NOVEL WEB
Chapter 112
Yuwen Hao asked: "What happened?"
Yuan Qingling swallowed back the words that were about to burst from her lips and said: "I came here with Second Brother. I don't have a car to go back."
Yuwen Hao said: "Go sit in the side hall and wait for this king. This king will leave soon and take you back to the mansion first."
"Then I'll go take a walk in the garden." It would be good to get some fresh air and clear my head.
"The wind is too strong in the garden. Go sit in the side hall!" Yuwen Hao's face darkened.
"Understood." Yuan Qingling left with Lv Ya.
She didn't go to the side hall. Disobeying his words, she went to the garden instead.
Sitting on the grass by the lake, the wind was strong, blowing her hair into a mess. Lv Ya accompanied her behind, seeing her master's unhappy expression, not knowing why she seemed so upset when the Prince was so good to her health.
"Is the Consort hungry? Should I go ask if there is anything to eat?" Lv Ya said.
"Hmm!" Yuan Qingling wanted to be alone for a while, so she let her go as she wished.
Lv Ya hurried off.
Yuan Qingling looked at the shimmering ripples on the lake. The sunlight shone upon it, like there were thousands of glittering gold fragments. In the distance, the willow branches swayed, and chrysanthemums bloomed gloriously. This human world was so beautiful!
But King Chu probably could not see it anymore, right?
She sighed softly. Medicine chest, please help him.
"What is there for the Consort of Chu to sigh about? Isn't Fifth Brother treating you well now?"
It was really unfortunate to encounter inappropriate people at inappropriate times.
She didn't respond, hoping the other would take a hint and leave.
Chu Mingcui never took hints. She stood by Yuan Qingling's side, a pair of embroidered ribbon shoes with coiled branches appeared in Yuan Qingling's view. The toe of the shoes was inlaid with a huge pearl. In the sunlight, it shimmered with flowing light and shadow.
"I never knew you were so scheming," Chu Mingcui said coldly.
"Can we not make pointless remarks?" Yuan Qingling said indifferently.
Chu Mingcui's gaze fixed on the hairpiece on top of Yuan Qingling's head. "I can't stand to see you so smug."
"You'll just have to endure it, Consort Qi," she reminded her of her status.
"I could have been Consort Chu."
Yuan Qingling laughed softly. "Yes, you could have been."
There was resentment in Chu Mingcui's voice, "You took everything from me."
"You gave up everything yourself."
"Nonsense!" Chu Mingcui scolded angrily.
"Don't treat others like fools. Do you think you can hide what you did from everyone?" Yuan Qingling shook her head. "Perhaps only Prince Qi and Yuwen Hao believe you. Even I can see through this trickery."
Yuan Qingling stood up. This place had unpleasant sounds now and was no longer beautiful.
The two women stared at each other confrontationally. There was sharp anger in Chu Mingcui's beautiful eyes.
"What use is your hatred? If I withdraw now, can you still marry Yuwen Hao?"
"At least the imperial family would be much cleaner without you."
Yuan Qingling said solemnly: "Marquis Huiding is your uncle. If these words of yours spread, do you think he would just be exiled that simply? I advise you to not be envious of what's in others' bowls when you have your own. This is the path you chose yourself. Even if you have to cry and beg, you still have to walk down it."
Yuan Qingling turned to leave.
Chu Mingcui grabbed her arm, her eyes full of hatred and a few red veins. "What does he see in you anyway? You're useless."
She added bitterly through gritted teeth, "You are a whore, a slut."
Yuan Qingling looked at her in astonishment. These words sounded so discordant coming from Chu Mingcui's mouth.
What kind of anger and regret had forced the dignified and elegant Chu Mingcui to utter such vulgar words?
Yuan Qingling shook off her hand and laughed.
That seemingly disdainful laugh at the end completely provoked Chu Mingcui.
She shoved Yuan Qingling into the lake fiercely, as if staking her all.
