In Sweetwater Lane, Wei Caiwei had finally fallen asleep just before dawn but was soon jolted awake by earth-shattering explosions.
Barefoot, she rushed out of bed and threw open the window. Seeing the crimson clouds billowing in the distance, she was horrified: Hadn't they already secured the underground warehouse of the Myriad Goods Trading Company?
How could it still have exploded?
What about Wang Daxia and Lu Ying? Was Ding Wu at the scene?
Her heart racing with anxiety, Wei Caiwei immediately slung her medical bag over her shoulder, donned a bamboo hat and rain cape, and galloped on horseback toward the crimson clouds.
Please let nothing bad happen!
The streets were heavily barricaded by the Northern City Military Command, Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, all poised for action. Wei Caiwei presented Wang Commander's name card and her own palace female physician identification badge to pass through each checkpoint.
Thanks to Wang Daxia and Lu Ying's public protection—amid rumors of their romantic entanglements—Wei Caiwei had become a well-known figure in the Northern City. Everyone "knew" of her connections to both, and with the miserable fates of Lu Renjia, Bu Yaolian, and Wu Lianchi—who had previously humiliated her—no one dared obstruct her, fearing retaliation from both Lu Ying and Wang Daxia.
"It's the Red Sleeve Brothel at the Pool of Accumulated Water," directed an Embroidered Uniform Guard. Wei Caiwei charged straight toward the roiling fire clouds over the lake, her mind swirling with doubts.
In her previous life, the explosion had occurred in Headline Alley—she'd never heard anything about the Red Sleeve Brothel incident. The brothel had been forcibly shut down by the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen at year's end.
The closure was triggered when a high-ranking official died of a stroke during intercourse at the brothel. At the time, Lu Bing had just passed away suddenly, and the Jiajing Emperor was deeply grieved, bestowing sixteen sacrificial urns and organizing an elaborate funeral. Following the emperor's lead, all officials wore mournful expressions—yet this official had dared indulge in pleasure.
Enraged, the Jiajing Emperor stripped the official of his position. Shuntian Prefecture Governor Wang Niqiu, ever observant, seized the opportunity to shut down the Red Sleeve Brothel, burning all eighteen pavilions to vent the emperor's fury.
Having offended powerful figures, the Red Sleeve Brothel could no longer operate in the capital and vanished entirely.
Why would the Red Sleeve Brothel explode in this lifetime?
Though reborn, Wei Caiwei didn't know everything. She rode to the lakeshore and saw that the exploding building was a small pavilion among the eighteen brothel towers, still burning fiercely under the torrential rain. Where flames met downpour, plumes of gray smoke and white steam erupted.
Guests and courtesans fled the pavilions in disarray, some completely naked, scrambling toward the lake. For modesty, they snapped giant lotus leaves the size of millstones to cover themselves.
Lu Ying and Ding Wu were dragging waterlogged Embroidered Uniform Guards ashore in the rain—none had external injuries, though some had inhaled water.
Without asking for details, Wei Caiwei demanded, "Where's Wang Daxia?"
"Haven't seen him yet," Lu Ying replied before diving back into the lake to search for survivors.
Ding Wu, though anxious, tried to comfort her: "Wang Daxia is an excellent swimmer. He must be fine."
If he was such a strong swimmer, why hadn't he surfaced?
Could he have been trapped under collapsed debris?
Ignoring her own inability to swim, Wei Caiwei waded into the lake, shouting desperately, "Daxia! Wang Daxia!"
Ding Wu, also a non-swimmer, panicked as he saw her chest-deep in water. He hurried over with a bamboo pole, driving it firmly into the muddy lakebed. "Hold onto this pole—don't go any farther!"Wei Caiwei leaned on the pole, took a deep breath, and crouched underwater, forcing her eyes open beneath the surface.
The burning building blazed like a giant torch, illuminating the lake around the Eighteen Flowers Tower. She could see dark shadows struggling in the water, being pulled ashore by swimming companions.
