lcionline Chapter 423 Falling into the water
Chapter 423 Falling into the water
Nianyao smiled, put away the bamboo pole, sat at the bow of the boat, baited the hook, stepped on the fishing rod, and began fishing.
Xu Chengyou stared intently at her as she loaded the bait and cast the line. He climbed up to her, touched the fishing rod, and said, "I want one too."
Nianyao said, "You're too small, you can't lift it."
Xu Chengyou pouted: "Sister-in-law, I just want to go fishing."
This adorable little girl's act of being aggrieved and coquettish is simply melting hearts.
Nianyao looked around and her gaze fell on the clump of purple bamboo by the lake. She weighed down her fishing rod with a stone, leaped up, stepped into the bamboo grove, and flew back, already holding a piece of bamboo in her hand.
Nianyao used a knife to trim away the excess twigs and bamboo leaves, leaving two symmetrical twigs, the upper one with two bamboo leaves. She smoothed the bamboo joints, ran her hand over the bamboo stalk to make sure it was smooth and thornless, then took out a fishhook and tied it to the lower twig.
Xu Chengyou happily took the small fishing rod and was about to reach into the jar to grab the bait when her wet nurse quickly stopped her: "Princess, this servant will take it."
The bait was made of dough with added red bean powder; it looked red and felt wet and soft. The wet nurse's expression clearly showed some disgust.
Nianyao quickly said, "I'll do it, I'll do it."
The wet nurse immediately withdrew her hand: "Thank you for your trouble, Your Highness."
After Nianyao loaded the bait, Xu Chengyou couldn't wait to put the bamboo pole into the water.
Nianyao held her hand and turned it slightly: "Place the leaf on the water's surface. If the leaf sinks or floats, it means a fish has taken the bait. Then you lift the bamboo pole, understand?"
Xu Chengyou nodded, his tone firm: "Understood."
Xu Chengyou held the bamboo pole, his eyes fixed on two bamboo leaves on the water, his round eyes wide open and unblinking.
The wet nurse, worried that she would get tired, said, "Third Princess, don't use your hands to take it. Step on it with your feet, and I'll step on it for you."
Xu Chengyou shook his head firmly: "No."
The wet nurse searched the cabin for something to weigh down the bamboo pole when she heard Xu Chengyou excitedly shout, "Fish, fish, I caught a fish, I caught a fish..."
Xu Chengyou lifted the fishing rod, where some small fish were struggling desperately. Xu Chengyou stood up, raised the fishing rod, and moved the fish in front of Nianyao.
Nianyao took the fish off the bucket and put it in the small bucket, then rebaited it and gave a thumbs up: "Amazing! You're even better than your sister-in-law. Look, your sister-in-law hasn't caught a single fish yet."
Seeing Xu Chengyou dancing with excitement, the wet nurse also became happy: "The Third Princess is really amazing."
Xu Chengyou sat a little closer to the side of the boat, stretched out his arm and put the bamboo pole as far as possible, and soon caught another fish, then a third, a fourth, a fifth...
After Nianyao took the small fish off the bucket, Xu Chengyou finally realized something was wrong. Why hadn't Nianyao caught a single fish?
Xu Chengyou sat next to Nianyao, staring at Nianyao's buoy, and suddenly said urgently, "Sister-in-law, it moved..."
Before she finished speaking, Nianyao had already raised her fishing rod, and a huge fish was swaying in the air.
Xu Chengyou exclaimed, "Wow, what a big fish!"
Nianyao put the fish into the bucket, and Xu Chengyou stared at it for a long time, clinging to the edge of the bucket: "The fish my sister-in-law caught is so big, it almost doesn't fit in the bucket. And the fish she caught was only the length of a finger."
After looking at the fish, Xu Chengyou looked thoughtfully at the fishing rod in his hand and then at Nianyao's fishing rod. It turned out that the big fishing rod was for catching big fish, and the small fishing rod was for catching small fish.
Xu Chengyou shoved the fishing rod into the wet nurse's hand: "Here you go."
