Bai Xiangxiu felt that the situation seemed familiar, but it all happened so suddenly that she couldn’t quite recall why. As she pondered, she heard the Old Madam speak, her voice calm and cold: “My son fights on the battlefield for the country, and when he returns, he has to deal with schemes from his people. Such things will not be tolerated in the Liwang household. Guards, beat her to death on the spot.”
“Old Madam, please spare me! Spare me!” The girl cried out, but no one paid attention to her pleas.
Several older women held her down on the ground, and two men dressed in servant uniforms approached with clubs thicker than an arm. They looked to the Old Madam, awaiting her command.
The Old Madam ordered sternly, “None of you are to look away. Stand there and witness clearly what happens to those who betray their own. Begin!”
At her command, the clubs came down with loud thuds.
The cries of pain, and pools of blood…
Bai Xiangxiu felt her mind go numb. This was exactly the type of scene she dreaded most, and yet, in just a few days, she was already witnessing an ancient execution firsthand.
A life was taken just like that, and there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t even look away or cover her ears.
Even if the girl was in the wrong, couldn’t they have just expelled her or sent her to prison? The harshness of the punishment was difficult to accept. Meanwhile, the Old Madam and Liwang sat calmly, watching the entire ordeal unfold, even sipping their tea.
It truly was a dog-eat-dog world. Bai Xiangxiu realized she was completely unsuited for survival here.
She didn’t even remember how she managed to walk back afterward. Most of the women present either fainted or threw up repeatedly, but she alone managed to walk herself back, supporting a now-sickly Xiao Shi along the way.
Xiao Shi recovered after throwing up, but she noticed something was off with her mistress.
Everyone else had been terrified, so why did her mistress seem like she had lost her soul? She kept walking forward, forward, down a path that didn’t even lead back to the Winter Courtyard.
Bai Xiangxiu herself didn’t know what was happening. As she walked, she suddenly stumbled forward, but fortunately, a warm hand caught her.
That warmth seemed to bring some life back into her. She slowly lifted her head, stiffly looking at the man in the white silk robes, and muttered, “Thank you.”
Song Jiaoyue, who had caught her, found it odd. Her body temperature wasn’t normal—she was ice cold, and her face was pale, almost like a corpse.
He felt as though, had she fallen, she might have disappeared completely.
But something about this lost look of hers felt familiar, especially her voice…
His heart stirred. “Is it you?”
But she didn’t respond, continuing forward. Xiao Shi had no choice but to follow until she finally managed to pull Bai Xiangxiu back to the Winter Courtyard.
Once they returned, Bai Xiangxiu fell ill, her mind hazy. One moment, she was back in the modern world, seeing herself being carried into an ambulance. Another moment, she saw doctors hovering around her.
She even saw her parents, holding her hand, looking incredibly worried.
She smiled at them, saying, “I’m fine. Don’t worry. It was just a bad dream.” That dream was so real, too real for her to bear.
Her parents were overjoyed and hurried to call for the doctor, shouting, “Doctor, come quickly, our daughter has woken up!”
But as the doctor approached, it was as though she slipped back into that dream, continuing to live it.
After this incident, Liwang was summoned by the Old Madam for a private lecture, where she admonished him to focus and not give the women in the household any false hopes. The estate had four concubines, and if he just visited their rooms, they’d naturally fall into line.
Liwang agreed in words but didn’t take it seriously. After leaving the Old Madam, he went to drink with Song Jiaoyue.
During their meal, Song Jiaoyue asked, “I heard there was a maid beaten to death in Liwang’s residence?”
“Yes.” Liwang felt irritated by the maid’s attempt to deceive him.
“The Old Madam is still as decisive as ever, though it seems she scared the delicate ladies in your courtyard. I heard one of them is particularly shaken.” Song Jiaoyue then recounted Bai Xiangxiu’s incident. “You allowed them to watch? No compassion for the fairer sex?”
“Compassion? When women are ruthless, they can be worse than men. Back in the war, the enemy would often send beautiful women disguised as courtesans into our camps. Many men lost their lives to those women. Who showed them any compassion? Jiaoyue, you’re far too soft on women.”
Liwang rarely spoke at length, but there was a bitter note in his voice that made Song Jiaoyue pause. He quickly raised his cup and said, “Let’s not speak of this anymore. Come, drink.”
The two friends continued drinking, pushing their cups back and forth.
By the time Liwang returned to the estate, he was slightly drunk. Thinking of how Song Jiaoyue had needed help getting back to his carriage, he felt quite proud of himself.
Entering the study, he massaged his temples. A servant handed him a towel, saying, “The Old Madam has given orders that you should visit one of the four ladies tonight…”
Bang! Liwang slammed the towel onto the table. Was this something to be forced?
Annoyed, he paced the room before recalling Song Jiaoyue’s earlier words about not showing compassion. “Go to the Winter Courtyard.”
He wasn’t too familiar with the layout of the estate, but Winter Courtyard was the only place he remembered where a woman lived.
His servant quickly grabbed a lantern, and the two made their way toward Winter Courtyard. Though it was a remote part of the estate, the scenery was quite pleasant.
As they approached, they noticed people coming and going. The servant stepped forward, asking, “Who are you, and why are you entering the Lady’s courtyard at this hour?”
One of the men replied, “We are from the estate’s pharmacy. Lady Bai Xiangxiu has fallen ill, and the doctor is here to check on her.”
“What illness?” Liwang frowned. Had she fallen ill? Was she that easily frightened? Earlier, she had been talking about whipping corpses, and now she was scared into illness.
“The doctor hasn’t come out yet… My lord!” The pharmacy workers finally noticed who had arrived and quickly knelt in respect.
Liwang had initially intended to leave but figured, as the master of the house, he should at least show some concern. He waited until the doctor came out, only for the doctor to kneel in fear and explain that Lady Bai had simply been shocked and needed a few doses of medicine to calm her nerves.
The doctor didn’t dare mention that, when he first arrived, Bai Xiangxiu’s pulse had felt like that of the dead. He couldn’t understand how she had recovered so quickly.
“Hmm,” Liwang replied nonchalantly. He instructed his servant to send some tonic over to her, then returned to his quarters, having lost interest.
This matter quickly slipped his mind. Although Lady Bai was undeniably beautiful, he had always disliked overly pretty women.
On the battlefield, the more beautiful a female assassin was, the more men she killed. He’d never forgotten that.
As for Bai Xiangxiu, she remained in a daze for several days, only slowly regaining clarity. She was awakened by a weak voice.
“So thirsty… I want some water. Master, I want water.”
“Water…” she mumbled.
“Lady Bai, you’re awake! You want water, right? I’ll get it right away.” Xiao Shi hurriedly poured some water and carefully helped Bai Xiangxiu drink. Seeing her drink, she finally relaxed, tears falling. “You scared me half to death.”
Bai Xiangxiu sat up, looking around and realizing she hadn’t returned to her own time. But when her eyes landed on a small cactus in the room, she said, “Give it some water too.”
She had been in such a daze for so long; she wasn’t sure how long it had been since the cactus was last watered.
Mouse On AVL Chapter 19