“Wu Niang, be obedient.”
Seeing Princess Shou’an turn a blind eye, the young ladies on the boat felt they had guessed her intentions correctly and grew increasingly bold.
Water balls were tossed back and forth, each time either landing on Nan Liujing or splashing into the water beside her. After several rounds, Nan Liujing’s hair was dripping with water droplets, her dress soaked, leaving her looking utterly disheveled.
The mingling sounds of laughter and splashing water pierced her ears. She wasn’t angry, just irritated.
“Thud.”
Another water ball came flying toward her face, but Nan Liujing raised her hand and caught it.
“Alright, I’ve learned it now.”
Under the astonished gazes of the young ladies, Nan Liujing curled the corner of her lips and leisurely rolled up her sleeves. “Now it’s my turn.”
Several startled screams rang out abruptly.
Helan Ying lifted her eyes just in time to see Nan Liujing hurl a water ball at the young lady who had struck first.
Unlike their earlier playful antics, the water ball in Nan Liujing’s hand carried full force, even emitting a faint whistling sound as it cut through the air—
“Thump!”
The water ball didn’t hit anyone but struck the edge of the boat heavily, causing the entire vessel to sway violently.
The girls on the boat were instantly terrified, stumbling and falling into the water one after another.
Helan Ying was taken aback for a moment before her eyes curved into a smile, and she let out a derisive laugh.
With these girls falling into the water, the situation on the lake instantly descended into chaos. Some scrambled to retrieve water balls, others tried to climb ashore, while a few anxiously attempted to rescue those in the water. Several small boats collided haphazardly.
“Ah!”
Nan Liujing’s legs gave way, and she quickly crouched down, joining the others in panicked cries. “Help… I, I can’t swim…”
Even as she said this, she took advantage of the chaos to reach out and firmly grip the edge of another boat, shaking it vigorously. Under her covert actions, several more boats capsized. With successive splashes, more and more people in the water cried out for help.
The surface of the lake became a scene of utter pandemonium.
In the blink of an eye, only Nan Liujing remained steadily crouched on her boat.
She watched the young ladies struggling and calling for help in the water with indifference, and a malicious thought suddenly crossed her mind.
The lake water was icy cold. Soaking in it for even a short while would surely make them fall ill upon returning, wouldn’t it?
Heaven knew how carefully she had lived these past few years to avoid falling ill, daring not to do this or that. She had grown almost mad with envy toward these lively, healthy young ladies.
If she could make them all experience the misery of being bedridden with illness, perhaps it would ease some of her resentment…
Thinking this, she couldn’t help but curl the corner of her lips and stand up.
As she raised her head, her dark, sinister smile had yet to fade when it was caught by Helan Ying, who had been watching coldly from the shore.
Helan Ying had walked to the water’s edge at some point, the red gauze draped over her arm fluttering in the wind. Her pearl hairpins and dangling ornaments gleamed with an aggressive golden light under the bright sun, making her seem as distant and untouchable as if she were beyond the clouds.
Though her expression was unclear, Nan Liujing was certain she was staring at her—and had been for who knew how long.
Guiltily, she hid her hands behind her back.
While she was lost in thought, someone suddenly emerged from the water, clinging to her boat like a lifeline and struggling to climb aboard.
The boat swayed abruptly. Caught off guard, Nan Liujing’s vision spun—
“Thump!”
Water rushed in from all directions.
On the shore, Helan Ying, who had remained silent all along, finally waved a hand behind her.
The martial maids of the princess’s estate received the order and only then began entering the water to rescue people.
Before long, the noble young ladies, each pale-faced and drenched like drowned rats, were pulled ashore. Supported by the martial maids, they shivered as they made their way onto the bank.
Helan Ying lowered her lashes, covering her lips with a light laugh. “That low-born barbarian girl has no sense of restraint. How could you sisters confront her head-on… Quickly, take the young ladies to the banquet tents to change clothes and have some tea!”
The water’s surface returned to calm. A martial maid supported the last rescued noble lady past Helan Ying.
“What about the other one?”
Helan Ying asked.
The martial maid was taken aback, belatedly realizing: among those rescued just now, only that Nan family’s Wu Niang was missing!
“This servant will—”
“Forget it.”
Helan Ying waved lazily. “No need to bother.”
After all the noble ladies had been taken to the banquet tents by the martial maids, only Princess Shou’an remained by the Huai River.
Helan Ying strolled to the water’s edge, her hands tucked into her sleeves, looking down with an inscrutable expression at the calm surface.
Beneath the water, Nan Liujing held her breath, filled with frustration.
Her first thought was that she likely wouldn’t be able to avoid falling ill this time.
Her second thought was that staying here would only invite more torment from Helan Ying—better to seize this chance to escape…
Hearing the commotion above gradually fade, she finally stirred, swimming downstream.
But as soon as she moved, her ankle suddenly tightened.
Something cold and vine-like wrapped tightly around it, yanking hard. In an instant, she lost control and plunged into the deep water!
Nan Liujing’s pupils contracted in disbelief as she turned her head.
What met her eyes was a fiery crimson red.
As the intricate red skirt billowed open in the water, a familiar, stunningly beautiful face—bold and unrestrained—burst into her view.
He—Lan—Ying!
Nan Liujing’s mind went blank with shock.
She stared in terror at that face, kicking wildly with her feet, trying to break free from Helan Ying’s grip.
But her strength was no match. Not only did she fail to push Helan Ying away, but the distance between them only grew closer.
Those pale golden eyes locked onto her, half-smiling, tinged with a sinister air. In the shimmering waterlight, they resembled a poised venomous snake or a mesmerizing water spirit…
Having held her breath underwater for so long, Nan Liujing found it increasingly difficult to breathe.
