Chapter 219: Still Had to Call Back the Soul
The lawsuit had concluded, and Xu Shaoyin did not have to pay for the white jade wine cup. The facts of the case were clear, but there were many documents that required signing and fingerprinting, so things dragged on until nightfall.
By the time she emerged from the magistrate’s office, the surrounding area was already deserted.
Only her wet nurse and Butler Chen were waiting at the entrance, holding a lantern.
Xu Shaoyin quickened her pace and approached them, asking, “Do you know where the other sisters from Feiyue Pavilion went?”
“We ran into a few,” the wet nurse replied. “Some said they were going home, others said they were heading to the human trafficking agencies to take a look, and a few haven’t come out yet. We don’t know how they are doing.”
The wet nurse and Butler Chen were not very familiar with the people from Feiyue Pavilion, and when they had stepped forward to inquire earlier, they had ended up on the receiving end of a lot of displaced anger—as the family members and servants of Manager Yue and Boss Wu were also among the crowd.
After that, they didn’t feel comfortable asking any further questions.
Xu Shaoyin wanted to go back inside to ask the court officials, but the magistrate’s office was not a place she could simply enter and leave as she pleased.
With her single lawsuit involving so many people, the court officials had been busy until this very hour and had no time to pay her any mind.
“The magistrate’s office has its own arrangements. An official notice will be posted when the time comes; you can just go take a look then.”
When Xu Shaoyin pressed for information regarding Fan Shishi, Qin Hua, Ruan Xiang, and the others, the official merely shook his head. “Everything has a proper procedure, and we are acting according to those procedures. We said a notice will be put up, so just read the notice.”
“If everyone asked questions like you, how would we ever have time to do our jobs!”
Shaoyin could only turn back in silence.
The case had been resolved and justice had been served, which could be considered a happy ending for all. Since the officers working the case were busy to the point of exhaustion, it was only natural for them to be a bit short-tempered.
Shaoyin was still grateful to the magistrate’s office for handling the case impartially, without colluding with wealthy merchants or acting in cahoots with them.
Accompanied by her wet nurse and Butler Chen, she returned home under the cover of night, and the three of them held each other and wept bitterly.
The wet nurse cried uncontrollably. “My child, you have suffered so much!”
There was likely no one in this world who had it harder than her young miss. At the mere age of a teenager, she had already encountered so many tragic and unjust events.
Heaven had shown mercy!
She had actually managed to endure and make it through.
The three of them had a good, long cry at home, and then they offered incense to Xu Shaoyin’s parents.
Just as the wet nurse mentioned making dinner, Shaoyin suddenly developed a sudden fever and collapsed.
The wet nurse cried out in alarm, “The young miss has been frightened!”
Years ago, when the news about the Master and Mistress had traveled back, the young miss had also suffered a major illness with a fever just like this.
Before she had even fully recovered from that illness, she had run around everywhere to wash away the grievances surrounding her parents.
This time she had shown some progress, at least managing to report the matter to the authorities before succumbing to the fever.
The wet nurse shouted for Butler Chen to quickly go out and buy some incense, wax candles, and paper offerings. “We still have to call back her soul.”
Old Chen threw his outer garment back on and hurriedly left the house.
That night was another bout of frantic chaos.
Fortunately, the fever was not severe. Xu Shaoyin remembered that among the medicines the young Manor Owner had given her, there was a fever-reducing soluble granule meant to prevent her wounds from becoming infected and causing a fever.
Xu Shaoyin fished it out and had her wet nurse dissolve it in water for her to drink.
The wet nurse did as she was told, but she still went out to the crossroads with Butler Chen to perform the soul-calling ritual for Xu Shaoyin.
Burning with fever, Xu Shaoyin was in no position to stop them and could only let them have their way.
Afterward, the wet nurse returned to cook, and once they finished the meal, Shaoyin’s fever broke.
Thinking of Jian Xingxia, Shaoyin’s heart filled with boundless gratitude.
The wet nurse merely let out a sigh of relief, saying glefully, “I told you we needed to call back the soul! Calling back the soul is always best.”
Xu Shaoyin: “…”
Oh well, many things in this world always happened through such twists of fate.
Tossing and turning until nearly dawn, Xu Shaoyin finally fell into a deep sleep.
As it turned out, not long after daylight broke, a frantic pounding echoed from the front door.
Butler Chen went to open it, and to his surprise, it was Fan Shishi.
Having seen her in the courtroom the previous day, the butler and the wet nurse both knew the relationship that Fan Shishi and Qin Hua shared with Shaoyin, so they hurriedly welcomed her inside.
