Spring Rises in the Phoenix Pool Chapter 35

The young ladies of the Xiang family were completely stunned. No one knew how, in the peaceful Xiang family garden, two strange men could suddenly appear.

It was the Second Miss of the Xiang family who first recognized Xiao Yunting, her face filled with shock: “Jing Wang!”

She stood frozen, unable to comprehend how Jing Wang had ended up in the Xiang family’s back garden, or who the person lying on the ground was. Her mind was a complete mess.

It was Qi Yuan who tugged gently at the Second Miss’s sleeve and softly reminded her, “Second Miss, please go quickly and fetch someone who can make decisions.”

Although she didn’t know why Xiao Yunting had come to the Xiang family’s grounds to capture someone, nor did she know who he had seized—

But this was Jing Wang. Even marquises and dukes had to kneel and pay respects when meeting a prince. The right thing to do now was to quickly bring over someone with authority to handle this.

The Second Miss finally came to her senses, her legs trembling as she turned to order someone to report to the front courtyard immediately.

Xiao Yunting looked at Qi Yuan with an intrigued gaze.

The first time they met, this girl had killed someone in the lake. Now upon meeting again, he was the one fishing someone out of the lake.

What an odd coincidence.

He raised an eyebrow at the girls kneeling on the ground and casually gestured, “All of you may rise. I’m here to arrest a criminal. There’s no need to panic.”

A criminal?

The Second Miss became even more anxious.

Qi Yuan, however, stared carefully at the man on the ground, roughly guessing who Xiao Yunting had come for.

When Xiao Yunting was about to leave with the man, she instinctively called out, “Your Highness, please wait!”

Everyone turned to her in surprise, including Xiao Yunting.

He glanced at Qi Yuan and asked indifferently, “What is it?”

Qi Yuan’s heart was pounding wildly.

She had originally planned to seek out Xiao Yunting to propose a partnership. Now that this opportunity had fallen right into her hands, there was no way she could let it pass.

But with all the Xiang family’s young ladies present, this was clearly not the right place to speak.

In a split second, she made up her mind and quickly knelt.

As she knelt, she discreetly made a hand gesture.

Then, as if flustered, she shook her head: “It’s nothing. I just wished to thank Your Highness for saving my life last time.”

Xiao Yunting gave her a long, meaningful look, then turned and left.

The Second Miss immediately relaxed, tugging at Qi Yuan’s sleeve: “What rescue? That’s Jing Wang, the most favored grandson of the Emperor. How could you dare…”

Qi Yuan had already prepared an explanation. She softly said, “Before I returned home, His Highness helped me and my father at the yamen.”

So that’s what it was. The Second Miss didn’t question it further.

After all, Qi Yuan had only just returned from the countryside. How could she possibly have known someone like Jing Wang?

She didn’t pursue the matter, though she was still puzzled: “Strange. Why would he come to arrest someone here?”

The incident quickly passed.

Soon after, the Xiang family’s Old Madam summoned them all to the front hall.

When Madam Wang saw Qi Yuan, her smile immediately disappeared: “You didn’t cause any trouble in the back, did you?”

The Xiang family’s young ladies had just hurriedly sent someone to report—who knew what they had said?

The Xiang family’s Old Madam’s face had not looked good since.

Madam Wang was convinced this had something to do with Qi Yuan. She thought Qi Yuan must have offended the Xiang family’s girls.

Though Qi Yuan had long been used to Madam Wang’s attitude, she still felt a cold pang in her heart.

She had done nothing wrong, yet Madam Wang always assumed the worst of her.

It was almost laughable.

Fortunately, just then, one of the Gao Momo came in, her face grim as she whispered a few words to Madam Wang.

Madam Wang, who had been poised to scold Qi Yuan, immediately turned pale upon hearing her.

Gripping the woman’s hand in disbelief, she asked, “What?!”

The woman’s face twisted into a miserable smile, her voice low: “Madam, this isn’t the time to ask questions. You should quickly—”

Madam Wang’s face turned ugly, her mood sinking to rock bottom.

Quickly? What could she possibly do now?

She swayed unsteadily, biting her lip to compose herself before stepping forward to speak to the Old Madam with a forced smile: “Old Madam, I have something I would like to discuss with you…”

Seeing Madam Wang’s completely changed expression, Qi Yuan lowered her head to hide the sneer in her eyes.

At this point, the only thing that could make Madam Wang this panicked and horrified was news regarding Qi Jin or Qi Yunting.

It seemed Qi Yunting really didn’t disappoint.

Qi Yuan’s lips curled in disdain.

Meanwhile, Qi Jin had arrived in a miserable state at the estate on the outskirts. When she saw how the servants had arranged her room, she nearly fainted.

The marquis household had repeatedly said this was only a temporary stay at the villa.

But this place—not to mention living here temporarily—she couldn’t bear even one day!

Her expression was dark, and Yunyan, always attuned to her moods, immediately turned to scold the steward: “Are you blind? Do you know who this is? This is Second Miss! How dare you arrange such a place for her to stay? What else would you dare to neglect?!”

The steward bowed and scraped, plastering on a smile: “Second Miss, we received the order on short notice. We didn’t have time to prepare properly. Please endure for a few days…”

They really had it hard!

Who would have thought that the precious Second Miss of the marquis household would suddenly be sent here without warning?

From the time they received the order to the time they prepared the quarters, it had barely been half a day.

There was no way they could make it as luxurious and comfortable as the marquis estate.

But Qi Jin didn’t care about any of that.

Since childhood, she had always enjoyed the best of everything.

She had never endured such indignities.

She didn’t even want to set foot inside. Her face darkened as she turned to leave.

Yunyan hurried after her, anxiously trying to comfort her: “Miss, don’t lower yourself to argue with them…”

But Qi Jin couldn’t see this as a small matter.

Grabbing Yunyan’s wrist, her other hand clenched tightly into a fist as she coldly asked, “When we left the estate, did my brother know?”

She would not stay in this place—not even for a day!

People would always push their limits.

If she tolerated this today, they might not even allow her to stay at the villa tomorrow!

Whether this was due to these people’s negligence or Madam Wang’s intentions—

She would not accept it!

She wanted Qi Yunting to come here himself and see how they were treating her!

If she had previously intended to wait and scheme slowly, she could no longer endure even a moment.

Yunyan looked troubled. They had left in such a rush; how could they have paid attention to whether Qi Yunting had been informed?

As she struggled to find a way to calm Qi Jin, she suddenly heard Qi Yunting’s voice outside: “Ah Jin! Ah Jin, I’m here!”

Want to show your support? Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! Want to get early access to at least 10 chapters in advance? Go to my Patreon to join now! :)