Xiao Jinghui was already startled by the small bumps on her body. She quickly told the maids of the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion to close their eyes. If word got out that someone had seen them, her reputation would be completely ruined.
But before the maids could close their eyes, the door of her guest room was suddenly pushed open. When she saw the Princess of Lin'an leading a group of people at the door, she felt dizzy and wished she could die.
She stood there stiffly, her hands tightly clutching her clothes, trying to cover herself up. But the red bumps all over her body had already been seen by everyone, and it was useless to try to cover them.
The Princess of Lin'an looked at Xiao Jinghui in horror and let out a frightened scream. "Xiao Jinghui! What are those things on your body? It's so disgusting!!"
She remembered that she used to be so close to Xiao Jinghui. When they were on good terms, they even helped each other try on clothes. She never thought that there would be so many strange things on her body. She didn't know if these things were contagious.
Xiao Jinghui quickly put on her clothes and staggered to her knees at the feet of the Princess of Lin'an, her eyes full of tears. "Princess, Princess, please listen to me. It's not what you see. I'm not sick. I don't know why these things suddenly appeared on my body..."
The Princess of Lin'an instinctively kicked away the hand that Xiao Jinghui had placed on her skirt and took a few steps back in disgust, shouting sharply, "Don't touch me. Stay away from me!"
The noble ladies all frowned and took out their handkerchiefs to cover their noses and mouths lightly, for fear of being infected by the things on Xiao Jinghui's body.
"How could someone have so many red bumps? It's so disgusting."
"I heard that some women who are not self - respecting and mess around with men get venereal diseases, and it's like this."
"Ah, really? The girl from the Xiao Mansion shouldn't be like that..."
"Who knows? Maybe it's the problem of this third Miss Xiao herself. Otherwise, how can we explain the things on her body?"
The whispers of the crowd gradually reached Xiao Jinghui's ears. She shook her head desperately at them and shouted, "No, no, I didn't."
But her hoarse and desperate denials didn't get her a single look from the crowd. Instead, the noisy voices attracted more people. Some ladies who came to the flower - viewing banquet were attracted over and saw Xiao Jinghui in this embarrassing state.
Xiao Jinghui didn't have time to continue explaining. She quickly closed the door to block the sight of the crowd.
The Princess of Lin'an was now only thinking about finding a royal physician quickly to check if she had been infected with the strange disease by Xiao Jinghui. She even forgot the real purpose of her visit.
Xiao Bao'er, who was worried about the Sixteenth Princess, lifted her skirt and ran on the path. She only hoped that she could get to the Sixteenth Princess in time to stop her from falling into the water.
The lake in the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion was very large. Xiao Bao'er wasn't sure where the Sixteenth Princess had fallen into the lake. She could only search along the winding path by the lake. The path was so winding that she couldn't see the whole scene by the lake, so it took her more time to search.
After searching for about an incense stick's time, Xiao Bao'er thought that if she continued like this, it would only be a waste of time. So she found a path that led to the rockery for viewing the scenery and planned to climb to a high place to observe the scene by the lake first.
When she huffed and puffed her way up the rockery, she found a furtive figure standing in the woods not far from the lake. Xiao Bao'er took a closer look and found that it was Xiao Jingwan, who had been covered in mud and gone to change clothes.
Following Xiao Jingwan's line of sight, Xiao Bao'er saw the Sixteenth Princess standing by the lake, kicking the water boredly.
Xiao Bao'er couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. In her previous life, when she learned that the Sixteenth Princess had fallen into the lake, all kinds of schemes had flashed through her mind. Who would have thought that the Sixteenth Princess was so bold that she dared to play by the lake alone.
Just as Xiao Bao'er was about to shout a warning to the Sixteenth Princess to be careful, the Sixteenth Princess stepped on the moss on the stone by the lake and "plop" fell into the lake.
Although it was an expected scene, it still frightened Xiao Bao'er badly. She lifted her skirt and quickly ran down the rockery. When she passed by Xiao Jingwan, who was still hiding in the bushes, the two of them glanced at each other. From Xiao Jingwan's eyes, it was very clear to see the calculation and a hint of panic that she hadn't had time to hide.
Xiao Jingwan had changed her clothes and felt ashamed. She didn't want to go back to the crowd, so she just walked along the lake to relax. Unexpectedly, from a distance, she heard the maids looking for the Sixteenth Princess. Only then did she know that the most beloved Sixteenth Princess by the emperor had also come to this flower - viewing banquet.
She thought that if she could win the favor of the Sixteenth Princess, then this embarrassment would be worth it. Unexpectedly, she was really lucky. Not long after walking, she saw the Sixteenth Princess playing alone by the lake.
Although Xiao Jingwan had never seen the Sixteenth Princess, judging from her dress and age, she was sure that the little girl in front of her was the Sixteenth Princess. But she hadn't thought of how to please the Sixteenth Princess yet, so she had to hide in the dark and observe secretly first.
Unexpectedly, the Sixteenth Princess accidentally fell into the lake. She originally wanted to rush out and save the girl, but when she looked around and found that there was only herself around, she thought that she would let the Sixteenth Princess stay in the lake for a while. When the girl was about to lose strength, she would then go and save her.
In this way, the Sixteenth Princess, a child who had narrowly escaped death, would surely regard her as a benefactor and she could win the favor of the Sixteenth Princess.
But Xiao Bao'er's appearance shattered Xiao Jingwan's fantasy. At the moment when the two of them looked at each other, her first reaction was whether Xiao Bao'er had seen her standing by and doing nothing. If Xiao Bao'er had seen it and spread the news, she didn't even dare to think about the consequences.
While Xiao Jingwan was still standing in the bushes, hesitating, Xiao Bao'er had already jumped into the lake and fished out the Sixteenth Princess. She shouted for help while helping the Sixteenth Princess vomit out the water in her stomach.
Seeing that it was Xiao Bao'er who had saved her, the Sixteenth Princess was so scared that she tightly hugged Xiao Bao'er and cried loudly. "Waaaaa, Sister Bao'er, it's so scary. I'll never play by the lake alone again. It's so scary, waaaaa."
Xiao Bao'er let out a sigh of relief. Hearing the powerful cries of the Sixteenth Princess, the stone in her heart finally fell.
While no one had come yet, Xiao Bao'er checked her veil through the water surface. Fortunately, the veil was still there and the terrible thing under it hadn't been revealed.
Fortunately, she had come in time and the Sixteenth Princess hadn't been in danger. As for Xiao Jingwan, she never thought that the truth behind the would - be savior was like this.
The time it took for Xiao Bao'er to run down the mountain and reach the lake was enough for Xiao Jingwan to save the Sixteenth Princess several times. But unexpectedly, she just stood there stupidly. Xiao Bao'er sneered. She thought that the saying "greed will bury you" was so appropriate to describe Xiao Jingwan.
Xiao Bao'er's cries for help attracted many people. Seeing that it was the Sixteenth Princess who had fallen into the water, everyone felt a bit scared. This was the most beloved princess of the emperor. If something happened to her, they didn't know if those who had come to the flower - viewing banquet would be implicated.
The ladies who surrounded them took out the extra cloaks and wrapped the Sixteenth Princess and Xiao Bao'er tightly. Just as everyone was nervously asking if the Sixteenth Princess was okay, Xiao Jingwan's voice came over.
"What are you doing? Let go of me. I didn't push the princess into the water."