Chapter 3: Soul-Shaking Terror

A thousand years back in time, the vast sky looked down upon the Great Xia Dynasty.

The sixth year of Baoyuan, summer. The Dingxi Marquis Estate.

The morning rain had been falling for quite some time. It was mealtime, and the servants and maids coming and going all held umbrellas. The various colors of their clothes and umbrellas intertwined like a rainbow cloud, interspersed with the playful banter of "you stepped on my shoe" or "you splashed my skirt." The exquisite tableware could not mask the aroma of the food. As they passed by, a young maid standing at the corner of the corridor couldn't help but sniff and swallow her saliva.

The maid was fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in a simple blue cloth shirt and trousers—the standard attire for the most common maids in the Dingxi Marquis Estate. What was uncommon, however, was the red sash tied around her waist; that was a color reserved for second-class maids of the estate.

This contrast between the blue and the red was striking and eye-catching, yet the people bustling back and forth didn't even glance at her, as if she were air.

The maid held a basket in one hand and rubbed her stomach with the other, gazing longingly at the kitchen entrance. Gradually, the flow of people thinned.

A short, plump woman stepped out, closely followed by four or five older matrons who scrambled to hold umbrellas over her.

"I’m telling you all to stay sharp. You’ve been here for years, so don't lose your sense of propriety. Do what you’re supposed to do, and don't touch what you shouldn't. Keep your eyes open. I’m telling you..." the woman said in a slow, soft voice, her tone tinged with arrogance. She stopped walking as she spoke.

As soon as she stopped, the matrons behind her immediately halted, looking at her with fawning, flattering smiles.

"...If anyone makes me lose face, don't blame me for not showing you any mercy. It won't just be one person kicked out; when you come crying to me about your whole family having no way to survive, I won't be able to help you," the woman said with a half-smile, slightly raising her hand to point at them, revealing two solid gold bracelets on her plump, fair wrists.

"Mother Dong, you’re worrying for nothing. We’re all old hands; how could we do anything improper?" a horse-faced woman said with a sycophantic smile.

"Exactly, exactly. If we still needed Mother Dong to teach us these things, we’d have lived in vain and might as well leave this place early," the others chimed in.

This was Mother Dong, the manager in charge of the main kitchen of the Dingxi Marquis Estate.

The young maid bit her lower lip, rushed out from the corridor corner, and stood in front of the group in the rain.

Mother Dong was just wearing a satisfied smile, about to make a few jokes, when someone suddenly stood before her. Because the girl had run in such a hurry, she splashed a patch of water, leaving marks on Mother Dong’s pine-flower-colored horse-face skirt.

"Oh, you’re courting death!" the women nearby shouted. Seeing the girl's blue clothes out of the corner of her eye, one of them immediately raised her hand and slapped her.

The woman was sturdy, and the maid staggered from the blow to her shoulder, dropping her basket to the ground.

"Hey, isn't this..." Mother Dong focused her eyes and recognized the person before her, especially the red sash, and couldn't help but pause.

The woman who had struck her also noticed, and was startled. She was only a third-class rough-work matron; she couldn't afford to offend a second-class maid from the main quarters. Her legs buckled out of habit.

"It’s A-Hao," Mother Dong said, drawing out her voice.

Hearing the name A-Hao, the woman who had buckled her knees immediately stood straight again, letting out a sigh of relief. Feeling indignant at having been startled, she glared at the maid.

A-Hao stood in the rain, quickly soaked through. Her hair clung to her head and face, making her look all the more wretched.

"Mother Dong, I... our Young Mistress's..." she said, her voice trembling.

"What about the Young Mistress? Does she have orders?" Mother Dong asked, looking at her with a kind, smiling expression.

"The Young Mistress asked me to inquire if this month's regular allowance could be issued?" A-Hao said, looking up at Mother Dong. Whether from fear or the rain, her small face was pale.

Mother Dong’s expression turned cold.

"What? Did you forget the allowance for Qiutong Courtyard again?" she said, her tone neither salty nor bland.

The matrons, who had been afraid upon hearing the maid’s complaint and seeing Mother Dong’s cold face, were wondering how to beg for mercy. But hearing this question, they immediately smiled again.

"I truly deserve a beating," one woman said, raising her hand to lightly slap her own face in a show of regret. "I actually forgot!"

She looked at the young maid and bowed slightly.

"Girl, hit me if you must. I heard the Third Miss caught a cold, and I was so flustered, rushing to buy the light meals and produce she ordered. I’m old and useless, I can't handle things well, remembering one thing and forgetting another..." she said with a smile.

How could the young maid dare to hit her?

"Mother, you’re joking. Naturally, the Third Miss’s illness is more important..." she said, biting her lip and speaking in a low voice.

Mother Dong smiled, then her face turned cold again.

"Are you all stupid? The girl is standing in the rain," she said.

As soon as these words were out, the surrounding matrons seemed to notice for the first time that the girl before them was soaked to the bone, and they hurriedly stepped forward to hold umbrellas for her.

"Why did you come out in this weather?"

"You could have just sent anyone to tell us..."

"To think the girl ran over herself..."

They all spoke, full of feigned concern and pity.

"Don't let your work be delayed no matter how busy you are. If there’s a next time, don't blame me for being heartless," Mother Dong said, shaking her head at the women with a smile.

The matrons swore and vowed that it would never happen again.

"Then I’ll be going," Mother Dong said, looking at A-Hao. "A-Hao, if you need anything, just come and tell me."

A-Hao nodded and thanked her, her whole body trembling.

Mother Dong left, and the matrons in the courtyard turned back, chatting and laughing. They talked about everything from the Young Mistress praising a dish to the gatekeeper’s servant, Sibao, and which maid had made his shoes. It wasn't until A-Hao followed them into the room that one of them acted as if she had just seen her.

