The morning wind swept in from the river, carrying a biting chill, yet A Fu’s back was slick with sweat.
This A Jiu was not joking—he truly intended to kill.
She remained motionless, watching A Jiu without crying or making a fuss, her expression calm as she asked, “Shouldn’t there be a reason?”
A Jiu chuckled. “Look at that—the true face is revealed. What does this face have to do with innocence and pity? I knew from the start there was something off about you.”
A Fu said nothing, her gaze fixed on him.
“That mother of yours, on the verge of death, still had the heart to put on such a show, talking about love and affection,” A Jiu said, his face full of disdain. “She must have come from the pleasure quarters, right?”
Sure enough, Li Niang’s impulsive words had drawn attention. This young man was far too sharp—and he’d guessed correctly.
A Fu thought for a moment and said, “My mother and father shared a deep bond—”
“What kind of time is this? A matter of life and death, and you’re still talking about deep bonds? Did your mother forget she had two children by her side?” A Jiu cut her off with a sneer. “Little girl, your act was quite convincing, but unfortunately, it fell just short. Because you’ve never seen what it truly looks like when a mother is dying and her children have no one to rely on.”
What it looks like when a mother is dying and her children have no one to rely on? A Fu stared at A Jiu. It sounded as though he had witnessed such a scene himself.
“What does it look like?” she asked curiously.
Whether it was her attitude or her earlier words that angered him, A Jiu’s expression darkened.
“You mentioned General Chu at the beginning—mixing truth with lies. If Yang Dachun was fake, then General Chu might be real,” he said coldly. “So I deliberately let you see the secret letter. And sure enough, that’s what you came for.”
Had they been exposed from the very beginning? They had only mentioned her father’s name briefly, yet he had already made the connection.
Then again, how could a secret letter have been left for her to see so easily? That had indeed been a careless oversight on her part.
But there was no helping it—her concern for her father had been too great.
A Fu looked at him and said, “Young Master A Jiu, please lower your weapon first. This matter isn’t what you think—”
Before she could finish, A Jiu’s gaze shifted past her to the river, his expression turning sharp and cold.
A Fu instinctively followed his gaze. Mist curled over the river’s surface as a large boat slowly approached. A figure stood at the bow, though his features were unclear. All she could make out was his white brocade robe and a blue sash tied at his waist—
His accomplice? A Jiu’s voice cut through the air, cold and demanding: “Are you going to talk or not?”
His accomplice? A Fu guessed, pulling her gaze back to him and continuing, “—I didn’t know you had a secret letter. I just happened to see it, and I happened to recognize General Chu Ling, so—”
Once again, her words were cut short. A flash of cold light gleamed before her eyes, accompanied by A Jiu’s icy voice: “Die.”
A Fu’s blood ran cold.
He had no intention of interrogating her—only of silencing her for good.
In that instant, the instincts of her thirteen-year-old body took over. She bent sharply to dodge, and the dagger grazed past her face.
But in her evasive move, her foot slipped on the wet river stones. Stumbling, she lost her balance and fell backward into the river.
With a splash.
A Jiu vanished from her sight, replaced by the morning sky. Then, the icy river water swallowed her whole.
Just like that time.
Familiar memories instantly engulfed her as well.
A Fu’s vision blurred, her breath stilled, and all sound faded from her ears.
…
…
In the capital, the Chu family’s garden had a lake.Although the Chu family had now declined, their ancestors were officials who had followed the founding Emperor in his rise to power. As one of the earliest meritorious officials to enter the capital, they seized—or rather, were allocated—a mansion that once belonged to the imperial relatives of the previous dynasty. The most famous feature of this mansion was its garden.
Even today, it remains a renowned garden in the capital, though it is now called the Chu Garden.
She also loved this garden, especially enjoying painting and playing the zither there with her cousins and other young ladies. It was a beauty she had never seen in the Border Commandery.
But her skills were poor, and the others didn’t include her in their activities.
That time, after being mocked and excluded again, her cousin simply sent her to prepare tea and snacks for everyone.
Angry and upset, she walked away, dismissing the maids to handle the refreshments while she went to the lake to sulk.
