Soon, Youbai came over carrying a bowl of bird's nest soup. Xing Beiluo drank it slowly while casually trying to fish for some information from Youbai.
"Youbai, what time is it now?"
"?"
Youbai looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"I mean, since I've been unconscious for so long, I've lost track of the date. Could you tell me?"
"Answering Your Ladyship, today is June twenty-seventh."
Xing Beiluo felt her heart skip a beat.
That's not right!
It was already July when she went on her mission.
Perhaps they used a different calendar around here.
Xing Beiluo didn't dwell on it and instead asked, "Youbai, why are those people outside kneeling?"
"They failed to protect Your Ladyship, so they are all being punished with kneeling. I've been serving by your bed ever since you came back, but they've been kneeling the whole time."
Youbai had an ulterior motive in saying this; she still hoped the young lady would let them off. After all, they had been kneeling ever since the young lady left—it had been almost a month now. If the servants hadn't secretly brought them extra food, those people probably wouldn't have survived until today.
Xing Beiluo was indeed secretly startled.
What... could it be that they were still kneeling because of her?
She quickly said, "Youbai, tell them to get up."
"This..." Youbai hesitated.
"Go on. If anything happens, I'll take the blame. Oh, and tell them to go down and rest; their bodies definitely can't take it after kneeling for so long."
Of course she felt bad for those servants—it definitely wasn't because she was planning to assassinate their master! It was better to send them far away so she would have a better chance of winning.
Youbai had been waiting for the young lady to say those exact words, and she immediately went out to give the orders.
Before long, Xing Beiluo heard a hurried set of footsteps approaching her room.
Here they come!
Judging by the sound, there were quite a few people.
Beiluo waved Youbai away, straightened her clothes, and prepared for her battlefield.
Momostents later, she heard an anxious voice call out, "Oh, my dear Luo-er!"
Along with the voice, an Old Madam walked in, followed by a dozen or so women.
This completely baffled Xing Beiluo. Where was the Lord of the State? Why was it an Old Madam who came? Could it be that the person who wanted to sleep with her was an old lady?
Xing Beiluo still hadn't forgotten that hazy male voice saying, "Looks like this body has recovered pretty much," and she still hadn't dug herself out of the misconception that "the old Lord of the State wants to sleep with her."
However, none of them seemed to notice the strange expression on her face. As soon as the Old Madam entered, she threw herself onto Xing Beiluo and burst into tears.
"Oh, my poor girl!"
She hugged Xing Beiluo and cried out of pity, while everyone else stood by the bedside with various expressions on their faces.
Xing Beiluo: ……
What kind of situation was this?
As soon as they arrived, they all started crying.
Helplessly, she happened to be the kind of person who yielded to softness rather than harshness.
Xing Beiluo had no choice but to push down the messy thoughts in her mind and comfort the Old Madam: "Old Madam, please don't cry. Mind your health."
Who would have thought that upon hearing this, the Old Madam would become even more grief-stricken? "What's wrong with you, Luo-er? You won't even call me Grandmother anymore—are you still blaming me?"
Just as Xing Beiluo was about to explain, a middle-aged woman stepped forward and said helplessly to the Old Madam, "Mother, Luo-er has just woken up. You should let the estate physician examine her injuries first."
Hearing this, the Old Madam quickly said, "Yes, yes, yes. Estate physician, come and take a look."
A rather frail old man then stepped out from the crowd.
The old man walked up to her, bowed, and said, "Young Lady, please allow this old man to check your pulse."
Xing Beiluo looked dazedly at the estate physician, and then at the room full of people, all with teary eyes and looks of deep concern. She was completely baffled, but knowing something must have gone wrong, she quietly cooperated.
After the examination, the estate physician bowed to everyone and said, "Old Madam, General's Madames, Young Ladies, the Second Young Lady suffered severe injuries previously, including damage to her brain, leaving her mind unclear. Later on, this old man will write a prescription for the Young Lady to take. After recuperating for a period of time, she will gradually recover."
Hearing this, the Old Madam felt somewhat relieved; as long as she was fine, that was all that mattered.
She sat on the edge of the bed and took Xing Beiluo's hand. "Luo-er, don't be so mischievous in the future. Grandmother's heart ached so much when you got hurt this badly... This old body can't take another shock like this. Look at how worried everyone was about you!"
At that moment, a middle-aged woman stepped forward and said, "That's right, Luo-er, everyone was worried about you."
Everyone chimed in with words of concern.
Something was wrong!
Something was very wrong!
"Stop!"
Xing Beiluo immediately raised her hand.
She could be certain that her brain was definitely fine! Therefore, this group of people must have mistaken her for someone else.
As everyone stared at her, she said excitedly, "Old Madam, Madames, Young Ladies, I think you must have mistaken me for someone else. I am Xing Beiluo, not the young lady of your estate."
Everyone: ……
The room fell dead silent.
What is she trying to pull now?
After a brief moment, the Old Madam was the first to laugh. "That's right, you are Luo-er, the Second Young Lady of our General's Estate! How could we possibly mistake this face of yours?"
As she spoke, she even reached out and pinched Xing Beiluo's tender cheek.
She anxiously tried to argue, but no one believed her. After the physician's diagnosis, everyone was firmly convinced that she had "injured her brain" and her "mind was unclear."
She couldn't help but want to refute them even more passionately, but amidst the pushing and shoving,
"Clatter!"
The scissors hidden inside Xing Beiluo's clothes dropped out!
Everyone: !!!
What is she trying to do now?
This became extremely awkward.
Just as Xing Beiluo was wondering how to explain, a little girl of about eleven jumped out and shrieked, "Xing Beiluo, are you trying to assassinate Grandmother?"
Damn it!
It really was true that whatever you feared most was what happened. At that moment, Xing Beiluo just wanted to beat this girl to death.
The others might not have thought of it, but once you put it that way, wouldn't everyone's thoughts immediately head in that direction?
The young girl opened her mouth to say more, but unexpectedly, the Old Madam slapped her right across the face. "Nonsense!"
The Old Madam then snatched the scissors from Xing Beiluo's hand, speaking with a mixture of affection and reprimand, "My girl, what is wrong with you? How can you leave such a dangerous thing lying on the bed? Someone, drag all the servant girls attending in this room outside. I'll assign a few sharper maids to serve you another day."
She soothingly patted the back of Xing Beiluo's hand and handed the scissors over to a servant.
Xing Beiluo breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing nobody read too much into it—except for that little girl.
However, after pondering for a moment, the Old Madam ordered, "Someone, collect all dangerous items from the Young Lady's room."
...Never mind what she just thought.
Xing Beiluo reasoned that, given the current situation, it would probably take some time before she could explain things clearly. No matter what she said today, they simply wouldn't believe her.
So be it; she would just stay and recuperate in peace for now.
A quarter of an hour later, the Old Madam gave a wave of her hand and led everyone away to let her rest properly.
As the noisy crowd filed out of the room, immersed in joy, none of them noticed that the eleven-year-old girl who had spoken earlier was now exchanging a meaningful glance with another girl of about twelve.