She became Empress, or rather, when Xiao Xun became Emperor—it was both destiny and coincidence.

The Late Emperor had two sons, so the throne should never have passed to Prince Zhongshan’s line.

But circumstances changed dramatically. When the Late Emperor fell gravely ill, his two imperial sons fought for succession—one died, one was deposed.

The dying Late Emperor had no choice but to adopt his brother’s son. Prince Zhongshan’s eldest son, Xiao Xun, suddenly transformed—first into Crown Prince, then into Emperor.

And she, who had married Prince Zhongshan’s heir apparent, became Great Xia’s Empress, the most exalted woman in the realm.

This most exalted woman hadn’t seen Xiao Xun in a very long time.

After her miscarriage, her health never recovered. After several impatient visits, Xiao Xun stopped coming to Kunning Palace altogether.

Once the Emperor ceased his visits, she as Empress became mere decoration, and Kunning Palace transformed into a cold palace where no one set foot.

Ironically, it was most lively when she died—Noble Consort Liang came to lord over her, along with a large crowd of palace maids and eunuchs.

They forced poisoned wine down her throat, but because she had taken medicine for so long, her body had accumulated toxins—poison fighting poison meant the poisoned wine couldn’t fully take effect, and she refused to die.

Finally, a young eunuch came to check, grew impatient with waiting, and simply strangled her to death.

To die so wretchedly, so miserably—how could she not hate!

Filled with grief and rage, she suddenly opened her eyes again from the intense pain of suffocation and darkness. She didn’t realize she had become thirteen years old, that she was surrounded by many girls chattering and laughing. She thought she was still in Kunning Palace, surrounded by Noble Consort Liang’s group of palace maids.

By unfortunate coincidence, someone addressed one of the girls as Miss Liang.

Full of grief and fury, she stepped forward and kicked the person into the lake.

Actually, she had kicked the wrong person. The Noble Consort Liang who entered the palace was this Miss Liang’s younger sister, currently only five or six years old.

But she felt no remorse—all the Liangs deserved to die.

Before death, Noble Consort Liang had gleefully recounted how many people had a hand in her downfall, and the Liang family was among them.

Of course, the one who most deserved death was Xiao Xun.

He was the mastermind. He permitted it. He was heartless and faithless. He was cruel and ruthless.

It was him—

Xiao Xun!

A’Fu reached out to strangle his neck—

The girl who had been on the verge of death suddenly became fierce and aggressive, tearing at him, looking as if she wanted to fight him to the death. But Xiao Xun found nothing strange about this.

All drowning people were like this.

Once someone came to rescue them, they would desperately cling to that person, often causing the rescuer to drown as well.

For Xiao Xun, this wouldn’t be a problem. He raised his hand and punched the girl in the head.

The girl was stunned by the blow, her struggling movements stopped.

Xiao Xun grabbed the girl and pulled her out of the water, dragging her toward the riverbank as he swam.

When Tie Ying jumped ashore with clean fur robes, he saw the girl who had fallen in the water had already awakened and was coughing as she lay by the river’s edge.

Not far away, many people came running.

First was A’Le. Upon waking and finding A’Fu missing, she had searched for her. Seeing A’Fu being dragged from the water by a man from afar, she let out a scream.

The scream alerted the other postal soldiers.

The riverside became noisy and chaotic in the early morning.

……

……

“What happened here?”

Zhang Gu asked in surprise, looking at A’Fu sitting on the ground embraced by A’Le. A’Fu’s face was deathly pale, her hair soaking wet, her entire body drenched, trembling violently.

How could she have fallen in the water?

Though A’Fu was frail, she had always been cautious. This shouldn’t have happened.

His gaze shifted to the side, where a youth stood outside the crowd with his arms folded, his face completely indifferent.

“A’Jiu!” he shouted, stepping forward to grab him. “What have you done!”

A’Jiu said nothing, nor did he look at A’Fu. Instead, he glanced at the man standing on the other side being attended to and wrapped in a thick fur robe.

“Brother Zhang, that person looks very noble,” he said. “Shouldn’t you go greet him?”

Zhang Gu glared at him fiercely, naturally having noticed this extraordinarily dignified young man as well. At a glance, one could tell what had happened.

“I’ll settle accounts with you later!” he said, pushing A’Jiu aside and walking toward the man. He bowed in gratitude. “Thank you, young master, for the rescue.”

The young man nodded slightly. “No need for courtesy.” He gestured to Tie Ying. “One robe is enough for me. Give one to this young lady.”

Tie Ying acknowledged and passed a black fur robe toward A’Fu.

