“Wah, Young Lady, this servant truly saw you!”
“This servant knew that in the underworld, I would surely meet Young Lady!”
Fu Ling threw herself at Qin Wan, bursting into tears. “Young Lady, don’t be afraid. This servant has come to accompany you. After the Young Lady left, this servant had no reason to live. We’re mistress and servant of one heart, let us journey together on the path to the yellow springs…”
Fu Ling’s cries echoed throughout the western garden. Nurse Zhao’s eyes widened, and the servants outside were too shocked to speak. Hearing this commotion, Madam Jiang frowned and stepped toward the courtyard entrance.
Qin Wan patted Fu Ling’s back. “You’re not dead.”
Fu Ling’s crying stopped abruptly as she raised her tear-stained face. She looked at Qin Wan in confusion, and Qin Wan’s thin lips moved slightly: “I’m not dead either.”
Fu Ling froze, and then her mouth opened in surprise. Suddenly feeling something amiss, she slowly turned her head and saw all the people outside. Her breath caught, and she instinctively grabbed Qin Wan’s wrist.
“Young Lady… this… how did you…”
“I only had a weak pulse and suspended breathing, a near-death state that’s often mistaken for death.”
Qin Wan looked at Fu Ling, speaking slightly louder, her words carrying beyond the courtyard gate.
Outside, there was a collective gasp of understanding.
Fu Ling’s eyes brightened. “Really? Young Lady… Young Lady only had a weak pulse? Weak pulse…” Fu Ling frowned, not quite understanding what that meant, but seeing Qin Wan alive before her was more satisfying than anything.
Then, Fu Ling suddenly touched her neck and turned to see the hanging rope on the ground.
“But how is this servant also… this servant…”
She had hanged herself, so why did she only have a sore neck and no other injuries?
Qin Wan looked at Fu Ling, a flash of calculation crossing her eyes. How should she explain?
“Ninth Young Lady returned from death and even saved Fu Ling…”
“Could she… could she be possessed by a Bodhisattva…”
“How could ordinary people come back to life after dying?”
Seeing that Fu Ling had truly come back to life, the crowd outside couldn’t help but speculate.
Qin Wan’s revival was already extraordinary, but her bringing the dead Fu Ling back to life was even more miraculous. The ability to resurrect the dead – wasn’t that the power of immortals and Bodhisattvas?
Fu Ling heard these words and looked at Qin Wan in amazement. “Young Lady saved this servant?”
Qin Wan nodded slightly. This maid who had served her for many years would naturally know whether the original Qin Wan knew medical arts, and from Fu Ling’s surprised expression, the original Qin Wan did not.
While Fu Ling was still stunned, a figure stepped through the courtyard gate.
Fu Ling trembled and struggled to kneel. “Old Madam—”
Qin Wan turned her gaze and immediately met a pair of eyes full of profound malice. Those eyes held suspicion mixed with disgust. In an instant, Qin Wan lowered her head.
In the courtyard, Madam Jiang carefully examined Qin Wan.
Though not far away, while she couldn’t see Qin Wan’s dark eyes, everything else about Qin Wan from head to toe appeared as a living person should. But why? Was it truly as she said, just a weak pulse and suspended breathing?
How would a young girl know such things?
Even stranger, she had managed to save her hanged maid!
Seeing Madam Jiang staring at Qin Wan, Fu Ling grew anxious and pulled at Qin Wan, whispering, “Young Lady, Old Madam is watching you. We mustn’t be discourteous…”
As dependents in this household, they couldn’t be disrespectful to the Old Madam.
Qin Wan met Fu Ling’s worried eyes and sighed. “Old Madam.”
As she spoke these three words, Madam Jiang’s gaze shifted slightly.
Madam Jiang looked Qin Wan up and down without speaking as if still trying to determine whether she was human or a ghost. Behind her, Madam Lin approached. “Mother, shouldn’t we call for a doctor to examine…”
“With the masters here, what need is there for a doctor?”
Madam Jiang spoke very slowly. Madam Lin’s lips moved slightly but she said nothing more.
If Qin Wan had merely been in a death-like state and revived, they should immediately summon a doctor to examine her. But Madam Jiang’s refusal and mention of the masters behind her showed that she believed Qin Wan’s revival was likely the work of evil spirits or ghosts.
