Chapter 29: Falling Into The Water

Whether they were driven by curiosity, nosiness, or something else, they all still need to take a double look at the Seventh Lady. They all feel unconvinced if the Lady in the wheelchair was indeed fit to participate in the consort selection.

No matter the reason, Jiang Yuan was filled with jealousy. 

'What is there to see? She is nothing but a cripple!'

'It would be strange if the palace wanted her!'

Third Brother and his friends continued to talk as they walked side by side, and the three sisters followed closely behind. It led them to a beautiful tall arch bridge with no railings. Below was a clear river; they could see several women washing clothes by the river banks. Everybody enjoyed the peaceful scenery as they strolled.

Jiang Yuan, however, was too busy being stuck in her self-pity and anger to even notice her surroundings.

Seeing Jiang Ning pushing the wheelchair alone made the Fifth Lady so annoyed. 

She wanted to act up, wanted to throw something, or even stomp her feet, but she didn't want to embarrass herself in public. Caught up in her pent-up anger, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but stick her leg out towards the unsuspecting girl, accidentally tipping the wheelchair sideways.

Jiang Ning was sitting in the most ordinary wooden wheelchair. Either someone had made a tremendous splash by the bridge, or it had rained last night because the bridge was slippery, causing the chair to slip, and since there were no railings on either side of the bridge, Jiang Ning was quickly falling directly towards the water.

Jiang Ning yelped in surprise. In the midst of panic and reflex, Jiang Ning reached out to grab something to keep her balance, and unfortunately (or fortunately?) She managed to hold onto Jiang Yuan's hair.

'Well, it's not my fault,'

Who asked her to be the closest thing her hand could latch on?

Jiang Yuan had wanted to vent her anger, but she didn't mean to kick the wheelchair off the bridge.

She was also surprised.

Even more so when Jiang Ning decided that her hair was the next best thing to grab on to. She felt a sharp pain on her scalp at the force of the pull, and the next thing she knew, her body was quickly pulled down to the bridge.

The wheelchair fell into the river with a splash.

Exclamations rang out all around them.

Jiang Yi turned around and saw his two younger sisters were about to fall off the bridge together. Without much thought, he hurriedly pounced over to them and managed to grab Jiang Yuan's ankle.

Jiang Yan screamed in fear and panicked.

Shang Lanyi quickly went over to help his friend. The two of them pulled Jiang Yuan's sleeves and pulled most of her body back up.

But her head was still dangling off the bridge.

Jiang Ning was at the bottom, clinging to her hair, while Jiang Yi was pulling her feet.

It meant that all the weight was on her.

Not to mention hair that had to bear a person's weight.

One could only imagine the pain.

"Jiang Ning, let go of me! It hurts so much!" Jiang Yuan cried and struggled in pain.

"I won't let go, "Jiang Ning said calmly.

She'll fall down the moment she lets go.

She grabbed Jiang Yuan's hair with one hand and dangled her under the bridge, looking as if she was floating in the air.

Jiang Yuan was in so much pain that she took out a hairpin to stab Jiang Ning's hand, trying to make the other girl let go.

"Xiao Wu, don't move. I'll pull you up soon," Jiang Yi panicked. "Seventh Sister wouldn't be able to swim, and it would be very dangerous for her to fall. So, please bear it a little longer!"

Jiang Yuan was in so much pain that she didn't care about what Third Brother was saying and simply continued to stab Jiang Ning's hand.

The hairpin was sharp, and Jiang Ning wasn't an immortal being; she would still feel the pain. 

Once Jiang Yuan hurt her enough, Jiang Ning would definitely let go.

Amidst the commotion and panic, Jiang Ning noticed a small boat floating not so far away, screaming when a small figure fell into the water.

Jiang Ning felt her eyes widen and her heart drop at the scene. 

It was clearly a small kid that fell into the river.

The people on the boat were shouting in panic.

"Oh my heavens, the Young Mater fell off board!"

Jiang Ning let go of Jiang Yuan's hair without hesitation and plunged herself into the water. She dived into the river and swam to save the child.

Yes, she knew how to swim.

And her technique was pretty good.

Although she could not move her left leg, her arms were strong enough to dive down and pull both herself and the child up to the surface.

A few people had already jumped down from the boat and swam over to pull them onto the boat.

They all were shocked and amazed when it turned out their child's savior was only a little girl. 

Her curtained hat had fallen off long ago, and she was completely drenched. The thin clothes were clinging onto her wet body, revealing her detailed curves, which was highly inappropriate.

Suddenly, a cloak flew over and landed on her shivering body.

Jiang Ning couldn't care about who had thrown her the cloak. She quickly pulled it close and wrapped herself up.

Once she was sure that she was all covered up, Jiang Ning finally looked up and realized that the child she had saved was actually someone she recognized. It was little Qian.

Little Qian had probably gulped down a few mouthfuls of water as the people around him patted his back, helping the boy to cough them all out.

Just as she was about to call out for her small friend, a slender figure walked over to the crowd, and picked up little Qian, carrying him into the cabin.

Jiang Ning didn't even get to see a glimpse of the man's face.

A few servant-like men were waiting outside, clearly not allowing anyone to approach the cabin.

Jiang Ning was confused.

From the looks of it, it doesn't seem that little Qian came from a poor background.

And that 'Young Master'.

'Who is little Qian? There's no way anybody would treat a poor little boy like that.' 

'Is Old Li really a butcher?'