Of course, Shen Lingzhen hadn’t jumped in to rescue Huo Liuxing.
Though born and raised in Bianjing and naturally decent in water, she was still a proper lady of a noble household. She’d never had reason to plunge into a river, especially not on a night like this, with poor visibility and a man nearly twice her weight. The idea of dragging him out was pure fantasy.
She knew that. Yet she didn’t hesitate to leap.
Because in the instant Huo Liuxing fell into the river, everything from tonight suddenly made sense.
Though she wasn’t familiar with the current state of court politics, Shen Lingzhen had read enough history to understand the danger of a subject whose merit outshines the throne.
The phrase “loving the people like one’s own children” was usually reserved for rulers. Yet tonight, Zhao Xun had claimed that the people of Qingzhou used it to describe Huo Liuxing’s father, elevating the Huo family to near-divine status. That alone was a pointed remark.
And ever since she’d learned Huo Liuxing’s secret, she’d been especially alert. Zhao Xun’s unsolicited offer to examine him had already planted seeds of unease in her heart.
Then came the night market stroll, Zhao Xun dismissing his attendants, the teahouse visit, and finally the fight. Comparing both sides’ movements, it was all too clear to her now. Prince Zhao’s intentions could not be more obvious.
She didn’t know the full story, but she could guess. Her Cousin had gone to great lengths to stage this entire evening, surely to test whether Huo Liuxing’s legs were truly crippled.
When diagnosis failed, and assassination failed, only one method remained: force him into the river and provoke his instinct to survive.
Plunging into the river with drenched robes weighing him down and blades glinting nearby, even the most seasoned swimmer, if robbed of the use of his legs, would struggle to stay afloat, let alone fight his way free.
It was easy to imagine: had Shen Lingzhen stood idly by, the remaining assassins would have relentlessly pursued Zhao Xun, Kongqing, and Jian Jia, leaving them no chance to rescue anyone.
Huo Liuxing had been driven to a dead end, either choose death, or reveal his true identity and be condemned for deceiving the Emperor.
But now, everything had changed.
Shen Lingzhen recalled that before heading to the teahouse, Zhao Xun had suggested she return home first. That implied her presence as his cousin might have interfered with his plans to some extent.
And just before the signal, the sound of the cup shattering, he had deliberately said, “I’m fine. Just make sure they don’t accidentally hurt my Cousin.”
That seemingly offhand remark was more likely a covert instruction to the assassins lurking nearby: ensure her safety at all costs.
Zhao Xun couldn’t afford for anything to happen to her. If she jumped into the river, he might signal the assassins to retreat, allowing Kongqing and Jian Jia to break through the encirclement and follow her into the water or he might dispatch hidden reinforcements. One way or another, he would not remain passive.
And if someone came to save her, then naturally someone would also save Huo Liuxing. Otherwise, Zhao Xun would bear the blame.
Shen Lingzhen’s calculations were impeccable. As she dashed forward, she was full of confidence, but being a hero was never so simple.
Driven by a surge of gratitude, she ran too fast, too recklessly. As she leapt into the river, her ankle caught on the railing. Gone was any semblance of grace, she tumbled in awkwardly, limbs flailing.
And the reality of plunging into the river was far from what she had imagined. She hit the water hard, didn’t even have time to hold her breath before choking on it.
After a brief struggle, she managed to lift her head, but her soaked robes dragged her down, rendering her limbs useless. Forget finding Huo Liuxing in the pitch-black water, just staying afloat was already exhausting.
To make matters worse, after only a few kicks, her feet became entangled in underwater weeds. As she struggled, the brackish river water flooded her nose and mouth, eroding her will.
Through the haze, Shen Lingzhen vaguely saw the chaos unfolding on the riverbank, people shouting, horses rearing, and knew she couldn’t hold on much longer.
Fortunately, her initial judgment had been correct.
Before she dashed out, her loud cry of “Husband!” had instantly drawn everyone’s attention. Zhao Xun, sensing the sudden shift, quickly turned the tide of the battle.
In a burst of urgency, Jian Jia kicked down two burly men, slashed her way through the chaos, and leapt into the river. She swam swiftly to Shen Lingzhen’s side, lifting her head above the water. “Young Madam!”
With something to cling to, Shen Lingzhen gripped Jian Jia’s sash tightly, gasping for breath. “Hus… Husband….where is he…”
“Kongqing’s already gone to save him.” Seeing that she was still conscious, Jian Jia let out a breath of relief and began kicking toward the shore, dragging her inch by inch.
As soon as Shen Lingzhen was hoisted onto the riverbank, she collapsed, coughing violently against the railing. Her vision blurred with tears, and only after catching her breath did she realize Zhao Xun’s attendants had arrived, swiftly getting rid of the assassins.
Zhao Xun’s arm was injured, and his men were tending to the wound.
Jian Jia quickly wrapped the soaked Shen Lingzhen tightly in a cloak.
The scene was a mess of corpses and blood. Shen Lingzhen stared blankly for a moment before spotting a bloodied body near her feet, which made her retch uncontrollably.
Seeing her in such a miserable state, Jian Jia didn’t care if the Emperor himself showed up, let alone Zhao Xun. She grabbed Shen Lingzhen to help her leave.
Shen Lingzhen’s throat was parched, and she couldn’t speak. She pointed toward the riverbank, as if asking whether Huo Liuxing had been saved. Jian Jia, frantic with worry, snapped, “You need to worry about yourself first!”
But Shen Lingzhen refused to leave. Somehow, she found the strength to break free and stagger toward the riverbank. She hadn’t gone far when Kongqing burst from the water, dragging Huo Liuxing by the arm and hauling him ashore.
