Chapter 20: The Maid Who Confessed Her Guilt

Li Ning’an couldn’t help but be somewhat serious.

Shui Yue Rong hoped that by having her present, she might be able to request a more skilled physician to examine Sixth Brother.

“Sixth Brother fell into the water previously, which caused damage to his mind, making him as if he were a child.”

“Today, he must have been startled again, and it seems he’s having another episode. I need to get there quickly.”

“He… wasn’t he a genius on par with Fu Minglang?” Li Ning’an indeed remembered this person.

After the top scholar, there was the second place.

The Duke of Dingguo’s Sixth Young Master had also once walked through the imperial streets.

How did it come to this?

This indeed could not be delayed.

“You and I will go together.”

Li Ning’an also wanted to see what had happened.

The scene at the water pavilion was already chaotic due to the fight between Yan and Guo.

There were people trying to mediate, watching the drama, taking action, and avoiding the mess.

Sixth Young Master Shui had been drawn in to watch the commotion and, amidst the pushing and shoving, fell into the pond.

Guo Zhou immediately distanced himself, retreating a few steps from the pond, shouting, “Yan Ziqi, it’s all your fault!”

“If you hadn’t acted, he wouldn’t have fallen.”

“You’re useless and ineffectual, and today you even pushed Sixth Young Master Shui into the pond. It’s truly despicable.”

Yan Ziqi, seeing the person who had fallen into the pond was an adult but only flailed about without calling for help, gave Guo Zhou a disdainful look. “Instead of wasting time complaining, why don’t you jump in and save him?”

Yan Ziqi might offend the Duke of Dingguo’s household, but Guo Shangshu might not quarrel with the Duke over his son.

Even at this point, he couldn’t help but bicker.

Truly sick.

Yan Ziqi removed his outer robe and jumped into the pond with a splash. Being a good swimmer, he rescued Sixth Young Master Shui and swam back to shore.

The servant attending to the situation rushed to the flower hall to inform everyone.

The Duke of Dingguo’s wife was terrified and hurriedly supported her mother as she made her way to the water pavilion.

She saw her drenched son and was overwhelmed with grief, exclaiming, “My son!”

She had once been so proud of this son; now, her heart ached with pain and guilt.

Shui Mingxi, having ranked second in the imperial examinations, had entered the Hanlin Academy. He was well-liked by the Grand Tutor and had become his disciple.

With such a path laid out before him, his career should have been smooth.

One night, he slipped and fell into the pond, causing a severe bump on his head, which resulted in him having the mind of a three-year-old.

Seeing that her son’s attendants were not around, the Duke of Dingguo’s wife’s anger flared as she asked:

“Who brought him here? He always needs someone to attend to him.”

The Duke of Dingguo’s servants knelt on the ground, each more confused than the last.

The Duke of Dingguo’s wife had no choice but to instruct a servant to take Young Master Yan to a side courtyard to change into clean clothes.

She couldn’t reprimand her own son’s servants for the commotion; after all, it was the negligence of Mingxi’s attendants that led him to run away.

“Little sister, I’m scared,” Shui Mingxi clung to Yan Ziqi’s sleeve, unwilling to let go.

It seemed as though he mistook Yan Ziqi for Shui Yue Rong.

Yan Ziqi was considering whether he should knock him unconscious to free his sleeve when he noticed the Duke of Dingguo’s wife’s somewhat pleading look.

He felt a moment of softness.

A child cherished by his mother was truly fortunate.

“Why don’t I take Sixth Young Master Shui back?”

Yan Ziqi led Shui Mingxi forward, signaling a servant to guide them, while Shui Mingxi timidly clung to his sleeve.

He ignored everyone else and called Yan Ziqi “little sister.”

The Duke of Dingguo’s wife, preoccupied with finding the culprit who led Mingxi to the water pavilion, did not care about the potential ridicule from the revelation of the truth.

She first asked everyone to leave and then went to Mingxi’s courtyard.

Just at that moment, Shui Yue Rong arrived with Princess Ning’an.

In the Duke of Dingguo’s household, the young masters were all adults. Even Shui Mingxi had to stay in the front courtyard.

The servants in Shui Mingxi’s courtyard knelt with their foreheads reddened from bowing.

They had no idea who had taken Sixth Young Master out, let alone who had pushed him into the pond.