Yuan Qingling's wounds were not completely healed. Her whole body was weak, and she did not expect that Chu Mingcui, who appeared to be a delicate lady, would have such great strength to pull her in without any chance to resist.
She couldn't swim. After falling into the water, she thrashed about, trying hard to grab onto something, but Chu Mingcui kept pulling her down, forcing her head underwater.
The icy lake water enveloped her. She felt like her head was like a sponge, with her mouth, nose, and ears all sucking in water. She hurriedly held her breath. Her chest felt terribly uncomfortable, as if about to explode.
She struggled, trying to push Chu Mingcui away, but Chu Mingcui seemed to have boundless strength, pressing down on her head and neck, not allowing her to surface.
Yuan Qingling gave up struggling. She pulled out the hairpiece on her head and stabbed out blindly. The water tasted of blood. She had stabbed Chu Mingcui.
The pressure on her head and neck disappeared. She hurriedly kicked her legs and waved her arms to paddle upwards, finally getting her head above the water surface, greedily gasping for air. The exploding sensation in her lungs quickly subsided.
She saw Chu Mingcui slowly sinking into the water. There were traces of blood spreading on the surface. While paddling, she caught a glimpse of Chu Mingcui's mad and smug expression.
Just that one look made her heart thump ominously.
Before she could speculate further, she heard cries from the shore, "The Consort has fallen into the water! The Consort has fallen into the water!"
Many people rushed over together, as if they had been lurking nearby, watching, and came to the rescue as soon as the shout rang out.
Still dizzy and muddled, Yuan Qingling was pulled ashore and laid on the ground. Someone came over to pat her face anxiously calling out, "Consort Chu, Consort Chu, are you alright?"
Chu Mingcui was also pulled out, with two to three bleeding wounds on her body, still bleeding water as she emerged.
More people crowded around. Prince Qi pushed through the crowd and rushed up to hug Chu Mingcui, asking anxiously, "How did you fall into the water?"
Yuwen Hao had also arrived. His expression was gloomy as he first glanced at Yuan Qingling, then Chu Mingcui.
Chu Mingcui spat out some water, then kept coughing. Shivering, she clung onto Prince Qi with chattering teeth.
"It's alright, it's alright. I'm here," Prince Qi held his beloved wife dearly, extremely distressed.
"It was Consort Chu who pushed Consort Qi into the water," a maid said.
Princess Changping Yuwen Ling angrily scolded, "Nonsense!"
The maid was shouted down by Yuwen Ling and retreated back a step, her face pale as she lowered her head.
After catching her breath, Yuan Qingling slowly sat up and looked at Yuwen Hao, "It wasn't me."
Yuwen Hao looked at Chu Mingcui.
Chu Mingcui's lips trembled. Curling up in Prince Qi's embrace, she kept coughing, crying between coughs, covered in injuries and dripping blood. She presented a extremely miserable and wretched sight.
Prince Qi coldly glared at Yuan Qingling, "If it wasn't you, did she jump in herself?"
Lv Ya came rushing back and was so frightened by the scene that her face turned pale.
Yuwen Hao ordered Lv Ya to help Yuan Qingling up and said to Prince Qi, "This king will provide you an explanation for this matter."
"Fifth brother must not continue indulging her," Prince Qi said coldly.
Yuwen Hao cast a cold glance at Yuan Qingling, his voice tinged with anger, "Back to the mansion!"
Yuan Qingling knew he wouldn't believe her. She let Lv Ya support her up and staggered away under the strange looks from the crowd.
Once out of the mansion gates and into the carriage, Yuan Qingling sneezed continuously. In her damp clothes on this autumn day, she felt piercingly cold.
But all that was nothing. She knew that once back at the mansion, what awaited her would surely be a raging storm.
Pushing his beloved woman into the water, how could he not kill her?
Yuwen Hao also got on the carriage. Seeing the shivering Yuan Qingling leaning against the side, he swore angrily, "I told you to rest in the side hall. Why did you go to the garden trying to die?"