"Why hasn't the girl left yet?" she asked.

A-Hao looked down at her empty basket.

"Oh my, we’ll have someone deliver the things personally. It’s raining and the road is hard to walk; how could we let the girl carry it?" the woman laughed, turning to instruct the others, "Old sisters, did you hear? Hurry and prepare the things to send to the Young Mistress."

A chorus of laughing, scattered responses rang out in the room.

"I..." A-Hao hesitated, wanting to say something else, but was pushed and pulled out the door by the woman.

The courtyard gate slammed shut. The rain grew heavier. A-Hao stomped her feet, placed the basket on her head, and ran quickly along the path.

Passing through one gate after another, crossing a narrow alley, she could see a small courtyard standing in the mist of the rain from afar. A few flowering trees were scattered around it, but otherwise, there was nothing else, making it look exceptionally lonely.

A red umbrella drifted over from that direction.

"A-Ru!" A-Hao called out, quickening her pace.

Under the red umbrella was a girl of similar age, wearing a simple white undergarment covered by a cyan vest and a gray cloth skirt. This plain attire gave her a dullness beyond her years. Seeing the girl running through the rain, she also quickened her pace.

"Why did you go out without an umbrella, running back in the rain? You could have borrowed one from somewhere..." She finally covered the running girl with her umbrella. Looking at the soaked girl, she felt both pained and anxious, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her face.

"I ran fast, I’m not afraid," A-Hao giggled.

There was only one umbrella, and the child was afraid she wouldn't have one to use; A-Ru felt a pang of sorrow.

"Hurry back and change," she said, reaching out to pull A-Hao, but then she saw the empty basket and paused. "What, did you still not..."

"Sister, they said they’d have someone send it over right away," A-Hao said hurriedly, feeling ashamed and blaming herself for not getting the job done.

A-Ru sighed.

"Right away" probably meant waiting two or three days...

"Sister, why did you come out? The Young Mistress, she..." A-Hao asked hurriedly.

"The Young Mistress is asleep. I was worried about you, so I came out to look," A-Ru said.

As they talked, they reached the courtyard. The wall was somewhat mottled, and a paint-peeled plaque hung on it with the words "Qiutong Courtyard." With a creak, the two women pushed the door open and entered.

After changing clothes in the room, A-Ru boiled a bowl of ginger soup and brought it over.

"Sister, there isn't much ginger left. Save it for the Young Mistress," A-Hao declined.

"Drink it. The Young Mistress’s condition won't be changed by this one bowl of ginger soup," A-Ru sighed. "The most important thing is that we must all be well. Otherwise, who else can the Young Mistress rely on..."

As she said this, tears fell.

A-Hao stopped talking and took the ginger soup, drinking it in large gulps.

"Sister, don't worry. We’ll all be fine. When the Heir returns and we tell him the Young Mistress has recovered, he will definitely take us out of here," she said with a smile.

A-Ru looked at her, the smile on her lips bitter.

"I hope so," she said softly.

There was a silence in the room.

"I’ll go boil some water so the Young Mistress can wash up when she wakes," A-Ru said, standing up to break the gloom.

A-Hao nodded and began to tie her hair in front of the copper mirror on the old, low table. Just as she tied the last hairband, she heard a scream from outside, followed by the sound of a copper basin hitting the floor.

The sound was sharp and piercing, chilling to the bone.

A-Hao shivered and rushed out. She saw A-Ru sitting on the threshold of the main room, trembling and screaming one cry after another.

"Sister, what’s wrong?" She ran over, reaching out to support A-Ru while subconsciously looking up.

The shrill scream pierced the rain and mist.

"Young Mistress! Young Mistress!" A-Hao cried, crawling toward the room.

Following her gaze, she could see a pair of feet hanging in mid-air, wearing shoes embroidered with lotus vines. Looking up, there was a white gauze skirt, a snow-blue embroidered robe, and then a pale face with a tongue slightly protruding.

"Quick, take her down!" A-Ru, recovering from her scream, lunged forward and grabbed the legs, lifting them up.

A-Hao cried as she came to help, and they finally lowered the person hanging from the beam.

"She... she has no... breath..." A-Ru trembled as she reached for the woman’s nose, her face turning ash-gray.

"Young Mistress..." A-Hao wailed, throwing herself onto the woman lying on the floor. "How could you be so foolish!"

The woman on the floor didn't move. If not for the bluish-purple face caused by asphyxiation, she would have looked like she was merely sleeping.

"Quick, go tell the Marquis and the Madam." A-Ru, being a few years older, got up and ran out.

The door slammed shut with a bang. A-Hao’s crying stopped abruptly. She reached out to cover her mouth. The wind and rain poured in through the open door. Aside from the sound of the rain, there was no other noise. The room, as plain as a snow cave, felt increasingly cold and eerie.

A-Hao’s breathing became more rapid. She suddenly didn't dare to look at the person on the floor. With another bang of the door, she let out a scream and turned to rush into the rain.

A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed in the sky, accompanied by a thunderclap that seemed to tear the entire sky apart.

A-Hao, having just run out of the courtyard, collapsed to the ground, fainting from sheer terror.

At the same time, the hands of the person lying on the floor moved. Then, the whole body twitched as if in a spasm. The hand hanging at her side suddenly lifted and waved, as if trying to grab something. A coughing sound came from her throat. At the same time, a white box suddenly appeared above her, falling straight down, hitting the person on the floor squarely and heavily in the abdomen.

"Ouch, my mother!" the person on the floor let out a cry of pain and sat up abruptly.