The wet nurse brought over some tea, feeling somewhat apologetic. “The young miss suddenly suffered convulsions and a high fever last night and has only just fallen asleep. There is no sign of her waking up yet. I must trouble you to wait a moment, miss.”
The butler inquired what the matter was, but Fan Shishi hemmed and hawed, refusing to speak clearly.
When the wet nurse stepped in to ask, it was the same story.
With no other choice, the two could only invite Fan Shishi to have some tea and pastries while they went about their respective chores.
The wet nurse went to prepare breakfast, while the butler swept the courtyard and the doorway.
Before breakfast was even finished cooking, someone knocked on the main door once again.
This time, it was two other young ladies they didn’t recognize, but judging by their appearance, they were likely also from Feiyue Pavilion.
The two had arrived carrying bundles, looking anxious and deeply unsettled, their demeanor very similar to Fan Shishi’s.
A short while later, another married woman arrived.
Sensing that something was amiss, the wet nurse checked on Shaoyin’s room several times, until finally, Shaoyin woke up in a daze.
“Miss, there are quite a few people outside looking for you!”
“Looking for me?”
Xu Shaoyin had only just woken up and was still a bit groggy. After getting dressed with the wet nurse’s assistance, she went out to look, only to find that they were all people from Feiyue Pavilion.
“Shishi, Ningxiang, Helu, Sister-in-law Cen—why have you all come?”
Several of them hesitated to speak.
In the end, it was Fan Shishi who broke the silence first.
She let out a wretched smile. “I was kicked out by my family…”
Xu Shaoyin was greatly shocked. “Why?”
“Because I was once a dancing girl at Feiyue Pavilion, and even more so because… in the courtroom yesterday, in front of so many people, I exposed my ankles and calves.”
“And also because the mark of Feiyue Pavilion is branded onto my body, which my family views as a disgrace.”
As Fan Shishi spoke, tears began to stream down her face.
In the courtroom yesterday, they had comforted Ruan Xiang, and they had also rejoiced that they themselves hadn’t yet fallen into the tiger’s jaws.
But after the case details were recorded and the documents were signed and fingerprinted, Fan Shishi had emerged from the magistrate’s office to find no one there to receive her.
She had endured the whispers and stares of passersby all the way back home, only to be greeted by a tightly shut front door.
Clearly knowing that there were so many people outside watching and gossiping about her, no matter how much she shouted, that closed door of her family home never once opened.
It wasn’t until her throat was practically raw and blood seeped into her mouth, and several fingernails had torn from pounding on the door, that a tiny crack finally opened.
Except this tiny crack was not to welcome her back, but to completely sever any hope she had of returning home.
Her father had said, “I have no such daughter!”
Her brother had said, “You better leave quickly! If you stay here, you’ll corrupt your nephew and niece in the future… No, they aren’t your nephew and niece, they are my children. What would we do then!”
Her mother had wept as she shoved a bundle out the door, looking as though she were the only person in the household who couldn’t bear to see her go. However, the words she spoke were just as ice-cold.
“Shishi, you should leave!”
“If you don’t leave, there will never be another day of peace in this house!”
“Shishi, you have always been sensible. For the sake of the family, just endure it a bit longer!”
“Go, anywhere is fine, as long as you don’t come back home. Just hide away for a bit, hide away, child…”
“When things get better for the family, Mother… Mother will fetch you back…”
Listening to these words that feigned reluctance but were in truth no different from the cold indifference of her father and brother, Fan Shishi felt an eerie chill wash over her entire body.
In the beginning, when she had first gone to Feiyue Pavilion, her family had begged her in the exact same manner.
Back then, her father had said, “Shishi, your father can’t rely on that worthless older brother of yours; I can only rely on you!”
Back then, her brother had said, “Good sister, whether I can get married depends entirely on you! When I have children in the future, I will definitely make sure your nephew and niece filial to you!”
Back then, her mother had wept and said, “Child, my poor child, just go to Feiyue Pavilion… It’s only for a few months. Once the family gets through this difficult time, Mother will bring you back.”
Only afterward, those few months turned into a year, and that one year turned into two…
Fan Shishi instinctively took a few steps back.
She looked up at the lintel of the Fan family’s gate. This very lintel was something her parents and brother had replaced just last winter, after she had earned some tips and couldn’t bear to spend a single penny on herself—even borrowing clothes from others—just to eagerly bring the money back to them.
The Fan family house did not look dilapidated now; it was even quite spacious.
But a home this spacious could no longer find room for her.
