Chapter 213: Shaoyin Speaks Nonsense
On the other side, Xu Shaoyin clutched a small bundle tightly, making her way along a wild trail through the woods.
The sound of clear, tinkling water drifted to her ears, and instinctively, Shaoyin followed the sound.
Sure enough, after walking for only a short while, she turned a corner and spotted a small, clear pool formed by the confluence of a tributary.
In that moment, the calm, shallow, and translucent water looked to Shaoyin as if it were reaching out with many supple “water leaves,” trying to pull her down into its depths.
Shaoyin’s feet unconsciously took two steps back.
Had it not been for Lin Sanniang’s earlier advice—reminding her not to be afraid and to simply think about the path she had taken to get there—she would have been frightened out of her wits by the sight of that pool.
Even now, she was still quite terrified by what she saw.
But the Manor Owner had also reminded her that she must leave once the time came, or else something unpleasant would happen.
Shaoyin thought about her experiences at the manor today. She wouldn’t vouch for others, but the Manor Owner and Lin Sanniang were truly wonderful people.
They hadn’t sought anything from her and had even offered careful instructions, which surely had a reason.
Xu Shaoyin gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and jumped straight into the pool.
The water wasn’t deep, yet she felt not a single hint of dampness.
She felt as if she had only hopped on the spot; when she opened her eyes again, sure enough, she was back on the familiar blue-stone path.
At this moment, she was in a small alley near the Water Town streets, where she could hear the peddlers’ cries from the main thoroughfare not far away.
Xu Shaoyin hurriedly walked toward the bustle of people. Sure enough, after turning two corners, she saw the streets she knew so well.
There weren’t many people about; it was the middle of the afternoon, and the shop assistants were slumped over their counters, dozing off.
Under the eaves, several children were playing with stones on the ground.
An old man pushing a cart passed in front of her. “Firewood for sale!”
A mother and daughter walked by, bickering over some trivial matter, their faces puffed up with indignation.
Most of the passersby were hiding in the shade, half-heartedly glancing at the goods of the roadside vendors.
Standing on the street corner, Xu Shaoyin felt as if none of this were real.
After standing in a daze for a while, she hurried toward home.
Just as she reached her doorstep, she bumped into her neighbor, an auntie who was pouring out dirty water. Upon seeing Xu Shaoyin, she looked utterly repulsed. “Bad luck!”
She even intentionally splashed the dirty water toward Xu Shaoyin’s feet.
Having studied dance for many years, Xu Shaoyin was lithe and agile, dodging the water with ease.
She didn’t argue. The neighbors all knew she was a dancing girl at Feiyue Pavilion.
They looked down on her, and that was all they would ever do.
They wouldn’t offer her any other way to earn a living; they wouldn’t care that she had to borrow money just to bury her parents; they wouldn’t care that her wet nurse and the old butler were struggling to work day and night despite their aging bodies…
If she had a choice, who wouldn’t want to live a decent, peaceful life?
Xu Shaoyin skirted around the dirty water and quickened her pace home. As soon as she pushed the door open, the wet nurse behind it opened the inner door. “Yinyin!”
Xu Shaoyin finally let her guard down completely, burying her head in the wet nurse’s embrace. “Nurse!”
The wet nurse, Tong Yinjun, felt her legs trembling.
She pulled the door shut and hurriedly grabbed Xu Shaoyin by the arms, examining her thoroughly from head to toe.
“Yinyin, you… you didn’t return all last night. Was it… was it…”
The wet nurse didn’t dare finish the sentence. She felt only regret and agony in her heart.
The Master and Mistress had entrusted their only daughter to her care, yet she had failed to look after Yinyin properly.
The injuries on Xu Shaoyin’s body, along with the change of clothes… all made the wet nurse’s heart shudder.
Carrying her small bundle, Xu Shaoyin pulled the wet nurse toward the inner room.
“Nurse, I’m alright! The manager of Feiyue Pavilion colluded with a wealthy merchant, framed me for breaking their white jade wine cup, and tried to force me to sign a debt contract. I refused even unto death, so the manager locked me up inside the pavilion…”
As Xu Shaoyin spoke, tears began to stream down her face. “If it weren’t for the help of the sisters at Feiyue Pavilion, I don’t think I would have made it out alive.”
