Chapter 289 Diving to Save People
Because there are quite a lot of noble ladies invited this time, although the cruise ship is big, it can't accommodate too many people.
Except for the Ninth Princess who brought a few palace maids on board, and the Crown Princess who brought her personal maid Bizhu, the personal maids and servants of other noble ladies were not allowed on board.
When the ship started moving, all the noble ladies followed the Ninth Princess and the Crown Princess to the outside of the cabin, but Qianhuan had no interest in reciting poems or composing couplets, so she stayed in the cabin and did not come out.
Situ Jing was also invited. Situ Jing usually only loved to wield swords and guns, and had no interest in these poems and songs at all.
Seeing Qianhuan staying in the cabin without moving, she stepped forward and greeted her warmly as if she had found a confidant, "County Lady Jingrou, don't you also like to recite poems and compose couplets?"
Qianhuan nodded politely and replied with a smile, "Yes, I'm not interested in these."
"I don't like it either. My father used to force me to read these literary things. I made myself sick to avoid studying. Later, when my father found out, he no longer forced me to learn these things."
Qianhuan quite liked Situ Jing's carefree personality. She smiled and said, "You are really naughty."
"Yes, my father said that I have never been very honest since I was a child, and I don't act like a girl at all. He is always worried that I won't be able to get married."
"Master Situ, you are worrying too much. A girl like Miss Situ who is so lively and lovely will definitely be admired by men. In this world, it is not only gentle and virtuous women who deserve to be loved."
Situ Jing said carelessly, "I don't care. If no one likes me, I'll let my father support me for the rest of my life. By the way, let's stop calling each other county lady and young lady. From now on, you can call me Jing'er and I'll call you Qianhuan, okay?"
Qianhuan nodded, "Okay, Jing'er."
The two of them were chatting happily when the maidservant beside the Ninth Princess came over and said, "The Ninth Princess asked me to invite you two ladies to participate in the poetry recitation and couplet writing activity. Today is the Ninth Princess' birthday, so you two ladies should not spoil her fun."
Qianhuan and Situ Jing looked at each other, both of them showing helplessness.
There was nothing they could do; she was a princess and they couldn't offend her, so the two of them had to follow the maid out of the cabin.
The deck was densely packed with noble ladies in colorful costumes. They surrounded the Ninth Princess and the Crown Princess in the middle of the deck near the railing, which was the best spot for viewing the lake.
The maid led Qianhuan and Situ Jing directly into the encirclement. When the Ninth Princess saw them, she immediately asked unhappily, "Today is my birthday. Why are Princess Jingrou and Miss Situ hiding in the cabin? Are they not satisfied with the activities organized by me?"
Qianhuan immediately explained, "Princess, please forgive me. Miss Situ and I are not dissatisfied with your arrangement. It's just that neither of us is good at poetry and songs, so we hid in the cabin to chat."
Situ Jing also immediately echoed Qian Huan's words, and said respectfully to the Ninth Princess, "Princess, what County Lady Jing Rou said is true. I have always loved to wield swords and guns, and I am really not good at writing. It would be better to let me go to war than to let me write poetry."
At this time, Princess Zhao Yanran spoke up, "If you say Miss Situ is not good at poetry, I would believe it. But when Princess Jingrou says she can't write poetry, I don't believe it. At the Five Nations Cultural Exchange Conference, Princess Jingrou shined. Not only is she a good dancer, she can also play foreign musical instruments, and she is also top-notch in arithmetic. I guess Princess Jingrou is being modest when she says she can't write poetry."
Qianhuan was really speechless. Someone who can dance, play musical instruments and do arithmetic, can he or she definitely compose poetry?
Although she could recite many Tang and Song poems, and it was easy for her to recite some popular quatrains, but if she was asked to compose a poem herself, she really couldn't write a single one.
Qianhuan thought that today was the princess' birthday, so she shouldn't steal the poems of her ancestors to steal the show, so she said, "You are too kind, Crown Princess. I am not very good at writing poems. I will study hard when I return, and I will definitely discuss with you if there is a chance. Today, I will listen to your excellent works with an open mind."
