Princess Fuqing was silently dragged to the lakeside by the eunuch.
The eunuch stopped and muttered softly, “Your Highness, don’t blame this servant. Blame your ill fate instead.”
For ordinary people, killing wasn’t easy, let alone murdering a legitimate princess of the Great Zhou.
With trembling hands, the eunuch forcefully pushed Princess Fuqing towards the lake.
A cold wind swept in from behind. The eunuch instinctively tilted his head, and the stone that should have hit the back of his head struck his shoulder instead.
The eunuch turned back in pain.
The Fourteenth Princess had missed her target. Her eyes were filled with terror, but she unhesitatingly hurled the stone at the eunuch’s face.
The eunuch let out a miserable cry as blood gushed from his nose.
By this time, Princess Fuqing had already rolled into the lake and begun to sink.
The Fourteenth Princess threw away the stone and rushed forward, desperately grabbing one of Princess Fuqing’s arms. At the same time, she opened her throat and shouted, “Someone is trying to harm Princess Fuqing! Help!”
The teenage girl’s voice was high-pitched and shrill, carrying far into the distance.
The eunuch, who had wiped his face, didn’t flee. Instead, he stepped closer and simply pushed the Fourteenth Princess into the water, pressing down hard on the struggling person in the water to prevent her from surfacing.
Bubbles rose in strings to the surface.
Only when he heard footsteps did the eunuch wash the blood from his face and hurriedly escape.
Submerged in the water, the Fourteenth Princess had lost the strength to struggle. Her long hair spread like seaweed, enveloping her pale cheeks and blue-purple lips, but her hand never let go of Princess Fuqing.
Her eyes were slightly open, but everything before her was blurry. She couldn’t see the azure sky or the beautiful scenery of flowers in full bloom.
At this moment, as her consciousness was about to scatter, the Fourteenth Princess suddenly had a thought: now she understood why her Thirteenth Sister could never get enough of this world.
Being able to see was truly wonderful.
A tear slid down the corner of the Fourteenth Princess’s eye.
The first to arrive at the lakeside were two eunuchs. One of them, sharp-eyed, caught sight of the fleeing eunuch’s silhouette.
He was about to give chase when the other eunuch stopped him, stamping his foot: “What are you chasing for? Both princesses are in the water. Let’s save the princesses first!”
Neither of the eunuchs could swim, but they steeled themselves to enter the water for the rescue, not forgetting to shout for help.
As more and more palace servants arrived, one eunuch who couldn’t join the rescue rushed to Kunning Palace to report.
In Kunning Palace, the Empress felt inexplicably uneasy. She took a sip of tea and asked a palace maid, “Haven’t the two princesses arrived yet?”
“The two Highnesses haven’t come yet.”
The Empress rotated her teacup and ordered, “Go and welcome them. The Buddha Jumps Over the Wall dish is ready, and they both love it.”
Just as she finished speaking, a palace maid burst in with a pale face: “Empress, something terrible has happened—”
The Empress’s hand trembled as she asked urgently, “What happened?”
The palace maid knelt before the Empress and said tearfully, “The two princesses have fallen into the water—”
With a clang, the teacup in the Empress’s hand shattered.
She stood up abruptly, walking out while asking sternly, “Where did they fall in?”
“Bibo Lake—” The messenger lowered her head, not daring to look at the Empress’s expression.
The Empress’s heart sank.
Bibo Lake was on the path from Cining Palace to Kunning Palace, though one had to go around a rockery to get close to it. Fuqing and the Fourteenth Princess weren’t the type to play around, so how did they fall in?
The Empress had no time to think further. She hurried towards Bibo Lake, followed by a large group of palace servants.
At the edge of Bibo Lake, Princess Fuqing and the Fourteenth Princess had been pulled out of the water, and several palace servants were attempting to resuscitate them.
The Empress immediately spotted her daughter lying on the ground with her eyes closed. Her mind went blank, and she was filled with anguish.
“How is the princess? Where are the imperial physicians? Where are they?” The incident with Princess Fuqing had thrown the Empress into confusion.
All the palace servants, whether those performing the rescue or those watching, were pale-faced and trembling.
Everyone knew that even the best doctors were helpless against drowning victims. What could the imperial physicians do?
Rather than waiting for the physicians, it was better to try their best to expel water from the princesses’ bodies. With luck, they might wake up.
Just as everyone was thinking this, Princess Fuqing suddenly coughed up two mouthfuls of water.
The Empress was overjoyed. She rushed over and grabbed Princess Fuqing’s wrist, crying, “Aquan, Aquan, how are you?”
Princess Fuqing struggled to open her eyes, looked at the Empress once, and then closed them again.
The Empress was terrified: “Aquan—”
The imperial physician who had hurriedly arrived advised, “The princess has awakened. Keeping her warm and caring for her is most important now. Empress, please leave it to this servant to handle.”
Hearing the physician say this, the Empress felt relieved. She made way for the physician to direct the palace servants to carry Princess Fuqing away. Then, with a start, she suddenly looked towards the Fourteenth Princess.
“How is the Fourteenth Princess?”
On the ground, someone had laid out a robe, and the soaking-wet Fourteenth Princess was lying on it, surrounded by two or three palace servants who were working together to compress her abdomen.
But the Fourteenth Princess wasn’t as fortunate as Princess Fuqing and remained unresponsive.
The Empress quickly walked over, her face pale, and asked again urgently, “How exactly is the Fourteenth Princess?”
The servants performing the rescue continued silently trying to expel water from the Fourteenth Princess, not knowing how to respond.
Watching this scene, the Empress’s body trembled slightly. She suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly, “Use mouth-to-mouth to give the Fourteenth Princess air!”
When Prince Yan had saved the son of the deposed Crown Prince, Chun’er, he used this method. The news had spread to the palace, and she had learned about it.
At that time, she was merely curious. She never thought she would face such a situation herself.
The servants performing the rescue were stunned, not understanding the Empress’s meaning.
The Empress became very anxious and simply bent down to check if there were any obstructions in the Fourteenth Princess’s mouth and nose.
A palace maid quickly said, “This servant has already cleared the obstructions from the princess’s mouth and nose.”
The Empress bit her lip, took a deep breath, and blew it into the Fourteenth Princess’s mouth.
The Empress’s action immediately caused the surrounding palace servants to look at each other with strange expressions.
Why was the Empress kissing the Fourteenth Princess?
Although they were puzzled, no one dared to ask at this moment.
After giving several breaths like this, the Empress looked at the Fourteenth Princess for any response. She belatedly remembered that chest compressions were also needed to help restore breathing in drowning victims.
She hurriedly pressed down several times, unsure if her actions were correct, then anxiously continued giving breaths.
This went on for a long time until the Empress was panting, her face flushed, and she no longer had the strength to continue.
A nearby palace maid quickly said, “Empress, let this servant take over.”
The Empress nodded slightly.
Two palace maids took turns replacing the Empress’s actions. Two quarter-hours passed in the blink of an eye, but the Fourteenth Princess remained unresponsive.
Another imperial physician waiting on the side hesitated, but finally couldn’t help saying, “Empress, please let this servant take a look.”
The Empress’s expression changed several times before she finally nodded, looking at the blue-faced Fourteenth Princess with a growing sense of foreboding.
The palace maids made way for the imperial physician.
After a thorough examination, the physician shook his head and straightened up. He bowed deeply to the Empress and said in a sorrowful tone, “Empress, please accept my condolences. The princess has passed away…”