Only when her face flushed red and she suddenly choked on a mouthful of water did the grip on her ankle finally loosen.
The next moment, Helan Ying hauled her out of the water by the collar.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Nan Liujing collapsed on the bank, coughing violently. Her clothes were completely soaked, her hair disheveled, her face frighteningly pale—like a beautiful doll drenched in lake water, barely clinging to life.
“Wu Niang, oh Wu Niang, where did you think you were escaping to? Surely not to find Pei Liuyu?”
Helan Ying half-crouched beside her, also drenched from head to toe. Her hair dripped with water, and droplets clung precariously to her brows and lashes.
She tilted her head to look at Nan Liujing. Her eyes, now wet, appeared even darker and more intense, revealing a piercing sharpness. “Planning to see him in this state, so you can pitifully accuse this princess of bullying you with my power?”
Nan Liujing was furious. Finally unable to hold back, she looked up and retorted, “Isn’t that exactly what you did?”
Helan Ying widened her eyes, putting on an innocent expression. “Heaven has eyes—how can you twist right and wrong and spout nonsense? Those young ladies kindly taught you how to swim, yet you pushed them into the water. I risked my life diving in to save you, and you even turned around to bite me, claiming I harmed you… Wu Niang, how utterly vicious you are!”
“…”
“How could I possibly let you have your way?”
Helan Ying clapped her hands, summoning two martial maids. “Take her away to change clothes and freshen up. Treat her… well.”
The martial maids led Nan Liujing into another banquet tent and then withdrew.
The tent was empty. On the clothing rack hung silk skirts as fiery red as flames, adorned with dazzling pearls and jade—so luxurious, clearly reflecting Helan Ying’s personal taste.
Her damp dress clung to her body, already turning cold. Nan Liujing dared not delay any longer. She took a clean undergarment and a less ostentatious red skirt, then moved behind the screen to change.
Just as she had removed her outer garment, she heard the tent flap being lifted. The bronze mirror before her reflected Helan Ying, who walked in without the slightest hesitation.
Helan Ying had already changed into clean undergarments, loosely draped in a silver-red robe, casually wiping the water droplets from her hair.
“…Your Highness, I haven’t finished changing yet.”
Nan Liujing pressed her lips together, holding the removed outer garment in front of her chest.
“Why put on such an expression as if you’ve encountered a rogue?”
Helan Ying paused her steps, leaning against the screen as she looked at her with a half-smile. “What, if I take another look at you, will it ruin Wu Niang’s purity?”
Her words carried hidden meanings, and her gaze was unsettling, sweeping over Nan Liujing like a thin blade grazing skin.
Feeling increasingly cold, Nan Liujing shivered, no longer in the mood to dwell on anything else.
She turned her back, tossing the outer garment in her arms aside. “I am a woman, and Your Highness is also a woman. What I have, Your Highness possesses as well. There’s nothing here that shouldn’t be seen.”
The snow-white undergarment, soaked through by the river, fell to the ground in a heap, revealing the graceful form of a young woman. Though frail and slender, her figure was long and straight, not delicate like a flower but more like the cool, elegant stem of a lotus.
Her damp hair clung to her neck, trailing down her exposed shoulders and back. A droplet of water from the tips of her hair fell, tracing a faint, winding trail along her waist…
Helan Ying’s eyes flickered slightly, about to avert her gaze, when a sudden breeze blew into the banquet tent, brushing past the long hair cascading down Nan Liujing’s back.
As the strands swayed, they faintly revealed the gleaming skin of her back and a patch of incongruous, somewhat abrupt red mark.
Helan Ying’s gaze halted.
Nan Liujing, focused and undisturbed, changed into clean undergarments and draped on the outer robe almost at the fastest speed possible.
“What is this?”
Helan Ying’s voice suddenly sounded close to her ear, filled with curiosity.
At the same time, a hand unexpectedly slipped beneath the hem of her outer robe.
“Your Highness!”
Nan Liujing trembled all over, feeling as if she were about to explode. Instinctively, she elbowed backward, trying to shake off the hand at her waist, but Helan Ying calmly dodged and instead restrained her.
“Running away? I’m asking you a question…”
The hand delved deeper, its fingertips even tracing back and forth a few times over her lower back, like a snake’s tongue—from tentative probing to lingering caresses, growing increasingly bold, making Nan Liujing almost unable to stand steadily.
“Is it a birthmark? Or was it painted on? Why does it look like a plum blossom…”
Helan Ying’s breath fanned against her ear, sending electric shivers through Nan Liujing’s body.
“It’s a birthmark.”
She gritted her teeth and struggled, “Has Your Highness seen enough… can you let go now…”
The flower-like birthmark was repeatedly caressed, not fading in the slightest but instead deepening in color.
Helan Ying finally mercifully moved his hand away, yet his arm still encircled Nan Liujing, even reaching around to her front to personally tie her sash.
Just as Nan Liujing was about to sigh in relief, Helan Ying’s tone suddenly shifted, speaking as if casually.
“Is the person you rescued from the southern city still alive?”
Nan Liujing abruptly stiffened, “…What?”
“That female physician heard what she shouldn’t have, saw what she shouldn’t have, and caused a great disaster.”
“…”
The last shred of hope vanished.
Nan Liujing’s heart tightened, and she slowly raised her eyes.
In the mirror, Helan Ying embraced her from behind, his face unusually devoid of its frivolous smile. Because of the fall into the water, his long hair was loose, hairpins removed, heavy makeup washed away, making the contours of his features appear deep and sharp, adding a touch of heroic spirit to his already striking beauty.
Their eyes met.
Nan Liujing’s expression was tense, while Helan Ying remained calm and composed.
“This matter has nothing to do with you.”
“Wu Niang, be obedient and hand her over to me.”
Author’s note:
: Who could be more cunning than me [hug]