It was Liang Zhe.
Qin Shuying gripped his hand tightly in return, squeezed it once, then her body went limp and she collapsed backward. Just as she was about to fall into the water, Liang Zhe caught her body perfectly.
At that moment, the people on shore holding lanterns raised their lights to shine toward Liang Zhe.
Thus, the men saw Liang Zhe standing in the water, holding a completely soaked woman in his arms.
He was clearly somewhat unaccustomed to the sudden brightness, standing in the water for quite a while before coming ashore.
One of them said quietly: “Liang Zhe saved a palace maid?”
After a moment of silence, Luo Huan in the crowd seemed to think of something and suddenly burst into loud laughter: “Liang Zhe, you saved a palace maid?”
Liang Zhe’s face darkened, “What business is it of yours!”
Luo Huan was obviously so delighted he was about to laugh his jaw off, “Hahaha! Liang Zhe, you actually saved a palace maid? You’ve touched her and held her – you’ll probably have to marry her and take her home! Hahaha!”
Liang Zhe had been about to come ashore, but hearing this mockery, he stopped where he was and said icily: “Luo Huan, don’t think just because I didn’t want your sister that you can spout such nonsense!”
Luo Huan laughed so hard he nearly fell over, pointing at Liang Zhe as if he were the world’s biggest joke, laughing so hard he could barely straighten up while continuing to mock him intermittently: “You don’t want my sister? Hahaha, how ridiculous! How could Luo Jinniang possibly fancy you? Hahaha, the person she wants to marry is Liu Junqing!”
Liang Zhe ignored him, coming ashore with a dark expression and casually placing Qin Shuying on the ground. Then he straightened up, clenched his fist, and threw a punch at Luo Huan.
Luo Huan was caught off guard by this punch and immediately began howling like a ghost.
“Someone restrain him!”
Fifth Prince was also in the crowd and shouted coldly.
Two men went to pull Liang Zhe back, but since Liang Zhe had the reputation of being the Liang Tyrant, how could he be easily restrained by two guards? He went wild and landed two more punches on Luo Huan’s head.
Although Luo Huan wasn’t as formidable as Liang Zhe, he too had grown up fighting and his dodging skills weren’t bad either. Therefore, while Liang Zhe’s two punches did land on him, he managed to dodge and deflect some of their force. It hurt, but at least he didn’t end up with a black eye and swollen face.
Though Liang Zhe was a tyrant, he wasn’t without sense. After throwing a few punches and venting his anger, he stood there coldly, his entire body radiating an icy aura.
Luo Huan had taken his beating and suffered his loss, but his mouth was still as foul as ever: “Liang Zhe, don’t think that beating me up will let you escape responsibility! You’ve held her and touched her – why don’t you hurry up and take her back!”
Liang Zhe crossed his arms: “If you’ve got the guts, come over here and say that!”
Over there, Fifth Prince, Sixth Prince, and Seventh Prince were all present. Hearing the exchange between Liang Zhe and Luo Huan, Fifth Prince felt somewhat exasperated. Couldn’t these two enemies stay quiet for even a moment?
Every time they met they would argue. Tonight had been peaceful without seeing them quarrel, and he had been relieved, but who knew it would come to this.
“All of you shut up!”
Fifth Prince barked once. Luo Huan reluctantly closed his mouth, while Liang Zhe wasn’t afraid of Fifth Prince at all. He glared at Fifth Prince irritably but didn’t contradict him either, walking alone to the opposite side from Qin Shuying, as if he found the sight of this woman who had brought him trouble very distasteful.
The others hurriedly rescued Zhang Qian and the other two men. As for Qing Yuan, by the time Zhang Qian was rescued and mentioned there was still a woman in the water, when everyone went to save her, she had already been swept away to who knows where.
They were just two palace maids – not worth the most noble princes and young masters of the Great Zhou Empire paying too much attention to. After giving a few instructions to the guards, the princes prepared to leave.
Qin Shuying lay motionless on the ground, completely indifferent to Qing Yuan being ignored. This counted as her second time killing someone. She had given Qing Yuan a chance, but since Qing Yuan had taken so much money yet still wanted her life, she couldn’t be blamed for being ruthless.
A man holding a lantern curiously went to see if she was dead, and upon looking, cried out: “Scholar Liu, isn’t this your fiancée?”
What?
Immediately, the crowd exploded.
Everyone swarmed over, and indeed, who else could it be but Liu the Top Scholar’s fiancée? No wonder all the men recognized her – that day at Guangbin Tower, her words had caused quite a stir, with so many people present, especially these noble young men.
When Liu Junqing heard this, it was as if thunder had struck his ears. He hurriedly pushed through the crowd and looked – it was indeed Qin Shuying.
“Sister from the Qin family!”
In that instant, Liu Junqing’s usually cool and aloof expression showed a crack. He quickly reached out to embrace Qin Shuying, wanting to help her up.
Suddenly, someone said: “Don’t! She’s drowning – don’t move her carelessly!”
Liu Junqing’s hand stopped in mid-air.
He didn’t know why, but his heart was gripped tightly with worry. He was extremely anxious, “Who knows medicine? Save her, save her!”
Many of the men present could swim and had some experience with drowning rescue. Everyone was talking at once, but no one stepped forward to provide aid.
For no other reason than this was Liu Junqing’s fiancée – if they went up and held and embraced her, how could that be explained clearly?
Hadn’t Liang Zhe already gotten into an unexplainable situation?
Fifth Prince gestured, and a eunuch quickly came forward, using his hand to check Qin Shuying’s breathing. He soon said: “Your Highness, she still has a breath left. This servant will immediately perform rescue as everyone just described.”
With Fifth Prince’s approval, the eunuch began rescuing Qin Shuying according to what everyone had said.
In just a moment, Qin Shuying spat out a mouthful of water, then began coughing violently. She gradually came to and opened her eyes.
Just as everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, they suddenly heard Luo Huan shout: “Ha! Liang Zhe, you’ve touched and held Scholar Liu’s fiancée – how should this account be settled? Why don’t you hurry up and marry her home!”
Everyone looked at Luo Huan, stumped by this question – this truly was a big problem.
Seeing Qin Shuying wake up, Liu Junqing was both excited and happy, but caught off guard by Luo Huan’s words, his heart suddenly sank to the bottom.
So many people had witnessed Liang Zhe holding Qin Shuying – this was an undeniable fact.
“You dare threaten me? No matter who dares to speak nonsense, I don’t care who you are – I’ll beat you every time I see you until you beg for mercy!”
Liang Zhe’s icy gaze swept over Luo Huan, then over Liu Junqing, then over Qin Shuying, his thick disgust and warning unmistakable.
Hearing these words, though Qin Shuying looked bedraggled from head to toe, her expression was extremely resolute: “Young Master Liang, this humble woman thanks you for your life-saving grace! Please rest assured, this humble woman absolutely will not threaten Young Master Liang. Fifth Prince Your Highness, Sixth Prince, Seventh Prince, all of you bear witness – Qin Shuying absolutely will not threaten Young Master Liang.”
As she spoke, lake water trickled down her face and hair, making her look both bedraggled and pitiful, but that determined yet tragic expression could not be ignored.
Only Liang Zhe snorted coldly, dismissive of her words.
Qin Shuying continued: “However, this humble woman’s innocence is completely lost. I dare not let Brother Liu suffer shame. After returning home, this humble woman will inform the elders and break the engagement with the Liu family.”
Everyone fell silent.
Things having reached this point, if Qin Shuying didn’t break the engagement, the Liu family presumably wouldn’t want her either.