The morning wind came across the river’s surface, bringing a bone-chilling coldness. A layer of sweat broke out on A-Fu’s back.

This A-Jiu wasn’t joking—he truly intended to kill.

She stood motionless, looking at A-Jiu, neither crying nor making a fuss. Her face was calm as she said, “Shouldn’t you at least give me a reason?”

A-Jiu smiled: “Look at that, showing your true face now. What does this face have to do with being honest and pitiful? From the beginning, I knew there was something wrong with you.”

A-Fu remained silent, watching him.

“That mother of yours, already dying, yet still had the mood to put on such an act, talking about love and affection,” A-Jiu said with disgust. “She’s from the brothels, isn’t she?”

Indeed, that self-willed statement by Li Niang had drawn attention. This boy was too shrewd—he had guessed correctly.

A-Fu thought for a moment, then said: “My mother and father share a deep love—”

“At a time like this, at the brink of life and death, still talking about deep love? Did your mother forget she had two children by her side?” A-Jiu interrupted with a sneer. “Little girl, you played your parts well indeed, but unfortunately, you fell short because you’ve never seen what it’s truly like when a mother is dying and her children have nowhere to go.”

What was it like when a mother was dying and her children had nowhere to go? A-Fu looked at A-Jiu—it sounded like he had witnessed this.

“What is it like?” she asked curiously.

Whether it was her attitude or her previous words that angered A-Jiu, his expression darkened.

“At the beginning, you mentioned General Chu. False words spoken as truth—Yang Dachun is fake, so General Chu might be real,” he said coldly. “That’s why I deliberately let you see the confidential letter. Sure enough, that’s what you came for.”

Had they been exposed from the start? Just mentioning her father’s name—Yang Dachun—and he had figured it out?

Indeed, how could she have seen a confidential letter so easily? This had truly been her carelessness.

There was no help for it—she had been too concerned about her father.

A-Fu looked at him and said, “Young Master A-Jiu, please put down your weapon. This matter isn’t what you think—”

Before she could finish, she saw A-Jiu’s gaze move past her toward the river, his expression cold and stern.

A-Fu instinctively looked back. Mist swirled over the river’s surface, and a large boat slowly approached. A person stood at the bow. She couldn’t make out his features, only his white brocade clothes and a blue sash at his waist—

Her accomplice? A-Jiu demanded coldly: “Will you talk or not?”

His accomplice? A-Fu guessed, turning her gaze back to him, and continued: “—I didn’t know you had a confidential letter. I just happened to see it, and I just happen to know General Chu Li, so—”

Once again, she couldn’t finish. A cold flash caught her eye, accompanied by A-Jiu’s icy voice: “Die.”

A-Fu’s blood ran cold.

He wasn’t interested in questioning—only in silencing her permanently.

In that instant, the instincts of her thirteen-year-old body took over. She bent to avoid the dagger, which grazed her face as it passed.

But in dodging, her foot slipped on the wet river stones, and she fell toward the water.

With a splash, she went in.

A-Jiu disappeared from her view, replaced by the morning sky, and then the cold river water swallowed her.

Just like that time.

Familiar memories engulfed her in an instant.

A-Fu’s vision blurred, her breathing stopped, and she could hear nothing.

…

…

In the garden of the Chu family mansion in the capital, there was a lake.

Although the Chu family had declined, their ancestors had been officials who followed the founding emperor. As one of the earliest meritorious officials to enter the capital, they had seized—been granted a mansion that had belonged to royal relatives of the previous dynasty. The most famous feature of this mansion was its garden.

Even now, it was still a renowned garden in the capital, though now it was called the Chu Garden.

She had also loved this garden, especially sitting there with her cousin and other young ladies, painting and playing instruments—scenes she had never witnessed in the border commandery.

But her skills were poor, and the others wouldn’t include her.

That time, after being mocked and pushed away again, her cousin simply told her to go prepare tea and snacks for everyone.

