Chapter 44: Tribulation in Water

  The rain showed no signs of stopping, and several people were trapped in the pavilions on the lake. Xia Yang and Xia Feng accompanied Yuan Longqi, who was still in the pavilion, while Xia Yu, Xia Tian, and Xia Xue were on the long corridor overlooking the water, admiring the rain.

  "Is the fifth prince still satisfied with my second sister?" Xia Feng had always been close to the seventh prince, Yuan Longyun, and often played together. She was also familiar with this gentle-tempered fifth prince, and now she asked half-jokingly and half-seriously.

  Xia Yang slightly tilted her head and quietly gazed at the lake surface, as if she hadn't noticed what they were saying.

  With a faint smile, Yuan Longqi didn't respond, his eyes glanced at the water pavilion.

  "Bang!"

  "Second sister!"

  "Bang!"

  "Ah! Big brother, third brother, quickly save second sister and fourth sister!" Before Xia Xue's scream had even faded, Xia Yang and Xia Shuang rushed over and jumped into the lake.

  In the summer, she suddenly realized that she couldn't swim when she entered the water. Her nose was choked and her mouth opened instinctively, but she swallowed a big mouthful of water. On an autumn day, the lake water was icy cold, and the chill went straight to her heart through her limbs. In just one moment, her whole body was numb. She struggled to splash around on the surface of the water, but as soon as she took a breath, she choked again. Her chest felt like it was going to burst, and her mouth and nose were full of water. Her vision began to blur, and she weakly let her hands drop and closed her eyes, letting her body sink to the bottom of the lake. Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind her and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her up with force. As her consciousness slowly faded away, the feeling of suffocation almost overwhelmed her.

  The sound on the waterfront startled the people in the mansion, some holding umbrellas, some wearing rain cloaks, and some running over directly, while others flew to report to the person in charge.

  "Second sister! Fourth sister!" Xia Xue leaned out of the railing, her eyes brimming with tears, staring at the lake in horror.

  The summer rain was closer to the lake shore, and Xiaofeng paddled a few strokes to get closer to her.

  Everyone looked at the lake with bated breath, eagerly waiting for Xia Yang and Xia Tian's figures.

  See you later.

  "Whoosh!" Water splashed, Xia Yang held onto Xia Tian's shoulder with one hand and dragged her laboriously towards the lake shore.

  Splash! Splash! Two water-skilled guards hastily jumped into the water and helped him pull Xia Tian to shore.

  "Sky, wake up, hurry and wake up! Sky!" Xia Tian was pinned to the ground, Xia Yang's eyes were bloodshot as he pressed down on her chest and abdomen, letting out a low growl.

  Xia Xue tightly grasped Xia Tian's hand, sobbing quietly. Everyone held their breath, staring unblinkingly at Xia Tian.

  "Heaven, open your eyes! Heaven! Heaven!" Xiaoyang's fragmented voice, carried by the wind and hovering over the water, echoed mournfully in the rain-soaked corridor, piercing the heart with each cry.

  Jing Fei rushed over hastily, and the servants in the water pavilion automatically made way for her. At a glance, Xia Yang was drenched, his hair disheveled, and his eyes red to the point of bleeding. A sharp pain struck her heart, and she instinctively pressed her hand against her chest, biting her lip tightly, and closed her eyes to escape. His anxiety, his pain, his panic, deeply wounded her. The man before her was no longer the carefree, nonchalant husband she knew! The man before her could be flustered, could lose control, could suffer, and emotions could be so intense!

  "Gulp! Cough! Cough cough!" Water spouted from Xia Tian's mouth, and as soon as air entered her trachea, she began to choke and cough.

  "Ah!" Xia Yang took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently twice, and then opened his arms to pull her into his embrace.

  The atmosphere had just relaxed a bit when someone suddenly let out a loud wail.

  "Fourth sister, why did you push me into the water! I'm your elder sister! How could you treat me like this, why do you want to treat me like this? Waaahhh..."

  Everyone's gaze suddenly turned to Xia Yu, and she was crying on Xia Feng's body with sobs.

  "Daughter!" The fourth madam rushed over upon hearing the news, pushing through the crowd to hurry to Xia Yu's side. "Daughter, what's wrong with you?"

  "Mother!" Xia Yu turned and rushed into the arms of Fourth Madam, tears flowing even more violently. "Fourth Sister, Fourth Sister... she wants to kill me! Mother, daughter... daughter doesn't know how she offended Fourth Sister, but just now she actually pushed daughter into the lake!"

  "What?!" The fourth madam's eyes widened in shock, turning her head to confront Xia Tian. "Why do you want to harm my Yu'er? How can you be so heartless?"

  Xiafeng's face sank and she glared at Xia Tian with anger in her eyes.

  Dizzy and weak, the wind blowing on her skin made her hair stand on end. She leaned softly in the summer sun, but all she could hear was someone crying and shouting nearby. When she looked up, there were many people around her, and that ivory-yellow robe stood out even among the crowd. He didn't come forward, but his body leaned slightly forward, and although she couldn't see his expression clearly, she could distinctly feel his worried gaze.

  "In the summer, why do you want to harm my Rain?" The fourth madam's eyebrows were raised and her eyes were wide open, her voice was sharp and high-pitched.

  Xia Xue was stunned and blurted out: "Fourth sister is not! It's second sister herself who fell down, fourth sister wanted to save second sister!"

  "Nonsense!" Xia Yu shot back, "I clearly felt someone push me from behind, otherwise how would I have fallen into the lake for no reason? If it wasn't Fourth Sister, was it you?"