Your granddaughter fell into the water, yet you do not care if she is alive or dead. At this sort of time, you are investigating whether this concubine is right or wrong. Why exactly is this? Even if the third young miss is the daughter of a concubine, she is still your granddaughter. Do you not feel distressed? "
"How could I not feel distressed?" The matriarch trembled with anger: "Aren't we all searching? No matter how anxious I was, could I have jumped in to search as well? You all ran out in the middle of the night instead of sleeping. Now that something has happened, the entire manor is in chaos, yet you still dare to question me? "
"This concubine is not questioning elder madam. This concubine is just feeling sad for the third young miss." Being born in this sort of family, it really was chilling.
"Concubine mother, I found something!" Before the matriarch could speak, Mei Xiang suddenly shouted, "Concubine mother, quickly look. This is the third young miss' shoe!"
An shi quickly ran over and saw that Mei Xiang was holding a shoe dripping with water. It was made of pink brocade, and it was something that she had personally made for Xiang Rong at the beginning of Winter.
At first, she still held onto a glimmer of hope, thinking that Xiang Rong might not have fallen into the water, but now that she saw this shoe, An shi's final hope was extinguished.
Her nerves that had been stretched taut immediately collapsed. Her legs gave out, and she plopped to the ground.
Ping 'er quickly rushed over in fear, but at this time, another servant came out of the water and loudly shouted: "Look, does this handkerchief belong to the third young miss?"
Everyone turned their heads to look. Mei Xiang was most familiar with Xiang Rong's things, so she immediately recognized the handkerchief. It was the one that Xiang Rong had been holding when they came out tonight.
"My daughter." An shi collapsed and began to cry.
The people in the water gradually began to climb out of the water. Even if there was a reward, their physical strength had reached its limit.
Chen Yu quickly gave an order: "Quickly go get a blanket." This caused everyone to feel grateful.
There was a servant that could be considered physically strong that was barely able to stand up and reply to his masters. He then said to the matriarch: "I fear that she sank too deep. The surface of the lake is too large, and the night is dark. It truly could not be found."
The matriarch nodded, "It is indeed a little difficult." She then looked at the crying An shi and recalled what she had said about Xiang Rong being her granddaughter. She could not help but sigh internally, "Take it easy for a while. In a while, go down and search again."
The matriarch had already spoken, so what else could the servants say. They could only nod and helplessly begin warming up.
At this time in Han shi's courtyard, Fen Dai was standing in front of Han shi's bed and forcefully shaking her: "Quickly get up! Something happened to Xiang Rong. Everyone went over to take a look. How can you still sleep? "
A Ju carefully said to Fen Dai: "Concubine mother has been sleeping very deeply these past few days. She is also a little more lazy than usual."
Fen Dai did not understand what these words meant, but she did not think too much about it. She continued to shake Han shi and raised her voice a little: "Get up! Quickly get up. "
The final word was spoken directly into Han shi's ear. The person that had been "sleeping" in bed could no longer continue pretending and woke up in a daze. "Fourth young miss? Why are you here? "She asked while looking outside," Is it daybreak? "
"What daybreak!" Fen Dai angrily rolled her eyes, "I called you for a long time. Why did you not wake up?"
Han shi stretched and helplessly said: "Didn't you always say that I was pregnant. People who are pregnant all like to sleep. This is considered normal."
"Is that so?" Fen Dai did not understand.
Han shi nodded, "It was the same when I was pregnant with you."
Fen Dai's eyes lit up, "Then you are saying it like that. You really are pregnant?"
"I am not a doctor." Han shi thought a little then said: "Wait a few more days. When the pulse has stabilized, we will invite a doctor into the manor to take a look. Right now, the days are still short. Don't make any mistakes."
"Right, right, right." Fen Dai repeatedly nodded, "There's no need to worry about a bit later. Being accurate is most important. Alright, you can lie down. I will go on my own. "
"Un, then be careful. The lakeside is dangerous. You absolutely must not get too close."
"Huh?" It would have been fine if Han shi had not warned her, but this warning caused Fen Dai to feel that something was off, "The lakeside? How did you know that I would be going to the lakeside? "
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