Chapter 2: Becoming Cheng Yaoyao

Meng Shisan's strange behavior—waking up only to fall back into sleep—worried the two maidservants deeply. Since there was no one in Taichen Courtyard capable of making decisions, they had no choice but to report to the stepmother, Madam Wu.

"It is good that Yaoyao has woken up. It is likely just a minor chill; after a few doses of medicinal soup, she will be back to normal in a couple of days," Wu said airily, appearing utterly indifferent.

Unable to persuade Wu to invite a physician to the manor once more to check the young lady's pulse, Jinyin turned her pleading gaze toward the master of the house, Meng Zhinian, who was also in the room.

However, Meng Zhinian remained silent, effectively acquiescing to Wu's decision.

Jinyin returned to Taichen Courtyard feeling utterly despondent.

Seeing this, Baozhu, who was waiting outside the corridor, stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately failed to ask.

Even without asking, she already knew the answer.

Ever since the original Madam passed away from illness and the stepmother married in within a hundred days, the young lady had not only lost her mother but had also lost her father forever. The current Master only held the nominal title of the lady's biological father, yet in reality, he was utterly useless.

For ten years, whatever the stepmother said, the Master followed.

Meng Liangchen, aged fifteen, courtesy name Yaoyao.

Her biological mother had died of illness when she was five. From then on, she had a stepmother, which meant she had a stepfather, and she began her life as a "little cabbage"—neglected by her stepmother and met with indifference from her biological father, while being bullied by her younger siblings.

Meng Shisan woke up early the next morning. Upon seeing that she was still not in the Ancestral Cave Temple, she calmed herself repeatedly, accepting the fact that she had been struck by lightning into this world and thrust into this body.

After listening to the two maids describe how she vomited everything she ate after falling ill, as well as the attitudes of her stepmother and biological father, she let out a slow sigh.

"Why does Miss sigh?" Jinyin asked, puzzled.

Baozhu thought privately that under such circumstances, it would be normal for the lady not just to sigh, but to feel her heart turn completely cold.

Meng Shisan glanced at the simple-minded Jinyin, then at the contemplative Baozhu, and sighed once more.

She was sighing because the real Meng Liangchen, after being tormented by illness for several days, had already departed for the western paradise last night. Although she now shared the surname Meng, she was no longer the original Yaoyao.

Jinyin and Baozhu exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with worry, yet they both remained silent.

"How long did I have a high fever? And how long did I sleep?" Since she had returned to the mortal realm, Meng Shisan had nothing to fear. She would treat it as another foray into the world; once this body grew old and died, she could return to the Ancestral Cave Temple and continue her leisurely, idle cultivation.

Baozhu replied, "On the day Miss caught the chill, the high fever started by evening. It wasn't until the morning of the third day that the physician arrived. Miss's fever only slowly subsided after noon. During that time, whenever I tried to feed Miss water or food, she vomited it all up. Even the medicinal soup the physician prescribed was the same; as soon as it was fed to her, she would vomit it out."

Jinyin added, "By dinnertime, Baozhu went to the main kitchen to fetch the food box while I watched over Miss. Miss woke up briefly during that time, but she didn't say a word; she only sat for a moment before lying back down and falling asleep until this morning."

"And what else?" Meng Shisan could see that both maids looked as if they had more to say.

Baozhu and Jinyin looked at each other; they indeed had a belly full of words.

In the past, however, the lady was always impatient to hear anything regarding the stepmother and the Master. Whenever they mentioned them, she would grow angry and order them to stop.

Now, with the lady's health uncertain, they feared that upsetting her might worsen her condition, so they dared not speak.

"It is fine. Speak what you must. Even if you do not say it well, I will not blame you." Meng Shisan was a Great Demon who had even navigated the halls of officialdom; she could see right through the subtle cues of these two young maids and felt she had to offer an assurance first.

Hearing this, Jinyin wanted to speak desperately, but her courage failed her, and she swallowed her words, only daring to nudge Baozhu with her elbow to signal her to speak.

Baozhu gave Jinyin an annoyed look, thinking to herself, *Do you think I'm not worried?*

However, between the two of them, someone had to speak.

"When Miss first fell ill, Jinyin and I went to the Shanfang Courtyard three times before we finally persuaded the Madam to invite a physician to the manor. By then, Miss had already been ill for two days and was delirious, talking nonsense day and night."

"In the following two days, while taking medicine, Miss not only failed to improve but could no longer even keep down the water she could previously swallow. She vomited everything."

"It has now been four days, and Miss has still not taken a single drop of water. Even the medicinal soup is vomited out immediately after being fed. Her condition is growing increasingly serious. Jinyin and I wanted to invite a physician again, but alas..."

"Alas, the Madam refused to invite another physician, saying Miss would be fine once she woke up. The Master also washed his hands of it, following the Madam's lead as usual."

Completely disregarding whether the lady lived or died.

Baozhu nearly let that last sentence slip.

Though it was the truth, it was too cruel for the lady to hear. They often grumbled about it in their hearts, but they never dared to say it to her face.

Meng Shisan crossed her legs. Hearing this, she roughly understood how the original Meng Liangchen had lost her life. She had died of illness, but the original owner had also long since lost the will to live.

Otherwise, losing one's life to a mere chill in just four days was a bit too fast.

Furthermore, the maids' mention of the original owner vomiting everything could be due to the illness, or it could have been a form of self-destruction to seek death.

Regardless, she was now Meng Liangchen. Since she could not temporarily return to the Ancestral Cave Temple, she would have to finish this life on behalf of the original owner.

If possible, she would have preferred to shed this shell and return her soul to Jinling to continue lying by the side of the Ancestor in her original form, but she could not.

When she woke up again and found the furnishings unchanged—still sleeping in a warm, soft, and luxurious canopy bed—she had tried to separate her demon soul from her body, only to find that she could not detach herself from this human form at all!

Why?

She pondered for a long while but could not find an answer.

There wasn't even a hint of how to do it.

Dammit.

Having no choice, she rose to wash, dress, and return to her bed to sit cross-legged, questioning the two maids about everything regarding the body's condition before and during the illness.

After asking, Meng Shisan understood. No wonder the original owner didn't want to live.

If it were her...

She was different. Even if everyone in the Meng household perished, she would certainly remain.

No matter where she lived, she would live; whether as a human or a demon, life would go on the same way.

But what was she now?

A human or a demon?

A human body with a demon soul... a half-demon?

After Baozhu finished speaking, she saw her mistress staring blankly into space. Just as she was wondering why, Jinyin nudged her elbow.

She looked at Jinyin, who whispered in her ear, "When Miss first woke up last night, she sat on the bed staring blankly just like this. After her daze passed, she went back to sleep."

Baozhu nodded understandingly.

Both felt that after this bout of illness, the lady had changed.

The first sign was the staring into space.

The lady never used to stare blankly; she was always leaning against the window with a face full of sorrow, gazing at the plantains outside the courtyard, sometimes letting tears fall in continuous streams.

(End of Chapter)