Chapter 90: Prince An Falls into the Lotus Pond

Before Princess Anping fell into the water, Prince An had already brought Qi Yanzhou to the side of the lotus pond.

Prince An suggested taking some silver and purchasing medicinal herbs to treat dampness, prevent cold, and cure colds, to be sent to Jiangnan.

The flooding in Jiangnan still persisted, and it was unclear when it would end.

Even if a plague did not break out, the people would fall ill from the continuous heavy rains, and they urgently needed medicinal herbs.

Qi Yanzhou knew very well that Prince An wasn’t being so kind because he never cared about the people’s livelihood.

Buying the herbs was merely an excuse to call him to the lotus pond.

Listening to the distant cries of the women, he guessed what Prince An was plotting.

Qi Yanzhou cautiously kept an eye on the situation with the women and expressed his agreement with Prince An’s idea.

“Prince An, you are so considerate of the disaster victims. I truly admire you. How about this: let’s each contribute 100,000 taels of silver to buy the medicinal herbs for Jiangnan. What do you think?”

Prince An’s heart skipped a beat, and his face changed.

“Prince Chen, this might not be appropriate. The Emperor has already allocated 100,000 taels of silver for disaster relief. If we match that, it would look like we are competing with the Emperor for the people’s favor. If the Emperor misunderstands and thinks we want to win over the hearts of the people, it could be problematic.”

He was a leisurely prince, with no fief, and his salary was not enough to support his household.

Though Prince An’s mansion owned many properties, after expenses, there was not much left.

To suddenly take out 100,000 taels was a heavy burden for him.

Qi Yanzhou had already anticipated that Prince An would say this and had prepared his response.

“Prince An, you’re overthinking it. We only need to secretly send the medicinal herbs to Jiangnan without letting the people know who sent them.”

Prince An had no desire to be a nameless benefactor who did good deeds.

Just as he was about to object, Qi Yanzhou added, “Only by doing this can we avoid causing the Emperor’s misunderstanding. I’m sure your intention is not to gain fame but to relieve the Emperor’s worries and help the people, right?”

Prince An, having been praised so highly, couldn’t argue and had to suppress his displeasure.

“Prince Chen, don’t you think 100,000 taels is too much?”

“It’s not too much. Although a simple prescription doesn’t cost much, Jiangnan is a wealthy region with a large population. 100,000 taels of medicinal herbs won’t be enough.”

After saying that, Qi Yanzhou glanced toward the main hall.

“We’ll still need you, Prince An, to step forward and ask the officials to do something for the disaster victims. They are paid by the Emperor and should be concerned for the people. I’m sure they will be more than willing to contribute generously to buy the herbs.”

Prince An: “…”

Wasn’t this pushing him out to offend the officials?

He didn’t want to do that!

Just as he was about to find an excuse to refuse, Princess Anping suddenly fell into the water.

The cries of alarm immediately followed.

“Someone help! Miss Ye has fallen into the water! Save her!”

These were people that Prince An had arranged in advance to call for help as soon as they heard the splash.

However, the person standing behind the crowd had no idea that it was Princess Anping who had fallen.

They mistakenly called out “Miss Ye.”

Upon hearing that Ye Chutang had fallen into the water, Qi Yanzhou didn’t react at all.

He knew that Ye Chutang could swim.

Moreover, with her martial arts skills, it was impossible for her to fall into the water unless it was intentional.

Prince An thought his plan had succeeded, and his eyes briefly lit up with joy.

He immediately changed the subject and said anxiously, “How could Miss Ye fall into the water? The back garden is filled with ladies and maidservants who can’t swim, and the young boy can’t help. What should we do?”

Qi Yanzhou could tell that Prince An was subtly hinting for him to save the person.

If Ye Chutang couldn’t swim, even though he knew it was a trap, he would have jumped into the lotus pond to rescue her.

But this trap was nothing more than a joke!

