"What happened to the young lady?"
Madam Shi stood up abruptly.
She rose so quickly that she felt dizzy and her vision went black.
Nonetheless, her mind was too consumed for caution at this moment, and she immediately struggled to get up again.
"Is it Wanrong? What happened to Wanrong?"
The personal maid said in panic.
"For some unknown reason, the young lady fell into the pond in the garden. Fortunately, she has been rescued, but... the one who saved her was a man, and he actually held the young lady!"
This sentence really made Madam Shi’s heart go through twists and turns.
Upon hearing about the fall into water, her heart instantly sank to the bottom of the lake.
Upon hearing she’s been rescued, her mood improved slightly, but upon hearing she was held by a man, her heart again plunged into an abyss.
Madam Shi’s vision went black and she nearly fainted, but the maid quickly caught her.
"Madam, Madam, please don’t be too upset!"
Madam Shi was desperate.
"Not upset? How can I not be upset?"
She pushed the maid aside and rushed out, giving orders as she went.
"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and lead the way!"
The maid responded and quickly led the way ahead.
"Please, Madam!"
...
Although it’s March, and spring is warm with blooming flowers, the water in the garden was still quite cold.
Jiang Wanrong fell into the pond, soaked all over, her lips turned purple from the cold, and she was shivering.
Consort Zhou Taipin received the news immediately and lost the mood for watching the play. She personally arranged for people to place her in a warm side room to bathe, change clothes, light charcoal, and warm up.
Additionally, she arranged for a bunch of maids to attend to her, which seemed sufficient.
After much consideration, she sent someone to the palace to invite the Imperial Physician.
"A girl, if she falls ill, it’s my fault!"
A madam nearby comforted her.
"She won’t!"
"Once the Imperial Physician arrives, he’ll give her a thorough diagnosis, prescribe some herbal medicine to fend off the cold, and everything will be fine!"
"Young girls don’t have such issues!"
The other madams around also chimed in.
Consort Zhou Taipin sighed with relief, and only then did she relax, and everyone else also breathed a sigh of relief.
...
Just as the madams were accompanying Consort Zhou Taipin out of the side room, they saw the people from Fuguo Duke’s Mansion rushing over.
Kin, they saw Madam Imperial Concubine and Lady Sun scolding Lv Zhaoliang, who was also as wet as a drowned rat.
"You’re too mischievous!"
"She’s a young lady not yet betrothed, how could you act so recklessly!"
"What if something happens, what then!"
"You’ve always been reckless, but others aren’t like you!"
Lv Zhaoliang looked aggrieved.
"Aunt, Mother, you’re wrongly accusing me. I clearly saved her, why are you saying I harmed her?"
"If I wanted to harm her, I would have ignored her, wouldn’t I?"
Madam Imperial Concubine relentlessly scolded him.
"If you ignore her, naturally the servants would attend to her!"
"Now look what’s happened, her reputation is ruined, are you happy?"
"What are you doing here anyways, surrounded by women?"
Her words left everyone stunned, even Consort Zhou Taipin couldn’t understand for a moment.
She hurriedly stepped forward to explain.
"This child acted with good intentions, you don’t need to be too harsh on him!"
"Furthermore, this matter was merely a judgment call at the moment, it’s still cold, everyone’s dressed warmly, and wasn’t soaked entirely through! Hardly a reputation ruined!"
"Saving a life is greater than creating a seven-story pagoda, this is indeed a great good, you all should commend him!"
Consort Zhou Taipin’s decades in the palace allowed her to see through Fuguo Duke’s Mansion’s intentions clearly.
They intended to use the tactic of ruining a reputation to force others to comply.
However...
They forgot, that she despised such schemes the most.
A girl’s reputation is more important than life itself, and wanting to leverage that is utterly disgraceful.
Consort Zhou Taipin grew more disdainful of Fuguo Duke’s Mansion.
Not only Consort Zhou Taipin, others also saw through it somewhat, and looked at the members of Fuguo Duke’s Mansion with various degrees of contempt in their eyes.
Ha-ha...
This Lv Zhaoliang really is a spoiled villain, unable to find a bride, now comes to harm young ladies, with Fuguo Duke’s Mansion supporting it, truly shameless.
"Imperial Noble Consort speaks the truth, Young Master Lv acts heroically, saving my child’s life, we are immensely grateful!"
Madam Shi suddenly stepped forward, staring intently at the members of Fuguo Duke’s Mansion and continued.
"A life-saving favor is greater than anything!"
"I will surely bring my child to express our gratitude in person!"
"Though inconvenient today, we ask Madam Imperial Concubine and Madam Sun and you, honored young master, for understanding!"