My Lady Says She Wants to Marry Me - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Su Wanrou sat behind the carriage, tucked away from the crowd. She gazed at the floodwaters that hadn’t receded an inch, clutching her growling stomach. Her gaze flickered toward the empty front of the carriage.

Today was the fifth day. Everyone’s food supplies had been exhausted. Unrest began to ripple through the people on the high ground, and the Magistrate was left with no choice but to suggest slaughtering the horses for food. Rather than being forced into it by a riot, it was better to take the initiative and provide the meat to the people himself.

The horses Su Wanrou had brought were also requisitioned. There were fifteen horses in total; the Magistrate decided to kill two per day. Since no one knew when the waters would subside, they had to ensure there was a steady, if grim, food supply.

Currently, Lu Youming was leading a group into the mountains to hunt, hoping to find any additional sustenance. However, without bows and arrows, she and a few local hunters had to rely on building traps and physically flushing out game—a difficult task, as the thousands of people on the outskirts had long since scared away any small animals.

By nightfall, Lu Youming returned empty-handed, save for a few screeching mountain rats. The atmosphere was somber. Everyone was damp, tired, and losing hope.

In the darkness, Lu Youming sat beside Su Wanrou. Su Wanrou refused to eat the horse meat soup and instead nibbled on her last remaining piece of hard pastry, cherishing every small bite.

“Eat this,” Lu Youming said suddenly, pulling a handful of thumb-sized fruits from her pouch and handing them to Su Wanrou.

“What are these?” Su Wanrou asked curiously, holding a tiny, pinkish fruit. She brought it to her nose; it had a sweet, fragrant scent that made her mouth water.

“These are wild earth-figs,” Lu Youming whispered leaning close to Su Wanrou’s ear. “They’re sweet. And you’re the only one who gets them.”

Su Wanrou’s ears turned pink as she whispered a low, “Thank you.” She bit into one, and a burst of sweetness flooded her tongue. She looked at Lu Youming with delight and immediately held one out to her husband’s lips. “You eat too.”

Lu Youming looked at the slender, elegant fingers near her mouth. Her heart skipped a beat. She reached out to take the fruit, her fingers brushing against Su Wanrou’s for a brief second. Su Wanrou’s fingertips curled instinctively, and the fruit seemed to taste even sweeter.

As the light rain stopped and a few faint stars appeared, Lu Youming pointed upward. “Look, the stars are out. Tomorrow might be a clear day.”

“Yes,” Su Wanrou smiled. Without realizing it, they were sitting very close together.

In the shadows, two dark figures approached the carriage. One of them was the man Lu Youming had fined fifty coins a few days prior. He watched the carriage with eyes full of hatred. Ever since that incident, he had been shunned by others, and his elderly mother had fallen ill from the shame and stress.

He was a former smuggler and river pirate who had settled into a “stable” life, but now his pride was wounded. He signaled to his companion.

Lu Youming, whose ears were sharp from years of training, heard the faint crunch of footsteps. She placed a finger to her lips, signaling Su Wanrou to be silent, and gripped the hilt of her blade.

“Who’s there!” she barked.

A shadow darted by the wheels. The shout alerted the servants, and people began to stir in the surrounding huts.

“Old Third, run!” the companion hissed. But the man, seeing Lu Youming protecting a wife as beautiful as a celestial being while his own life was in shambles, felt a surge of uncontrollable rage. He wanted Lu Youming to suffer.

With a twisted grin, he and his partner threw a handful of acrid powder toward Lu Youming just as people began to converge. Lu Youming instinctively closed her eyes against the stinging dust and felt a heavy kick to her chest. She drew her blade, slashing forward blindly to defend herself.

In that chaotic second, a piercing scream tore through the night.

“AH! MISS!”

It was Liu Qing. Lu Youming’s eyes snapped open just in time to see Su Wanrou’s silhouette being shoved off the edge of the ridge toward the roaring flood below.

Lu Youming’s eyes turned bloodshot. With a roar of fury, her long blade severed the arm of one of the attackers. She didn’t wait to see him fall; she threw herself forward, leaping into the dark, churning void after the figure tumbling into the water.

The camp descended into madness. Servants tackled the one-armed man while his companion tried to fight his way out. Steward Lin arrived, kicking the second man unconscious. He grabbed a sobbing Liu Qing by the shoulders. “Where are the Master and Mistress?!”

“The Mistress… she was pushed into the flood… the Master jumped in to save her!” Liu Qing wailed.

A crowd gathered, horrified. “Assaulting an official! That’s a death sentence for the whole clan!” some shouted. Others worried, “If the Sheriff is gone, who will lead us?”

Under the water, it was pitch black. Lu Youming hadn’t caught Su Wanrou’s hand before she disappeared. The muddy, silt-heavy water filled Lu Youming’s lungs as the current dragged her away.

Su Wanrou rose and sank in the waves, her long hair plastered over her face, unable to catch her breath. The flood carried her like a fallen leaf, spinning her effortlessly into the dark. As she was pulled under once more, a bleak thought crossed her mind: This time, surely, no one can reach out to save me.