96: Chapter 96 Living Better Than You: The General Male Supporting Character 14

"The female lead didn't fall into the water, but Li Ruolan fell in alone?"

"Are you all pretending not to understand? Didn't Meng Zhu secretly intervene?"

"In the original plot, because Li Ruolan and Nan Li were about to fall into the water, the male supporting character was stimulated into awakening his past life. But under the flood of memories, he should have been dizzy for a long time."

"People are different, after all. Meng Zhu is probably the type with a strong subconscious who isn't afraid of memory overload. He recovered too quickly."

"So, after recovering, Meng Zhu couldn't bear to watch Nan Li fall into the water, so he intervened to save her?"

"It's over. Meng Zhu can't resist the memories of his past life either; he's going to turn into a scumbag."

"They were husband and wife for five years in their past life, and he has only been married to Nan Jin for a few months now. This is unavoidable, right?"

"No way, is he really going to abandon Nan Jin? Meng Zhu, don't be a scumbag!"

"He just wanted to help; maybe it was out of consideration for their past relationship. That's not so bad, is it? How does that make him a scumbag?"

The barrage of comments was chaotic, arguing incessantly.

But setting the comments aside, the storm in the garden had not yet ended.

As soon as Li Ruolan fell into the water, the crowd erupted in chaos.

The Empress saw what happened from afar; her gaze instantly sharpened as she looked toward Prince Liang.

That was the granddaughter of the Prince of Zhenbei! Where else in the world could one find such a golden opportunity?

She hoped her son, Prince Liang, would rescue her.

But in a flash, a guard beside Prince Jing, who was also an expert, acted.

His gaze immediately fixed on Prince Liang, his aura condensing and forcefully bearing down on Prince Liang's body.

In the Wu Dynasty, Prince Jing and his maternal grandfather's granddaughter were cousins and could also be married.

Therefore, having ordered his guard to suppress Prince Liang, Prince Jing's first thought was also to save her.

But at that moment, Meng Zhu's gaze suddenly locked onto him.

An invisible internal energy flooded the area, pinning Prince Jing in place just the same.

The guards in the garden looked at each other, none daring to jump into the lake.

Rescuing a woman who had fallen into the water was equivalent to ruining her reputation. For a guard, the outcome was often not a reward, but being silenced.

To be killed after saving someone—the guards were anxious but dared not act; not a single one dared to step forward.

As for the other young noblemen, that was out of the question.

Who was the Prince of Zhenbei?

Setting aside his status as a prince, he held the rank of a second-grade General of Zhenbei with real power; no one dared to provoke him.

And so, it became quite ridiculous; everyone in the venue was panicking and in disarray, yet all eyes turned toward the princes. The only ones capable of saving this "ancestor" were the princes themselves.

But the crowd did not know that Prince Jing's guard was keeping an eye on Prince Liang because he could not allow Prince Liang to get his hands on military power.

Yet, Meng Zhu was suppressing Prince Jing. At this moment, the only one left in the venue who could move freely was the male lead, Prince Yu.

Li Ruolan was thrashing violently in the water, crying out, "Cousin Prince Yu, save me!"

Finally, after a moment of hesitation, Xuanyuan Zhan could no longer hold back.

He and Li Ruolan might not have been childhood sweethearts in the strictest sense, but they had certainly grown up together.

Seeing that Li Ruolan was starting to choke on water, he couldn't let the granddaughter of the Prince of Zhenbei drown in front of everyone.

He no longer cared about anything else; he swept aside his sleeves and leaped, jumping into the lake with a splash.

With Prince Yu's jump, the strange atmosphere in the garden did not ease; instead, it became even more tense.

Not far away, Prince Liang, Xuanyuan Lie, watched helplessly as the opportunity to win over the Prince of Zhenbei slipped away, grinding his teeth in anger.

He was currently glaring viciously at Prince Jing nearby with a pair of sinister eyes, his gaze filled with ruthlessness and unwillingness.

However, Prince Jing had absolutely no intention of paying attention to Prince Liang.

He stood stiffly in place, cold sweat faintly seeping from his temples.

The terrifying internal energy, heavy as Mount Tai, pinned him firmly in place.

The most crucial part was that he didn't understand.

He didn't understand why Meng Zhu wanted to stop him or why he wanted to help Prince Yu.

Setting aside their respective hidden agendas.

