Chapter 3: Rebirth
"What business is it of yours whether my wife is ill or not? Besides, haven't you heard that a doctor cannot cure himself?"
The girl stood inside the door, looking at the man who was standing at the entrance with a fierce attitude. When questioned, she did not show any weakness in her demeanor.
"You want to cure the illness, but it's not like we want to cure the illness. Are you saying that we still owe you? Love watching or not!" The servant girl hummed and pointed at the door outside, "Open the door and don't block our family's door!"
The old master of the family has never been scolded like this since he was a child, except by his own father. He's so angry that he's puffing out his mustache and glaring with his eyes.
"Brother's nephew, don't make any more trouble, delaying Yunniang's treatment. Whose fault is this?" The old lady said on the side.
The old master of the family was even more choked with anger.
What's wrong with him? His sister is like this and it becomes his fault?
"I'll go in with him." He gritted his teeth and said.
"This won't do, let Chenlang follow him instead," said the old lady.
The son behind immediately came out and urged four men to carry a coffin covered with black cloth into the house.
"No way, you're an outsider with a different surname, it's only natural that I accompany my sister." The elder of the husband's family said coldly.
The maid of the Cheng family's daughter-in-law turned around and went in first on that side.
"Only one attendant can come in, carry the person to the main room and then retreat." she said.
Although it was a summer day, walking in this courtyard, the cool and damp air filled the air, and my husband's grandfather, who wore clogs, walked carefully, fearing that the moss on the bluestone pavement would slip under his feet.
The coffin was carried into the hall, and the servant girl immediately drove everyone out and blocked the relatives from entering the house.
"You wait outside, my mistress doesn't see outsiders when she's ill," said the maid.
What's going on here! The old master of the family is glaring.
He glared at her, and that girl also raised her head, arched her back, and glared back at him. She then lifted her foot and slammed the door shut with a bang.
The master of the house is a gentleman after all, and he can't even enter without being invited, let alone it's a woman's residence.
There were rustling and footsteps coming from inside the house, but no one was speaking.
Divine divination, is it witchcraft or medicine?
The old master of the family paced back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his back.
What's going on here!
The old lady and others outside the door didn't leave either.
"Mother, is it true?" the son asked in a low voice.
The old lady let out a breath through her nose and ignored him.
"Old lady." The wet nurse came over nervously and whispered while fanning, "Will it be alright? If not..."
"Unsuccessful?" The old lady looked at the small wooden door, a screen blocking her view, unable to see the scenery inside. She clenched her cane and squeezed out words from between her teeth, "If not, then go tell her that quack doctor is killing people!"
Outsiders, one master and one servant, unfamiliar with the local conditions, can't they cope? Besides, it's not her fault, it's their own fault for jumping out to take the blame.
The old master of the family had just stamped his foot twice in the courtyard when the door was opened.
"Go call someone to carry it away." The maid said as she came out.
"How is it?" The old master of the family hastily asked, looking towards the house.
The coffin was still placed in the main room, and no one else was seen.
Is there really a Mrs. Cheng in this house? Or has it been just this little girl pretending all along?
It seemed to be in response to his doubts, the thought had just flashed by, and the sound of wooden clogs walking echoed inside the house. Immediately after, a figure appeared behind the screen. It was a woman's figure, and because she was wearing a large robe, it was impossible to tell whether she was fat or thin, old or young for a while. She stood still for a moment before sitting down, her hair blocking his line of sight.
"Hey, call someone over!" The maid said discontentedly, seemingly very unhappy about peeking at her own mistress.
The old master of the family withdrew his gaze.
"Is it cured?" he asked.
"Basically it's done, just missing a medicine guide." The girl said.
Four rough men carried him to bed and went out.
The old lady and all the men and women of the family gathered around, looking at the woman on the bed.
The woman was still wearing a mourning dress, her hands and feet bound with grass ropes, quietly closing her eyes, no different from the coffin.
The people in the house couldn't help but shiver.
"Are you going to change clothes?" someone couldn't help but say.
What's the point of changing it? What if I don't survive, won't I have to be dressed again for burial?!
The old lady didn't answer but instead turned around to look at her husband's elder brother.
"What medicine do you want?" she asked.
"The cloud maiden's usual combing mirror." The old master of the family frowned and said, not knowing what expression to make.
The old lady didn't care how strange and bizarre the medicine was, she had already said that even dead people could cure it, what else could surprise her.
A maid immediately brought over a mirror that the mistress often used, which was a round, yellow copper mirror with lotus flower carvings and inlaid jade borders.
"Say it's on your chest." The old master of the family said, his tone somewhat anxious and helpless.
The two maids carefully lifted the copper mirror up to the lady's chest.
"The mirror is facing downwards." The old master of the family thought of something and added another sentence.
Two maidservants busied themselves turning their heads away and pressed the copper mirror downwards on the lady's chest, then hastily stepped back.
Guarding this dead person, I really feel a chill all over my body.
The house is quiet and peaceful.
"What's next?" someone couldn't help but ask.
"Wait." The old master of the family said gruffly.
The room fell silent again, almost to the point where breathing was inaudible. Everyone's gaze fell on the woman lying on the bed.
A moment passed and the people who were holding their breaths couldn't hold it any longer, collectively letting out a sigh.
The woman on the bed still lay there, without moving at all.
"Go and see if it's got air in it?" said the old master of the family.
A maid hesitated for a moment, with a few fearful slow steps to the bedside, carefully trembling stretched out her hand under the woman's nose to explore.
"No..." The woman withdrew her hand, her pale face shaking as she spoke in a trembling voice.
Everyone in the house changed color on their own.
"Enough of this nonsense!" the old master shouted, his pent-up anger bursting out again, grabbing his teacup as if to smash it on the floor.
At this moment, a woman's gasp sounded in the house.
This sigh was heavy and long, as if someone had been holding their breath for a long time.
"Oh no, I'm being crushed! What is this thing, move it away quickly! It's suffocating me!" said the hoarse female voice after catching her breath.
The maid standing beside the bed stiffened as soon as she heard the panting sound, and in an instant, goosebumps covered her entire body. Upon hearing these words, she didn't even dare to turn her head back, let out a blood-curdling scream, and scrambled out of the room in a flurry.
"It's a fake corpse!"
The girl stepped lightly into the house, her silk shoes making barely a sound on the wooden floor.
"Daughter, you're really awake!" she exclaimed, her voice barely concealing her excitement.
She was speaking when she turned around the screen and saw a woman leaning on a low table, staring at the screen in a daze. In that moment when she saw the woman's expression, the joy on her face suddenly disappeared.
The girl could only be described as a maiden, fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a plain white underskirt and an outer black loose-fitting robe that almost swallowed her whole, making her appear even more petite, with skin as white as jade and hair as black as ink, one glance was enough to leave one speechless at her beauty.
Her eyes were just black pupils with too much white, and at this time she stared blankly at the screen, looking like a soulless puppet.
"Milady!" The maid instantly knelt down on the ground, grasped the woman's robe that was spread out on the ground, and buried her head in it, sobbing and wailing, "Milady, wake up! Milady, don't scare me half to death!"
With her wails, the girl's eyeballs gradually rotated, and her dull eyes had a hint of vitality.
"Who... am I?" she muttered.
