The abstinent and powerful minister is cold and aloof during the day, but he adores her in his dream

Chapter 44 Taking the Opportunity to Cling On

Zhiwan was startled and obediently retreated. She saw the man standing in her original spot with a cold face. He said to Wei Jinyi, who was still struggling in the water, in a cold voice, "If you don't want to drown, grab onto a tree branch!"

Whether it was intimidated by his cold tone or because Wei Jinyi happened to be able to reach the branch he offered, she obediently reached out and took it.

Just as he was about to pull her up, Lu Zhan suddenly turned to look at Wei Jinyi's maid, "You pull her up!"

Whether the maid didn't hear or was frightened, she kept her head down and remained unmoved.

An impatience flashed across Lu Zhan's brows, his voice icy, "Don't you want to protect your young lady's reputation?"

The maid's eyes flickered.

Lu Zhan sneered and ordered directly, "Chen Jiu, you come here!"

Chen Jiu glanced at Wei Jinyi in the water, his expression hesitant.

The other person is already soaking wet. Will they take the opportunity to cling to me?
He never intended to marry such a pampered young lady.

Seeing him dawdling, Lu Zhan raised his voice, "Chen Jiu!"

Chen Jiu was startled and dared not hesitate any longer, so he quickly stepped forward.

Just as he was about to take the branch from his master, the maid seemed to finally come to her senses and hurriedly stepped forward, grabbing the branch from Lu Zhan's hand first. "No need to trouble yourself, I'll do it."

Chen Jiu breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the maid had a change of heart.

Otherwise, his innocence may be in jeopardy!

Lu Zhan had already let go and stepped back.

As he turned to leave, his gaze fell upon Zhiwan beside him. His handsome face hardened, and he coldly reprimanded, "So the lesson of falling into the pool last time wasn't enough?"

Zhiwan's face flushed red, her red lips parted slightly, "I..."

"Don't try to be brave next time. You can't always be so lucky!" Lu Zhan interrupted her in a deep voice.

Zhiwan lowered her head and said in a soft voice, "I know..."

Lu Zhan paused for a moment, then, upon hearing the sound of Wei Jinyi being pulled ashore, he didn't linger and quickly left with Duan Ling and Ouyang Lei.

As she watched the man walk away, Zhiwan suddenly felt something was wrong. Why did her cousin say that just now?

How did he know she had fallen into the pool?
One summer afternoon last year, she couldn't sleep, so she came to the garden alone to admire the lotus flowers.

Seeing the beautiful lotus pods, I couldn't resist picking them, so I stood by the pond and reached out to grab them.

Unexpectedly, he slipped into the pool.

She was terrified and struggled and screamed in the water.

Unfortunately, at that time of day, the garden was deserted due to the summer heat.

Just when she thought she was going to drown, she was suddenly pulled out of the water.

By the time she caught her breath, the person who saved her had already left.

She didn't even see clearly who saved her.

Falling into the pool was too embarrassing and a matter of reputation, so she never mentioned it to anyone. There were people secretly looking for someone to save her, but they found nothing.

How could my cousin know about this?
Could it be that the person who saved her was actually her cousin?

Realizing this possibility, Zhiwan's breath hitched.

"Young lady, the person has been found." At this moment, Dongxiang hurried over with several old women.

Zhiwan snapped out of her daze, glanced at Wei Jinyi who had been pulled up and was sitting on the ground looking completely disoriented, paused, and shook her head, "No need, the person has been rescued, thank you for your hard work."

Dongxiang breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that the person has been rescued."

"Miss, are you alright?" Wei Jinyi's maid, Yihong, asked, crying.

Wei Jinyi was either stunned or for some other reason; she sat there blankly, without saying a word.

Zhiwan walked over and said, "Yihong, help your young lady back to her room to change her clothes, and make some ginger soup so she doesn't catch a cold."

As if waking from a dream, Yi Hong hurriedly helped Wei Jinyi up. "Miss, let's go back." Wei Jinyi didn't say anything, letting her help her. As she passed by Zhi Wan, she gave Zhi Wan a cold look.

Upon seeing this, Zhiwan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

"What happened? How did someone suddenly fall into the water?"

Upon receiving the news, Madam Wei rushed over, looking very worried.

She had originally ordered someone to keep an eye on Wei Jinyi and prevent her from getting close to Lu Zhan.

Those below, seeing that Lu Zhan was not in the mansion, did not follow him into the garden.

Who knew that in just half a day, something bad would happen to him.

Although she didn't particularly like her niece Wei Jinyi, she couldn't allow anyone to get into trouble in her own home.

Seeing Wei Jinyi standing there safely, Wei finally felt relieved.

Upon seeing Madam Wei, Wei Jinyi burst into tears and threw herself into her arms, crying, "Aunt!"

Her clothes were completely soaked, and when she threw herself into Wei's arms, Wei's clothes were instantly soaked as well.

Madam Wei held back for a moment before not pushing the person away, and even patted her on the shoulder, saying, "Alright, alright, it's all over now, isn't it? Don't cry anymore, go back and change your clothes."

Wei Jinyi nodded hesitantly.

"Aunt," Zhiwan walked over and said apologetically, "it's my fault for not keeping a good eye on Jinyi."

Madam Wei said, "How can this be your fault? Besides, Jin Yi isn't a three-year-old child who needs someone to look after her. You must be frightened by what happened. Go back and rest."

"Okay." Zhiwan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she was not angry.

A flicker of resentment and unwillingness crossed Wei Jinyi's eyes.

If it weren't for Zhiwan's meddling and finding some tree branches, her cousin would definitely have jumped into the water to save her...

Wei and Wei Jinyi left quickly.

Lu Lan, who had been quiet all along, patted her chest and said, "Sister Jin Yi fell into the water just now, it was really scary, thankfully she's alright."

Ouyang Zhenzhu scoffed, "We're going to be scared to death, but they'll be fine anyway."

Lu Lan was taken aback and stared at her blankly, "What do you mean by this, Sister Pearl?"

Ouyang Zhenzhu snorted coldly and said no more.

Zhiwan said, "Lu Lan, you've been quite frightened today. Go back and rest well."

"Yes, Sister Zhiwan." Lu Lan replied obediently and left with her maid.

Once there was no one else in the garden, Ouyang Zhenzhu spoke without any restraint.

She said angrily, "She had ulterior motives in asking us to fly kites. Her real purpose is Lord Lu. She's really cunning, using us so thoroughly."

"Thank goodness you were quick-witted and found a tree branch. Otherwise, in such a critical moment, Lord Lu couldn't have just stood by and watched her die, could he? He would have definitely jumped into the water to save her, and then she would have had a reason to blame Lord Lu."

Zhiwan remained silent.

The incident happened so suddenly, and seeing Wei Jinyi constantly calling for help, she didn't think of anything else.

Looking back now, it all seems like an incredible coincidence.

The kite gets caught in a tree, falls into the water, and Lu Zhan appears...

When Zhiwan thought about the fright she had suffered at the time, she couldn't help but feel indignant.

Wei Jinyi is truly cunning; she has them all completely manipulated.

"How did you figure out that she did it on purpose?" Zhiwan asked indirectly.

“I didn’t realize it at first. It was only when I saw Lord Lu appear that I became suspicious. Then I saw Wei Jinyi’s maid not worried about her young lady’s reputation being damaged at all, so I guessed that their target was Lord Lu! In addition, your cousin probably realized it too, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked Chen Jiu to go and rescue her!” Ouyang Zhenzhu said thoughtfully.

(End of this chapter)