Chapter 13: Digging Wild Vegetables Prolonged My Life

Deep autumn, withered yellow leaves drifted with the water.

Bai Yu woke up from the cold.  He opened his eyes and realized he had been washed ashore by the river.

Wang Baochuan, who had jumped off the cliff with him, was nowhere to be seen.  He looked at the rushing river and had to follow the bank downstream.

He walked for more than a mile before he saw a woman floating in the river.  He struggled to pull her ashore.

“Miss Wang!”

“Miss Wang!”

“Wang Baochuan!”

He checked her breath, thankfully, she was still alive.

The autumn wind blew, making him shiver.  He didn’t care about the difference between men and women, he carried the unconscious Wang Baochuan towards a village in the distance.

They found a farmer’s house to stay for the time being.  Bai Yu took out his personal jade pendant and gave it to the woman of the house, asking her to bathe and change Wang Baochuan’s clothes.

Wang Baochuan’s face was pale, and she developed a high fever that night.  She didn’t wake up for four or five days.

In the afternoon, sunlight streamed through the window and shone on the bed.  Wang Baochuan slowly woke up.  She dreamed of digging wild vegetables in her previous life, and she dreamed of picking berries on the edge of a cliff and falling.

In her dream, she was submerged in the water for a long, long time.  The icy cold river water tightly wrapped around her, she struggled desperately, trying to call for help, but she couldn’t do anything.

“No… don’t!” She woke up from the nightmare, tears streaming down her face.

A man in gray linen clothes was sitting by the window, he was napping with his eyes closed.  Sunlight fell on him, as if coating him with a gentle light.

His hair was like a sharp blade, his eyebrows like ink paintings, his nose was high and straight, his lips thin and well-defined.

Wang Baochuan’s mind only recalled the words from the Classic of Poetry, “His son, his beauty is boundless.”

She was momentarily mesmerized, she didn’t expect Mr. Bai to be so beautiful.

“Oh, Miss, you’re finally awake.”

The woman who entered the room with a bowl of medicine said happily.

“Who are you?” Wang Baochuan was about to get up, but the woman pressed her down on the bed, “You just woke up, your body is still weak, lie down and rest.”

“You don’t know how worried your brother has been these days you’ve been unconscious.”

“Brother?”

Wang Baochuan looked at Bai Yu.

Bai Yu was awakened by the woman’s voice, he sat in the sunlight, looking at Wang Baochuan with a hint of a smile.

Wang Baochuan’s face flushed red.

“Thank you, Mrs. Qin, go ahead and get busy, I’ll feed my sister the medicine.” Bai Yu said.

“Okay, alright.” Mrs. Qin wiped her hands with her apron and left the room with a smile.

Wang Baochuan stared at him with her beautiful eyes, he seemed a little flustered, he opened his mouth and explained in a hoarse voice, “We’re a man and a woman, stranded here, if I don’t say we’re siblings, wouldn’t it ruin Miss’s reputation?”

“Mr. Bai is right.” She withdrew her greedy gaze, picked up the medicine, and drank it down with a frown.

“Thank you, Mr. Bai, for saving my life.” She had recovered some of her strength and got out of bed to bow and thank him.

Bai Yu seemed to enjoy her obedience and docility, “How did you know there was a river at the bottom of the cliff?”

Wang Baochuan thought to herself, if you had been digging wild vegetables in that area for eighteen years, you would know more than I do!

Thankfully, she was familiar with the area, and they both survived.  It seems that digging wild vegetables can actually prolong your life.

But she smiled gently on the surface, and answered casually, “I’ve passed by a few times before, so I know.”

“But how did Mr. Bai know I was attacked by assassins?”

“Coincidence.” Bai Yu said.

Coincidence?  Even a fool wouldn’t believe that.  This Bai Yu must have a special identity, he has saved me twice, I wonder what his purpose is?

After two more days of recuperation, Wang Baochuan looked at the simple food in front of her and gritted her teeth, she wanted to return to the capital.

Bai Yu had already arranged everything, he planned to have the couple send Wang Baochuan back to the Prime Minister’s mansion.

They would only say that Miss Wang was attacked by assassins, accidentally fell off a cliff, and was rescued by this couple, so it wouldn’t ruin her reputation.

Unexpectedly, Wang Baochuan heard his arrangement and immediately refused.

“No.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Bai Yu asked her good-naturedly.

She said sweetly, “Since you saved me, why don’t you do a good deed to the end and send me home.”

Bai Yu was helpless, he said in a low voice, “A man and a woman, if I send you back, wouldn’t it ruin Miss’s reputation?”

Wang Baochuan heard him say this, and her eyes lit up instantly.

What a good thing!

She deliberately put on a dramatic voice and said, “Brother Bai clearly said that he only loves me in this life, I believed him, so I eloped with you.”

“Now you don’t want me anymore, you won’t even send me home?” She covered her eyes and pretended to cry, “Wuwuwu, you heartless man! I don’t want anyone else to send me, I want you to send me home yourself.”

Mrs. Qin and her husband outside the door, as if they had heard a huge secret, were stunned.

These days, the two of them had deliberately kept their distance, and they had said that this brother and sister seemed strange, but it turned out that they were a couple who had eloped!

Bai Yu’s hand trembled, he almost couldn’t hold his sword steady.

“You! What are you talking about?”

Wang Baochuan lay on the bed and pretended to cry, “Wuwuwu, you heartless man! I don’t want anyone else to send me, I want you to send me home yourself.”