Just as dawn broke, a terrifying scream shattered the tranquility of the Qin Manor.
Head Steward Liu Chun was washing his face when he heard the commotion outside. He frowned, about to demand an explanation, when the door was suddenly pushed open. His servant He Xing rushed in with a panicked expression. “Master, something terrible has happened! Ninth Young Lady has returned from the dead!”
Liu Chun frowned, almost doubting his hearing. “What did Ninth Young Lady do?”
He Xing hurriedly explained, “Returned from the dead! Ninth Young Lady has revived! Nurse Yang ran to the front courtyard like a mad woman, shouting all the way that the Ninth Young Lady was alive. She said Ninth Young Lady stood up and spoke. Now everyone in the manor is heading to the west rear courtyard…”
Though Liu Chun was over thirty and widely experienced, he didn’t believe in the dead returning to life.
He Xing caught his breath and added, “Also, Nurse Yang said Fu Ling hanged herself!”
Liu Chun’s eyelid twitched. He wiped his face and hurried outside. “Where is Nurse Yang?”
“She was screaming all the way, seeming to have been frightened out of her wits. She’s been restrained now. The main courtyard and Old Madam must have received the news by now. Master, what should we do?”
Liu Chun strode forward quickly. “You go check the west rear courtyard. I’ll go to the main courtyard.”
He Xing responded promptly and ran northwest.
“Returned from the dead! Ninth Young Lady has returned from the dead! It hasn’t even been seven days!”
“Indeed! Could she be possessed by some evil spirit? Several people checked her pulse when she was pulled from the lake, all confirming she was dead. And remember, Ninth Young Lady’s eyes were open when she died…”
“Could she have become a fierce ghost due to too much resentment?”
The path to the west rear courtyard was filled with Qin Manor servants. There were many tales of the dead returning to life, but few had witnessed it firsthand. The servants gathered in small groups, treating it more like an entertaining spectacle than something frightening.
He Xing ran the whole way, and when he reached the west rear courtyard, he was dumbfounded.
The remote, overgrown western garden was surrounded by layers of people – so many had gathered!
He Xing frowned and pushed through the crowd blocking his way. When he finally broke through, his scalp tingled!
The funeral lamp at the courtyard entrance was striking. Qin Wan, in plain white burial clothes, with a deathly pale face and loose black hair, walked otherworldly along the small path to the west rear courtyard. From a distance, her figure appeared eerily ethereal, making it impossible to tell if she was human or a ghost.
He Xing’s eyes widened – he had personally seen Qin Wan pulled from the lake!
“Ninth Young Lady, please spare me! This servant deserves death for speaking disrespectfully of you. Please be magnanimous and spare me. This servant will copy sutras ninety-nine times for you and offer ten eternal lamps…”
Nurse Zhao walked ahead, trembling, her voice breaking with fear. While Nurse Yang had run away screaming, she had collapsed in terror. She’d thought Ninth Young Lady had become a vengeful corpse seeking revenge, but she had only asked to be led to Fu Ling.
Could she know Fu Ling was dead? Did she want to take Fu Ling to the afterlife with her?
Qin Wan stared expressionlessly at the small courtyard ahead, slightly frowning.
The west rear courtyard was less than twenty zhang from the memorial hall, with a narrow gate and low walls, surrounded by overgrown vegetation, remote and desolate. The Ninth Young Lady of the Qin Manor lived in such a place?
This thought flashed briefly through her mind. At this moment, Qin Wan’s heart held only two words: Fu Ling.
Whether it was her former healer’s instinct or what she’d heard while semi-conscious, she couldn’t abandon this loyal servant who wanted to follow her mistress in death. With this thought, Qin Wan reached the west rear courtyard’s entrance.
“Open the door.” Qin Wan’s voice was hoarse, carrying an inexplicably intimidating chill in the cool dawn air.
Nurse Zhao trembled and hurried forward to push open the half-closed courtyard door.
As the door opened, people outside could see straight through the courtyard to the person hanging from the beam inside the room.
Qin Wan’s gaze darkened as she strode past Nurse Zhao and entered.
From a distance, He Xing drew in a sharp breath – Nurse Yang had spoken the truth, and Fu Ling had hanged herself!
“That’s Fu Ling! Fu Ling did hang herself!”
The onlookers only watched from afar, not daring to approach Qin Wan. Only after she entered the courtyard did they dare to move closer, getting a clearer view of the scene inside.
“Is Ninth Young Lady human or ghost?”
“It’s broad daylight now. If she were a ghost, how could she appear before so many of us?”
“Yes, did you see? Ninth Young Lady has a shadow on the ground!”
