Chapter Eighty-Three: Strange Fruit

  Qin Dai's heart only felt that she had slept a sweet and unparalleled lazy sleep, this life, no, her past and present lives may not have slept so stably. There was no hatred in the dream, no training of living worse than death, no bloodshed. The sleeping Qin Dai only felt that her whole body was warm and comfortable, all four limbs were filled with an indescribable comfort, like a person who had taken a hot bath after being caught in the rain, eaten a hot pot, and had a warm and cozy feeling in every part of her body.

  On a cold winter's day, I slept so warmly and comfortably, this feeling is really only understandable to those who have experienced it.

  Thinking of this, Qin Dai's heart woke up, looking at the sky outside, it was already noon.

  How can I sleep so soundly? Is it because of Ruyi? In the old days, there were many rules to follow. On New Year's Day, one had to get up early to welcome the gods. Didn't Ruyi call me at all?

  Qin Dai'er didn't want to drag the Su family into her own affairs, so she quickly got up and prepared to put on her clothes. She also called out to Ruyi a few times. Before long, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the corridor outside, and it was actually Ruyi and Chunli, two maidservants, who ran over together. Seeing Qin Dai'er putting on her clothes by herself, both of them looked surprised and excited.

  "What's wrong?" Qin Dai saw that the two of them had red eyes and pale faces, thinking they were tired from busy New Year preparations, but unexpectedly the two girls burst into tears.

  "What's going on? Did something happen to my aunt? Speak up, you're killing me!" Qin Dai didn't like to put on airs as the mistress, but at this critical moment, it was precisely this mistress attitude that made the two maids sober up.

  "Miss, you're asking us? I'm about to scare you to death! Do you know that today is already the seventh day of the new year? You've slept for such a long time, we thought something was wrong with you!" Chun Li blurted out quickly, not noticing Ruyi's reaction.

  What? The seventh day of the new year? We just took a short nap, how did seven days pass already?

  Ruyi and Chunli saw their young mistress with a worried look on her face, thinking that she was uncomfortable again somewhere, and were so frightened that they quickly helped her onto the bed to lie down.

  "Miss, what's wrong with you again? Where does it hurt?" Ruyi's voice rose unconsciously as she spoke, fearing that the newly awakened miss had something wrong with her again.

  "My whole body aches, I'm asking you, is today really the seventh? Qin Dai's heart was somewhat unbelieving, feeling that this matter was too absurd, just like when she had crossed over."

  The two maids saw that her complexion was rosy and her expression was normal, so they put their minds at ease. Ruyi used a handkerchief to wipe away her tears before saying, "It's the seventh."

  "What's going on?" How could she have slept for so long?

  "Ah!" The two maids exclaimed again in surprise, exchanging a glance with each other. Ruyu then asked, "Miss, you really don't know what happened?"

  Qin Dai Xin nodded very seriously. She wanted to know what had happened more than anyone else.

  As expected, he told her about all the things that had happened over the past seven days.

  Originally, on the first day of the new year before dawn, Ruyi came to wake her up, but no matter how she called, she couldn't get Qin Dai Xin's response. She was afraid of missing the auspicious time for worship, so she took the initiative to push open the door and enter. Seeing that Qin Dai Xin was lying in bed, she went forward and called out a few times, but Qin Dai Xin remained asleep, ignoring her. Afraid that her master would get a fever, she went forward to test the temperature of her forehead, feeling no abnormalities, only then did she put down her worries, and again gently pushed her, but Qin Dai Xin still slept soundly without waking up.

  This is terrible, how can the young lady not wake up? She saw that it was time to welcome the gods and suddenly became flustered. After forcing herself to calm down, she let Chunli go inform the wet nurse, while she herself went to Fang Wanru's courtyard and carefully reported the matter of Third Miss sleeping in.

  Everyone who knew about this matter thought it was absurd. The second young lady even said that she did it on purpose, saying that she wasn't ill, but just being stubborn and refusing to get up.

  Although everyone didn't know whether she was telling the truth or not, the time to welcome the gods had almost arrived, and no one dared to be careless. Fang Wanru put this matter on hold for now and decided to make a decision after welcoming the gods. The people of the mansion were led by Qin Congwen, who followed the rules to welcome the gods, and then Fang Wanru led the Fang family with several onlookers to Changxiaoyuan. Originally, Su Shi was also supposed to come, but everyone said that she was heavily pregnant and feared that something might happen to her, so they let someone send her back to Lanyuan instead.

  Everyone went to Qindai Xin's bedroom, saw her sleeping, and called out to her. Who knew it was just like Ruyi said, no matter how they called her, she couldn't wake up. Qin Qianxin even ordered someone to bring a copper gong and strike it continuously by her ear, but the whole room of people were almost deafened, yet Qindai Xin still didn't wake up.

