Chapter 3

“Creak–“

Someone softly pushed open the door, their steps gentle, suggesting they were likely skilled in martial arts.

Lying on the couch was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl with picturesque features. However, at this moment, the girl’s brows were furrowed, her breathing rapid, and her chest heaving violently. She must have had a nightmare.

The maid reached out towards the person on the bed, but before she could touch them, the person on the bed suddenly rolled over with lightning speed, grabbing the maid by the neck and pinning her down on the bed.

“Miss, cough… Miss…” The maid’s eyes widened in shock, her face turning red due to her breath being blocked.

After seeing the maid’s face clearly, Shen Yu suddenly let go of her hand and said uncertainly, “Lu Yao?”

Lu Yao was one of her personal maids. That year, she went to the front line to collect the bones of her father and brother. On the way, she met a group of assailants, her martial arts were disabled, and Lu Yao and Hongqiao died in front of her to save her.

Shen Yu stared blankly at the bed curtains. Was this a dream? If it was a dream, it would be too real, but if it was not a dream, such a thing as rebirth would be unheard of.

The maid called Lu Yao rubbed her neck, “Miss, are you having nightmares?”

Shen Yu was still panting violently, her back almost soaked with cold sweat. Just now, she seemed to still feel the bone-chilling coldness and suffocation from the lake.

“Why are you here?”

Lu Yao twisted the facial mask and wiped her sweat, “The fever has finally subsided. The young lady has been in a coma for three days. Even the imperial doctor from the palace was invited to take a look.”

Shen Yu looked around blankly, feeling a familiar feeling that she hadn’t seen for a long time.

This is her boudoir. She has lived there since she was a child. Although she has not lived there for a long time, every piece of furniture and layout here was personally arranged by her brother.

There was a dowry placed by the window. Shen Yu stroked away the hand extended by Lu Yao and threw herself in front of the mirror.

The girl in the mirror has bright eyes and white teeth, and there is a bit of heroism in her eyebrows that is not found in ordinary women. Her face does not have the sick look she had when she was in the Jiang family, and her eyes do not show the occasional desolation.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Shen Yu couldn’t help but laugh.

God has eyes, she was reborn!

Now that Lu Yao was still here, what about Father and Brother?

Shen Yu grabbed Lu Yao, “What year and month is it now?”

Lu Yao was puzzled by her question and answered blankly, “Ah? Today is the 17th year of Tongxu, the sixth day of the ninth month.”

The 17th year of Tongxu, the sixth day of the ninth month. Shen Yu silently repeated the date in her mind.

In the previous life, when her father and brother went to battle, it was the tenth day of the ninth month of the 17th year of Tongxu.

She remembered very clearly that she had wanted to go with them, but she was already at the age of marriage. Her maternal grandmother had planned to come to the capital in early September to meet her prospective stepmother together. So no matter how she threw a tantrum, her father didn’t agree to let her go with them.

Who would have known that just over a month later, she received news that her father and brother had died in battle at Yanliang Pass, in addition to the news about her grandmother.

But her father and brother were still alive.

Great! There was still time for everything.

“Then where’s my father and brother?” Shen Yu hurriedly put on her coat.

A playful smile appeared on Lu Yao’s face, “The General and the Young Master are meeting guests in the main hall. The Jiang family has come to propose marriage.”

Shen Yu only heard the first half and started walking out. When she heard the second half, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, turned around in astonishment, and asked, “Who did you say? Which Jiang family?”

“It can only be the Jiang family you met last time in the suburbs of the capital, on the Hongfeng Mountain,” Lu Yao said with a smile. “The Jiang Prefect you encountered.”

Shen Yu’s heart suddenly tightened. The scene of Jiang Lianzhi pulling Lin Qingli away in the lake flashed before her eyes, as if she were still in the icy lake just now, her body couldn’t help but tremble.

Seeing this, Lu Yao quickly supported her and reached out to touch her forehead, “No fever, Miss. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?”

“It’s okay, I’m fine now,” Shen Yu said calmly after recovering.

With that, she headed to the main hall, thinking that her first meeting with Jiang Lianzhi was indeed on the Hongfeng Mountain in the suburbs of the capital. However, Jiang Lianzhi did not see her at that time.

The elegant demeanor of the young man was completely different from the rough men she had seen at the border, and it was the first time she had felt a flutter in her heart when she was young.

Later, when the Shen family fell into decline, the young man extended a helping hand to her, but little did she know that those hands would drag her into the abyss.

“Miss, are you very happy?” Lu Yao asked from behind.

“No.”

“But Miss, weren’t you talking about wanting to see Jiang Prefect a few days ago?”

Shen Yu said solemnly, “It was just a momentary impulse. Don’t mention it again in the future.”

Lu Yao shrank her neck and dared not speak anymore. Shen Yu was always easy to talk to, but the tone she just used seemed to carry a hint of authority.

As she approached the main hall, the familiar voice of her father came through.

“Jiang Lord’s family has always produced civil officials. My daughter has been raised with me on horseback since she was young, with a stubborn personality. She likes to wield swords and guns all day long.”

Shen Zhong’an took a sip of tea and continued, “She claims to be a horse on the grassland. I’m afraid she won’t be easy to control in the mansion. It’s hard to manage.”

It sounded like belittlement, but there was a hint of pride hidden in his words.

Through the window, Shen Yu saw her father and brother in the hall again, and her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

This was not a dream.

Her mother had passed away early, and Shen Zhong’an and Shen Zhao both loved her dearly and couldn’t bear to leave her alone in Shengjing. Even though she was sent to her maternal grandmother’s house in Hezhou during wartime.

The woman in the hall was mostly blocked by a pillar, and Shen Yu couldn’t see her clearly, but as soon as she spoke, Shen Yu recognized her voice as Jiang Lianzhi’s mother.

Madam Jiang said, “General Shen joked. Since the last time my son and Miss Shen met at the Jokhang Temple, Quanzi has said that when he marries, he will marry a woman like Miss Shen who is as good as any man. So today, I’ve come personally to propose marriage.”

Shen Yu’s former mother-in-law, Madam Jiang, had never seen a good look since she married into the Jiang family, and she had never heard her speak in such a mild tone as she did now. She usually either coldly mocked or sarcastically ridiculed her.

However, in her previous life, Madam Jiang was clearly dissatisfied with her. Jiang Lianzhi had deep feelings for Lin Qingli, and marrying her was an imperial decree that couldn’t be violated. How could she take the initiative to propose marriage to her son’s mother this life?

Could it be that everything was in chaos after being reborn?

The conversation in the hall continued.

“Madam Jiang, you are so straightforward. Then I won’t beat around the bush. My daughter is now seventeen years old. Although she’s already at the age of marriage, she’s a restless person with a stubborn personality, and I’m afraid…”

Madam Jiang smiled, “I understand the General’s meaning. But betrothal is one thing, we can wait until Miss Shen turns eighteen before choosing an auspicious day for the wedding. I think we might as well make an engagement between the two first, so that nothing is delayed.”