A’Le quickly reached out to receive it and wrapped it around A’Fu.

The young man’s gaze returned to Yang Gu. “Which postal station are you soldiers from? Are you traveling together with this young lady?”

Yang Gu said, “We’re postal soldiers. We’re going to—”

Before he could finish, he saw A’Fu, huddled in A’Le’s embrace, fling off the fur robe that had just been draped over her.

“Who needs your clothes?” she shouted, glaring fiercely at the man. “Who asked you to save me!”

Everyone froze.

“A’Fu,” Zhang Gu said in shock. “What are you saying? You nearly drowned.”

“Even if I drowned to death, I wouldn’t need him to interfere,” A’Fu shouted, standing up dripping wet, teeth chattering, shivering, tears streaming down. “This is between me and A’Jiu. You had no business meddling.”

Everyone froze again.

A’Jiu was momentarily stunned, then seemed to realize something. His body stiffened, his expression changed, and he tried to retreat.

But he was still a step too slow.

A’Fu rushed over and threw her arms around his waist, crying, “I’m willing to die for you. Even if I die, I’m still yours.”

Zhang Gu and the others looked as if they’d seen a ghost.

A’Le, sitting on the ground, also gaped.

Only Tie Ying showed understanding—so it was young lovers meeting in secret, seeking life and death together. He curled his lip disdainfully. What a shame the heir’s kindness in saving her was treated like a donkey’s liver and lungs.

Xiao Xun showed no anger. He smiled slightly and turned his gaze away.

……

……

The riverside seemed to instantly sprout many guards. They lit bonfires, erected tents, provided strong liquor to ward off the cold, and even brought bathing tubs.

Yang Gu watched with amazement. This kind of traveling arrangement was rare even in the capital.

But the earlier incident had been too shocking. In a moment of distraction, the young man was surrounded by guards and withdrew, preventing further conversation.

The young man entered a tent to wash, change clothes, and warm himself. The guards formed a solemn and vigilant perimeter around the tent, making it awkward to disturb him.

However, although A’Fu’s attitude had been quite improper, the young man didn’t take offense. He even provided her with a tent fully equipped with a bathing tub, hot water, and clean robes.

A’Le pleaded and cried, finally persuading A’Fu to enter the tent to wash and change.

“What prominent family lives around here?” Yang Gu muttered, then turned to see A’Jiu. Thinking of what had just happened, he asked with complicated feelings, “What’s going on with you two?”

A’Jiu kept his head down, wiping the water from himself—having been embraced by the soaking wet A’Fu, he was thoroughly drenched too, but no one gave him a tent or new clothes.

“Don’t say ‘you two.’ I haven’t said anything,” he sneered. “I don’t mean anything at all.”

Zhang Gu was about to say more when A’Le ran out from the tent, walked to A’Jiu’s side with her head lowered.

“Young Master A’Jiu,” she said quietly. “My little sister asks you to come in. She has something to say.”

A’Jiu gave a mocking laugh. “I’m not going.”

A’Le fell to her knees with a thud, crying, “Please, young master. She’s my only sister. If anything happens to her, I won’t be able to live either.”

A’Jiu spat, about to say something, when Zhang Gu slapped him on the back.

“Go in and clear things up with her,” he muttered.

The other postal soldiers also urged him chaotically. A’Jiu flung his sleeve and strode toward the tent.

Everyone watched his retreating figure with complicated expressions.

“Who would have thought A’Jiu and A’Fu were actually—”

“We really didn’t see this coming. A’Jiu clearly dislikes A’Fu, and A’Fu is afraid of A’Jiu.”

“Right, A’Fu often said A’Jiu bullied her. Ah, could that kind of ‘bullying’ be that kind of bullying—”

“We’ve all been together. We never saw them alone.”

“Oh, I know now! A’Fu always goes to fetch water before dawn, and A’Jiu is often missing at that time too. Turns out they were meeting secretly—”

“How old is A’Fu? A’Jiu really had the heart to lay hands on her!”

“What a beast!”

……

……

A’Jiu lifted the curtain and entered. The tent was filled with braziers, and with the hot water in the bathing tub, it was quite warm.

The girl had changed into clean robes and sat by the brazier drying her wet hair, slowly sipping a bowl of ginger soup in her hands.

Hearing the sound, she lifted her head from the bowl, her large dark eyes looking at him.

“So now your identity is no longer the pitiful child who lost her mother and traveled thousands of miles to find her father,” A’Jiu raised an eyebrow and said coldly. “But rather an infatuated person willing to die for a handsome, brave, and kind postal soldier?”

A’Fu couldn’t help herself—she burst out laughing.