No sound could be made underwater. Wei Caiwei’s breath soon ran out. She stood up to gasp for air, then crouched again, leaning on the pole to peer carefully. Suddenly, she spotted the shadow of a hand stretching out from the aquatic plants to her left.
Wei Caiwei pointed in that direction. "Someone’s calling for help over there! They seem to be tangled in the weeds."
Immediately, a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who could swim went to rescue the person. Sure enough, they saved someone—half-drowned and barely conscious—but a glance at the face revealed it wasn’t Wang Daxia.
Ding Wu waded through the water, dragging the person toward the shore.
"Daxia! Wang Daxia!" Wei Caiwei stood in place, shouting hoarsely several times, but still, no one answered her. She crouched down once more to search underwater.
But the bamboo pole tilted, no longer stable. A wave crashed over, wrenching the pole from the mud. Wei Caiwei stumbled and fell, and the lake’s current swept her into deeper waters.
By then, Ding Wu had dragged the rescued person ashore and immediately turned back to check on Wei Caiwei.
But neither Wei Caiwei nor the bamboo pole was anywhere to be seen!
"Banxia! Banxia!" Ding Wu’s mind went blank. He then waded frantically through the water, searching for her.
"Banxia? What happened to Doctor Wei?" A voice called out in response—it was Wang Daxia, alive and well, full of energy.
As it turned out, Wang Daxia had been rescuing people on the other side, pushing his non-swimming comrades ashore. Amid the thunderstorm, fierce winds, and turbulent waves, along with the screams and cries of the Eighteen Flowers Tower’s guests and courtesans, Wei Caiwei’s calls for him had been drowned out.
Wang Daxia had been rescuing people all along and had actually passed by Lu Ying several times. But the water was too dark to see faces—only silhouettes—and with no way to make sound, they kept missing each other.
It wasn’t until Wang Daxia spotted his lost blue fluorite, sunk into the mud and emitting only a faint glow like a firefly, that things changed.
Wang Daxia dove down and retrieved the entire fluorite. The stone glowed even underwater. Lu Ying saw the fluorescence and swam over quickly, recognizing Wang Daxia’s face in its light.
Lu Ying pulled him up and pointed roughly in Wei Caiwei’s direction. "Doctor Wei is here, looking everywhere for you. Go let her know you’re safe."
Hearing that Wei Caiwei had come, Wang Daxia immediately dropped everything to find her.
He didn’t see Caiwei but instead spotted Ding Wu in neck-deep water, shouting "Banxia!"
Wang Daxia rushed over.
Ding Wu pointed at the lake. "Banxia was swept away by a wave! Hurry and save her!"
Wang Daxia nearly lost his mind. Hanging the blue fluorite at his waist, he plunged into the water to search for Banxia.
Meanwhile, in the water, Wei Caiwei did her best to relax her body. Fortunately, her bamboo hat, straw raincoat, and the long bamboo pole provided some buoyancy.
Wei Caiwei bobbed up and down in the water. Each time she surfaced, she took a deep breath, intending to call for help, but before she could utter a word, her body would sink again, forcing her to shut her mouth.
When she rose once more, taking a breath left no chance to shout.
Wei Caiwei decided to gamble. The next time she surfaced, without pausing to breathe, she used what little air she had left to cry out, "Daxia!"
Her body sank again. With her breath exhausted, Wei Caiwei began to choke on water. Her body could no longer stay relaxed, and she sank deeper and deeper.Oh no, I clearly wanted to shout "Help!" Why did "Daxia" slip out instead?
Ah, I know—it's because I was reborn for him!
My reluctance to part with him and my longing are why I was reborn. I came back for love, and that's how this incredible rebirth happened.
Now, neither Lu Ying nor Ding Wu can find him, and no matter how many times I call, he doesn't respond. He must have already sunk to the bottom of the lake.
If that's the case, then this life of rebirth should end here. I was reborn for him, and I'll die for him too. That counts as... a worthy death.
I stopped him from castrating himself, but it cost him his life—sleeping at the bottom of the lake at just fourteen.
