Chapter 32

With a splash, the two of them fell into the water at the same time.

A piercing coldness swept over, bringing back memories that one wouldn’t even dream of recalling at midnight.

Shen Yu seemed to see such scenes again.

Heavy snow, icy lake, Jiang Lianzhi, Lin Qingli, and the shouts and cheers on the shore…

Her body seemed unable to move, trapped tightly by memories of the past. The fear of death had never been far away, just dormant in the depths of her body.

The shadow of drowning in the previous life enveloped her again.

She could only let herself sink in the cold water.

Suddenly, the descent stopped, and someone grabbed her wrist, pulling her upwards.

She didn’t know what she was doing, completely at the mercy of others.

Xie Tingzhou dragged Shi Yu as if dragging a corpse, and the two were swept downstream by the turbulent river water.

They drifted for who knows how long, until they reached a section of water with less drop in terrain, where the flow was gentler. Xie Tingzhou dragged the person onto the shore.

Then he laid the person on the ground and collapsed on the riverbank himself.

Xie Tingzhou had been pulling him in the water all along, trying to stabilize himself in the swift current to avoid being knocked against the rocks.

Not dying on the battlefield was one thing; if they died in the river, or worse, got knocked down by someone, it would be a huge disgrace. Their legend might persist for another hundred years.

Xie Tingzhou glanced at the person beside him. He was lying flat, soaked through, with a pale face and purple lips from the cold. But evidently, she was still conscious, her eyeballs moving under closed eyelids.

Xie Tingzhou rested for a while, then propped himself up and patted his face. “Shen Yu, Shen Yu.”

“Cough—” Shen Yu suddenly turned her head and spat out a mouthful of water.

Unfortunately, she had turned towards Xie Tingzhou, spitting directly on him.

Shen Yu’s eyes met Xie Tingzhou’s cold face, an expression that seemed to want to kill her.

Her eyes shifted, realizing what she had just done.

It’s fine, she reassured herself.

Isn’t he just the Crown Prince of Beilin?

Isn’t he just the one who can command tens of thousands of soldiers?

Isn’t it just that she spat on him?

She slowly sat up, patting where she had spat and finding it couldn’t be wiped clean. “It’s soaked in.”

Xie Tingzhou: “…”

Shen Yu looked at his expression and explained, “The water I spat out is from the river, just like the water on you, not dirty.”

“Or you can go back into the water and rinse it off. A rinse will do,” she added.

It was the first time Xie Tingzhou was rendered speechless like this.

He stood up, shook his clothes, casually rinsed the sleeve that Shen Yu had spat on in the river, and then rolled up the other sleeve.

There was a diagonal knife wound on his forearm, about two inches long, not deep, and it had stopped bleeding. But the edge of the wound was swollen and white from being soaked in river water, looking quite grim.

“When did His Highness get injured?”

Apologies for the mistake. Let me correct that:

Shen Yu clearly remembered him sitting upright on the carriage, solely focused on driving. She wielded her knife vigorously, clearing out anyone nearby, shielding him completely from prying eyes.

She dared to assert that not even a mosquito would have dared to fly near them at that time, so where did his injury come from?

Since she asked this question, she saw Xie Tingzhou’s speechless expression deepen even more.

Xie Tingzhou glanced at her right hand, which was still holding the knife she hadn’t dared to let go of throughout the ordeal of being washed away by the river.

Sure, she held onto the knife, but she was being tossed around by the river like a corpse.

The knife wound was accidentally inflicted by the knife in the water. If he hadn’t been killed by her in the water, he considered himself lucky.

Shen Yu lowered her head and looked at the knife in her hand, somewhat uncertainly asking, “Could it be… I did it?”

“No, I deliberately put my arm under your knife in the water,” Xie Tingzhou replied sarcastically.

With a solemn expression, Xie Tingzhou tore off a piece of cloth and slowly wrapped it around the wound.

However, tying a knot with one hand proved to be a challenge.

Shen Yu couldn’t fail to notice his sarcastic remark, feeling somewhat guilty. She slowly approached, “Let me do it.”

Xie Tingzhou didn’t refuse. After she tied the cloth, he stood up. “We need to find a place to rest.”

The night wind was cold, and wet clothes clung to their bodies. Shen Yu couldn’t help but shiver.

All around them was snowy terrain, illuminated by moonlight.

They walked forward in the moonlight, with Shen Yu silently following behind Xie Tingzhou, the only sound being the crunching of footsteps in the snow.

There was no sign of any households nearby, making the night eerily quiet.

After walking for a while, Xie Tingzhou began to feel dizzy, and his steps became heavier. He knew what this meant.

The poison from that year hadn’t taken his life, but it had left hidden dangers in his body.

The residual poison lurked, waiting for an opportunity to strike. It only needed him to let his guard down to wreak havoc.

He had fallen ill a few days ago, took his last dose of medicine today, and now he had fallen into the water.

His high fever made him somewhat delirious, but he knew he couldn’t faint. If any criminals chased them, Shen Yu dragging his corpse-like body alone might not be able to handle it.

And there was another possibility; Shen Yu might abandon him to save herself. Although he knew this possibility was slim, he didn’t know why he was so certain. He seemed to have an inexplicable trust in Shen Yu.

“Are you afraid of water?” Xie Tingzhou suddenly asked, needing something to keep himself alert. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to hold on.

When he fell into the water, he noticed that she seemed to lose her spirit completely.

The footsteps behind him suddenly stopped. Xie Tingzhou turned around and saw Shen Yu pause for a moment before catching up.

Shen Yu stared at the ground. “I fell into the water before, also on such a cold winter day, so I’m a bit afraid of water.”

Xie Tingzhou asked, “Then why not learn to swim?”

“I didn’t have the chance.” She had only been reborn for a few days before coming to the border. There was simply no time to learn.

Xie Tingzhou heard this answer as an excuse.

The Yanniang Pass had been opened for war since September. She said it was such a cold winter day, obviously referring to last year, so she had many months to learn. Yet, she claimed she didn’t have the chance.

Everyone had their own secrets, and Xie Tingzhou didn’t want to pry into others’ privacy.

“There’s a quiet lake in the territory of Beilin, not far from the royal palace. I learned to swim there when I was young…” He suddenly stopped, unsure why he was telling her these things.

Maybe it was because he was sick, so his guard was lowered.

He added, “Learn in Shengjing in the summer. My estate has good water. I can have someone teach you.”

Summer. Shen Yu mulled over these two words in her mouth.

So he meant he couldn’t return to his territory in the summer. Could it be that the matter of the defeat at Yanniang Pass couldn’t be resolved by summer?

Shen Yu voiced her doubts.

Xie Tingzhou forced himself to focus. “The case of the defeat will be resolved promptly, do you believe it? Regardless of who is behind it, they are eager to pin the blame on someone as soon as possible to prevent further investigation.”

Shen Yu suddenly remembered Liang Jianfang. She didn’t know if he had been silenced. If Liang Jianfang died, then this matter would be difficult to handle.