Two maids who had originally been following Princess Sixteen escorted Xiao Jingwan into the crowd. They gave her a shove to the side. Seeing that Princess Sixteen was safe and sound, they knelt down with guilty looks on their faces.
"Your Highness, it was our dereliction of duty that made you fall into the water. Please punish us, Your Highness."
Princess Sixteen was still nestled in Xiao Bao'er's arms, crying aggrievedly. But she knew that it was because of her own playfulness that she had deliberately shaken off the two maids and fallen into the water. So she didn't blame them. She wiped away her tears, pouted, and told them to get up.
"Get up. It's not your fault. I was just being too playful. I won't do it again."
Although the princess said she didn't blame them, Ting Zhu and Ting Feng still felt bad. They had both been personally selected by the emperor from the Dragon Shadow Guards to protect Princess Sixteen. They never thought that something would happen on the princess's first time out of the palace.
Fortunately, Miss Xiao had saved the princess this time. If anything had happened to the princess, not only would their consciences have bothered them, but they would also have received the twenty - four most cruel punishments from the Dragon Shadow Guards after returning to the palace. Thinking of this, cold sweat instantly soaked through their backs.
So they gave Xiao Bao'er a grateful look, which left her feeling rather dazed.
Why did these two maids look at her as if she was their savior just because she had saved Princess Sixteen? It was as if she had also saved them...
But Xiao Bao'er didn't know that this time, she had saved not only the three people in front of her but also many people who would have been killed by Xiao Jingwan in the future. One of them was very important to her.
The lady beside them spoke up carefully, "Two ladies - in - waiting... What's going on with Miss Xiao Si?"
Ting Zhu and Ting Feng then remembered that they had brought someone along. They explained to Princess Sixteen, "When we heard Miss Xiao's cry for help, we rushed over immediately. But Miss Xiao Si was in a hurry to get away from this place. So we suspected that Miss Xiao Si might have something to do with the princess's fall into the water."
After saying that, they gave Xiao Bao'er a guilty look. Miss Xiao Si and Miss Xiao were from the same family. What if they had misunderstood Miss Xiao Si and caused Miss Xiao to have a bad impression of them?
Ting Feng hesitated for a moment and then continued, "Everyone rushed towards the lake when they heard the cry for help, but Miss Xiao Si ran in the opposite direction. This made us suspicious."
Xiao Jingwan, who had been pushed by Ting Zhu and Ting Feng, didn't stand steady and fell to the ground. She was in pain all over. When she was being escorted here, Ting Zhu and Ting Feng had dislocated her arm to prevent her from running away.
When they reached the crowd, they put her arm back in place. This whole process had made this delicate young lady, who had been raised in a boudoir, gasp in pain. When she was pushed just now, she hadn't even stood steady, and she had sprained her ankle.
Now, hearing Ting Zhu and Ting Feng slander her as having something to do with the princess's fall into the water, she was almost furious.
Seeing the increasing suspicion in everyone's eyes, she didn't care about the pain on her body and quickly defended herself, "I didn't push the princess into the water. I just... just wanted to go and call for help."
Yes, she wasn't scared. She just wanted to go and call for help.
Thinking like this, Xiao Jingwan felt more confident. So what if Xiao Bao'er had seen her do nothing while someone was in danger? She had no evidence. As long as she insisted that she was innocent, what could Xiao Bao'er do to her? If Xiao Bao'er pushed her too hard, she would cry in front of everyone and make Xiao Bao'er bear the blame of mistreating her sister.
So she turned the tables and shouted, "It's you two. You brought me here without finding out the truth and even dislocated my arm. Do you know that my uncle is Prime Minister Xiao? If he knows that his niece has been humiliated by you, he will never let you go!"
Seeing that Xiao Jingwan had brought up Prime Minister Xiao and was so confident that she was innocent, some of the on - lookers began to believe her.
