Chapter 2

The bailiffs posted the festive red Gui list, and the crowd rushed forward to view it, temporarily drowning out the sound of someone struggling and calling for help in the river.

Even if someone noticed, she was pushed forward by those behind her, forced to keep moving ahead.

On the other side of the river, in a tea house, a solitary man had already seen someone fall into the water, but he didn’t pay it any mind.

He sat with one leg propped up on the railing, overlooking the flowing water of a small bridge. He untied her black silk scarf, placed it aside, picked up a tea pot adorned with blue-and-white porcelain patterns, poured a cup of autumn tea, and tasted it.

Even the tea-drinking habits of Tongzhou were refined; drinking tea was elegant. Compared to the bitter tea in a large pottery bowl in the northwest, she couldn’t hold much tea in her delicate cup, but she enjoyed the leisurely pace.

The Northern campaigns ceased in May, the army returned to the capital in June, and after Huo Shu left the army, she headed south in July.

Traveling intermittently, from the scorching heat to the autumn season, almost two months had passed, and they finally arrived at Tongzhou, known for its white walls, black tiles, and picturesque mountains and rivers.

The flowing water of Jiangnan murmured incessantly, weaving through the wide streets and narrow lanes of the city.

With dragon towers and phoenix pavilions on the riverbanks, magnificent halls and palaces, bustling commercial buildings and inns lined up, merchants and traders bustled like carp crossing the river.

The woman was dressed luxuriously, with a jade belt around her waist, while the women wore hair ornaments adorned with pearls and jewels. Both the scenery and the people made it a feast for the eyes for visitors from afar.

The richness of Jiangnan didn’t disappoint her; it was truly a wonderful place.

Huo Shu had three cups of tea in a row, the light fragrance lingering in her mouth, quenching her thirst slowly but leaving a refreshing aftertaste.

Amidst such beautiful scenery in the city of Jiangnan, her soul seemed to wander. As an outsider, she really didn’t want to move her butt and get wet.

However, when Huo Shu put down her teacup, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the person in the river was still struggling, unable to get out, and no one was helping.

She couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

People born in Jiangnan should be familiar with water, but unexpectedly, there were also people like this “dry duck.”

Under the clear sky, if someone drowned in the river in the bustling market outside the prefectural government, it would indeed be a joke.

Seeing that the person was sinking, Huo Shu’s eyes flickered slightly.

Water splashed suddenly on the river’s surface, and a dark figure leaped into the water.

In the end, she couldn’t just sit and watch this joke unfold.

The person in the river seemed like a drifting water plant, unable to resist the current, and could only go wherever the water pushed her.

Huo Shu grabbed the “water plant” with one hand, and soon it resurfaced.

With the water flowing swiftly, Huo Shu frowned as she looked at her wet pants, loosened her grip intending to put the person down.

However, the person she held onto by the waist didn’t go down as expected but instead tightened her grip on her sleeve.

After struggling in the water for a while, Ji Taoyu had already lost strength and was also frightened. Being rescued like this, she instinctively leaned towards the person holding her, still not fully recovering from the fear of falling into the water.

Huo Shu couldn’t help but glance down at the person clinging to her. She realized that the person she had rescued was actually a young girl.

The girl’s wet sleeve stuck to her wrist, revealing a piece of arm that seemed to have never seen the sunlight, as white as moist jade.

Seeing the person leaning against her chest, with wet hair and trembling body, like a kitten hiding in the corner in the bitter cold of midwinter, Huo Shu’s chest moved slightly.

In the end, she didn’t directly let go and drop the person to the ground. Instead, she lifted the person and walked towards the steps.

As they walked, their bodies touched and folded together, and she found that the person leaning on her was not only light but also soft, like dough that had been kneaded too much.