After a slight pause, Madam Jiang slowly instructed, “Spread the word – young masters and young ladies are not to come within one step of the western garden. As for the rest of you… Ninth Young Lady merely suffered an illness. If I learn of anyone gossiping, they’ll be sold immediately!”
Everyone immediately acknowledged and lowered their heads, no longer daring to look.
Madam Jiang glanced at Qin Wan once more, her gaze filled with disgust as if looking at something filthy, and then turned to leave. “Lock this place up. Without my orders, it’s not to be opened! We’ll discuss further after the masters complete their rituals!”
Though Madam Jiang’s figure was stooped and her voice gentle, every word she spoke weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts. No one in the manor dared defy her. Seeing her leave, Nurse Zhao hurriedly crawled out, and as soon as she left, the courtyard gate was tightly shut from the outside.
Qin Wan frowned slightly. From what she’d heard while semi-conscious, she knew this Ninth Young Lady was unfavored in the Qin Manor, but now it seemed the situation was worse than she’d imagined. Though not born to the Third Branch, she was still a young lady of the family, yet her living quarters resembled servants’ quarters, and Madam Jiang’s attitude showed clear dislike.
This Ninth Young Lady’s situation must have been quite pitiful.
“Wah, this is wonderful! Both this servant and Young Lady are alive, it’s truly wonderful!”
Fu Ling cheered between laughs and tears, holding Qin Wan’s arm and repeating these words.
Seeing her like this, confusion filled Qin Wan’s eyes.
Being alive was good, but she wasn’t the Ninth Young Lady.
“Young Lady must never do something so foolish again. If Young Master Huo doesn’t like you, then he doesn’t like you. The Young Lady will surely find a better husband. Please don’t do anything foolish for Young Master Huo again. Wuwu, if Young Lady abandons Fu Ling, what would Fu Ling do?”
Young Master Huo? Qin Wan’s eyebrows lifted slightly. She had heard Nurse Zhao mention that this Ninth Young Lady had drowned herself over this Young Master Huo. Qin Wan pressed her lips together and nodded at Fu Ling. “I won’t.”
Of course, she wouldn’t – why commit suicide over a man?
Fu Ling smiled, showing no concern for their current situation. Instead, she looked disapprovingly at Qin Wan’s burial clothes. “Quickly, quickly, Young Lady must change out of these clothes. They’re too inauspicious – we should burn them! Surviving a great calamity brings good fortune, Young Lady and Fu Ling both have good fortune coming. Young Lady, let Fu Ling help you change…”
While Fu Ling showed great care for Qin Wan, Qin Wan herself seemed lost in thought. Though she had been conscious earlier, it wasn’t until she’d witnessed the various characters of the Qin Manor and saved Fu Ling that she truly accepted she had come back to life.
Now that everyone had left, she suddenly felt at a loss.
Her parents had died tragically, and she alone had come back to life. If she had any reason to live, it was only the four words: clear their names and revenge. But was this still the Great Zhou? Would she have the chance to seek justice and revenge?
Fu Ling paid no attention to Qin Wan’s daze, pulling her up and walking toward the inner room. Though the courtyard was simple and poor, the interior was kept clean and elegant. Fu Ling pulled Qin Wan directly to a bronze mirror.
“Change out of these, they’re unlucky. They even set up a memorial hall! At the time, this servant begged the steward to call a doctor to save the Young Lady, but they insisted the Young Lady was dead. Thankfully Heaven has eyes – I knew the people in this manor couldn’t be trusted…”
As she spoke, Fu Ling removed the high-collared burial clothes from Qin Wan.
As the burial clothes came off, Qin Wan felt a sudden chill. She unconsciously raised her head to glance at the mirror, but suddenly, her gaze fixed on her neck. Facing the mirror, she could see several suspicious marks on her neck.
Qin Wan narrowed her eyes, examining carefully, and then her frown deepened.
Hadn’t this Ninth Young Lady drowned? How could there be strangulation marks on the neck of someone who drowned?!
Her breath caught as her hands and feet suddenly turned ice cold.
Perhaps this Ninth Young Lady hadn’t drowned at all!