As Shui Yue Rong and Shui Mingxi were siblings, there was no need to be overly concerned with propriety. Thus, she directly went to see Sixth Brother.

The Duke of Dingguo’s wife was still searching for the culprit who led Mingxi to the water pavilion when Li Ning’an stepped forward and spoke gently:

“Let’s first find someone to take Madam Fu away,” the Duke of Dingguo’s wife said.

Seeing that Fu Mingying was still there, she asked in confusion, “Why are you with Princess Ning’an?”

With so many women in the flower hall and her concern for her son, she naturally did not keep track of everyone leaving. But in a family of high status, who doesn’t have their own troubles?

No one would stay behind to watch the spectacle.

Li Ning’an noticed that Fu Mingying was too frightened to speak, so she said, “She said she was sent by a maid from Shui Yue Rong’s side.”

The maid from Shui Yue Rong’s household had just arrived and was still in the courtyard.

She quickly knelt and said, “I’ve been in the room taking care of the mistress and haven’t left except for this moment.”

Only Fifth Miss’s maid had come over, but she hadn’t seen that girl follow them.

As a senior maid beside Shui Yue Rong, she clearly explained the situation.

Shui Yue Rong knew her mother would be too busy managing the flower banquet, so she had sent a second-class maid to help out.

The new bride was busy preparing a pair of embroidered handkerchiefs for her mother-in-law to show her needlework.

While she was occupied with this, she heard Fifth Cousin’s maid come over in a hurry.

“Sixth Young Master fell into the pond and was startled. Seventh Miss, you should go and take a look.”

Shui Mingxi and Shui Yue Rong were full siblings. He had always been very fond of his younger sister. After the accident, he was in a daze, couldn’t sleep well, and looked haggard.

Shui Yue Rong had slept on an outer couch for half a month, staying with him.

Only then did Shui Mingxi start to improve.

Since then, whenever he was scared, he would call out for his sister.

A person with Mingxi’s temperament would find it hard to marry anyone.

The Duke of Dingguo’s wife was worried about what to do when Yue Rong married.

If someone introduced a gentle and virtuous woman, she could only claim that Mingxi’s career was important and that he planned to establish himself before marrying.

Since women could not be delayed, she had already arranged Yue Rong’s marriage with the Loyal and Brave Marquis’s family.

The Duke of Dingguo’s wife originally thought that if nothing else worked, she would arrange a marriage for Mingxi with a daughter from a minor family.

At worst, she would offer a larger dowry to silence the other party.

Now, it seemed that Mingxi’s illness was likely known to everyone.

The Duke of Dingguo’s wife listened to the whole story and instructed someone to bring Fifth Miss from the second house.

Fifth Miss Shui was set to marry a month before Shui Yue Rong this year.

She was the one in the water-green dress who tried to block Princess Ning’an.

If that maid had been a bit smarter and led Princess Ning’an around a bit more, and if Fu Mingying had delayed Princess Ning’an further, her plan might have succeeded.

After Shui Yue Rong left, Princess Ning’an would see a man running away in disarray with his clothes in disarray.

What a pity.

One step short.

When Fifth Miss Shui arrived, she slapped her maid across the face with a loud smack.

“Who allowed you to have such crooked thoughts?”

Fifth Miss Shui then knelt on the ground, crying like a pear blossom with rain, as if her maid had hidden a huge secret.

“Auntie, it’s my failure to discipline her properly.”

“To have raised such an ungrateful wretch.”

“I will accept any punishment Auntie deems appropriate. I have no complaints.”

Her maid, more straightforward, glared at the Duke of Dingguo’s wife with resentment and struck out at her.

“It’s because I couldn’t stand seeing the main house doing well. Why should the second house’s young master not inherit the marquisate?”

She confessed everything.

She had instructed the second-class maid sent by Seventh Miss to mislead Princess Ning’an and had Fu Mingying delay the princess.

She had already bribed Sixth Young Master’s servant to secretly take him to the water pavilion and push him in.

She had lured Seventh Miss out, letting the hidden man climb the wall and run out in disarray.

As long as Princess Ning’an saw it, it would ruin Seventh Miss’s reputation and prevent her from marrying.

Unfortunately, Princess Ning’an’s response was too quick.

“Hahaha, the old lady has always been biased. But how is the eldest young master any less clever? He is also the legitimate eldest son.”

“Why place hope on that fool!”