Volume 1: Chapter 001 - A Kiss That Determines Fate

  "Look out for the horse!"

  "Look out for the horse!"

  "Run away quickly!"

  On a bustling ancient path along the Yangzhou canal, an exquisite and luxurious carriage was suddenly speeding rapidly, rushing headlong, and in just a few breaths, it galloped straight into the icy winter river. The coachman jumped off the horse and escaped at the moment the carriage entered the river.

  In front of the ancient canal, Xu Yin, the hastily arriving Hangzhou governor, saw the carriage fall into the river in an instant and jumped into the icy canal without hesitation.

  The icy river water seemed to have no effect on Xu Yin, who held his breath and found the woman he had secretly liked for many years at the bottom of the canal, Xie Wenjing!

  "Wenjing, hold on a bit, I will definitely get you out of here, definitely!" Xu Yin's heart was in agony, this strong figure since childhood, today actually collapsed in the carriage compartment.

  Quickly embracing Xie Wenjing, who had fallen inside the carriage, and trying to float up to the surface. But at this time, Xie Wenjing was particularly heavy, and it took great effort for Xu Yin to carry her out of the carriage, and even more so to hold onto her and try to float up, with little effect. Xu Yin himself was also coughing repeatedly.

  "Magistrate Xü, hurry up and leave, don't bother about me! Cough, cough, cough!"

  Wen Jing endured the severe pain in her waist and urged Xu Yin to leave this dangerous place before she lost consciousness.

  One's own wounds are one's own to understand, both legs have lost all sensation, and even breathing is starting to feel difficult, perhaps this is where one will meet their end.

  But it absolutely cannot be Xu Yin's grave, he is still so young and has such a promising future, he is the only number one scholar in our Yangzhou for decades, and also the neighbor brother I have liked since childhood, something can't happen to him, no!

  Xie Wenjing, whose consciousness was already unclear, had not yet noticed the change in Xu Yin's way of addressing her. Her mind was only thinking that she couldn't drag Xu Yin down.

  "Don't speak, I'll definitely save you!"

  Xu Yin himself also felt exhausted, but still pretended to be calm and encouraged Xie Wenjing.

  Xu Yin knew that it was the coldest winter month, and the water in the canal was icy cold, but Yangzhou was not lacking in kind-hearted people who would definitely still be willing to jump into the water to rescue others.

  Xie Wenjing gazed at Xuyin, who had already lost all his strength, with a distant and confused look in her eyes. She made up her mind that she would rather die than drag Xuyin down with her. Summoning the last vestiges of her clarity, she endured the intense pain emanating from her waist and struggled to free her arm. With all her might, she pushed Xuyin away, determined that he should not die with her. He was the Magistrate of Hangzhou, a top scholar! He had yet to marry and have children!

  "Wenjing? No! Hold on a little longer, someone will come to rescue us soon!"

  Xu Yin also felt the taste of death, the feeling of suffocation was so clear, but just like that, Xu Yin still tightly hugged Xie Wenjing who wanted to push him away, hold on for a little while longer, someone would come to rescue them.

  Wen Jing's face was already a deep purple-black color due to extreme oxygen deficiency, and she barely managed to open her eyes to see Xu Yin's face had also turned dark purple. Suddenly, Wen Jing couldn't help but burst into tears, realizing that she had put Xu Yin in harm's way!

  "Don't cry, we'll definitely be able to wait for them to come and rescue us." Xu Yin encouraged Wen Jing, who had a desperate look in her eyes, giving her confidence.

  At this moment, Xu Yin couldn't believe it. That strong and proud figure would cry today, and be so sad and desperate? No! It can't be! Wen Jing won't die!

  Xu Yin was screaming in his heart. He hadn't had time to tell Wen Jing that he had liked her since childhood, and still did, because of his liking for her, he had been working hard to study, wanting to take the imperial examination and become a top scorer, then ask the Xie family to cancel Wen Jing's original engagement and marry her to himself.

  Unfortunately, he was late, a whole year late! He only passed the imperial examination and became a Zhuangyuan one year after Wenjing got married, so he could only regret for the rest of his life. As a result, he didn't want to get married and have children in these few years either.

  Xu Gege, it's me who got you killed! It's all my fault! I'm the one who harmed you! Xie Wenjing felt extremely guilty before she fainted.

  Xu Yin saw the woman he loved, suffocating and fainting in his arms, and suddenly remembered the allusion of "xiāng rú yǐ mò". Before, what he had always wanted was to be able to share a tender love with Wen Jing.

  Never could I have imagined that I would be in such a desperate situation, yet still manage to be with the woman I love.

  Xu Yin held Xie Wenjing, who was unconscious, and tightly sealed her lips with his own. Then, he exhaled forcefully, transferring the air from his lungs to hers, hoping to give her a little more time, just a little more time, which would bring a glimmer of hope.

  Xie Wenjing, who was on the verge of death, suddenly opened her eyes wide and looked incredulously at the blurry face in front of her.

  Is he Xu Yin himself?

  "I love you, Wenjing! I love you, always have loved you, I love you! Wenjing!"

  Xu Yin exhaled laboriously and whispered words that had been bottled up in his heart for many years to Xie Wenjing.

  Xu Yin feared that if he died, he would never have the chance to say it again. If he really was going to die, Xu Yin wanted to tell the woman in his arms that he had always loved her.

  Xu Yin thought to himself, "I love her so much, I couldn't bear to watch her die in front of me. Can't I put worldly things aside and be with her through thick and thin? Even if I were to die, I would want to fight for a little more time to save her."

