Chapter 1: Meeting on the River

The moon was dark and the wind was high; the river surged violently.

On a passenger ship several dozen miles from the capital.

"River bandits are here!"

Cries and screams erupted everywhere. People were thrown into a panic, descending into total chaos.

The bandits laughed wantonly.

When a man offered slight resistance, a bandit immediately swung his blade. The man was instantly decapitated; the bandit leader kicked the head away, while blood still sprayed from the severed neck.

Su Xinyu, hiding in the cabin, froze.

The thick, dark red blood on the deck, the terrified screams of the people, and the gleaming blades in the bandits' hands all told her that the horrific scene before her was not a dream.

She had transmigrated.

Suddenly, a bandit locked eyes with her.

Su Xinyu’s heart and lungs trembled in terror; her mind went blank. Tension and fear screamed at her to run.

Unexpectedly, as she rushed out of the cabin, she tripped over a severed limb on the floor.

The next moment, a cold blade was pressed against her neck.

*It’s over,* Su Xinyu thought, her voice trembling: "W-wait, wait a moment..."

Her heart was pounding at an unprecedented speed. The fear of being so close to death washed over her like a tidal wave. Her palms were slick with cold sweat, and her entire body shook.

"Wait for nothing."

The bandit began to bring the blade down...

*Whoosh—*

A sharp arrow whistled through the air.

Followed by a dull *thud*.

The blade did not fall. Su Xinyu, lying on the ground, turned her head to look and saw the bandit lying flat on his back, a sharp arrow embedded deep in his chest, the fletching still quivering.

Several more arrows followed, and more blade-wielding bandits fell.

"It’s the government troops!"

The bandits fell into disarray.

Some jumped into the river, some took hostages, some hid in the cabins, and others discarded their weapons and tore off their masks, trying to blend into the crowd of commoners amidst the chaos...

All of them were desperate to escape the government’s encirclement.

Several dozen yards away, a government ship sped toward them.

Standing at the bow were several archers, and among them, holding a crossbow, was Lu Chengxu, the Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

The government troops were here to suppress the bandits tonight, and as the Court of Judicial Review happened to be investigating a case involving these very same criminals, the two sides had joined forces.

Lu Chengxu led his guards and subordinates, leaping onto the passenger ship.

The sound of clashing steel rang out. In just a moment, over a dozen bandits were captured alive.

A subordinate reported: "My Lord, seven hiding in the cabins, four holding hostages, and six who jumped into the river have all been captured. Including those already dealt with, there should be a few more remaining..."

Lu Chengxu scanned the area, his voice cold and clear: "There are bandits hiding among the commoners. Surrender immediately. Anyone caught hiding will be executed on the spot."

The people, who had just begun to calm their terror, fell into a panic once more.

The deck had been dim earlier, and the bandits had been masked, but now, no one on deck was wearing a mask.

People cried out one after another: "We are just commoners!"

Lu Chengxu’s cold eyes narrowed. He paced slowly toward the crowd and pointed his slender finger at two of them.

"Tie them up."

Government soldiers immediately stepped forward to bind them, but the two struggled and protested: "We are good people!"

Lu Chengxu said coldly: "Those with a crescent moon tattoo on their left shoulder are the bandits."

The soldiers immediately tore open the collars of several suspects, including the two just captured; all of them indeed had crescent moon tattoos on their left shoulders.

"Lord Lu has keen insight!" an official said, cupping his hands toward Lu Chengxu.

Lu Chengxu raised his eyes, looking as elegant as a breeze and the moon.

He had already mastered the identifying marks of this group of bandits from their previous crimes.

His cold gaze swept over the area once more before he stepped toward the stern, coming to a halt in front of Su Xinyu.

Seeing the Junior Minister staring at the youth before him, a soldier reached out to grab the youth's collar.

Su Xinyu hurriedly stepped back: "I am not a bandit."