When Zhao Yanran heard this, she felt much more balanced. She had thought that County Lady Jingrou was a talented woman with many talents, but she didn't expect that she couldn't even do something as simple as composing a poem. It seemed that she was just like that.
Thinking of today's plan, the Crown Princess did not dwell on it any more and instead asked other ladies to compose poems on the topic of "lake view". Everyone's attention shifted to the lake view in front of them.
The ladies all wanted to perform well in front of the princess, so they stared at the lake and racked their brains to think of poems.
When the Crown Princess saw that Situ Jing was always following Qianhuan and their people had no way to proceed to the next step, she whispered something to a little palace maid beside the Ninth Princess.
Then the little palace maid brought a cup of hot tea and was about to give it to the princess. When she passed by Situ Jing, she pretended to lose her balance and spilled all the tea on Situ Jing's coat.
Everyone exclaimed in surprise, and the little maid hurriedly knelt down to apologize, "My lady, please forgive me, I didn't mean it."
Situ Jing thought that it was fortunate that she wore thick clothes in winter, otherwise the hot tea would spill on her and she would have to peel off a layer of skin. She said indifferently, "It's nothing, you get up."
The maid immediately stood up and thanked her, "Thank you Miss Situ."
At this time, the Ninth Princess said angrily, "You bastard, you are so clumsy that you actually soiled Miss Situ's clothes. I brought a few sets of spare clothes on the boat. Why don't you quickly bring Miss Situ into the cabin to change."
"Yes, I will go right away. Miss Situ, please."
Situ Jing was taken into the cabin to change clothes. After the little episode, everyone continued to recite poems and compose couplets.
Qianhuan also stood at the deck railing looking at the lake. Actually, there was nothing good to see on the lake in winter, but she was really bored, so she could only stand here and join in the fun.
Suddenly, someone pushed her hard from behind, and Qianhuan lost her balance and fell into the lake.
Before falling into the water, Qianhuan quickly grabbed the person who pushed her and brought them into the lake together.
With a loud "splash", the two women fell into the water at the same time.
Everyone suddenly became confused and started to shout and chatter.
"Oh my god, someone fell into the water..."
"Which young ladies are so unlucky?"
A kind-hearted lady even shouted, "Is there anyone on the boat who can swim? Jump in and save people..."
However, although these noble ladies had learned poetry and songs since childhood, they had never learned to swim. In addition, except for the Ninth Princess and the Crown Princess who had servants on the ship, the other noble ladies did not bring maids or old women.
These noble ladies all value their lives very much. Even if they can swim, they would not jump into the water to save people in the middle of winter. If they catch a cold, it would be fatal.
When the Ninth Princess saw two people fell into the water, she was still a little panicked. She had originally discussed with the Crown Princess and planned to give Qianhuan a small lesson by letting her drink a few sips of lake water and then let the eunuchs who could swim rescue people as soon as the boat reached the shore. But who knew that an accident would happen now.
To ensure that nothing could go wrong, the Ninth Princess did not bring many servants on board. She immediately ordered the palace maids, "Hurry up and have someone bring the boat to the shore, and go ashore to call for help."
At this time, a young lady shouted, "Princess, one of the young ladies who fell into the water seems to be Princess Jingrou. She was standing next to me just now."
The Ninth Princess and the Crown Princess knew the truth, but they pretended to be surprised and said, "It turned out to be Princess Jingrou. She is so unlucky today."
After Qianhuan pulled the man into the water, she clearly felt that the other person could not swim, and he clung to her like an octopus.
Qianhuan thought, this man wanted to harm her, but he didn't even ask her if she could swim. Now that he couldn't swim, she wouldn't be so kind as to save someone who wanted to harm her, so she immediately let go of the man's hand and let him struggle in the water.
She pretended that she couldn't swim and struggled in the water.
Not long after they fell into the water, a man on the shore quickly jumped into the lake. He swam hard to the center of the lake. Seeing the woman struggling in the lake, he grabbed her and swam to the shore.