Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 371 - 370: Legitimate Daughter Becomes an Illegitimate Daughter

Chapter 371: Chapter 370: Legitimate Daughter Becomes an Illegitimate Daughter

Chen Afu and the others were greatly alarmed. If something had happened to that young lady, a big accident would befall the Fu family. Moreover, it was the day of Mr. Fu’s wedding, quite an unlucky occurrence.

Thinking of her own daughter who was also boating on the lake, Mrs. Qin quickly sent a maid to the lakeside to take a look and bring her daughter Lan back.

Mrs. Liu asked again, "Has she been rescued?"

The maid replied, "They say she was rescued and has been taken to Mrs. Fu’s courtyard. A doctor has been called."

That’s good then.

Mrs. Qin asked, "Which family’s daughter is it? How could she fall into the lake?"

The maid answered, "They say she is from the Chen family." She added, "Coincidentally, when the young lady fell, there happened to be a few young men nearby. I’m not sure which one of them dived in to save her."

"Which Chen family? Which young lady?" Chen Afu asked anxiously. Considering that Chen Yuhui was also present, it felt like it was some sort of plot twist.

The maid replied, "I don’t know which Chen family specifically."

Feeling uneasy, Chen Afu asked Xiao Mo and another maid from the courtyard to go find out more details.

Not long after, Qin Lan came back. She seemed scared, her little face pale. The older maid who had gone with her shared what had happened.

They had been boating on the lake, just a short distance from where the incident took place.

There was a small arched bridge on the lake, and around the bridge were many lotus leaves. The girl had been on the lower part of the bridge, bending over to pick a lotus leaf when she somehow fell into the water. Fortunately, there were several young men nearby, one of whom jumped into the water to save her...

Lan also added, "While I was sitting in the boat, I saw those men. It seemed like Uncle Chu was among them. But after the girl fell, the boat woman didn’t dare to get close, so I don’t know who actually jumped in to save her."

Chen Afu’s heart skipped a beat. If Chu Lingxuan was there, the girl could very well be Chen Yuhui. She had always wanted to be Chu Lingxuan’s concubine and always felt that Chu Lingxuan had feelings for her, so he would have tried to save her.

Chen Afu cursed inwardly, that girl certainly had high hopes, with no idea how dark-hearted Chu Lingxuan was. He would never do something impulsive like playing hero to save her.

However, if it was indeed Chen Yuhui, it could tarnish the reputation of the young ladies of the Chen family even more.

About a quarter of an hour later, Xiao Mo returned.

She whispered, "Madam Chen, it was indeed your second sister who fell into the water. However, there is nothing seriously wrong with her. Her mother-in-law and some other ladies have already gone back."

"Who saved her?" Chen Afu asked.

Xiao Mo replied, "It’s said that it was General Xiao He, the second son of Deputy General He, who saved her."

"He Er?" Both Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Liu exclaimed in surprise, then exchanged a look, shook their heads, and made faces of disdain.

They probably didn’t know the strained relationship between Chen Afu and Chen Yuhui and might still be worried for Chen Yuhui.

Indeed, acts have consequences. Let her play her part, she can continue playing it after marrying He Er.

Chen Afu said to Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Liu, "My second sister has always been a bit unruly, but my third and fourth sisters are quite sensible. They know what should be done and what should not be done. Especially my third sister, she is gentle, virtuous, and pleasing. It’s a pity..." She was also implicated by that damned girl.

She didn’t continue, but Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Liu understood. They both said, "Madam Chu, don’t worry. Time will reveal a person’s character. The type of person your third sister is will naturally be known over time."

Chen Afu was surprised when Xiao Mo quietly told her while she was going to the toilet, "Madam Chen, I don’t know why, but initially they said it was the third Miss Chen who had fallen into the water. Then, they said there had been a mistake, the young woman who fell into the water was the second Miss Chen. I heard... Mrs. He was initially very happy, saying that the He family would for sure take responsibility. But when she found out it was the second young lady, she grimaced."

Chen Afu was somewhat surprised, uncertain what the trick was. Regardless, whether Mrs. He made a face or not, the He family had to take responsibility.

By late afternoon, when Chu Hanyan and Fu Lingshan woke up, the few of them didn’t go out and instead played around there.

Later in the afternoon, music and fireworks echoed from a distance. The bride was carried into the house. Chen Afu didn’t go to see the bride because she was worried that she would be jostled due to the crowd. Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Liu stayed with her and didn’t go. However, Ms. Chu, along with the other two ladies, was led by the matrons and maids to join the excitement.

At the evening banquet, Chen Afu and the others finally went to Hua Hall.

The faces of Mrs. Fu and Grand Mrs. Fu were not looking good, and Elder Mrs. Fu didn’t show up.

Chen Afu felt quite embarrassed. No matter how bad the relationship between her and Chen Yuhui was, they were sisters when they were outside, representing the Chen family. It was very inappropriate that the Chen family’s daughter disrupted the wedding banquet and even seemed to have angered the elder Mrs. Fu.

She went to apologize to Mrs. Fu, whispering, "I’m sorry, my sister has caused you... some worry."

Mrs. Fu forced a smile and said, "It’s fine. When we get back, we’ll apologize to your parents on behalf of our master and me. It was our lack of supervision that caused your sister’s accident."

Mrs. He was so angry her face could wring water. She did not even pretend to force a smile. She was extremely furious for her plan to attack the legitimate daughter of the Chen family was disrupted by a concubine-born daughter. She had no idea when her second son turned so chivalrous to play hero and save the beauty.

Seeing Chen Afu coming, she glared at her, wishing she could kill her with her eyes.

Chen Afu felt helpless, she had nothing to do with Chen Yuhui behaving recklessly.

On the way back, since Chu Lingxuan had drunk quite a bit of wine, he did not ride his horse, but sat in Chen Afu’s carriage.

He said, "Chen Yuhui must have fallen into the water on purpose. She thought I would save her, she dared to think..."

Later in the afternoon, he was pulled by some younger officers to the lakeside to enjoy the view and the cool breeze. The female guests were on the opposite shore of the lake while the male guests were here, separated by fluffy green willows and refreshed by the breeze, making it very cool.

Then, a lone young lady came to the bridge on the opposite shore, stepped onto a few steps of the bridge, looked down at the lotus leaves in the water for a while, and then bent to pick a lotus leaf.

Chu Hanxuan recognized her to be Chen Yuhui and felt embarrassed to have such a sister-in-law.

While the other men were jokingly guessing who the girl was, they didn’t want to keep looking at her and were about to leave, when they heard a "splash". The girl had fallen into the water.

All the men were flabbergasted. They rushed over, screaming for the boatwoman while hesitating whether to dive in and save her.

Suddenly, Chu Lingxuan exclaimed, "Oh no, that young lady is my mother-in-law’s third daughter." Saying that, he pretended to jump into the lake to rescue her.

However, before he could jump, He Er, He Linsheng, splashed into the water first.

He Linsheng had only seen Chen Yuqing once, and Chen Yuhui was quite far from them plus he didn’t look too carefully, he only found her vaguely familiar. Hearing Chu Lingxuan’s words, he thought it was Chen Yuqing who had fallen into the water.