"My young mistress is here in the capital to get married!" A maid, carrying two large bundles, rushed out shouting. "If you tear her collar, how will she be able to marry?"

During the earlier chaos, the mistress and maid had smeared soot from the ship's kitchen on their faces before being separated by the panicked crowd.

The maid turned to her mistress: "Miss, are you alright?"

Su Xinyu shook her head, dazed.

She was completely bewildered.

What did she mean, she was here in the capital to get married?

The two youths before her were dressed in coarse cloth, their hair tied up in simple knots. Their faces were blackened, seemingly stained with soot.

Hearing the voice now, they were clearly women.

The soldier sheepishly withdrew his hand and looked at Lu Chengxu: "Lord Lu, they are women."

"Female bandits are even more cunning."

Lu Chengxu’s voice was frigid.

A guard chimed in: "Indeed, bandits come in both men and women. If we distinguish them only by gender, wouldn't it be easy for the most heinous criminals to escape?"

The maid, thinking quickly, opened a waterskin and poured water onto a fine handkerchief, carefully wiping Su Xinyu’s face.

"Look, what kind of bandit looks this beautiful?"

The guard retorted: "Even those with good looks can be good or evil."

The deck was dim, but the small patch of skin the woman had wiped with the handkerchief seemed to glow like a pearl, fair and radiant.

Lu Chengxu raised an eyebrow, the line of his jaw cold and sharp.

The woman had soot on her face, but her general features were still visible. She seemed somewhat familiar, though he couldn't recall where he had seen her.

He commanded coldly: "Take them away."

Su Xinyu and her maid were taken to the government ship.

The government ship was brightly lit.

The maid caught sight of the man in official robes: "Are you the Fifth Young Master Lu?"

Her tone was joyful.

Seeing the man ignore her, the maid continued: "Do you not recognize my young mistress? Once my mistress marries your younger brother, you will be her brother-in-law. My mistress is your sister-in-law!"

"Sister-in-law?"

Lu Chengxu sat in a folding chair, exuding the posture of a noble scion.

He turned the jade thumb ring on his finger: "Do you think you can escape death by impersonating my kin?"

His voice was as cold as jade, devoid of any pity.

Death?

The maid panicked: "There is a marriage contract in the bundle that can prove my mistress's identity."

"Documents can be forged." Lu Chengxu half-lifted his eyelids and ordered the guard: "Take her out."

The guard acknowledged the order and immediately dragged the maid out of the room.

Su Xinyu, still reeling from the shock of her transmigration, was suddenly startled to hear the maid shouting from outside: "My Lord is the brother-in-law, you absolutely cannot tear my mistress's clothes to check her shoulder, it is against propriety!"

Lu Chengxu’s expression was cold and detached, but a flicker of astonishment passed through his eyes.

The government ship swayed slightly, and the candlelight flickered across his cold, pale skin.

Su Xinyu said: "I am truly not a bandit. I am a good person."

As she spoke, fragments of the original owner's memories surged forth. Though not complete, they were useful.

She quickly combined the information she found in the memories with what the maid had just said.

"I am Su Xinyu."

The same name as her modern self.

"Five years ago, I became betrothed to your cousin. At the time, you even called me sister-in-law."

She looked at him. The man before her was exquisite in appearance, his eyes as cold as ice.

"A bandit could not possibly know such details, could they?"

Lu Chengxu looked back at her, his brows knitting slightly.

He remembered.

Five years ago, when the elder Master Su was still serving in the capital, his political views were quite aligned with his grandfather's, and the two decided to unite their families through marriage.

Su Xinyu was the only daughter of Master Su.

His grandfather had several grandsons, and originally, he had intended for him to be betrothed to Su Xinyu.

However, on the day of the engagement, that incredibly annoying little girl, for the sake of a braised pork knuckle, turned around and chose the sixth brother as her fiancé.

With her mouth still greasy from the pork knuckle, she had said to him: [Fifth Young Master, from now on, I can only be your sister-in-law.]