The morning wind came from the river surface, bitterly cold. 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 calm as she said, “You should at least give me a reason.”
A’Jiu smiled. “Look at that—your true face revealed. What does this expression have to do with honesty or pitifulness? I knew from the start that something was wrong with you two.”
A’Fu said nothing, just watched him.
“That mother of yours, sick enough to be dying, yet still had the mind to put on such a performance, speaking of love and affection,” A’Jiu said with a face full of disdain. “She’s from the pleasure quarters, isn’t she?”
Indeed, that presumptuous line of Li Niang’s had attracted attention after all. This boy was far too sharp—and he’d actually guessed correctly.
A’Fu thought for a moment and said, “My mother and father have deep feelings for each other—”
“At a time like that, a moment of life and death, still talking about deep feelings? Did your mother forget she still had you two children by her side?” A’Jiu interrupted her with a scoff. “Little girl, you put on quite a good show, but unfortunately it fell just a bit short, because you haven’t seen what it’s really like when a dying mother has no one to entrust her children to.”
What it’s like when a dying mother has no one to entrust her children to? A’Fu looked at A’Jiu. It sounded like he had seen it.
“What is it like?” she asked curiously.
Whether it was her attitude or that previous statement that angered A’Jiu, his expression turned grim.
“You started by mentioning General Chu—mixing truth with lies. Yang Dachun was fake, which means 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.”
They’d been exposed from the very beginning? Mentioning Yang Dachun, just bringing up Father’s name once—he had thought that far?
True enough—how could he let her see a secret letter? This was indeed her oversight and carelessness.
There was no helping it—she cared too much about Father.
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 moved past her toward the river, his expression cold and severe.
A’Fu instinctively looked over too. Mist wreathed the river surface as a large boat slowly approached. A person stood at the bow—she couldn’t see his features clearly, only white brocade clothing with a blue sash at the waist—
Her accomplice? A’Jiu shouted coldly, “Will you talk or not!”
His accomplice? A’Fu speculated, then withdrew her gaze to look at him and continued, “—I didn’t know you had a secret letter. I just happened to see it, and happened to know General Chu Ling, so—”
Again her words went unfinished. A cold flash appeared before her eyes, accompanied by A’Jiu’s icy voice: “Go die.”
A’Fu’s hair stood on end.
He had no intention of interrogating her at all—he only wanted to silence her permanently.
In that instant, the instincts of her thirteen-year-old body took over. She bent to dodge, and the dagger grazed past her face.
But in dodging, the river stones were slippery. Her steps faltered and she fell backward into the water.
Splash.
A’Jiu disappeared from her vision, replaced by the morning sky, and then the icy river water swallowed her.
Just like that time.
Familiar memories instantly engulfed her as well.
A’Fu’s vision blurred, her breathing stopped, and she could hear nothing.
……
……
The Chu family garden in the capital had a lake.
Though the Chu family had fallen on hard times now, their ancestors had been ministers who rose with the Founding Emperor. As one of the earliest meritorious officials to enter the capital, they had seized—been allocated—a residence that had belonged to imperial relatives of the previous dynasty. This residence was most famous for its garden.
It remained a renowned garden in the capital to this day. Of course, now it was called Chu Garden.
She had loved this garden too, especially sitting in it with her cousin and other young ladies, painting and playing the zither—beautiful scenery she had never seen in the border commandery.
But her skills were poor, so they wouldn’t include her in their activities.
That time, she had been mocked and squeezed out again. Her cousin had simply told her to go prepare refreshments for everyone.
Both angry and upset, she had walked away, sent the maids to prepare refreshments, and gone to the lakeside alone to brood.
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 was going to die, and then someone descended from the sky—
……
……
A’Fu kept her eyes open in the water, as if she could still see that scene.
She had already sunk by then, so when that person jumped into the lake, he truly seemed to descend slowly from the heavens.
He wore white garments, his eyes bright as stars. He reached out to her, held her, brought her to the surface, and sent her down a road of no return—
A’Fu closed her eyes and suddenly opened her mouth wide, but only half the breath came—ice-cold water poured in.
Help me—
She reached out with all her strength.