Angry and sad, she had walked away, sending the maids to prepare refreshments while she went to the lakeside to sulk.

Then, she had stepped on a loose stone and fallen into the lake.

She couldn’t swim, and there was no one around. She thought she would die, but then, someone had descended from the heavens—

…

…

A-Fu opened her eyes underwater, as if she could still see that scene.

She had already been sinking then, so when that person jumped into the lake, it truly seemed as if he was slowly descending from the sky.

He wore white clothes, his eyes were as bright as stars. He reached out to her, embracing her, bringing her to the surface, and also setting her on a path of no return—

A-Fu closed her eyes, then suddenly opened her mouth wide, but she had only inhaled halfway when cold water rushed in.

Help—

She stretched out her hand with all her might.

These thoughts seemed many, but in reality, everything happened in an instant.

…

…

Even before A-Fu fell into the river, Tie Ying, the guard who had emerged from the cabin, had seen it all.

Because of the distance, he couldn’t tell what was happening. He only saw two young people, a male and a female, and assumed they were young lovers meeting by the riverside at dawn.

He turned his gaze away and walked behind the person at the bow, saying: “Breakfast—”

Before he could finish saying breakfast was ready, the person in front of him exclaimed, “Be careful—”

Tie Ying tensed instantly, and then heard a female scream, followed by a splash.

The young woman he had seen at the riverbank had fallen into the water.

What was happening?

Tie Ying looked toward the young man, who was still standing in the same spot, seemingly oblivious to the girl’s fall, motionless.

It was too far to see the young man’s expression, but judging by his posture, there was something strangely cold about him.

Was this a quarrel between young lovers, or something else?

While Tie Ying was still pondering, there was another splash, and the person at the bow disappeared.

Standing at the bow, Tie Ying panicked for a moment. As a personal guard, his martial skills were unmatched, but he couldn’t swim.

His master, though appearing frail, was an excellent swimmer.

Tie Ying regained his composure and signaled the boatman to change direction and follow.

…

…

A-Fu continued to struggle.

This wasn’t the Chu family in the capital, nor was it her previous life. Her previous self had already died.

Having finally been given another chance, she didn’t want to die here.

But the will to survive didn’t translate into control over her body. Neither her thirteen-year-old self nor her twenty-something self knew how to swim.

Add to that the trauma of falling into water in her previous life, which intensified her fear. She quickly swallowed several mouthfuls of water and began sinking to the river bottom.

A-Fu’s tears flowed, covered by the river water.

In her previous life, she had died terribly, but at least those who killed her and her identity after death were of the highest status.

In this life, not only was her death miserable, but she was dying at the hands of an anonymous nobody, while she was in hiding, with no one to know her fate for who knew how long.

Why was her fate so bitter?

Perhaps she had never truly come back to life—all of this was just a delusion in the moment of her death.

A-Fu’s hands stopped struggling, her consciousness fading. But just then, in her blurred vision, she saw someone floating toward her.

His white clothes billowed in the water like a peony flower.

He reached out and wrapped A-Fu in his embrace.

A-Fu looked at his face, as gentle as moonlight. His lips were tightly closed, creating two dimples on his cheeks—

Those dimples, like cups that held endless wine, made one drunk with a single sip. A-Fu reached out to touch them gently. This was her favorite flirtatious line to say to Xiao Xun—

Xiao Xun.

Xiao Xun?!

A-Fu almost exploded underwater. Her previously unconscious limbs suddenly thrashed, stirring the river water into a whirlpool.

Xiao Xun? Why was she seeing Xiao Xun?

Not in the capital, not in the lake of Chu Garden.

In a wild river at the distant edge of the Central Plains, having fallen in, she encountered Xiao Xun again.

Xiao Xun, the 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 discarded her like worn-out shoes, gifting her a cup of poison and a white silk cord.

She had been the Empress of Great Xia.