As for Nan Jin, ever since Li Ruolan fell into the water, she had been completely stunned.

She gazed at Xuanyuan Zhan swimming toward Li Ruolan in the lake, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"How could it be like this?"

Memories of her past life intertwined wildly in her mind, and only when Meng Zhu gently took her hands did she snap back to reality.

Meanwhile, on the other side, her dear sister, Nan Li, still wore an indifferent and detached expression.

Watching Prince Yu jump into the lake for another woman, there was only a tiny ripple in Nan Li's cold, clear eyes before they returned to calm.

She had already accepted their marriage as a facade, so she did not care if Prince Yu married a secondary consort or how many he married.

Seeing her aloof demeanor, Nan Jin lost all interest in watching the show.

On the distant veranda.

The Empress took in the expressions of everyone present.

Although she didn't know the specifics, this woman who had managed the inner palace for many years vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

But she did not expose it, turning instead to sternly reprimand the eunuch beside her.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and get a blanket and ginger soup!"

The palace attendants quickly agreed.

Like this, the scene finally calmed down a little.

But it was not over yet.

Xuanyuan Zhan spent quite a bit of effort before finally dragging the shivering Li Ruolan ashore.

Eunuchs and palace maids hurriedly stepped forward to hand over a blanket.

Who would have thought that although Li Ruolan was in a sorry state, her eyes were bloodshot and weeping, staring fixedly at Nan Li not far away.

"Cousin, it was her! It was her who pushed me into the water! Cousin, you must stand up for me!"

She couldn't even wait to catch her breath before extending a trembling finger and accusing her in a miserable voice.

This earth-shattering exclamation instantly turned the surrounding whispers into a buzzing debate.

Everyone's gaze turned in unison toward Princess Consort Yu, Nan Li.

On one side was the pitiful granddaughter of the Prince of Zhenbei who had just nearly drowned; on the other was the unscathed, cold-eyed spectator, Princess Consort Yu.

Could anyone really use their own life to frame you?

Once suspicion was born, the verdict was already established.

The way everyone looked at Nan Li changed.

Nan Li paid no attention to the pointing fingers around her; she looked at Xuanyuan Zhan with complex eyes.

"Your Highness."

Even so, her voice remained calm.

"Do you also believe her words and think that I pushed her?"

Xuanyuan Zhan was momentarily rendered speechless by her question.

He instinctively glanced at Li Ruolan, then turned back to look at Nan Li.

To be honest, he didn't know.

He felt that Nan Li was not that kind of person.

But he also felt that it was impossible for Li Ruolan to use her own life to frame Nan Li.

At this moment, he found himself in a dilemma.

More importantly, Xuanyuan Zhan wanted to smooth things over at this moment.

He did not want this matter to blow up.

"Nan Li."

After thinking for a moment, he took a deep breath, his tone gentle.

"Ruolan was just frightened and is not in her right mind; what she said might not be accurate. But regardless of whether you pushed her or not, you first… you first apologize to appease her, and we can talk about it when we get back, okay?"

He thought this was a way to resolve the situation while keeping the big picture in mind—it could appease Li Ruolan without causing Nan Li to lose too much face, and it would smooth things over so it wouldn't escalate too much.

However, these words, falling into Nan Li's ears, were no different from the sharpest of daggers.

Everything is afraid of comparison.

She still remembered that in her past life, even though they were also a couple in name only, the male supporting character had always stood on her side.

True partiality meant protecting someone without asking for the reason.

Perhaps it was because Li Ruolan was Prince Yu's childhood friend.

Perhaps it was also because Li Ruolan was the granddaughter of the Prince of Zhenbei.

Or perhaps, it was also because Li Ruolan was the only one who had fallen into the water.

But regardless, no matter the reason.

Nan Li had already realized that Xuanyuan Zhan was not a suitable partner.

They were a couple in name only, having made an agreement on their wedding night; in modern terms, they were a contract couple.

She deserved the basic respect and trust that a wife should have.

The look she gave Xuanyuan Zhan turned into a dead, icy wasteland in an instant.

Smooth things over, keep the big picture in mind.

Nan Li could understand that perspective to some extent, but that did not mean she would agree to it.

"I did not push her."

She spoke directly, her voice not loud, but every word was clear and resonant.

"I will never admit to something I did not do, and I certainly will not apologize."