Chapter 376 – Her Scheme Failed
Chapter 376 Her Scheme Failed
Yu Dong had already been on full alert. What happened just now didn’t seem to be a big deal, but it was abnormal to Yu Dong. However, Qu Moying didn’t say anything, so he didn’t act rashly.
Now that Qu Moying had ordered the maid to sweep the platform, Yu Dong definitely would not let the maid get away. He walked up to the maid, grabbed her by the collar, and pushed her to the platform as he said, “Sweep the platform first.”
Although Yu Dong didn’t look strong, he was stronger than an ordinary maid. He exerted strength on his hand, and the maid from Grand Princess Mansion was pushed to the platform by him.
Just as Yu Dong loosened his grip, the maid, who had just stepped on the platform, immediately lost her balance and slipped to the railings as she screamed.
She slipped forward because of inertia, and the low railings couldn’t stop her. She slipped over the railings and fell from the platform with a scream.
She fell into the lake with a plop, and water splashed everywhere.
There were a few ladies talking happily on the first floor next to the lake. The water splashed on their faces and clothes.
Then, somebody screamed, “Someone fell into the water! Someone fell into the water! Save her!”
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong suddenly stood up. She couldn’t see what was happening through the window next to her, and the water didn’t splash her, but she was also frightened. Looking at Liu Jingyu and the other young ladies who were also scared pale, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong reacted quickly. She urgently ordered an old maid beside her, “Quickly send someone to help.”
No matter which young lady fell from above, it was not good to have such an accident in her mansion.
She had heard a loud noise upstairs just now, and she had sent someone upstairs to see what had happened. But the one she sent upstairs hadn’t come down yet, and something happened upstairs.
Hearing Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s order, the old maid reacted quickly. She quickly turned around and went out to look for maids and old maids who could swim.
Since this accident happened in the inner yard, it was not a good idea to ask lad servants and people of the outer yard for help.
However, the outer yard was on the opposite side of the lake, and it was not far from the lake. It was said that there were male guests in the outer yard today. It would be worse if the male guests there saw what happened here.
“I’ll go upstairs to have a look.” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said with a frown after the old maid left.
“I will go upstairs with you.” Liu Jingyu also stood up and said softly with concern.
Several other young ladies said that they would go upstairs as well.
At this time, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong could not care about the others. She brought a few maids to the second floor. Until now, she did not know which young lady fell into the water. She only hoped that it was not one of the ladies she thought of. Otherwise, it would really be a big deal.
At the stairway of the second floor, there was a large chair. It was placed casually, but it didn’t block the way because it had not been moved to the stairs yet.
At this time, the maid from Grand Princess Mansion stood there trembling with a pale face.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong looked around and saw the other two young ladies standing there trembling. She then asked anxiously, “What happened?”
When she was downstairs just now, she noticed that Qu Moying was not on the first floor. It was easy to recognize Qu Moying because she wore a long eye veil. However, she did not see Qu Moying on the second floor now, either. She couldn’t help but pinch her handkerchief, and her expression became serious.
If Qu Moying was just a lady of Vice Minister Qu’s Mansion, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong definitely would not get nervous because of her. However, Qu Moying was said to be someone to whom Lord Yun took a fancy. If something really happened to Qu Moying, even Grand Princess Changyu might be implicated, not to mention her.
“She… fell down…” Hearing Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s question, a lady stammered. Her face was deathly pale, and she was obviously frightened.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong walked towards the platform anxiously and saw a maid standing on the platform with one hand grabbing the low railings around the platform.
Looking at the figure of the maid, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong found that the maid looked like Qu Moying’s maid. She felt her head buzzing.
She did invite Qu Moying for other purposes this time, and she did want to test Qu Moying to see if she was the same as the rumors said, but when she saw the jade fan that Qu Moying wore, which was said to be from Lord Yun Mansion, she had already decided not to offend Qu Moying even if Qu Moying was useless.
She didn’t think Lord Yun would fall in love with Qu Moying, who had an eye disease. However, Qu Moying would be Lord Yun’s woman in the future, and she was the only woman Lord Yun had accepted. No matter what the reason was, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong felt that she shouldn’t act rashly. Qu Moying could be useful to her.
Maybe Qu Moying really would be of some use to her.
Seeing that Qu Moying’s maid stepped forward in a panic, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong also wanted to go to the platform. She held her maid’s hand and was about to step onto the platform, but Liu Jingyu suddenly grabbed her by the sleeve. “Prefectural Princess, please wait a moment. There is water on the platform. I’m afraid it is very slippery.
Liu Jingyu pointed to the water on the platform. There was an artificial hill near the platform, and water flowed down from the artificial hill. There were indeed some traces of water on the platform, but they were on the outer part of the platform.
“It’s okay. I will be careful.” Prefectural Princess Xiangrong said. She wanted to see the situation below. She wanted to know if the servants had saved the drowning person.
