Chapter 318 The Cannon Fodder Who Suffered the Massacre of His Family (25)
Chapter 318 The Cannon Fodder Who Suffered the Massacre of His Family (25)
That's right, Qi Ning was faking fainting.
Of course she could swim, but she pretended not to. After she caught the Ninth Princess in the lake, she pretended to be drowning and unconscious.
Since she was going to pretend to be unconscious, she naturally had to make it convincing. She couldn't possibly wake up immediately, and she could also hear what they had to say about her.
The time was indeed almost right. Qi Ning coughed twice before slowly opening his eyes.
When everyone saw that Qi Ning had woken up, they immediately looked at her.
The emperor walked to Qi Ning's bedside and looked down at her, asking, "My beloved concubine, you're awake?"
Qi Ning was helped up by Ji Mei. She called out in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty."
The emperor looked at Qi Ning's bloodless face and asked, "How are you feeling? Is there anything wrong?"
Consort Feng looked at Qi Ning with jealousy and hatred. In the current situation, it was almost certain that Consort Qi had pushed the Ninth Princess into the water, yet His Majesty was still so concerned about her.
Consort Shu was also somewhat dissatisfied with the Emperor's attitude.
Qi Ning shook her head: "I'm fine."
Hearing Qi Ning's words, the emperor asked, "What exactly happened? How did you and the Ninth Princess end up in the water?"
Qi Ning replied, "At that time, I was waiting for Sister Lan by the lake with Ji Mei when we suddenly encountered the Ninth Princess. I saw that the Ninth Princess was alone and asked her why she didn't bring any maids. But the Ninth Princess didn't answer me and jumped into the lake directly."
"Your Majesty!" Consort Feng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Consort Qi is making excuses. I saw it with my own eyes; it was Consort Qi who did it!"
Consort Shu also said, "Your Majesty, Xi'er couldn't have jumped into the lake for no reason!"
Qi Ning looked at them with feigned incomprehension, seemingly not quite understanding the scene before her and what they were saying.
"Your Majesty, what is this?"
Seeing Qi Ning's confusion, the emperor told her, "Consort Feng said that she was passing by Lingbo Lake when she saw you push the Ninth Princess into the water."
Upon hearing this, Qi Ning's eyes immediately reddened: "Your Majesty believes it?"
The emperor didn't believe it entirely; he was more of a skeptic.
The emperor neither believed that Gao Xi would jump into the lake on his own, nor did he quite believe that Qi Ning would harm Gao Xi. He found the whole thing very strange.
Seeing Qi Ning's reddened eyes, the emperor finally softened.
He lowered his voice and said, "I have no letter."
Qi Ning seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "As long as Your Majesty trusts me, that's all that matters."
But the emperor said, "However, it is indeed strange that the Ninth Princess would jump into the water for no reason. I'm afraid we will have to wait until Xi'er wakes up and ask her directly to find out."
“There’s no need to wait,” Qi Ning said. “Your Majesty, I know why.”
"you know?"
As soon as Qi Ning said this, everyone present stared intently at her.
Gao Yan also looked at her with a deep gaze.
Qi Ning's face showed a thoughtful expression.
"After careful consideration, I realized that before the Ninth Princess jumped into the lake, she first glanced at the water, as if she was somewhat afraid and hesitant. Then she looked at the artificial hill by the lake, and only then did she seem to make up her mind and jump into the lake."
"After she jumped into the lake, she thrashed about in the water while looking toward the artificial hill, as if waiting for someone to come out and rescue her."
Upon hearing Qi Ning's words, Feng Jieyu secretly clenched her fists. She hadn't expected Qi Ning to be so observant.
Qi Ning continued, "When I saw the Ninth Princess struggling in pain in the water, I didn't think much for a moment and forgot that I couldn't swim, so I jumped into the lake to save her."
------
flstandardbreds