The Substitute Life of Shen Shuishui - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mid-April.

In the Eastern Palace, the fringe trees were in full bloom.

The Crown Prince was still very busy.

Which suited us just fine. We were delighted to be left to our own devices.

That day, Substitute No. 3, Li Shizhen, and I were admiring the blossoms in the little pavilion.

Although Li Shizhen wanted to live as an illiterate, deep down, she still couldn’t shake the bad habits of a talented young lady.

Gazing at the fringe flowers that covered the tree, she sighed in a refined, scholarly tone,

“A thousand-year fringe tree, April snow.

“Fringe flowers are best brewed into tea. Hey, Shen Shuishui, have you ever had fringe flower tea?”

Of course I had.

You brewed it for me in every lifetime. I was so sick of it I could almost throw up.

But-

“No, I haven’t. Is it good?” I asked, my tone full of fresh curiosity.

Her interest was immediately piqued. With a graceful smile, she nodded, her expression gentle and warm.

“It is! If you’ve never had it, I’ll pick some later. Once I make tea with them another day, I’ll let all the sisters have a taste.”

After saying that, she noticed I hadn’t responded and turned to look for me.

Only to see that, at some point, I had already climbed over the railing and was now walking along the edge.

Li Shizhen’s face went instantly pale. Even her voice trembled.

“Hey! Shen Shuishui, what are you doing?”

I smiled at her.

“Picking flowers. Didn’t you want to make tea?”

She looked as if I was about to anger her to death. Stomping her foot, she cried anxiously,

“Is there something wrong with your brain? Is that how you pick flowers? It’s so high up! If you fall, you’ll be dead for sure! Get back here!”

Just then, a bird skimmed past the tips of the blossoms.

I winked at Li Shizhen.

“I’ll be dead for sure if I fall? Let me try-”

With that, under her disbelieving stare, I closed my eyes with a smile.

Then spread my arms and fell backward.

Li Shizhen thought I was trying to kill myself.

She was so frightened her soul nearly left her body, and she screamed,

“Shen Shuishui!!!”

The sound of wind, mingled with the fragrance of flowers, brushed past my ears.

Silently, I counted down.

Three.

Two.

One.

The curve of my lips slowly deepened.

He was here.

That passing young man arrived right on cue.

He leaped into the air and swept me into his arms.

I landed steadily in Young Lord Xie Xuan’s embrace.

I opened my eyes.

He was looking down at me, his flame-red robes billowing in the wind. He asked,

“What is this? Miss, were you trying to end it all?”

I lifted my arms, hooked them around his neck, and gazed at his picture-perfect brows and eyes, as well as that tiny tear mole.

“End It All? Who’s that? Why would I be thinking about him? I was thinking about you.”

“…”

And then.

I watched as Xie Xuan’s expression went from distant and casual to the human embodiment of a question mark.

Even the look in his eyes changed from concern for a melancholy young woman to concern for a mentally challenged child…