Forcing innocent girls into prostitution was a major crime in the Dayong Dynasty.
But that didn’t stop those people from forcibly saddling her with debt, then using that debt to pressure her into “voluntarily” selling herself.
She had endured immense pressure, biting her tongue and refusing to sign, and had even risked being wounded and disfigured, which was how she had stalled for so long.
Only when the manager grew weary and went to rest did the sisters at Feiyue Pavilion find an opportunity to cover for each other and save her.
Tong Yinjun’s legs went weak just listening. “They… how did they bully you?”
Xu Shaoyin had nothing she couldn’t tell her nurse.
After her parents passed away, the wet nurse had become like a mother to her.
Xu Shaoyin rolled up her sleeves and lifted her skirt to show the wet nurse her injuries.
The wet nurse was both heartbroken and astonished. “Could it be that they were so cruel as to torture and bully you while simultaneously applying medicine?”
Some powerful people had monstrous methods of torment.
They wouldn’t let their victims die easily; while torturing them, they would summon doctors to treat them just enough to keep them barely alive, leaving them unable to seek life yet unable to die.
The wet nurse’s vision went black; she assumed Xu Shaoyin had suffered such horrific treatment.
Xu Shaoyin hurriedly explained, “No, no, Nurse, I haven’t finished… After I escaped from Feiyue Pavilion, I accidentally ended up in a manor. That manor was incredibly wealthy and exquisite. The steward of the manor bathed me, and the Manor Owner personally applied medicine for me…”
The wet nurse’s heart twinged with pain. She looked at Xu Shaoyin with unease. “A steward? A Manor Owner?”
Her Yinyin was so naive; she hoped she hadn’t just escaped from a tiger’s den only to fall into a wolf’s lair.
Xu Shaoyin was completely oblivious, still immersed in the wonderful memory of receiving help from immortals after narrowly escaping disaster.
It wasn’t until she saw the worry on the wet nurse’s face that she realized what was happening.
She hurried to explain, “The steward and the Manor Owner are both women. In that manor, it seemed to me that everything is managed by women. Lin Sanniang is the steward, and the Manor Owner is a young woman. She is incredibly capable, though she refuses to admit it…”
“And the cook in the kitchen is an auntie. That auntie is quite a character. Whenever she wants to cook something and the Manor Owner disagrees, she dares to urge the Manor Owner on, telling her not to be so afraid of this or that…”
Xu Shaoyin remembered the time Auntie Pang wanted to deep-fry glutinous rice balls and the young Manor Owner refused to budge.
It was clear that everyone in the manor deeply loved and respected the Manor Owner, but in moments like that, Auntie Pang could be persistent enough to make the Manor Owner change her mind.
The Manor Owner actually went along with Auntie Pang, and it was said she even hired a “master” for her.
Xu Shaoyin didn’t dare mention that part—even now, she couldn’t believe that the Manor Owner possessed such supernatural powers that she could instantly invite a master chef to appear in a “black mirror” to cook and teach Auntie Pang in person.
Xu Shaoyin only spoke of the bathing, medicine, and food.
But the more she spoke, the more solemn and miserable the wet nurse’s expression became. Finally, the wet nurse burst into tears, hugged her, and murmured, “My child, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. You’ve come back now…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s fine to think that way; having immortals to save you—immortals with such great powers will surely protect our Yinyin.”
Xu Shaoyin faintly felt that something wasn’t quite right, but before she could figure it out, the wet nurse pulled her to the small room next door to offer incense to her late parents.
Xu Shaoyin obeyed quietly. Her experience had indeed been harrowing and miraculous, so it was only right to report it to her parents.
But as the wet nurse lit the incense and bowed, she said, “Master, Mistress, thank you for showing your grace. The young miss has returned, but…”
Shaoyin pricked up her ears to listen. The wet nurse whispered, “The poor child has suffered so much, she’s been frightened out of her wits and is speaking nonsense—blathering on about immortals saving her, transmitting voices across thousands of miles, and miracle elixirs that cure all diseases…”
“But please rest assured, Master and Mistress. Once Butler Chen returns, I will have him go to the paper craft shop to buy incense and paper offerings. Tonight, I will go to the crossroads to call back Yinyin’s soul…”