The wet nurse, seeing Xu Chengyou catching fish one after another, also became interested, so she baited the hook and put the fishing rod in the water.
Xu Chengyou sat down in front of Nianyao and touched the big fishing rod: "Sister-in-law, my fishing rod is too small."
Nianyao said, "Adults use big fishing rods, and children use small fishing rods."
Xu Chengyou said, "We need a wet nurse."
Nianyao couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're such a clever little devil. Then I'll make you a bigger one."
Xu Chengyou naturally cheered. This time, the nanny didn't stop them either. Both of them, who had never been on a boat, played in the water, or fished before, had a great time.
Nianyao looked at the clump of purple bamboo. She had just picked a section at random, but to make a long one, she would have to choose a slender bamboo, otherwise Xu Chengyou would not be able to carry it.
The wet nurse also reminded her, "Your Highness, you must choose a thin one, because thin ones are light."
Nianyao nodded: "Okay, then the wet nurse will watch over her, and I'll go pick out a straight and thin one so we can use it often after it's made."
Nianyao flew over from the boat, landed by the lake, and circled the purple bamboo grove twice. The nanny followed her gaze. Nianyao picked out a slender, straight bamboo, forcefully broke it off, and bent down to cut off the part above the water.
The wet nurse nodded secretly, thinking to herself, "The Crown Princess has excellent taste."
Xu Chengyou wasn't interested in how to retrieve the bamboo; she kept her eyes on the bobber of the large fishing rod, and whenever she saw it move, she would try to lift it with both hands. She underestimated the weight of the bamboo rod and the fish, and it fell headfirst and legs-up into the lake.
The wet nurse heard a splash and turned around to find Xu Chengyou gone. Terrified, she couldn't even cry for help. She threw her fishing rod into the lake and staggered to the bow of the boat.
The wet nurse didn't know how to control the boat, and with Xu Chengyou thrashing around in the water, the boat naturally shifted. The wet nurse's hands could no longer reach Xu Chengyou, so in desperation she jumped into the lake after him.
Nianyao sensed something was wrong from the noise and looked up to see that the boat was empty, but there were two people struggling in the lake.
"Your Five Elements are incompatible with water, and you are destined to be associated with water. You should not be near rivers, lakes, or seas before the age of six." The wet nurse's words flashed through Nianyao's mind like lightning.
Startled and frightened, Nianyao leaped into the water and swam like a fish to Xu Chengyou's side. Just as she picked Xu Chengyou up, she felt her legs get tangled, and her wet nurse caught her.
Nianyao lifted Xu Chengyou out of the water with one hand and used the other to pull the wet nurse. The wet nurse, in her dazed state, clung to Nianyao's legs as if they were her lifeline, refusing to let go.
The boats were only a few feet apart. Nianyao threw the small knife over and stuck it into the side of the boat. Then she threw the big fishing rod over, and the fishing line was wrapped around the scabbard to pull the boat over.
Nianyao lay on the side of the boat, first placing Xu Chengyou on the boat, then lying horizontally on the boat with her upper body, using her legs to pull the wet nurse out of the water, then turning over and sitting up to pull the wet nurse onto the boat.
Nianyao bent down to check Xu Chengyou's breathing, hugged him from behind, placed one fist above Xu Chengyou's navel, and used the other hand to cup the fist and thrust into his abdomen several times from the inside. Xu Chengyou spat out a mouthful of water and burst into tears.
Nianyao let out a long breath, wiped the sweat or lake water from her forehead, and looked back at her wet nurse. Fortunately, the wet nurse had only choked on a few mouthfuls of water and was otherwise unharmed.
Xu Chengyao sat upright during class, Luo An sat at the head of the table reading a book, the ministers of the Six Ministries and the scholars were reviewing memorials, and the most lively thing in the Taiji Hall was the dust flying in the beam of light.
Until a palace servant rushed in with a panic: "Your Highness, the Third Princess has fallen into the water."
Xu Chengyou threw down the book and ran outside. By the time Luo An looked up, Xu Chengyao was already gone.