Xing Beiluo had no idea how long she had been unconscious.
She only felt as though she were deep in the ocean, immersed in gentle, warm water.
The strange thing was that despite feeling like she was at the bottom of the deep sea, she felt no difficulty breathing, and her body was extremely comfortable.
It felt as comfortable as a plant soaking in nutrient solution to repair itself.
She drifted in a hazy fog for who knows how long, until she heard a man's voice:
"Well, it looks like this body has almost completely recovered."
She was so startled she gave a jolt.
Her previous memories rushed back to her mind, and she immediately started up, wanting to check the situation.
As a result, she found her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open them.
Her body was also aching, weak, and powerless.
However, her consciousness was clear.
She felt herself lying on a soft bed.
No!
Not a bed, she was being moved!
Jolting up and down,
Xing Beiluo wanted to open her eyes and find out what was going on, but her body could not muster even a fraction of her strength.
She could only hear the voices of men and women coming from beside her ears.
"Alas, the young miss is just too reckless."
"It really is, why does the young miss always have to run around everywhere, making the entire General's Estate a complete mess, and keeping us servants on edge every single day."
"Indeed, thank goodness she was found, otherwise those days of living in fear would have stretched on much longer."
"Still, with the young miss suffering such severe injuries this time, we won't escape punishment when we get back."
Xing Beiluo listened for a long time, but still could not make head or tail of it.
What on earth was going on here?
She wanted to listen closely and make sense of it, but she couldn't overcome her weak bodily instinct—
She lapsed back into unconsciousness.
...
In the distance, on a mountain peak.
A mysterious figure wearing a bamboo hat whose face could not be seen sat cross-legged on a boulder, staring at that group of people carrying a sedan chair pass by right before his eyes.
Another middle-aged man was reporting to him: "Chief, the person has already been swapped in, and the servants of the General's Estate are already on the way bringing her back."
The mysterious figure: "Mmm, I saw it. Go and prepare for the next step."
The middle-aged man: "Understood!"
With that, he withdrew.
After the middle-aged man left, the mysterious figure pulled out a small slip of paper, stared at it, and muttered to himself:
"I need to think this through carefully. Was that person's intent to kill her, or to kill the one who bullied her..."
Clearly written on the slip of paper were two striking words:
"Hunt down"!
...
Xing Beiluo woke up again, startled by a burst of crying.
At that time, Xing Beiluo was still somewhat groggy, and with her morning temper flaring, she couldn't help shouting:
"What's all the racket for? Can't you see someone is trying to sleep?"
Perhaps the shout caught them completely off guard.
The weeping shuddered to a halt, growing quiet for a moment.
Xing Beiluo rolled over, preparing to go back to sleep properly,
When she heard that voice ring out again.
This time it wasn't crying, but a tone of utter surprise:
"Young miss, you're awake! I'm going right this second to inform Old Madam."
Xing Beiluo groggily let out a "Mmm" and prepared to continue sleeping, when she suddenly gave a violent start!
No!
She had never heard this voice before!!
This time, Xing Beiluo was truly awake.
She abruptly opened her eyes.
A blinding glare struck her, and Xing Beiluo instinctively raised a hand to block it.
Once she adjusted to the light in the room, Xing Beiluo finally realized she was lying in a bed.
The furnishings in the room were antique and exquisite, understated yet luxurious.
But she wasn't familiar with this place at all!
Recalling her previous experience, Xing Beiluo thought to herself: Could it be that I didn't die, and I've already been delivered to the hands of the old Lord of the State in Country M?
Then she remembered that man's voice in her haze: "It looks like this body has almost completely recovered."
She became more and more certain she had been sold off to the old Lord of the State.
It's over, could I have already lost my chastity?
While Xing Beiluo was letting her imagination run wild, she gave the maid Youbai a terrible fright.
The maid watched her young miss alternately look around the room and touch herself, her expression shifting constantly.
She thought to herself: Could the young miss have lost her mind from sickness?
Thinking of this, Youbai hurried to the door to dispatch someone to invite Old Madam, then walked back and asked cautiously:
"Young miss, how are you feeling?"
Hearing this, Xing Beiluo did let out a sigh of relief.
Young miss?
It looked like she hadn't lost her chastity yet. If she had become that old scoundrel's woman, these servants' forms of address would have changed.
At this thought, Xing Beiluo's mood suddenly lifted. She put on what she considered to be her most amiable smile toward Youbai and asked:
"What's your name?"
Who would have thought the little maid would suddenly burst into tears: "Sob, sob, young miss... what is wrong with you? Why don't you recognize this servant anymore? This servant is Youbai!"
Xing Beiluo: ......
We should know each other? Could it be this isn't our first time meeting?
Yet this pitiful girl crying was truly impossible to resist.
She had no choice but to comfort her: "Oh, I was just joking with you. How could I possibly forget you? I just woke up and my mind isn't clear yet, so you must forgive me."
Youbai went along with her words: "Indeed, the young miss has woken up, and this servant is happy, so happy, sob, sob, sob..."
Wait, why was she crying even harder as she spoke?
Xing Beiluo felt her head splitting: "Youbai, I'm hungry. Go get me something to eat."
"Yes, yes, yes. Young miss, you've been unconscious for more than ten days, it is indeed time to eat something. I'll go fetch it right away."
Xing Beiluo was shocked. She had jumped down from a high-rise building, and she had only been out cold for a little over ten days?
When had her physical condition become this good?
However, now was not the time to think about such things; she needed to escape quickly.
Xing Beiluo immediately put on her shoes, climbed out of bed, and tip-toed stealthily toward the door.
Only upon seeing the scene outside the door, she offered an awkward smile:
"Ha, ha... Hello there, everyone."
With that, she quietly retreated back into the room.
Good grief!
The courtyard was practically kneeling full of people, there was no running away from this!
But she wasn't the type to sit around waiting for her fate.
Since she couldn't run, she would just take them down with her!
She, Xing Beiluo, was never one to be slaughtered at someone else's mercy!
She looked around the room, searching for a handy weapon.
It seemed there was nothing suitable, save for a pair of scissors sitting in a basket on the table.
She picked up the scissors from the table, tucked them inside her clothes, and quietly lay back down on the bed.
Calculating in her heart, if she truly couldn't escape a bit later,
She would kill that old scoundrel who attempted to defile her.
"Young miss, they're here!"