Chapter 30: He, Chu Xingchen, Should Not Have Felt Pity Upon Seeing Su Yingxue Fall from the Bridge into the Lake

Chu Xingchen silently observed the woman seated behind the white gauze screen. The gauze was thin, and despite the landscape painting adorning it, her graceful silhouette was faintly visible.

Today, Su Yingxue wore a ginger-yellow brocade gown as vibrant as spring sunlight. The Floating Light Brocade, woven with the finest craftsmanship, shimmered with a rainbow halo under the sun.

As the Eldest Princess of Da Sheng Guo Du, her robes were naturally made of the highest quality Floating Light Brocade. The layered style of her garment and the intricately embroidered patterns, meticulously stitched by the finest seamstresses, had taken seven days and nights to complete.

This was the luxury and prosperity ordinary women could never attain. She was utterly different from the grim-faced matrons and maids he had seen since childhood in the Cold Palace. Comparing the two, even Chu Xingchen had to admit that Su Yingxue was indeed the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in all these years.

Yet, whenever Chu Xingchen closed his eyes and recalled her ferocious expression—her willful arrogance, the floggings, and the humiliation she had inflicted upon him—a raging fury burned in his heart, and hatred flooded his eyes.

How could he ever have the leisure to ponder her appearance now? Whether she was beautiful or ugly?

It had to be said, this Su Yingxue—so quiet, neither mad nor willful, neither flogging others nor domineering—was somewhat perplexing to Chu Xingchen.

Could it be that Su Yingxue had truly injured her head when she fell into the lake, causing such a drastic change in her personality?

This Su Yingxue, serene and gentle, instead made him feel somewhat uneasy.

No, no—this vicious woman must be scheming some evil plot. All of this was a calculated disguise. Chu Xingchen shook his head and thought bitterly: if he took it seriously, he would once again be played like a fool in her hands!

Just like last time, he, Chu Xingchen, should never have felt pity when he passed by and saw Su Yingxue fall from the bridge into the lake, hearing her thrash about in the water.

That day, when Su Yingxue fell into the water, Chu Xingchen had clearly seen a figure dressed as a servant, with his back turned, walking away in the opposite direction. She had been deliberately pushed.

Chu Xingchen had intended to chase after that retreating figure but heard Su Yingxue struggling in the water, crying out for help.

She flailed like a fish slapping against the waves, bobbing up and down, drenched from head to toe. Her hair was disheveled and damp, her face deathly pale, and her voice broken and pitiful.

The Su Yingxue in the water bore no resemblance to the domineering princess who scolded and beat others. Instead, she appeared utterly wretched and miserable.

Chu Xingchen watched her flail in the center of the lake for a long time, taking in her disheveled state. So, this domineering Eldest Princess didn’t know how to swim. A cold sneer curled on Chu Xingchen’s lips.

At that moment, a thought crossed Chu Xingchen’s mind: don’t save her. Even if she drowned here, it would be the karmic retribution she deserved for her countless evil deeds.

A tyrant like her, who arrogantly bullied and humiliated others, only added to the world’s wickedness while alive! She was a scourge upon the people!

Chu Xingchen hated her to the core. Every scar on his body, whether directly or indirectly, was her doing.

If there was one person in this world that Chu Xingchen hated the most, it would undoubtedly be Su Yingxue!

And she still expected him to save her? What a pipe dream!

But just as Chu Xingchen made up his mind to turn and leave, the person struggling in the center of the lake behind him suddenly fell silent and sank beneath the surface.

After a long while without hearing any movement, he turned to look and was startled to find the lake surface already calm, with only ripples spreading in layers from where she had been moments before, as if whispering something.

Chu Xingchen hadn’t expected that she truly didn’t know how to swim at all. And she had actually pushed herself to the brink of death, looking so pitiful and wretched.

Chu Xingchen’s eyes turned cold. He struggled internally for a long time, but in the end, gritting his teeth, he took off his heavy, tattered cotton-padded outer robe—the only thick coat he owned. It couldn’t get soaked.

The Cold Palace had little Charcoal Fire and was leaky, damp, and bitterly cold. If this robe got wet, he would have no dry, thick clothing to keep warm.

So, wearing only a thin inner garment, Chu Xingchen shivered in the winter wind, gritted his teeth, and jumped into the lake, swimming toward the spot where Su Yingxue had disappeared.

The winter lake water was icy cold, wrapping around Chu Xingchen’s entire body like freezing ice. As he struggled to navigate through the water, he searched for the drowning Su Yingxue.

In his heart, Chu Xingchen cursed angrily: If you don’t know how to swim, why stand on the bridge? Why should I risk my life to save such a vicious woman? If she froze to death like that, wouldn’t I be free once and for all? No one would ever lead the way in bullying and humiliating me again!

Su Yingxue, if I save you this time and you repay kindness with betrayal, one day when I rise to power, I will make you pay back every ounce of hatred from the past!

Su Yingxue, you must hold on!

When Chu Xingchen found Su Yingxue at the bottom of the lake, sinking slowly like a stone thrown into the water and slipping into unconsciousness, he mustered all his strength to swim toward her. With one arm wrapped around her waist and the other struggling to paddle, he tried to bring her to shore.

The moment he held her slender waist, the moment she collapsed into his arms, only one thought remained in his mind: save her!

Su Yingxue, you must hold on!

Although he hated Su Yingxue to the core, seeing her so pale and unconscious, Chu Xingchen was, after all, still just a youth. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity.

After all, he was a teenager in his teens, with a conscience not yet completely extinguished. Even for someone as hateful as her, he couldn’t help but save her because she was a living, breathing life.

With great effort, Chu Xingchen dragged her ashore. At this moment, she was completely soaked, her eyes tightly shut, her face deathly pale, and she had even stopped breathing.

Sigh, I owe you this.

Chu Xingchen let out a muffled grunt and, though reluctant, began pressing rhythmically on her abdomen. Then, taking a deep breath, he blew air into her mouth. He repeated this until Su Yingxue unconsciously coughed up the water she had swallowed, finally resuming breathing, though she remained unconscious and dazed.

Seeing that she had expelled the water and feeling her breath return to normal, Chu Xingchen fetched his dry cotton robe and draped it over her soaked clothes.

Chu Xingchen looked coldly at the vicious woman lying on the ground, but his heart couldn’t suppress its kindness. After all, he was a man, accustomed since childhood to enduring hunger and cold. He could withstand the chill of the winter wind blowing through his wet, thin garment.

He was a man of unyielding integrity in Da Qi—how could he watch a woman suffer from the cold while he himself wore thick clothing?

Though she was a malicious woman, he would not abandon the principles of a gentleman. Moreover, Su Yingxue was the Eldest Princess, raised in luxury since childhood, and naturally more delicate. Unlike him, whose life had been as cheap as grass from the start.