Baili Xiaosheng, seeing everyone’s strange looks, found her gaze unconsciously drifting to Baili Weisheng.
In truth, she could easily have poisoned all the guards at Prince Yao’s manor and slipped away. But she didn’t want to stir up that much conflict. For one thing, she knew that Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing’s influence reached across the realm—even if she fled back to Nanzhao, they’d be able to find her all the same!
For another, though these people were strangers to her, they inexplicably gave her a sense of safety—especially this man who looked like a scholar but clearly wasn’t one, Baili Weisheng.
The persuasion along the journey, combined with this inexplicable feeling of safety, had left a small seed of belief in Baili Xiaosheng’s heart toward these people. After all, regarding her amnesia, they hadn’t been wrong about that.
Of the past, she knew nothing—everything she knew had come from Brother Sheng Zimo. If she couldn’t trust the people in front of her, then why should she trust Sheng Zimo instead?
Sheng Zimo was an extremely ambitious man—why would he help the Xiao family, who had always been at odds with the Sheng clan?
After much deliberation, Baili Xiaosheng decided to stay and accept treatment. She would only trust what she remembered on her own.
Seeing Baili Xiaosheng looking at him, Baili Weisheng suddenly grinned slyly and glanced at Ziqing, and Ziqing happened to be looking back at him at the same moment. Neither spoke, but their eyes met in silent understanding, as if plotting something together!
Soon, Jue Mingzi arrived. Now white-haired and dressed in white robes, he looked every bit the immortal, sage-like elder.
After Ziqing briefly explained the situation, Jue Mingzi took Baili Xiaosheng’s pulse.
Baili Xiaosheng cooperated readily, silently lowering her head to watch her own pulse being taken, and for a moment, the whole scene fell silent.
After a good while, Jue Mingzi finally spoke. “Miss, is there an injury on the back of your head?”
At these words, Baili Xiaosheng was startled. “How did you know?”
“If this old man isn’t mistaken, the injury on the back of your head was likely inflicted deliberately by someone—it probably aches whenever the weather turns rainy,” Jue Mingzi continued.
Not just Baili Xiaosheng, but everyone present was equally astonished by this!
Could it be that Baili Xiaosheng’s amnesia hadn’t been accidental at all, but deliberately caused by someone?
“Someone deliberately made me lose my memory!” Baili Xiaosheng said furiously. Even having lost her memory, she wasn’t a fool—if what Jue Mingzi said was true, then the culprit responsible could only be Sheng Zimo!
Seeing Baili Xiaosheng’s expression turn dark and sinister, Baili Weisheng suddenly felt a wave of familiarity—the disciple he knew best, the one who never let a grudge go unanswered, ruthless and merciless—seemed to be returning!
“You’re not lying to me?” Baili Xiaosheng asked seriously.
Jue Mingzi smiled. “Miss, I haven’t seen you in ten years. I have no idea what injury is on the back of your head, or when it might ache—I’m simply making a deduction based on your pulse!”
“Then can you cure me?” Baili Xiaosheng asked seriously.
Everyone assumed Jue Mingzi would answer with confidence, but to their surprise, he hesitated.
“You can’t?” Baili Weisheng was the first to speak up—only at a moment like this could one see the anxious concern of a true master for his disciple.
Jue Mingzi shook his head, sighing softly.
“Can you or can’t you!” Baili Weisheng was decisively anxious now.
Baili Xiaosheng eyed him suspiciously, seeming to have some thoughts about his urgency. Baili Weisheng glanced at her and said, “What are you looking at? You ungrateful brat, after all the years I spent raising you, and after just ten years apart you’ve forgotten your own master! If you stay amnesiac forever, how will you ever get married? If you don’t marry, won’t I, as your master, be responsible for you for the rest of my life?”
Baili Xiaosheng was stunned—she’d overestimated how much he cared. Here she’d thought he was genuinely worried about her, when really he was just eager to shed a burden.
Everyone else was equally stunned, though Meng Duo’er couldn’t help but smile—she genuinely felt it would be better for Baili Xiaosheng to marry sooner rather than later, or she’d eventually be corrupted by Baili Weisheng and no one would dare want her!
“Father, what exactly is going on?”
The moment Ziqing spoke, Jue Mingzi didn’t dare keep them in suspense any longer, answering immediately, “This is somewhat troublesome. If I’m not mistaken, there should be a silver needle lodged in the Destiny Point acupoint at the back of her head. Only by removing that needle can she possibly recover her memory!”
“Possibly?” Ziqing was puzzled. Removing a needle from an acupoint in the brain—that was essentially a surgical procedure.
But no matter how major or minor a surgery, “possibly” wasn’t a reliable word to predict the outcome with.
“Yes, possibly! Because the position and depth of this needle are both uncertain, and it’s also unclear whether the needle has fused with the flesh and blood vessels in the acupoint. So I can only say ‘possibly.’ It’s possible removing the needle succeeds and restores her memory, and it’s also possible the removal fails, resulting in… resulting in… paralysis.”
These words hit everyone present like a heavy blow!
Paralysis—that would essentially ruin her for life!
“Forget it, forget it, if you don’t remember, you don’t remember—this master won’t hold it against you!” Baili Weisheng was still the first to speak, and though he framed it as a joke, Ziqing clearly saw the worry in his eyes—this time, he was being sincere.
Ziqing had indeed harbored the thought of matching Baili Xiaosheng with Jun Buli, since Baili Weisheng had brought up the topic of marriage with her more than once. But given the current situation, she didn’t dare risk it either!
“Exactly, it’s better this way if you don’t remember—forget all the unhappy things. Girl, you can start your life fresh,” Ziqing said.
“I think so too,” Meng Duo’er chimed in.
But to everyone’s surprise, Baili Xiaosheng said, “I want to recover my memory. Doctor, please help me remove the needle.”
Jue Mingzi had never encountered such a bold patient before, and even he shook his head at this.
But Baili Xiaosheng provoked further, “What, don’t you trust your own medical skill?”
At this point, even Ziqing had the sense that the old Baili Xiaosheng seemed to be returning.
“Girl, there’s no need to take this risk,” even Jun Beiyue spoke up, which was rare for him.
“I’m willing to take it. A person without a past is like grass without roots—it will wither eventually,” Baili Xiaosheng said earnestly. “I want to know who my parents are, who my family and friends are, and who the person I love is.”
As she said this, even she didn’t know why her gaze drifted toward Baili Weisheng—but she did look, and looked with a firm, steady gaze.
Baili Weisheng, who had never flinched from anyone’s gaze in his life, inexplicably found himself looking away!
And the perceptive Meng Duo’er immediately caught the strange tension between the two of them. If this had been before, Meng Duo’er wouldn’t have thought much of it—but now, things were different!
Now, this girl Baili Xiaosheng had grown up! Around twenty years old—truly the age of a flower in bloom, the age to love and hate boldly!
Jue Mingzi couldn’t resist a challenge, and provoked by Baili Xiaosheng, he immediately said coldly, “This old man’s hands have never once resulted in an accident!”
“Then arrange the treatment. Whatever the consequences, I’ll bear them myself—no complaints against heaven or man,” Baili Xiaosheng declared loudly.
“I forbid it!” Baili Weisheng’s voice suddenly turned cold.