12. Fell into pond

She didn't know why, but her instinct told her to befriend Ming Liao. However, by doing so, she would make an enemy of the seventh princess and maybe others present too. She contemplated between two choices. What if she befriends Ming Liao, but the Queen ends up giving up on Ming Liao and she also gets caught up and loses favor?

When she saw the second princess coming towards them from the corner of her eye, she hurriedly ran and explained the situation in a few words. Kai Ming was the daughter of the noble imperial princess, Zhao Huifen, and Zhao Huifeng was the younger sister of the wealthiest minister, Zhao Chuanli. Kai Ming and Zhao Xiaoli were close. They both were intellectuals who knew who could not be offended.

Kai Ming knew more than Zhao Xiaoli. She knew that Ming Liao was the daughter of the Queen's and King's childhood friend. And the seventh princess, though raised by the Queen herself, was not her biological daughter. The Queen even hated the mother of the seventh princess. She knew in today's dispute, no matter what, she had to help Ming Liao or else she might be punished.

Just as the second princess was about to rebuke the conversation between the seventh princess and Ming Liao, Ming Liao, who was beside the pond, fell into the pond because of the insistence of the seventh princess to have her face shown. The seventh princess's face turned ashen as she saw Ming Liao struggling in the water. The memories of someone swimming in water surfaced in her mind as she fell to her knees. She was petrified and hallucinating. But no one could guess that she was having nightmares at this moment as everyone's attention was on Ming Liao, who had fallen into the pond.

The pond was not too deep, but if someone who didn't know how to swim fell inside, they would surely lose their life. The second princess hurriedly jumped into the pond to save Ming Liao.

To be honest, Ming Liao could swim and she was already swimming back up. The dress she was wearing had become heavier because of the water and she was struggling a little, but she didn't need anyone's help. Still, as she saw someone coming into the water, she couldn't help but feel a little touched.

The second princess instantly regretted jumping into the water when she realized that the dress she was wearing was making it hard for her to swim, but she still swam toward Ming Liao and helped her up. After coming to the surface, Ming Liao threw up a mouthful of water. Both of them were wet. Ming Liao thanked the second princess and walked to the guest residence with the help of Zhao Xiaoli as she was not accompanied by a maidservant.

The second princess was taken back to her residence by her maidservant. Everyone dispersed. Only after everyone had left did An Wei's maidservant find something wrong with her lady. She immediately went forward to help her lady who was still sitting on the ground.

An Wei, being supported by her maidservant, staggeringly walked back to her residence. If it was any other day, she would hurriedly run to see her ninth brother who was still lying sick on his bed, but today, because of the images in her mind, An Wei slept early. Still, she didn't have a sound sleep as she kept waking up because of nightmares.

Ming Liao, on the other hand, had been brought to her residence. The guest residence inside the palace didn't need a lot of cleaning up as it was always kept in perfect condition. The maidservants were just unpacking the princess's belongings.

After unpacking, they were in the kitchen when the princess, who had gone out alone, pretty and dry, came back wet and supported by a stranger girl. Under the instructions of Liu Man, some maidservants started to boil ginger water in the kitchen; some prepared hot water for a bath, and some went to assist the princess to bed.

Ming Liao thanked Zhao Xiaoli, "Xiaoli, thank you for today. I am fine thanks to you and the second princess. I will come to thank you in person another day. I might not be able to see you off."

"Xiaoli, do not worry about seeing me off. No need to bring anything. Just come to the Zhao residence to play when you have free time someday. Hurry up and change clothes after taking a hot bath. Do not forget to drink ginger water to not catch a cold." Saying that, Zhao Xiaoli went back.

Ming Liao went to take a bath. As she was about to enter the bathroom, she called Liu Man. "Send a bowl of ginger water to the second princess along with this ginseng. Tell her I am doing fine."

Liu Man hurriedly sent the items to the second princess's residence. Ming Liao once again explored her space with her consciousness as she sat in her bathtub. She had taken the ginseng out of the space when others hadn't paid attention. There was nothing valuable like ginseng in her mother's dowry. All the valuables were already consumed by others, and the remaining items were not of much value. But still, it was better than nothing.

After taking a bath, she changed her clothes, ate the food, educated the maidservants a little, and slept soundly. The second princess also slept soundly in her residence. But unlike those two, the seventh princess was struggling to sleep properly in her bed.