Then, she stepped on a loose stone and fell into the lake.
She couldn’t swim, and there was no one around. She thought she was going to die, but then someone descended from the sky—
……
……
A Fu, with her eyes open underwater, could still vividly recall that scene.
She had already sunk deep, so when that person leaped into the lake, he truly seemed to descend slowly from the heavens.
He wore white robes, his eyes as bright as stars. He reached out his hand to her, lifted her up, brought her out of the water, and set her on a path of no return—
A Fu closed her eyes, gasping sharply, but only half a breath came before the icy water rushed in.
Help—
She stretched out her arms desperately.
These thoughts seemed numerous, but in reality, everything happened in an instant.
……
……
Before A Fu fell into the river, Tie Ying, the guard who had just stepped out of the cabin, had already noticed.
The distance was too great to discern the details, but he saw a young man and woman and assumed they were a couple meeting by the river in the early morning.
He withdrew his gaze and walked over to the person at the bow of the boat, saying, "Breakfast—"
Before he could finish saying that breakfast was ready, the person in front of him exclaimed, "Be careful—"
Tie Ying tensed instantly, then heard a woman’s scream followed by a loud splash.
The young woman he had seen by the river had fallen into the water.
What was going on?
Tie Ying looked at the young man, who remained standing in place, seemingly oblivious to the girl’s fall, motionless.
It was too far to see the young man’s expression clearly, but his posture seemed inexplicably cold.
Was this a lovers’ quarrel, or something else?
As Tie Ying pondered, he heard another splash—the person at the bow of the boat had vanished.
For a moment, Tie Ying panicked. As a personal guard, his martial skills were unmatched, but he had one weakness: he couldn’t swim.
His master, though appearing frail and scholarly, was an excellent swimmer.
Tie Ying quickly regained his composure and signaled the boatman to turn the boat and follow.
……
……
A Fu struggled desperately.
This was not the Chu family’s estate in the capital, nor was it her previous life—the one in which she had already died.
Given a second chance at life, she didn’t want to die here.
But the will to survive didn’t mean she could control her body. Whether at thirteen or in her twenties, she had never learned to swim.
Coupled with the trauma of drowning in her past life, her fear of water was even greater. She quickly choked on several mouthfuls of water and began sinking toward the riverbed.
A Fu’s tears flowed, swallowed by the river.
In her previous life, she had died so tragically, but at least the one who killed her—and the status she held after death—were both of the highest order.In this life, her death was not only tragic but also at the hands of a nameless, insignificant underling. She herself had been living under an assumed identity, uncertain how long it would take for anyone to discover her fate.
Why must her lot be so bitterly unfortunate?
Perhaps she had never truly returned to life at all—perhaps all of this was merely a delusion flashing through her mind in the instant of her death.
A Fu’s hands ceased struggling, her consciousness scattering like mist. But just then, through her blurred vision, she saw someone drifting slowly toward her.
His white robes floated around him in the water, swaying like peony blossoms.
He reached out and enfolded A Fu in his embrace.
A Fu gazed at his face, gentle as moonlight, his lips pressed tightly together, deepening the two dimples on his cheeks—
Those dimples, she used to say, held endless wine within them, enough to intoxicate anyone with a single taste. A Fu lifted a hand to lightly touch them—this was the sweet nonsense she had most loved to whisper to Xiao Xun.
Xiao Xun.
Xiao Xun?!
In that instant, A Fu nearly shattered in the water. Her previously limp limbs convulsed violently, churning the lake into swirling eddies.
Xiao Xun? Why was she seeing Xiao Xun now?
Not in the capital, not in the waters of Chu Garden Lake.
Here, in this remote, untamed river at the border of the Central Plains, where she had fallen into the water, she encountered Xiao Xun once more.
Xiao Xun, Crown Prince of Zhongshan.
The next Emperor of Great Xia.
The husband who had placed the phoenix crown upon her head.
And the enemy who had cast her aside like worthless trash, granting her a cup of poisoned wine and a length of white silk.
She was the Empress of Great Xia.
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