“So does this mean Ninth Young Lady is… a walking corpse? Is Ninth Young Lady alive?”
Discussion erupted like thunder as this once-in-a-century phenomenon unfolded before their eyes. Everyone watched Qin Wan’s every move intently.
But Qin Wan paid no attention to the crowd’s discussion. Returning to life in another’s body was already extraordinary, something she hadn’t fully processed. She only stared fixedly at Fu Ling, entering the room without hesitation, and then grabbed Fu Ling’s dangling legs.
Fu Ling wore mourning clothes, her neck caught in a cloth rope, her body already stiff.
When Qin Wan tried to lift her, she couldn’t move her. She turned to look at Nurse Zhao, still at the courtyard entrance. “Help!”
Nurse Zhao trembled, moving like a puppet obeying commands, immediately entering the room.
Taking this moment, Qin Wan glanced around the room. It was simply furnished but neat, with Fu Ling’s footstool toppled backward, showing no signs of struggle or fight.
As Nurse Zhao entered, Qin Wan spoke, “Slowly.”
Qin Wan didn’t say much, but every word carried an oppressive force. Terrified and desperate, Nurse Zhao did exactly as Qin Wan said, carefully helping her lower Fu Ling.
Qin Wan immediately felt for Fu Ling’s chest, while simultaneously, Nurse Zhao, as if possessed, checked Fu Ling’s breathing.
Upon checking, Nurse Zhao crawled away crying.
“Dead! Fu Ling is dead—”
The crowd outside heard this but showed little reaction, as expected. Fu Ling must have hanged herself in the middle of the night, and it was now dawn – how could she still be alive? Besides, Fu Ling was just a maid; what did her death matter?
Everyone’s attention remained focused on Qin Wan.
She had drowned, been confirmed dead, laid in state wearing burial clothes, had funeral rites performed, and was about to be buried – yet she was alive?
“Look, what is she doing?”
Someone called out, and everyone watched as Qin Wan crouched beside Fu Ling, lifting her arm. She quickly massaged Fu Ling’s arms, then moved to her throat, chest, abdomen, and lower limbs.
The scene was too bizarre, and the crowd watched Qin Wan in confusion.
“Is she trying to save her? She’s already dead, how could she be saved?”
As these words fell, Qin Wan suddenly stood up and stepped on Fu Ling’s shoulders. The next moment, she grabbed Fu Ling’s hair, then crouched down again to press on Fu Ling’s chest…
Though everyone knew resurrection was impossible, Qin Wan’s serious concentration made them all hold their breath. Just then, a male voice suddenly rang out.
“Make way! Old Madam and Madam are here—”
At Liu Chun’s loud call, the watching servants snapped out of their daze and hurriedly cleared a path.
On the small path outside the west rear courtyard stood Madam Jiang, the Old Madam of the Qin Manor’s Third Branch, wearing a deep black jacket and skirt and holding a silver staff. Her hair was white, her face wrinkled, her bearing solemn and stern, her eyes full of unfathomable gloom.
Behind her was Madam Lin, the current mistress of the Jin Zhou Qin Manor. Though Madam Lin was properly dressed with gentle features, the only flaw was that she showed her full age of nearly forty, and her presence was completely overshadowed by Madam Jiang.
The two arrived with their entourage but seemed hesitant to approach closer.
Finally, seven or eight grey-robed monks followed.
“Greetings to Old Madam, greetings to Madam—”
The watching servants all knelt in greeting, even Nurse Zhao in the courtyard hurriedly prostrated herself.
Madam Jiang remained still, and Madam Lin didn’t speak. Only Liu Chun walked to the front.
He caught sight of Qin Wan inside the room, his narrow eyes trembling violently, then quickly returned to Madam Jiang and Madam Lin’s side. “Reporting to Old Madam and Madam, Ninth Young Lady has indeed returned from the dead, and her maid appears dead in the room.”
Fear flashed in Madam Lin’s eyes. “Mother, this matter—”
Disgust flickered in Madam Jiang’s turbid yet profound eyes. “I’ve lived many years and seen everything. Returning from death is nothing – fortunately, the masters haven’t left the Qin Manor yet. Whatever the situation is, the masters will have their judgment!”
As she finished speaking, Madam Jiang instructed Liu Chun, “You—”
“Cough! Cough cough cough!”
Just as Madam Jiang began speaking, a sudden fit of coughing rang out.
Before Madam Jiang could react, the servants at the courtyard entrance all looked inside. When they did, everyone’s eyes widened.
Fu Ling, who had been dead and stiff, had sat up!