"Gurgle…"
A stream of bubbles surged from her mouth. Su Xiao opened her eyes abruptly at the riverbed, glancing around with a hint of confusion.
"Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao…"
Anxious shouts came from the river's surface, followed by a splash as someone leaped from the bamboo raft, swimming toward her with all their might.
"Dad?"
Recognizing that face, Su Xiao felt as if struck by lightning.
Su He cut through the waterweeds and, with the help of her eldest brother Su Hong on the bamboo raft, pulled her to safety.
"Dad, am I dreaming?"
Su Xiao clung tightly to her father's warm hand.
She couldn't believe it—why had she returned to two years ago, when her parents and family were still alive?
"What dream?"
Su He slapped his daughter lightly on the head. "I told you not to dive for river clams, but you wouldn't listen. You nearly lost your life."
Su Xiao was jolted awake by her father's slap, memories from her past life flooding her mind.
She remembered now—there had indeed been such an incident.
She had heard Brother Hesheng from the neighboring village say that there were river clams at the riverbed, and if you pried them open, you could find pearls inside.
Brother Hesheng was an excellent swimmer. He had retrieved a large river clam, sold the pearls inside in town, and brought back two bags of rice.
Tempted by his story, she had ignored her father and brother's warnings and dived into the water.
River clams?!
Suddenly, her expression changed drastically, her heart almost stopping.
"Dad, what day is it today?"
"March thirteenth, why?"
Seeing her startled reaction, Su He frowned, almost slapping her head again.
"Dad…"
Su Xiao, desperate to avoid disaster, thought quickly. "I just saw a huge, dense school of fish swimming upstream. Let's follow them and go fishing upstream."
Su He furrowed his brows.
Had this girl been possessed underwater? She was talking nonsense.
He had fished his entire life and had never seen a school of fish swimming upstream.
"Dad, believe me."
Su Xiao grew anxious.
"Stop talking nonsense."
Su He didn't believe her at all. "Once the raft reaches the shore, hurry home and change your clothes. You’re not a child anymore—you’re almost old enough for the Ji-pin ceremony. What kind of sight are you, all soaked like this?"
"I won’t go back. I want to go upstream."
Su Xiao grew desperate and pretended to jump into the water again. "If you don’t agree, I’ll jump in and swim upstream myself."
"You little…"
Su He glared, about to scold her, but was interrupted by his son.
Su Hong, who adored his sister, couldn’t bear to see their father scold her and spoke up on her behalf. "Dad, I saw it too while I was in the water. Little sister isn’t lying—it’s true."
Su Xiao looked up in pleasant surprise at her eldest brother.
Su Hong winked at her, signaling her not to be afraid—he would help her.
Su Xiao’s eyes reddened again.
Both her eldest and second brothers had always been good to her. In her past life, it was they who had risked their lives to hold off the guards, giving her a chance to escape.
Su Hong had always been steady and reliable, someone to be trusted.
Su He hadn’t expected his eldest son to deceive him too. After a moment’s hesitation, he finally agreed. "Alright, I’ll trust the two of you this once."
"Dad, you’re the best."
Su Xiao’s eyes lit up with joy. Seeing her eldest brother rowing the bamboo raft upstream, she felt a slight relief.
By avoiding the downstream area, they could avoid that catastrophic disaster.
This time, she hoped her family would stay safe and unharmed, with no one suffering any harm.
"Dad, there seems to be someone in the river."
Not long after they started rowing, Su Hong suddenly exclaimed, his sharp eyes spotting a faint, floating figure in the middle of the river.
"Hurry, paddle over and take a look."
Su He was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to watch someone die without helping.
Su Xiao's heart skipped a beat, a sense of foreboding washing over her.
Could it be that the timing was off, and Lin Wanru had just drifted down from upstream?
Without a second thought, she rushed ahead of her elder brother and plunged into the water with a splash.
Whether it was her or not, this time, if it was that malicious woman, even if she was still alive, Su Xiao would drag her to the bottom and drown her.
"Sister…"
Fearing for her safety, Su Hong also jumped into the water with a splash.
Su Xiao paddled with all her might, determined to reach the person before her brother.
She absolutely could not let Lin Wanru live to harm them again.
The more urgently Su Hong chased, the faster she swam.
The siblings raced each other, quickly reaching the center of the river.
Pressed by her brother's pursuit, Su Xiao noticed the person's luxurious clothing and thought that even if it wasn't Lin Wanru, they were surely an accomplice. As she swam closer, without hesitation, she grabbed their clothes and tried to pull them underwater.
A sharp glint of a sword flashed, and the person floating lifelessly on the water suddenly seemed to come back to life, pressing the blade against her neck.
They were face to face, their eyes meeting, and she saw his sharply defined, sculpted, and strikingly handsome features.
Images from her past life flashed before her eyes—Lin Wanru's twisted face, the old maid's sinister grin, the searing pain of the guard's blade piercing her chest…
And this man's gentle whispers during their intimate moments, his retreating figure as he left…
Su Xiao's breath caught, her heart nearly stopping.
She never expected that in this life, the person she would encounter would be—the Crown Prince, Xiao Jinyan.