“Prefectural Princess, please take care.” Liu Jingyu did not loosen her grip. She grabbed Prefectural Princess Xiangrong by the sleeve to stop her from stepping onto the platform, and she seemed to care about Prefectural Princess Xiangrong very much.
Prefectural Princess Xiangrong brought many servants, and so did Liu Jingyu. Neither of them went up to the platform. They and their servants blocked the entrance to the platform, and no one walked onto the platform.
The platform looked dangerous, and no one dared to walk onto the platform at this time. Although there were no water traces on the platform entrance, someone with sharp eyes saw a long water trail from the platform to the railings. It should be left by the one who fell from the platform as soon as she went on the platform.
“What’s wrong?” A voice suddenly came from behind everyone around the platform. Everyone looked back in shock. They saw Qu Moying come out from behind a curtain with a surprised look on her face.
There was no nice view or platform at the place where Qu Moying had been staying. There was only a window with a curtain. Therefore, no one paid attention to that place when they came upstairs, and they naturally did not notice that there was someone over there.
“Fourth Lady Qu?” Seeing that Qu Moying was safe and sound, Prefectural Princess Xiangrong unconsciously said with a somewhat high tone.
Liu Jingyu’s hand that was holding Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s sleeve trembled. Her fingers slowly fell from Prefectural Princess Xiangrong’s sleeve, and her eyes turned cold. She looked at Qu Moying in surprise and doubt. She had never expected that Qu Moying would be here now. She immediately panicked, and she glanced at the maid from Grand Princess Mansion, who was standing at the stairs, and her face became fierce.
That maid kept trembling and didn’t dare to raise her head.
The one standing on the platform and grabbing the railings was Yu Dong. Hearing Qu Moying’s voice, he quickly turned around, pointed below, and said to Qu Moying, “Lady, someone fell down.”
“Fourth Lady Qu, what are you doing there? There was no beautiful scenery there, right?” Liu Jingyu said through clenched teeth.
“I rested there for a while.” Qu Moying frowned and looked at Yan Yujiao, who was standing next to Liu Jingyu. Yan Yujiao was clenching the handkerchief in her hands, and she lowered her head slightly. She was not looking at anyone. But Qu Moying could see that Yan Yujiao kept a straight face and seemed very nervous.
Liu Jingyu said unhappily, “You rested for a while? Someone fell down from the platform just now and made such a big noise. How could you still rest?”
“So, County Lady Jingyu, do you mean that I have to care about it very much?”
The two young ladies standing aside looked at them vigilantly hand in hand but didn’t say anything. Others didn’t know what had happened just now, but the two of them had witnessed it. After the maid who swept the floor fell from the platform, Qu Moying turned around and walked to the curtain.
They were not foolish. They didn’t pay special attention to the situation just now, but they now realized that the maid who fell down from the platform had ulterior motives, and the cause of the accident was related to Liu Jingyu’s tea.
Now, Liu Jingyu was questioning Qu Moying. It seemed that something was really wrong with Liu Jingyu.
Liu Jingyu knew that she was a little anxious, and her words were a bit rash. Her face softened, and she explained with a smile, “Fourth Lady Qu, I just wonder why you were there, and I’m worried about you.”
“Thank you for your concern, County Lady Jingyu. You have always been kind.” Qu Moying bowed to Liu Jingyu but did not explain further.
However, the meaning behind Qu Moying’s words made Prefectural Princess Xiangrong look at Liu Jingyu again.
Yan Yujiao pinched her handkerchief again. Thinking of the accident last time that almost killed her, she felt resentful.
However, she couldn’t make trouble for Liu Jingyu. When she came to Grand Princess Changyu’s mansion today, Liu Jingyu acted as usual and was very intimate with her. But Liu Jingyu kept mentioning Qu Moying to her. If Yan Yujiao didn’t know the truth of the accident last time, she would have started making trouble for Qu Moying after being instigated by Liu Jingyu.
Even if she didn’t directly challenge Qu Moying, she would have made things difficult for her.
Liu Jingyu had always appeared to be kind, decent, and gentle. She was never the troublemaker, and she was always the innocent one when something bad occurred.
Qu Moying’s words hit Yan Yujiao’s heart. Yan Yujiao originally hesitated, but she made up her mind after hearing Qu Moying’s words, and a trace of hatred flashed in her eyes.
“Fourth Lady Qu, you are too polite. It’s best that you are fine. Prefectural Princess Xiangrong and I thought it was you who fell from the platform. But who on earth fell down?” At this time, Liu Jingyu had already calmed down. She smiled and looked at the other two young ladies as if she had indeed asked Qu Moying out of concern just now.
The other two young ladies looked at each other and shook their heads hesitantly.
The braver one of the two young ladies said, “It’s… It’s a…”
Yu Dong suddenly pointed down and screamed, “Lady, the person in the water… that person hasn’t been rescued yet. What should we do?”
He was the one who could see the situation below most clearly among the others on the second floor. Hearing his words, everyone looked over, and someone couldn’t help but squeeze forward.
At this moment, a scream sounded, and a figure fell down…