Zhu Yao felt that she was quite unlucky!

Every time she encountered Li Shiyan, she ended up plunging into water.

But this time was different from the last—her mood was vastly different too. Having just been rescued from the water, her face was covered not only with water but also tears, all mixed together, both salty and bitter!

Her distressed feelings were also tangled together. Besides being choked and unable to breathe, her throat felt as if it had been stuffed with a ball of cotton that grew larger and larger from the water she had swallowed, making it impossible to catch her breath.

Li Shiyan was also frightened. Why was it that every time he encountered her, it was this kind of scene?

“Miss Zhu, are you alright?”

She sat on the ground with her mouth open, gasping for air with difficulty, her hands clutching her slender arms tightly.

She kept crying non-stop.

“You… please don’t cry!” Li Shiyan had always been afraid of women crying.

Whenever a woman cried in front of him, he was completely at a loss!

Zhu Yao only felt a buzzing in her ears, with Li Shiyan’s earlier words constantly echoing in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more her heart ached, hurting like needle pricks.

Li Shiyan assumed she was just frightened.

Cai’er had gone to fetch some pastries. When she returned and saw the scene before her, she froze in shock, and the several plates of pastries in her hands all fell to the ground…

She rushed over immediately.

“Miss!” Cai’er embraced Zhu Yao, extremely worried. “Miss, what happened to you?”

Li Shiyan stepped aside and said, “She fell into the water.”

“How could this happen?” Cai’er was so anxious her heart was racing.

She had only left for a moment.

Soon, this matter reached the ears of Minister Zhu, who quickly had someone fetch a physician.

Zhu Yao lay in bed, her face deathly pale.

Her body was also trembling constantly.

Lady Zhu sat by the bedside, worried beyond measure, wiping away tears as she said, “Yao’er, how are you? Are you feeling any better?”

Tears rolled in Zhu Yao’s eyes. She opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a single word.

The physician finished taking her pulse and said, “The young lady has no serious ailment. Her body is just somewhat weak. She’ll be fine after drinking some medicine and resting for a day or two.”

Lady Zhu was still worried. “She’s really alright?”

“Please be assured, Madam. The young lady is fine.”

“That’s good then.”

Lady Zhu grasped her daughter’s hand, tears streaming down. “Yao’er, how could you be so careless? You frightened Mother so. If anything had happened to you, what would Mother do?”

“Mother…”

“You’re my only daughter!”

“I’m fine.” Zhu Yao’s voice was weak as she forced out these few words with difficulty. But as she spoke, tears flowed down her face.

Those scalding tears ran down from the corners of her eyes to both sides.

Blurring her vision.

Lady Zhu sensed something was wrong and pressed, “What’s really the matter with you?”

Zhu Yao averted her gaze and said, “Nothing.”

“How can it be nothing? Something must have happened. I’m your mother—how could I not know when something is troubling you? Tell Mother, did the Li family’s heir mistreat you? Or… was it he who pushed you into the water?”

“No…”

“Then what exactly happened?”

Zhu Yao held back her tears and looked at her mother, explaining, “I was careless and lost my footing—it had nothing to do with Shiyan. He was the one who rescued me. Otherwise, your daughter would already be dead.”

“Don’t speak nonsense!”

Zhu Yao choked up, looking at her mother expectantly. “Mother, tell me… will I marry Shiyan?”

She intimately called Li Shiyan “Shiyan,” though they had only just met for the first time!

So Lady Zhu already understood her daughter’s feelings.

She said, “Though Mother is reluctant to part with you, if you like him, Mother will be happy. Your marriage has already been arranged between both families. In the future, you will of course marry him.”

Hearing these words, a pale smile slowly appeared at the corners of Zhu Yao’s mouth. She said, “Mother, I like Shiyan.”

She spoke these words with complete sincerity.

Lady Zhu nodded, tenderly touching her daughter’s cold, pale face. “My daughter has grown up. How wonderful.”

Zhu Yao understood her own heart.

She had set her mind on Li Shiyan.

No matter who was in his heart, she didn’t care. She only wanted to be by his side.

…

In the outer room, Minister Zhu and the Marquis were waiting anxiously.

By this time, Li Shiyan had already changed into clean clothes and come over.

As soon as he arrived, the Marquis raised his voice to scold, “How were you looking after Yao’er? You actually let her fall into the water!”

His voice was deliberately lowered somewhat to avoid disturbing those inside.

Li Shiyan also felt very guilty. He lowered his gaze a few inches and said, “It’s my fault. I…”

He didn’t know what he should say.

Technically, this had nothing to do with him—Zhu Yao had lost her footing and fallen into the water; it wasn’t as if he had pushed her.

But it had happened while she was alone with him, so the responsibility naturally fell on his shoulders, impossible to shake off!

The Marquis was burning with anger. “If anything happens to Yao’er, I will hold you accountable.”

“…” Li Shiyan could only close his mouth and remain silent.

A thousand words would not explain it clearly.

Minister Zhu spoke up instead. “Marquis, this matter has nothing to do with the heir. If he hadn’t pulled Yao’er out of the water, who knows what might have happened now.”

“Minister Zhu, you needn’t speak up for him.”

“The heir did nothing wrong. It must have been Yao’er’s own carelessness that caused her to lose her footing and fall into the water.”

“But she was with him at the time.”

“There’s no need to discuss this matter further! Stop blaming the heir.”

The Marquis let out a heavy sigh, truly feeling disappointed in his son. He always felt this matter was due to his son’s negligence, so both in his heart and for the sake of appearances, he felt somewhat apologetic.

Extremely guilty!

Li Shiyan obediently kept his mouth shut, saying nothing.

The more he said, the more mistakes he would make!

The physician came out from inside. Seeing Minister Zhu so anxious, he said, “Minister Zhu, the young lady has no serious ailment. She’ll be fine after resting well for a day or two.”

Minister Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, physician.”

“I’ll write a prescription. Just get some medicine for the young lady to take.”

“Someone, quickly accompany the physician to get the medicine.”

A servant from inside then followed the physician.

Minister Zhu and the others quickly entered the inner chamber. They saw Lady Zhu holding her daughter’s hand and wiping away tears.

The Marquis glanced at his son, signaling him to quickly apologize.

What the—!

This has nothing to do with me!

But looking at Zhu Yao lying in bed with her terrible complexion, Li Shiyan’s masculine pride completely deflated. He honestly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and admitted fault. “Miss Zhu, it was my inadequate care that caused you to fall into the water. I sincerely apologize.”

Zhu Yao turned her head to glance at him. Tears welled up in her eyes again. She pressed her lips together and said, “It has nothing to do with you. I fell into the water on my own. I should thank you for saving me.”

“Still, it was my failure!”

“You are not wrong. The one who is wrong… is also not you!”

These words were laden with deeper meaning.

Others who heard them didn’t understand, but Li Shiyan understood.

He knew what Zhu Yao meant by these words.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.