He looked at the self-directed and self-acted Prince An and reminded him, “Rather than being so anxious, why don’t you find someone to help? If Miss Ye were to fall into trouble at the Prince’s mansion, you wouldn’t be able to answer to the people and the scholars!”

Prince An didn’t respond to this and said, “Prince Chen, you are skilled in martial arts and can swim. You must know how to save Miss Ye.”

With that, he shouted to the women, “Don’t panic, Prince Chen is here.”

Qi Yanzhou smiled, forced by Prince An to save someone for the sake of reputation.

“For Miss Ye’s reputation, I won’t save her. Prince An, you’d better think of another solution.”

“Prince Chen, what is fame compared to a person’s life?”

After saying that, Prince An grabbed Qi Yanzhou’s arm and pulled him toward the women’s side.

Qi Yanzhou didn’t resist.

He also wanted to see how Ye Chutang would respond. If necessary, he would help.

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The women had not yet recovered from the shock of Princess Anping falling into the water when they heard someone behind them shout that “Miss Ye” had fallen in.

If it were really Ye Chutang who had fallen in, no one would have suspected anything.

But the person who had fallen and the one needing to be saved were not the same!

“Wasn’t the person who fell into the water Princess Anping? Why is she now called Miss Ye?”

“The person calling for help seems to be from behind. Strange.”

“How can they call out without even seeing who fell into the water? What’s the point of shouting?”

The Princess heard these words and almost fainted.

Idiot!

They had shouted the wrong name, clearly revealing to everyone that Ye Chutang nearly fell into the water on purpose!

At that moment.

Prince An’s shout, “Don’t panic, Prince Chen is here,” echoed through the area.

The Princess was startled.

She feared that Prince Chen would follow the plan and jump into the lotus pond to save the person, ruining the Emperor’s plan.

She quickly shouted, “Everyone, don’t panic, it’s Princess Anping who fell, and she can swim.”

Hearing this, Prince An paused in his steps.

Wasn’t it Ye Chutang who fell into the water?

Why had it changed to Princess Anping?

In that brief moment of confusion, he was suddenly bumped into the lotus pond by Qi Yanzhou.

“Plop!”

Prince An, who had been pampered since childhood and couldn’t swim, panicked and flailed around in the water, disturbing the clear pond.

“Save… gurgle… help!”

Seeing Prince An sinking, Qi Yanzhou grinned.

“Someone, Prince An has fallen into the water!”

Hearing this, the Princess was speechless.

Was something wrong with the two of them?

Why were they both falling into the water one after the other?

The young boy who could swim immediately jumped in to save Prince An.

The Princess, seeing that her husband had been rescued, turned to look at her daughter, who was still struggling in the lotus pond.

“Anping, stop fooling around, come up.”

But Princess Anping ignored her completely, floating and sinking in the water as if about to drown.

“Help… Prince Chen… save me…”

With these words, the Princess finally understood.

Her daughter must have figured out their plan to trap Prince Chen and Ye Chutang and was deliberately acting out.

What an ignorant girl!

Her tone turned stern as she ordered, “Anping, come up now!”

Now, everyone knew that Princess Anping could swim. She was calling for Prince Chen to save her. The Prince’s mansion would lose all face!

The women followed with their own pleas.

“Princess, stop playing, the water is dirty now.”

“Prince Chen can’t swim, Princess, come back to shore.”

“The Princess has swallowed several mouthfuls of water. She’s not just playing around.”

“Doesn’t the mansion have anyone who can swim? At least bring a bamboo pole.”

Everyone was shouting, creating a commotion.

In fact, Princess Anping did want to come ashore.

But something was tangled around her ankle, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break free.

Her strength was gradually fading, and her body was uncontrollably sinking.

Water surged in from all sides, flooding her mouth and nose.

The fear of death felt like an invisible net, wrapping tighter and tighter, making it hard to breathe.

Ye Chutang noticed something was wrong with Princess Anping.

Although the water had been disturbed and lotus leaves blocked her view, she was certain there was someone beneath the surface!