  It was with a great deal of effort that Xu Yin exhaled, and he too was rapidly declining. Even the words "Wen Jing, I love you" that he muttered were gradually becoming fainter and almost inaudible.

  Xie Wenjing suddenly understood.

  This is Xu Yin consoling himself, he actually didn't want to let go of himself, even if it meant being dragged down by himself until death? What he just said about loving himself was, amazingly, so true.

  No! Xuyin, I don't want you to die! Don't die! If one of us must die, it must be me! It has to be me!

  Xie Wenjing struggled to break free from Xu Yin's embrace, but Xu Yin had only one thought, to hold Xie Wenjing tightly and never let go. His lips were also tightly wrapped around Xie Wenjing, trying to savor the moment, as the two of them held each other so closely, like a pair of lovers in a passionate embrace, their love for each other evident to all who saw them.

  Xie Wenjing felt a bone-chilling despair before her death, she was not afraid of death, tired for so many years, lonely for so many years, just die then! But Xu Yin still has a bright future ahead, dying for this number one shrew of Yangzhou is not worth it!

  No!

  Xie Wenjing's eyes flowed with bloody tears.

  Xu Yin! If there is an afterlife, I will definitely not disappoint your deep affection in this life.

  Xu Yin, if there is an afterlife, I will protect you for all eternity!

  Sorry, Xu Yin, wait for me, I'll find you, in the next life I must find you! Must find you! Must!

  Xie Wenjing gradually saw her own body float out of the water and hover in the air above Yangzhou, drifting involuntarily.

  She floated to her husband's house and saw her husband, her cousin Pei Yezhu, and their son Zi Mo.

  "You go back and take good care of your wife, managing so much money, yet not properly maintaining the ancestral mansion, even letting the handrail on the corridor of the pavilion collapse. Fortunately, Zimiao is fine, Baoyu is also fine, otherwise, I would have divorced her and it wouldn't be enough to vent my anger!"

  Still scolding is Xie Wenjing's mother-in-law.

  "Mother, I'll definitely get her to take out the money and have our ancestral home properly repaired. Don't be angry anymore!"

  This is the man she has been married to for seven years. He is filial to his parents and loving to his brothers, but his parents and brothers all despise her, and he also despises her.

  He is affectionate and righteous, but it's towards his concubine, his own cousin.

  He rarely gets close to his own body. Before getting married, he had heard that this was a responsible and ambitious man, a young man with aspirations.

  But it's not your good husband. No!

  "Quickly draw the picture, run fast! The lady has fallen into the water!" The first to receive the news were Xie Wenjing's two personal maids, who were on their way from the Yunjin Brocade Workshop to the scene of the incident.

  Xie Wenjing looked at her two personal maids, opened her mouth, wanting to stop them, telling them to live a good life, take the dowry she had prepared for them earlier and leave the Zhao family, but couldn't make a sound.

  Next, their own bodies were exposed after dying in each other's arms.

  Suddenly, voices of discontent rose here and there.

  " Bah, Mistress Zhao is really shameless! Tsk tsk?"

  "What a cultured degenerate! Still pretending to be a top scholar?"

  "It's really 'to die under the peony flowers, and even as a ghost, it's still elegant!'"

  "Alas, poor Zhao is wearing such a big green hat? What an unfortunate marriage!"

  "I've long seen that Xie family's daughter is no good thing, running around all day, there must be more than one man under her skirt? Spit!"

  "Xie Jia and Zhao Jia's reputation were all ruined by her alone! What a shame!"

  Even Xie Wenyue's younger brother, who was not yet old enough to understand the weight of things, followed with emotion: "Sister actually likes this poor little boy?"

  Father fainted at the Xie's house, his breath as thin as a thread, his life hanging by a thread. Mother also fainted, and the faces of Grandfather and Grandmother Xie were as cold as frost. This was the first time Wenjing had seen her aunt's face like this.

  "This wretched creature! I told her not to get into business. Look at what's happened, she's lost her senses and dared to do something so shameful!"

  Xie Wenjing's face was shocked, is this her own dear aunt and grandmother? Didn't she teach herself that women should be independent and strong? Wasn't it she who gave herself 500 taels of silver as capital for business? Wasn't it she who encouraged herself to do business, in order to support the Xie family's empty shell of a household?

  It's not that she told herself, a woman wants to stand firm in her husband's family, her family background can't be low? Only when the husband's family relies on her to make money is it truly a successful woman?

  "Isn't it you? You're doing business with her, what kind of big family's daughter goes out to make money and do business in Yangzhou? Losing face for the Xie family."

  The angry voice of grandfather.

  "Old master, are you blaming me? My sister passed away many years ago and left behind that poor child Cheng Yu. How much good ginseng, lingzhi, blood swallow, and cordyceps does she need every year?"

  Wen Bao is too extravagant, losing a lot of money to others every year, and wasting a lot of money on those immoral women.

  "If no one in our family goes out to make a living, we would have sold the ancestral house long ago. Are we going to let the Xie family decline in our hands?"

  Grandfather looked disheartened and finally said: "You go negotiate with the Zhao family yourself, try to get Wenjing's dowry back!

  "I'm so angry with that ungrateful son, lying in bed every day, bringing harm to the entire Xie family. The son he had is a good-for-nothing who's ruining the family, and the daughter he had is still shameless. If I had known it would be like this, I would have let that good-for-nothing die early on, so as not to drag our whole family down!"

  Xie Wenjing saw the ugliness that could no longer be seen in the past.

  Digression

  Guys, I've started a new project and I really need your collection, please! Thank you! Thank you for collecting and commenting, this is my motivation for writing! Love you all!