As Ji Chongyi and Qiao Niang fell into the lake, the calm surface of the water was instantly shattered. The birds perched on the weeping willows by the shore were startled into flight, leaving a few feathers floating in the air.
Ji Chongyi didn’t know how to swim. As he bobbed up and down in the water, he struggled and cried out, “Help! Help!”
Jiang Si kept her eyes fixed on the two people thrashing in the water. She gave Ah Man a push and said, “Follow the plan we discussed earlier!”
As if waking from a dream, Ah Man quickly untied a bundle and took out a small bronze gong hidden inside. She stuffed the bundle into Jiang Si’s hands and turned to run.
Jiang Si didn’t dare delay. Carrying the bundle, she ran to a nearby thatched umbrella pavilion. She took out a water skin, opened the stopper, and poured its contents onto the umbrella cover. Then she stepped back, lit a fire stick, and tossed it onto the umbrella. The thatch, soaked in vegetable oil, immediately caught fire. Soon, the entire pavilion was engulfed in flames.
There were seven or eight such thatched umbrella pavilions by the lake, built by fishermen who found the summer sun too scorching.
As Jiang Si was setting fire to the second pavilion, the sound of the gong rang out, accompanied by panicked shouts: “Fire! Fire!”
Soon, lamps were lit in the nearby houses, and people of all ages came running out with containers full of water.
People at that time were especially afraid of fires. Whenever someone shouted “Fire!”, they would rush out to help extinguish it.
Seeing that events were unfolding as planned, Jiang Si breathed a sigh of relief. She even threw the bundle she was holding into the fire.
She didn’t dare set fire to too many pavilions, lest it truly spark a major blaze, which would be a grave sin.
The sounds of struggle in the water gradually weakened. Jiang Si clenched her fists as she looked in that direction.
After her rebirth, she had considered coming here quietly on this night. She thought about waiting until Ji Chongyi jumped into the lake, then using a bamboo pole to poke him whenever he surfaced, fulfilling his wish to die with his beloved.
That way, these two could become butterflies flying together in the afterlife, and she wouldn’t have to marry into their family, endure a loveless marriage, and suffer the subsequent misfortunes.
But after careful consideration, she decided against it.
Ji Chongyi might not love her, but he didn’t deserve to die. More importantly, if he were to die like this, she would be branded as a husband-killer.
In this second life, although Jiang Si had come to care less about her reputation, it didn’t mean she was willing to pay the price for someone else’s foolishness.
So not only could Ji Chongyi not die, but she also had to save Qiao Niang.
With these two alive, she would have a legitimate reason to break off the engagement.
Watching the two bob up and down in the water, Jiang Si began to feel nervous.
She wasn’t worried about Ji Chongyi. Since he hadn’t died in her previous life, he should be fine this time too. But Qiao Niang was different.
In her previous life, Qiao Niang’s body had never even been recovered.
“There’s a fire! By the lake!” came shouts from nearby as people rushed in this direction.
Jiang Si’s tense nerves relaxed a bit.
As long as these people arrived, they would discover the two in the water, and she could escape unnoticed.
But just then, a strong gust of wind blew across the lake, creating an air current.
In the bright moonlight, Jiang Si saw a whirlpool form between Ji Chongyi and Qiao Niang. Then Qiao Niang sank beneath the surface and didn’t resurface.
Jiang Si’s heart tightened. She ran behind a large rock and quickly removed her outer robe, revealing a silver-gray bodysuit underneath.
It was a water suit made of fish skin, gleaming silver in the moonlight, accentuating the young woman’s slender waist.
The girl slipped into the water like a mermaid, swimming towards where Qiao Niang had sunk.
On this early summer night, the lake water was quite cool, caressing the young woman’s exposed delicate skin and making her shiver.
Jiang Si submerged herself completely, surfacing once for air before diving back down. She could barely make out Qiao Niang sinking and rising in the water.
She swam over quickly, grabbed Qiao Niang’s ankle, and dragged her towards the shore.
Jiang Si was only fifteen years old. Although she was a good swimmer, she lacked strength. The soaking-wet Qiao Niang felt like she weighed a thousand pounds.
She bit her lip hard, not even noticing when she drew blood. By the time they finally reached the shore, she was nearly exhausted.
The people who had come to fight the fire had already reached the lakeside and were busy fetching water. Ah Man, hidden among the crowd, called out in a disguised voice, “Look! There are people in the lake!”
The crowd turned to look, their expressions changing: “Oh no, someone’s fallen in!”
Soon, several strong swimmers jumped into the lake to rescue them.
Jiang Si pushed the unconscious Qiao Niang towards the shore with all her might, then silently slipped underwater and swam away. She faintly heard someone exclaim behind her, “There’s another one here!”
Before long, both Ji Chongyi and Qiao Niang had been rescued.
These lakeside residents all had mischievous children who would sneak into the lake to bathe behind their parents’ backs. Occasionally, there would be drownings, so they had their methods for rescuing people from the water.
Jiang Si swam to the shore on the other side and quietly climbed out, hiding behind a tree to observe. She saw two people kneeling on the ground, performing rescue techniques on Ji Chongyi and Qiao Niang.
Soon, Ji Chongyi and Qiao Niang both coughed up some water and opened their eyes.
Now that the people had been rescued, the crowd became hesitant.
They didn’t know the background of this young man and woman, so they couldn’t just take them home.
Ah Man, who had received instructions from Jiang Si earlier, hid behind the crowd and called out in a gruff voice, “Hey, isn’t that young man the Third Young Master from Duke Anguo’s mansion? Let’s take them there and claim a reward!”
Ah Man was tall and dressed in men’s clothing. With everyone’s attention focused on Ji Chongyi and Qiao Niang, no one paid much attention to her, assuming she was just some young man.
“Is it the Third Young Master from Duke Anguo’s mansion?” The crowd perked up at the mention of a reward.
Although they hadn’t rescued the pair expecting anything in return, who would turn down the opportunity for a reward?
“I’m not the Third Young Master from Duke Anguo’s mansion!” Ji Chongyi, having just escaped death, took a moment to recover before his face changed dramatically at the crowd’s words.
He had fallen into the lake while kissing a girl—how embarrassing!
The crowd hesitated again. “Is he really or not?”
A quick-witted person carefully examined Ji Chongyi and said, “This young master is wearing fine clothes. Even if he’s not from Duke Anguo’s mansion, he must be from a wealthy family.”
Someone with a more impatient temperament called out, “If we want to know whether he’s from Duke Anguo’s mansion or not, it’s simple. Let’s send someone to ask!”
Emboldened by their numbers, several people quickly responded and set off with the one who had suggested the idea to inquire at Duke Anguo’s mansion.
By this time, Duke Anguo’s mansion was already in chaos. Several groups had been sent out to search for Ji Chongyi. When they heard that the Third Young Master had nearly drowned in Mowu Lake, Madam Duke Anguo immediately fainted.
Ji Chongyi’s elder brother, Ji Chongli, ordered the messenger to lead the way and headed towards Mowu Lake with some servants.
This commotion naturally couldn’t be kept from the neighbors. Each household in the same ward sent out servants to gather information.
These servants were clever. Knowing they couldn’t get any information directly from the people of Duke Anguo’s mansion, they quietly followed behind to Mowu Lake. There, they casually asked the bystanders what had happened. Seeing the soaking-wet Ji Chongyi and the girl clinging close to him, they immediately understood.
Heavens! The Third Young Master of Duke Anguo’s mansion had attempted to die with a girl!