Hearing Shen Ying’s words, Jin Dou was so terrified that its fur stood on end. Looking at the blackening progress bar, it thought that if Shen Ying actually went to matchmake Jiang Wei and the tyrant, it might die immediately.
Although the current situation was not much different from death, it was, after all, only hanging over their heads, and there was still room for a turnaround. Naturally, Jin Dou still wanted to struggle for a bit.
On the other hand, hearing Jin Dou’s words, Shen Ying felt even more bewildered. “Jin Dou, do you know something?”
She had suspected earlier that Jin Dou seemed to be hiding something from her. Seeing Jin Dou like this now, the suspicion in her heart deepened.
“I… I don’t know.” Jin Dou’s cat eyes looked everywhere—at the sky, at the ground—just not at Shen Ying.
The words it originally wanted to say were forgotten due to Shen Ying’s interruption. Seeing Jin Dou’s guilty expression, Shen Ying became even more convinced that there was something wrong with it.
Unfortunately, Jin Dou was best at playing dead. At this moment, it refused to speak again, sprawling there as if it were truly dead.
Speaking of death, Shen Ying touched her own neck.
Looking in the bronze mirror this morning, after applying the medicine given to her by the Little Crown Prince, the swelling seemed to have gone down quite a bit, and it no longer looked as gruesome as yesterday.
Since Jin Dou did not answer, Shen Ying could not figure it out either. Sighing, she lowered her head to look at the water below. The pond was a emerald green, like a piece of flawless fine jade.
Her reflection was mirrored in it, and several red carp could be seen swimming past underneath, setting off ripples on the surface.
Shen Ying’s hand touching her neck paused, and she stared at the pond water a bit longer. The reflected shadow was not particularly clear, but that did not stop Shen Ying from looking at it.
When she tried to hang herself earlier—oh, no, when she tried to commit suicide—she had actually felt panic in her heart. Facing death, her body instinctively began to feel terror. However, at the thought of her family, Shen Ying’s sinking heart instantly came alive again.
She thought that it was ultimately just a matter of closing and opening her eyes. As long as she gritted her teeth and endured it, she would be able to go home as soon as she opened her eyes again.
Thinking this, she leaped forward and jumped straight down.
Noticing what Shen Ying had done, Jin Dou took a deep breath. Before the scream could escape its throat, it heard another scream.
“Ah—”
Who?
Who uttered its scream?
Jin Dou turned its head and looked around, trying to find the person who made the sound.
Just as she fell into the water, Shen Ying heard a scream.
Immediately after, she heard a splash.
Shen Ying, who had originally allowed herself to sink, vaguely heard something about the Crown Prince and ended up floating up to take a look after all.
This time, she heard it even more clearly.
No, she did not even need to listen; she saw it. For some reason, the Little Crown Prince had fallen into the water. When she floated up, the Little Crown Prince was instead sinking down.
The people following the Little Crown Prince jumped in after him one after another, like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Some only remembered that they could not swim after they had jumped down. But thinking that if something happened to the Little Crown Prince here, they would certainly be finished as well, they gritted their teeth and continued to thrash around in the water.
Shen Ying was shocked. She immediately swam in the direction of the Little Crown Prince and hauled him up out of the water in one move.
During this time, court maids and imperial guards who could swim also jumped down to rescue the Little Crown Prince. Seeing Shen Ying swimming ashore with the Little Crown Prince in her arms, they turned back to pull up those who could not swim.
Thanks to the timely rescue, the Little Crown Prince was fine; he had merely swallowed a few gulps of water.
“My Little Highness, why did you jump down? Quick, call the imperial physician, hurry!”
Eunuch Liu had also jumped down just now. At this moment, disregarding the fact that he was drenched all over, he jogged over and knelt beside the Little Crown Prince, wanting to check how he was doing, only to be pushed away by the Little Crown Prince.
“Don’t touch me!”
The Little Crown Prince did not have much strength, but Eunuch Liu could not withstand his sudden push, causing Eunuch Liu to be knocked to the ground.
The child’s little face was scrunched up into a ball, clearly extremely angry.
“You… why did you lie to me?” The Little Crown Prince looked at Shen Ying with red eyes.
It was originally just a confrontation, but as soon as the words were spoken, tears flowed down. He choked up as he asked, “You clearly promised me that you wouldn’t try to seek death again. Why did you jump down just now? You lied to me, you liar!”
Seeing that the Little Crown Prince and Shen Ying were completely drenched, a court maid hurriedly brought over outer robes to wrap around them.
Shen Ying glanced at the half-dead Jin Dou, then at the Little Crown Prince, and lied against her conscience, “I didn’t try to seek death. I just dropped my belonging, so I went down to fetch it. I know how to swim; see, didn’t I rescue you? If I were trying to seek death, how could I have saved you?”
“Really?” The Little Crown Prince stopped his tears and looked at Shen Ying with a face full of doubt.
He had come to find Shen Ying after finishing breakfast, wanting to play with her for a while. Unexpectedly, he only learned after going to Mingxiu Hall that she had gone out. Meeting a Candidate Maid Jiang, he found out she had come here.
When he searched his way over, Pei Yun only saw someone jump into the river from the pavilion.
Although he could not see the appearance clearly, the Little Crown Prince just knew that person was Shen Ying. Disregarding his own small stature, he immediately tried to jump down.
“Of course it’s true.” The more Shen Ying spoke, the more confident she became.
Only she knew the truth in her own heart. As long as she stubbornly refused to admit it, who could know what she was thinking?