  Everyone knows that inviting a doctor at this time is unlucky. If it were in previous years, the people in the house would probably not have invited a doctor for her either. But this year, for some reason, both the elder lady and the madam wanted to invite a doctor for her. Although no one said anything, it was clear that they were not too pleased. However, since it was the decision of the elder lady and the madam, others did not dare to raise any objections, even if they had misgivings.

  The doctor was summoned quickly and after taking Qin Dai's pulse, the doctor also looked puzzled, saying that her pulse was steady and strong, her breath was full, and even her complexion was full of spirit and vitality. Where did she look like she had any illness? Everyone knew this result, they were all very surprised, and some people even whispered that maybe she had provoked something unclean.

  This remark was like pouring water into a hot oil pan, causing the whole house to erupt. The gods were the most revered by the ancients, and whenever something couldn't be solved or understood, they would always bother the gods. Qin Dai's behavior at this time was too unusual, no matter how you looked at it, it seemed to have something to do with "those things". So someone came up with the idea of inviting a Taoist priest with some magical powers to take a look, to drive out evil spirits and eliminate disasters. Even if there were no evil spirits or disasters, praying for good fortune was always a good thing.

  Although the old lady had ordered it to be kept strictly secret, how can paper wrap up fire? With the deliberate embellishment of those with ulterior motives, the news that Miss Qin had become possessed by an evil spirit quickly spread throughout the entire Qin Manor. Everyone was on edge all day long, afraid of getting involved in something unpleasant. Although the masters were busy visiting relatives and friends at various places and didn't have time to see her, no one had forgotten about this matter. Every courtyard was filled with people waiting for a show, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Daoist priest on the seventh day!

  "Miss, you don't know, the old lady has given her word. If you still don't wake up today, then..." Chunli glanced at Ruyi and saw that she looked unwell, so she didn't dare to continue speaking.

  "What's going on here?" It probably wasn't anything good, or else the little girl wouldn't have reacted like that. Ruyi's face was as dark as Judge Bao's! Were these people planning to splash black dog blood on themselves? Rumor had it that stuff could ward off ghosts.

  "We're going to invite a Taoist priest to come home and perform a ritual." Chunli's voice was smaller than a mosquito.

  She knew that these people couldn't stand her. The two girls were probably afraid of hurting her, so they only picked out some pleasant things to say. The rumors and gossip behind her back were likely even more unpleasant than this.

  "I'm fine, don't worry about me! Chunli, go to Auntie's place and tell her I'm doing well, let her put her mind at ease. Ruyi, find someone to pass on a message to Madame Qin and the mistress, just say that I'm much better, nothing's wrong with me, just a bit weak, and tomorrow morning I'll get up early to pay my respects to them." Reputation was something that Qin Dai didn't care about at all. If it weren't for Su Shi still being in the Qin household, she would have left long ago, who could have kept her from leaving? It's just that emotions were the most troublesome thing, tying people down, and truly making it impossible to go anywhere."

  Chunli saw that she was calm and composed as usual, so she put her mind at ease and went to the Orchid Garden to deliver the message according to her instructions.

  As soon as Ruyi walked away, he looked around and saw no one, then asked in a low voice: "Miss, you won't have practiced martial arts to the point of entering a demonic state, will you?"

  Qin Dai was stunned for a moment, and only when she saw Ruyi's sly expression did she understand, thinking to herself that Ruyi was a clever person, even coming up with the idea of walking into the fire.

  "No, I'm fine, don't worry!" How could he possibly tell this little girl that he himself didn't know the reason?

  Ru Yi let out a sigh of relief, repeatedly covering her chest with her hands and said: "I was really worried to death, Miss has been sleeping for these few days, I kept thinking if it's because your master taught you moves that were too difficult, so you ended up like this. I didn't even dare tell others, afraid they would find out about your martial arts practice. But since you're all better now, why don't you go visit Madame and shut those people up?"

  "Just go! These people won't believe that I'm fine anyway. They're all waiting for something to happen to me so they can take advantage of it. If you leave now, others will just think you're trying to stall for time on my behalf. Just watch, some people will come knocking on their own to expose your 'lies', no need for me to make a move." Her eyes and eyebrows revealed a rare hint of cunning, completely unlike her usual proud and arrogant demeanor.

  As soon as Ru Yi heard this, she suddenly realized that the young lady had been thinking of this. She immediately imagined the faces of these people when they saw Qin Dai Xin wake up, and of course, she didn't forget to send a message, paid her respects to Qin Dai Xin, and happily went to deliver the message.

  You think you can treat me like a monster, let's see if you have the ability! But it's strange to say, why did I sleep for so many days without any reason? Thinking about it is also scary. However, she was not sick or in pain, how could she suddenly fall asleep and not wake up? As Ruyi said, she hadn't eaten or drunk anything for days, but she didn't feel hungry at all, instead, she felt full of energy and her spirit was better than ever.

  Could it be...

  Qin Dai suddenly remembered those two red fruits, could it be that there was something strange about them?

  P.S: The kid slept late, can't upload, sorry about that! Volume 2 starts now!