Seeing that Huo Liuxing was safe, the tension in Shen Lingzhen’s heart finally eased. Only then did she realize her ankle was throbbing, it had swollen into a painful lump.
When she hadn’t noticed, she could still run and worry about others. But the moment she became aware of her injury, the pain surged through her like a tidal wave. Her vision darkened, stars danced before her eyes, and she mumbled in a daze, “Jian… Jian Jia, I think I’m going to faint…”
“Young Madam—!”
After surviving the ordeal, Shen Lingzhen was haunted by another nightmare.
In her dream, she was sinking into a murky abyss, the water thick with drifting debris and fine weeds. She plunged deeper and deeper, desperately crying out for help, but no sound came from her throat.
No one reached out to save her.
She woke with a jolt just as she hit the bottom, her entire body aching, limp and sore as if it had fallen apart.
Lying on the bed, Shen Lingzhen opened her eyes in a daze. The first thing she saw was a blurry glow, perhaps the flicker of a crimson candle. As her vision slowly sharpened, she realized it was a pair of eyes, reflecting the candlelight.
Those eyes were fixed on her, filled with a complexity that seemed to hold a hundred tangled emotions.
Shen Lingzhen couldn’t decipher them.
It wasn’t tender affection, nor gut-wrenching worry. It wasn’t anything she had imagined.
As they stared at each other, it was she, the injured one, who spoke first: “Husband, are you hurt?”
Huo Liuxing sat in a wheelchair, his brows tightly furrowed. He shook his head. “No.”
Shen Lingzhen let out a breath of relief. Zhao Xun had been wounded, many lives had been lost, and yet Huo Liuxing had emerged unscathed.
She gave a hoarse laugh. “I knew you’d be fine. Husband is always so capable.”
Huo Liuxing’s frown deepened. “You knew, and still jumped in?”
Seeing he was about to scold her, she quickly changed the subject. “Husband is so modest in front of Fourth Prince, but the moment I praise you, you accept it? Is your humility… all just an act?”
She hadn’t expected that question to truly catch him off guard.
Not just the humility.
His gentle demeanor, his courteous manners, his cautious restraint, none of it was real.
For a fleeting moment, a quiet loneliness flickered in Huo Liuxing’s eyes, from a place she couldn’t name. But it vanished just as quickly, replaced by his usual calm and unreadable expression.
Half-serious, half-teasing, Huo Liuxing said, “Yes, it’s all an act. So don’t be foolish again, I’m not that easy to kill.”
Even Shen Lingzhen could sense something was off tonight. How could Huo Liuxing have been caught completely unprepared?
Zhao Xun had thought his visit sudden enough to catch him off guard, but in truth, the moment the gatekeeper announced Fourth Prince’s arrival, Huo Liuxing had already guessed his intentions. He’d ordered Kongqing to administer acupuncture to seal his meridians, passing Lu Yang’s diagnosis without suspicion.
Later, when the ambush struck at the teahouse, he had remained composed from beginning to end. That plunge into the river? Merely a calculated move.
He was certain Zhao Xun wouldn’t dare truly take his life. In the end, this entire performance was nothing more than a contest of endurance. Who could outlast the other.
To Huo Liuxing, every step of tonight’s events had gone exactly as planned. The only variable… was Shen Lingzhen.
“But I think I was pretty clever tonight…” Shen Lingzhen muttered, clearly unwilling to accept being called foolish. “I just didn’t have any experience jumping into rivers, so I didn’t do it very well. Next time…”
“There’s going to be a next time?” Huo Liuxing raised an eyebrow, cutting her off.
She shook her head quickly.
The motion made her dizzy, and she realized her forehead felt oddly cool, something soft and chilled was pressed against it.
Huo Liuxing reached out and gently tapped her forehead with one finger. “You’ve got a bit of a fever. That’s a cooling cloth to bring the heat down, don’t let it fall off.”
Only then did Shen Lingzhen remember her injuries. She tried moving her leg and found her ankle had been treated and bandaged. It no longer throbbed like before.
“Husband, my foot…”
“It’s just a sprain,” Huo Liuxing replied. “Didn’t touch the bone. Rest for ten days or so and you should recover.”
A smile flickered in Shen Lingzhen’s eyes. “Did you treat it yourself?”
Huo Liuxing chuckled. “I did.” When it came to tending injuries, no one here could match his skill.
Shen Lingzhen was about to say more, but he gently cut her off. “It’s late at night. Get some proper sleep, or your fever might worsen.”
“You’re not sleeping?”
“Fourth Prince was injured. He’s resting in the manor now, and I still have matters to attend to.”
“Alright then…” Shen Lingzhen hesitated. “Could you call Jian Jia and Bailu in? I’m just a little…”
She didn’t finish the sentence with “afraid,” but Huo Liuxing understood, it was only natural. Yet instead of summoning the maids right away, he said, “I’ll leave once you’re asleep.”
Not wanting to delay him, Shen Lingzhen quickly shut her eyes. “Then I’ll fall asleep right now.”
She was already exhausted, and before long, she truly drifted off. Just as Huo Liuxing was about to leave, he saw her hands suddenly flailing in the air, like she was still struggling in the water, even in her dreams.
Her hand was just about to crash into the bedpost. Without thinking, Huo Liuxing abruptly stood up from his wheelchair, caught her hand, tucked it gently under the quilt, and patted it softly. “It’s alright. You’re ashore now.”
Only after doing this did he glance down at his own legs and frowned.
Author’s note: Frantic Huo Liuxing: How the hell did I just stand up?!