Seeing the Crown Prince’s expression soften considerably, Eunuch Liu immediately stepped forward and said, “Crown Prince, please go change your clothes quickly, lest you catch a cold.”
The Little Crown Prince did not speak, only staring at Shen Ying.
“Go change your clothes.”
She was also drenched herself and needed to go back to change into a new set.
“You come with me.”
Shen Ying felt helpless. She did not want to go, but the Little Crown Prince’s hand held tightly onto hers the entire time, leaving her with no choice even if she did not want to.
“Alright then.”
Eunuch Liu wanted to carry the Little Crown Prince, but unexpectedly, the Little Crown Prince looked at Shen Ying instead. “You carry me.”
Shen Ying picked up the Little Crown Prince. A six-year-old child was naturally not light, not to mention that the Little Crown Prince was chubby. The moment she picked him up, Shen Ying regretted it; he was too heavy, and she could barely hold him up.
Fortunately, Eunuch Liu brought a palanquin over, making it much easier for her to sit on it while holding the Little Crown Prince.
Upon arriving at the Eastern Palace, Eunuch Liu hurriedly led the Little Crown Prince to change his clothes, but the Little Crown Prince’s hand never let go of Shen Ying’s.
Helpless, Eunuch Liu had no choice but to say, “Candidate Maid Shen, please trouble yourself to help the Crown Prince undress.”
Having spent a few days here, Shen Ying understood that helping him undress meant assisting him with changing. She looked at the Little Crown Prince, nodded, changed his clothes, and then changed out of her own wet clothes.
The weather was hot and the garments were thin; in fact, on the way back, her clothes were already half-dry. A court maid brought the replacement clothes to Shen Ying.
As soon as Shen Ying stepped out after changing her clothes, the Little Crown Prince, who was sitting there waiting, got up, rushed toward Shen Ying, and threw himself into her embrace.
“Mother, please don’t leave, okay?”
Shen Ying tried to pull the Little Crown Prince off, but could not budge him. She did not know where the child got such strength, but his arms remained tightly wrapped around her neck.
“If you choke me any tighter, I really am going to be choked to death by you.”
The Little Crown Prince was startled and hurriedly let go.
He looked at Shen Ying somewhat timidly, “Mother, Yun’er didn’t do it on purpose. Mother, please don’t abandon Yun’er. I will be good and obedient, please don’t leave.”
Looking at the Little Crown Prince crying until his face turned red, Shen Ying sighed in her heart. Eunuch Liu handed a handkerchief over with great tact.
Shen Ying took it and wiped the tears for the Little Crown Prince.
“Crown Prince, please stop crying. I… I am really not your mother. You have mistaken me for someone else.”
The Little Crown Prince hiccupped as he cried, “N-No, Yun’er hasn’t mistaken you. You are Mother, you are Mother, the exact same Mother as in my dreams.”
Shen Ying did not take the Little Crown Prince’s words to heart. Even if people in ancient times matured early, the Little Crown Prince before her was just a six-year-old child.
It was entirely normal for a child to mistake someone’s identity.
Seeing that she did not believe him, the Little Crown Prince grew anxious as well, “It’s true, it’s really true, Yun’er isn’t lying.”
“Alright, alright, I believe you.”
The Little Crown Prince clearly caught the insincerity in Shen Ying’s tone and instantly panicked, “It’s true, it’s really true, I really have seen Mother in my dreams, several times. Mother held me and even coaxed me to sleep.”
Shen Ying could not understand what he was talking about at all, but seeing the child’s anxious state, she could only nod, “Yes, yes, yes, I believe you.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Then will Mother still leave Yun’er?”
Shen Ying fell silent.
She could gloss over other matters, but regarding this issue, Shen Ying did not know how to answer. Especially knowing that after she jumped down earlier, the Little Crown Prince had also jumped in right after seeing her, which made it even harder for her to know how to respond.
In this child’s heart, he clearly regarded her as his mother for real, leaving Shen Ying unable to bring herself to lie to him. Especially seeing how much he missed his mother, Shen Ying found it even more impossible to pretend to be his mother.
Uncharacteristically, Shen Ying said in a serious manner, “Crown Prince, you are still small. Some things, you will be able to understand when you grow up. I really am not your mother. Your mother has simply gone to a very distant place.”
Words like these had also been said to her when she was young.
They said her grandfather, who doted on her, had gone to a very distant place. When she gradually grew older, she came to know that it meant death.
What was originally intended as comfort unexpectedly made the Little Crown Prince nod in solemn agreement, “Yes, Father told me long ago that Mother went to a very distant place, a place where neither Father nor I can go.”
Shen Ying had not expected the tyrant to have said such words to the Little Crown Prince. She stroked the Little Crown Prince’s hair, ultimately remaining silent.
Presumably because the Little Crown Prince had fallen into the water, Eunuch Liu did not dare to delay and still had a inner eunuch beside him report truthfully to His Majesty.
Before the person dispatched by Eunuch Liu arrived, Pei Lin had already received the news.
Da Fu was startled upon hearing that the Little Crown Prince had fallen into the water. Only after hearing that he was fine did he carefully inquire how he had fallen into the water out of nowhere.
After listening to the process, he could not help but gasp, “The Crown Prince jumped down himself?”
This inner eunuch was also beside the Little Crown Prince earlier, so he had naturally witnessed the entire event. Having received Eunuch Liu’s instructions, he reported everything in full detail.
“No, you, you, you, go back immediately. Go call Liu Zhen over and have him tell me in person!”