However... when Chen Fang opened the door yesterday and saw her face covered in blood scabs, she screamed in fright. Thinking about it, Ma Cai'er felt much better.

She was pushed into the river by Chen Fang and drowned.

The princess said she had five days to take revenge. After five days, she would come back to her, extract her soul from the man's body, and send her to be reincarnated.

Three days have passed, and she doesn't have much time left, but Ma Cai'er has no idea how to proceed.

She desperately wanted to drag Chen Fang into the ice hole as well, to get revenge, but she couldn't find the opportunity.

Chen Fang has three older brothers, all of whom are very strong and healthy. In contrast, she is now just a pale-faced, weak and frail woman who is completely useless.

After being pulled out of the ice hole by them, Ma Mingdong gasped for breath and suddenly burst into tears: "Cai'er... my poor daughter."

He wanted to find her alive or dead, but his daughter had drowned in this still river and his body could not be found.

Ma Mingdong was heartbroken.

By the time the river thaws next spring, my daughter's body will probably be gone. After all, too much time has passed, and with so many fish and shrimp in the river, they'll surely gnaw on her remains...

Thinking about all this, Ma Mingdong felt heartbroken.

"Mingdong, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Please accept my condolences!" Chen Dayong advised.

"Uncle Ma, Cai'er is gone. You still have Fu'er and his two brothers to take care of. You must take care of yourself." Chen Yu quickly added his words of advice.

After hearing their words, Ma Mingdong was moved to tears.

His wife injured her body when she gave birth to their fourth child, and died before she had even finished her postpartum confinement period.

Cai'er was only ten years old when she took on the heavy responsibility of raising her three younger brothers.

Cai'er takes care of all the chores at home.

For the sake of her family, her father, and her three younger brothers, Cai'er has delayed her marriage, and it seems that she is about to be put on hold.

Fortunately, his daughter Cai'er was good-looking, skilled at needlework, and good at managing the household. Even though she was getting older, people still came to propose marriage to her.

Just this June, a family in town hired a matchmaker to propose marriage.

That family was well-off; they owned a large house in town, hundreds of acres of fertile land, as well as shops and servants.

Such a good thing shouldn't have fallen on their heads.

After all... his Cai'er is just a peasant girl, and their family is of average means. Cai'er is eighteen this year, and she will be nineteen when she gets married next year.

The old man in that family had been married before, but his wife died of illness, so he was going to remarry.

Ma Mingdong went to town to inquire. The old man in that family was only one year older than Cai'er. His wife had been married for three years without having children and then died of illness. Although Cai'er was a second wife, she wouldn't have to be a stepmother.

That's good enough.

If he hadn't remarried, such a good thing would never have happened to his Cai'er.

Ma Mingdong was very satisfied with the marriage, thinking that his daughter could enjoy a life of luxury as a young mistress after marrying into the family, without having to work so hard as before.

Over the years, the daily lives of the father and his three sons have all been taken care of by their daughter, which has been a real hardship for her.

He thought the child's suffering was finally over and he was about to enjoy happiness, but the child was gone.

"Mingdong, Cai'er's body has not been found for the time being. Do you still want to hold the funeral?" Chen Dayong asked.

"Of course we'll do it." Ma Mingdong clenched his fists and nodded.

The only thing we can do is put our daughter's clothes in the coffin.

Once the body is found, it will be reburied.

“You’re not young anymore. It’s cold in winter, and the river water is icy cold. You’ve been jumping into the ice hole to look for Cai’er for three days in a row. It’s really bad for your health. I heard you coughing this morning. You shouldn’t come tomorrow.”

Chen Dayong patted Ma Mingdong on the shoulder as he spoke: "People like us can't afford to get sick. What will happen to your three sons if we get seriously ill?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Mingdong's eyes reddened again. After a long while, he said, "I just feel sorry for Cai'er. She has suffered so much over the years, especially our fourth son. She raised him single-handedly. She did all the cooking, sewing, and laundry at home. She worked so hard for so many years, but she didn't have a good end. It breaks my heart. I... I shouldn't have asked Cai'er to come and get the fish."

Ma Mingdong was filled with remorse.

If he had worked a little harder, even if they didn't need to catch fish in the winter, the children wouldn't have gone hungry.

“It’s my fault as a father that I’ve ruined my child…” Ma Mingdong couldn’t help but shed tears.

"Let's go back first, you can't stay here in the cold." Chen Dayong put a raincoat on Ma Mingdong and helped him back.

Ma Cai'er watched her father's departing figure, her eyes red.

This is not Father's fault.

My mother died early, and my family was poor. My father had worked very hard to support her and my three younger brothers. Due to years of hard work, my father looked very old and his back was hunched.

Now, having suffered the pain of losing his daughter, he looks even older.

But Ma Cai'er didn't dare to go up and comfort him.

She now looks like a man, and she will be reincarnated in two days.

Retrieving her body from the river is her father's current obsession.

She couldn't do it herself, so she could only ask the princess another day.

But she had to take revenge herself.

Ma Cai'er has been observing the Chen family for three days. Because of the cold weather, Chen Fang has not gone out for these three days.

After she "died unexpectedly," Chen Dayong didn't dare to go to the river to cast his net anymore, so Chen Fang naturally didn't need to go and collect the fish.

Sometimes Ma Cai'er wanted to rush in and kill Chen Fang with a knife when the Chen family father and his three sons were not at home, but she still held back.

Her soul will leave this body sooner or later, and then this body will still belong to Chen Tianhe.

Although... Liu Tianhe is a scoundrel, he doesn't deserve to die.

If she kills Chen Fang, she can be reincarnated, but Chen Tianhe will be condemned for murder and executed.

This was not the outcome she wanted.

After they had gone far away, Ma Cai'er secretly followed them, just like yesterday.

Upon arriving at the Chen family's residence, she did as she had the day before, climbing the evergreen tree outside to observe the Chen family's actions.

In the afternoon, the Chen father and son went out to the Ma family next door. Ma Cai'er guessed that they were probably there to help with the funeral arrangements.

Not long after the father and his three sons left, Chen Fang pushed open the door and came out. Ma Cai'er saw her sneaking towards the east side of the village, so she quickly followed.

There is an open space at the east end of the village, where there are many haystacks, which the villagers have stored up for fuel or to feed cattle.

Because they were worried that a fire would burn down the village, the haystacks were placed on the east side of the village, some distance from the houses where everyone lived.

After Chen Fang went inside, she reached the area in the middle of the haystacks. Ma Cai'er followed her cautiously until Chen Fang was seen embracing a young man, at which point she stopped.

"Brother Feng." Chen Fang nestled in the man's arms, and the two hugged each other and rolled around on the grassy ground.

Although it didn't snow today, there was snow everywhere. The two of them didn't seem to be afraid of the cold. After hugging each other for a short while, they started pulling at each other's clothes.