At this time, after learning that Princess Sixteen had fallen into the water, the Princess of Lin'an rushed over with her entourage. When she heard that the ladies - in - waiting beside the princess suspected that Xiao Jingwan had something to do with the princess's fall, she wished she could kick these two sisters out of the door.
If it weren't for the princess's instructions to take good care of the two sisters from the second branch of the Xiao Mansion, she would have definitely convicted them directly and sent them to be punished.
The Princess of Lin'an suppressed her anger and dissatisfaction. She used her eyes to ask Xiao Jingwan if she had done this. When she saw Xiao Jingwan shaking her head like a rattle, she knew in her heart.
Xiao Jingwan had no grudge against Princess Sixteen, and she couldn't be so stupid as to harm a member of the royal family. After thinking for a while, the Princess of Lin'an decided that this was just a misunderstanding. So she also spoke up to defend Xiao Jingwan.
"Two ladies - in - waiting, could there be some misunderstanding here? It's quite normal for Miss Xiao Si to run in the opposite direction to call for help when she heard someone cry for help. We can't suspect Miss Xiao Si just because of this."
Among the crowd, there were some families that had close relations with the Xiao Mansion. The ladies of these families also spoke up for Xiao Jingwan.
"Yes, pushing the princess into the water must be with the intention of harming the princess. But what good would it do Miss Xiao Si?"
"Right, right. Miss Xiao Si is still young. It's understandable that she didn't react immediately to save the person when she suddenly learned that someone had fallen into the water."
Seeing that someone was speaking up for her, Xiao Jingwan became even more confident. "I'm not that stupid to harm Her Highness the princess. It's you two low - class maids. You were derelict in your duties and tried to shift the blame onto others. Do you think you can escape the punishment for your dereliction of duty by slandering me? How naive."
Ting Zhu and Ting Feng didn't look happy when they heard everyone's words. They admitted that they were guilty of dereliction of duty, but when they saw Xiao Jingwan looking so guilty as if she was running away, how could they not be suspicious?
So they would rather wrongly accuse a hundred people than let one go, and they had brought Xiao Jingwan in front of everyone. Now it seemed that they might have suspected the wrong person.
Xiao Bao'er looked sharply at Xiao Jingwan. What a sharp - tongued girl! If she hadn't seen with her own eyes that Xiao Jingwan had done nothing while someone was in danger, she might have thought, like others, that Xiao Jingwan was innocent in this matter.
But she really had no evidence to prove that Xiao Jingwan had done nothing while someone was in danger. Could she only let her go this time?
Damn it!
Xiao Bao'er was a bit annoyed. It was really too easy on such a vicious - minded person.
Seeing that Ting Zhu and Ting Feng couldn't say anything in defense, the Princess of Lin'an felt relieved. Fortunately, these two ladies - in - waiting only suspected but had no solid evidence. So she could safely clear Xiao Jingwan of suspicion.
The Princess of Lin'an smiled and said clearly, "Two ladies - in - waiting care about the princess, but you shouldn't slander a noble young lady casually. Now it's all a misunderstanding. The princess is safe and sound, and everyone can feel at ease."
Seeing that the Princess of Lin'an wanted to let this matter go, Xiao Jingwan felt that the pain on her body was even more unbearable.
So she showed her dissatisfaction and shouted angrily at Ting Zhu and Ting Feng, "You two low - class maids don't think you can get away with this so easily. If you want me to forgive you, you have to do to yourselves what you did to me. Otherwise, I will definitely ask Uncle the Prime Minister to report you to the emperor."
When the surrounding ladies saw Xiao Jingwan being so unreasonable and calling others "low - class maids" all the time, they were extremely unhappy.
Just as Ting Zhu and Ting Feng were hesitating whether to do as Xiao Jingwan said, Princess Sixteen, who had been nestled in Xiao Bao'er's arms, suddenly grabbed a handful of dirt and sand from the ground and threw it at Xiao Jingwan.
"It was you! It was you who pushed me!!"