"Miss, Miss Shen! My mistress accidentally fell into the water, I beg Miss Shen to save her!"
Before Xiao Yi appeared, Shen Mingzhu was instead met by a maid weeping pitifully.
"Who is your mistress?" Shen Mingzhu felt instantly on guard against this girl who had appeared out of nowhere.
"My mistress is a distant cousin of Duke Xiao Manor, Young Master Xiao's cousin! I know Miss Shen, you are Young Master Xiao's fiancée—I beg you, Miss Shen, please save my mistress! She accidentally fell into the water and her life is hanging by the balance!"
The maid's frantic expression did not look fake, her sleeves were still damp with water, and she was able to state Shen Mingzhu's identity accurately.
Without thinking twice, Shen Mingzhu immediately followed the little maid toward the spot.
In the decades to come, Shen Mingzhu would replay this scene countless times, asking herself over and over: If time could flow backward, would she still run forward at that moment with such unhesitating devotion?
It was like an unsolvable riddle, forever lodged in Shen Mingzhu's heart.
Over by the riverbank, a girl dressed in a damp, cyan-green skirt was indeed lying there. Her chest was heaving, her face contorted in agony, looking utterly wretched.
Shen Mingzhu had just walked up to her and was about to press down on her chest.
"Stop!" A furious roar rang out.
It was Xiao Yi.
When he looked at her, his face was filled with rage, and even carried a trace of resentment she could not fathom.
Before she could react, Xiao Yi strode forward and forcefully pushed her away with one hand.
As if she had committed some heinous crime.
Seeing the evasive look in the little maid's eyes, how could Shen Mingzhu not realize: this was aimed directly at her.
Watching the woman already cradled in Xiao Yi's arms, Shen Mingzhu scrutinized her face. She had never seen her before; her looks were thoroughly ordinary.
In fact, until this very day, Shen Mingzhu had no idea that Duke Xiao Manor even had such a deeply scheming cousin.
Why call her deeply scheming?
Because when Shen Mingzhu looked toward that woman, the other person opened her eyes, actually hooked the corners of her lips in a smile at her, and then closed her eyes again to feign fragility.
Xiao Yi scooped the woman straight into his arms and galloped on horseback toward the nearest medical clinic.
Watching the dust kicked up by the steed, Shen Mingzhu felt a momentary daze.
"How come you're back so soon? Where's that boy Xiao Yi?"
Seeing that only Shen Mingzhu had returned, Madam Xiao peered behind her.
"He said he had an urgent matter to attend to, so he went back first." Shen Mingzhu sat back down beside Madam Shen.
Madam Xiao looked somewhat displeased. "What urgent matter could there possibly be that couldn't wait until now? Oh well, never mind him, let's carry on with our outing."
Shen Mingzhu thought for a moment. "I heard Young Master Xiao has a cousin? Um... her features are quite pretty, and she has a small mole on the tip of her nose. I don't think I've ever seen this cousin before."
Xiao Yi naturally had many cousins; just from Madam Xiao's maiden family alone, there were three. But the small mole on the tip of the nose immediately made Madam Xiao think of someone.
Pu Ying. A distant relation who had no connection whatsoever to Duke Xiao Manor. And she turned out to be a restless one.
Rage surged in Madam Xiao's heart, but her face remained wreathed in smiles. "It seems there is indeed such a girl, considered Yi'er's cousin. However, we don't usually keep in touch much. Why, have you met her?"
Shen Mingzhu took a sip of tea, then spoke unhurriedly: "Come to think of it, it was quite a coincidence today. I happened to run into a maid who said her mistress had fallen into the water and begged me to help save her, claiming her mistress was a cousin of Duke Xiao Manor. The moment I arrived at the scene, Young Master Xiao rushed over in a fury, as if he had misunderstood me, and swept that young lady away in his arms."
The moment these words were spoken, both Madam Shen and Madam Xiao instantly understood what they meant.
Madam Xiao lost a bit of face, and her annoyance toward Pu Ying grew even stronger.
"Don't worry, Mingzhu. Once your aunt goes back and looks into what's going on, no matter what, I will definitely grab that boy Xiao Yi tomorrow and make him apologize to you!"
"To leave his own fiancée behind and run off—when I get back, I'm going to give him a thorough thrashing!"
Shen Mingzhu said nothing. Madam Shen offered a few symbolic words of comfort, and the outing ended on a sour note.
The next day, Xiao Yi actually came to their door to make amends.
"I am truly sorry about what happened yesterday. I misunderstood you."
The March peach blossoms were blooming in all their dazzling splendor.
In the courtyard, Shen Mingzhu and Xiao Yi walked side by side.
"What did her servant say to you that made you lose your temper in such a rage?"
Shen Mingzhu raised her eyes to look at Xiao Yi's profile.
Xiao Yi hesitated for a moment before speaking. "She didn't say much. Just that she saw the two of you having a dispute and asked me to come over and persuade you. So when I saw Pu Ying lying there completely soaked, I jumped to conclusions."
This was the first time Shen Mingzhu learned that woman's name: Pu Ying.
Shen Mingzhu frowned. "But it was her servant who said her mistress had fallen into the water and needed help, which is why I hurried over."
"Furthermore, the moment I arrived there, you arrived right after." Shen Mingzhu looked straight into Xiao Yi's eyes.
Xiao Yi pondered for a moment. "Is that so? Then I'll go back and question those two maids again."
Shen Mingzhu looked at him and said nothing more.
Barely two days later, Xiao Yi came back to interrogate her. "What did you say to Yingying? She's actually driven to self-harm!"
"If you have any issues, take them out on me! Why drag others into this?"
Looking at Xiao Yi's accusing tone and unfamiliar expression, Shen Mingzhu simply thought the man was insane.
"If your brain isn't working, go see a physician! What are you raving about in my courtyard?"
"Her maid said with her own ears that you went to warn Pu Ying yesterday, telling her to get lost out of the Capital! Shen Mingzhu, Pu Ying is just a frail woman, there is nothing between her and me! Don't let groundless rumors make you jealous!"
Shen Mingzhu had no desire to speak to him another word and ordered servants to throw him out of the Marquis Manor.
She sent a letter to Madam Xiao recounting the matter, and Madam Xiao replied that she would handle everything and Mingzhu should simply set her mind at ease and await her wedding.
Yet she waited and waited, and after half a month, the news that arrived was Pu Ying's obituary.
Shen Mingzhu's very first thought was: impossible.
A girl with that kind of scheming and cunning would never take her own life.
On the other hand, given Madam Xiao's methods for handling affairs, she wouldn't have gone as far as to murder a girl in the prime of her youth.
"Go find out what happened."
The news that came back was that Miss Pu Ying had injured her body when she fell into the water that day, failed to receive proper and timely medical treatment, and had tragically passed away.
Absurd!
However, Shen Mingzhu had no time to dwell on this matter, because the wedding date was approaching, and she needed to prepare for the grand ceremony.
An alliance between Duke Xiao Manor and Jian'an Marquis Manor could never be recklessly broken off. Therefore, even though Shen Mingzhu was well aware that Xiao Yi harbored misunderstandings about her, she had no leisure to attend to it.
Besides, at this juncture, barring some apocalyptic catastrophe, both of them had to see the wedding through properly.
And the wedding, true to Shen Mingzhu's expectations, proceeded as scheduled.