I was too greedy. We shared a lifetime of love, and I still dreamed of being together in the next life. How could such good fortune exist?
Well then, I'll sleep with him at the bottom of the lake. I hope the water washes us together.
Wei Caiwei sank to the bottom. Seeing the flames above, the floating wooden planks, her heart was unexpectedly serene. Her Mourning Bun had come undone in the water, her dark hair spreading out like underwater weeds, swaying with the currents. The white silk cloth wrapped around her bun floated up to the lake's surface.
White is the most visible color in the dark lake water.
A hand grabbed the white silk cloth, then plunged fiercely into the lake, heading straight for the bottom beneath the cloth.
It was Wang Daxia, searching for her. He saw the floating white headscarf and swam toward it.
A blue fluorite hung from Wang Daxia's waist, glowing even in the lake water, allowing him to see the scene at the bottom.
Before losing consciousness, Wei Caiwei saw a human-shaped figure enveloped in blue fluorescence swimming toward her.
It looked just like Wang Daxia.
So, his soul has come for me. We'll be together for all eternity.
So the color of his soul is blue.
So beautiful.
Wei Caiwei used her last bit of strength to stretch both hands toward the blue Wang Daxia, then closed her eyes...
Wang Daxia grabbed her hand, pulled her up from the lakebed, and treading water, they spiraled upward together...
When Wei Caiwei woke up, she was lying in her own bed, her clothes and hair dry. It was already daylight, and heavy rain fell outside.
Everything was exactly as it had been before she fell asleep.
What's going on? I didn't die? Was sinking into the lake just a nightmare?
Wei Caiwei sat up, feeling weak and with a slight headache. It seemed the nightmare had taken a toll on her mind.
She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, feeling heavy eyelids, a bitter taste in her mouth, a rough tongue, and overall discomfort. Had she caught a chill last night?
She threw off the covers, got up to put on her shoes, and planned to go downstairs to the pharmacy to prepare some medicine. But when her feet touched the bedside step, she couldn't find her shoes—instead, she stepped on something warm and soft.
Strange, I don't keep a cat.
Wei Caiwei finally opened her eyes again and saw her feet resting on someone's abdomen.
Wang Daxia, whom she couldn't find in her dream, was curled up asleep on the step of the canopy bed.
Oh no, oh no, I'm still in the dream—a dream within a dream. This was a scene from my previous life: Eunuch Wang, freshly graduated from the Inner Study Hall, lowering himself to live off a woman, his posture humble.
At first, they didn't share a bed. Eunuch Wang, conscious of his dependent status, acted meek and subservient. On the very first night, he took the initiative to sleep on the step with his quilt, ready to attend to Wei Caiwei at night.However, Wei Caiwei did not allow him to do so, insisting he move to sleep on the large heated brick bed by the window. Though it was somewhat cold near the window at night, the bed was warmed by fire in winter, making it a cozy and comfortable place to sleep.
In this life, Wang Daxia had not castrated himself, so naturally he wouldn't sleep on the footrest. I must still be dreaming, confusing the two lifetimes.
But the Wang Daxia beneath her feet first furrowed his brows, reaching out to push away the weight on his abdomen, only to touch two warm objects—firm yet soft to the touch, with a springy resilience.
Wang Daxia opened his eyes and saw the awakened Wei Caiwei sitting on the edge of the bed, her jade-like feet resting on his abdomen, her gaze drowsy and dazed.
His hands were holding her bare feet.
Her five toes were neatly aligned, with a distinctive shape—the big toe, second, third, and even the fourth toe were almost equal in length, standing side by side, while the little toe nestled affectionately against the fourth.
The pad of her big toe tilted slightly upward, while the other four toes curled inward, like four soft cushions pressing against his abdomen. It felt almost like a massage—strangely comfortable?
Wang Xiaoxia was instantly wide awake.
Author's Note: These past few chapters have been thrilling, so I'm hastily scattering some sweetness to comfort all your anxious little hearts~
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