TanTan enters an ancient-style chamber. It is neat, spacious, and incredibly large. It looks exactly like the bedchamber of a noble young lady in a historical Chinese drama.
There is a decorative wooden table in the middle of the room and an elegant wooden dressing table beside a large antique bed. The bed is covered with a beautiful silk quilt, with another layer of soft, transparent fabric hanging around it like curtains. Even the pillow is unusual—a hard but smooth ceramic pillow.
TanTan admires everything around her.
Wow... This dream feels so real!
She can even smell the strong fragrance of flowers filling the room.
XiaoRue guides her to sit on the bed. Then, she takes a cup of tea from the table and serves it to TanTan.
"Please drink this, XiaoJie, and then try to get some rest."
TanTan takes the cup and drinks the tea.
Hmm... This tea isn't bad...
She then returns the cup to XiaoRue.
"Thank you..."
XiaoRue looks surprised to hear those words coming from her XiaoJie. This is the first time she has ever heard her young mistress say them. It almost brings tears to her eyes.
Her XiaoJie, the young lady Hua MuTan, is the type of person who never says thank you without expecting something in return, especially when dealing with her servants.
XiaoRue wonders whether the experience of coming back from the dead could have changed her young mistress. But perhaps this is only a temporary effect...
TanTan notices her reaction as well.
"What is it? You look surprised..."
"XiaoJie has never said thank you to XiaoRue before... Although, it's really not necessary. XiaoRue is only doing her duty. Now, XiaoRue will take her leave and let XiaoJie rest."
Saying thank you is strange? Wow... Am I a princess or what?
Barely a minute after XiaoRue closes the door, TanTan suddenly hears voices coming from outside her room.
"Young Master..."
It's XiaoRue's voice.
"Has she really awakened? I want to speak with her."
A man's voice follows, carrying an unpleasant tone. TanTan wonders who he could be.
"But XiaoJie is resting right now, Young Master... No, please don't enter!"
"Bang!"
The door is suddenly pushed open with great force.
TanTan is sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at the man who has just entered.
He is actually a handsome young man, probably in his twenties, TanTan guesses. His clothes resemble those of a noble young master in a Chinese historical drama. They are neat but not overly extravagant. His simple dark-blue outfit gives him a serious and stern aura.
His fierce expression is enough to tell TanTan that he hasn't come here with friendly intentions.
"So, you're really still alive... How unfortunate!"
His mocking tone immediately makes TanTan feel upset.
"Why would you say something like that?"
The man approaches TanTan and roughly grabs her hand. With an angry expression, he gives her a warning.
"Listen carefully! I will never forgive you for what you did to ShuangAi. You've hurt her once already. If you dare hurt her again, I will personally send you to hell!"
He pushes TanTan away roughly before turning around and leaving.
What's wrong with that rude man?
Who is ShuangAi? Did I hurt her? I don't even know who she is! Why should I be treated like this?
Seeing that the man has left, XiaoRue immediately rushes into the room.
"XiaoJie, are you alright?"
"Who was that man?"
"Huh?"
"Just now. Who was that rude and terrible man?"
"XiaoJie, what are you talking about? Don't you remember? He is Prince Li ZhouWei, your husband."
"What?! That man? No way!!"
How could that man possibly be her husband? She couldn't see even the slightest affection for her in his eyes.
"XiaoJie... How could you forget about him? He is the person you love so much... You were even willing to take your own life just to make him agree to marry you..."
What?! That's ridiculous!
TanTan would never do something so stupid. How could the girl whose body she was currently occupying be so foolish?
It was obvious that the man didn't love her at all. His eyes were filled with hatred. He looked as though he would genuinely be willing to kill her.
"And... who is ShuangAi?"
"She... she is..."
XiaoRue seems afraid to mention ShuangAi's name.
And why wouldn't she be? Whenever she mentioned ShuangAi in the past, Hua MuTan would usually throw a tantrum, screaming and throwing anything she could get her hands on. In the end, XiaoRue was always the one who had to clean up the mess.
"Come on, tell me, XiaoRue... I really can't remember any of these things. Maybe if you tell me about them, I'll be able to remember something..."
XiaoRue takes a deep breath.
"Please don't be angry, XiaoJie...
ShuangAi... She is the daughter of Royal Physician Huang LingPo. She grew up alongside Prince Li, so the prince is very fond of her."
"Oh, so she's his childhood sweetheart? The woman he was supposed to marry?"
XiaoRue panics at TanTan's words.
"XiaoJie, how can you say that? Prince Li is your husband now. You've been married for six months. They shouldn't... shouldn't have a romantic relationship anymore..."
Although XiaoRue sounds rather desperate to reassure her young mistress, TanTan can hear a note of uncertainty in her voice when she mentions that Prince Li and ShuangAi's relationship has ended.
TanTan begins to wonder.
In that case... What has this marriage been like for the past six months?
XiaoRue becomes nervous when she sees her XiaoJie falling silent. She can no longer guess what is going through her young mistress's mind, unlike before.
She feels that something is terribly wrong with her XiaoJie's current condition.
"XiaoJie..."
TanTan sighs.
"You may go. I need to get some rest now..."
XiaoRue immediately obeys.
This is also a good opportunity for her to report everything that has happened to Madam Hua. So, she quickly closes the door and leaves the room.
Meanwhile, TanTan finds it impossible to rest.
After hearing all that information, she starts putting the pieces together in her mind.
"This is really similar to those Chinese historical dramas that Mom and I used to watch. Only, in this drama, I've been given the role of the villain! A bad woman who comes between the main couple..."
She sighs.
"Oh, I really hope all of this is just a bad dream. Mom would laugh so hard if she heard about it. Maybe she'd even tease me, saying that I had this kind of dream because I'm still single..."
TanTan shakes her head.
"Now, how am I supposed to wake up from this dream?"
Not long afterward, another knock comes from outside.
This time, it is Madam Hua.
"Tan Er, are you still awake?"
TanTan is startled.
She doesn't want to make the old lady worry any more than necessary, so she quickly prepares herself and lies down on the bed.
As soon as her head touches the hard pillow...
Ouch!
She covers herself with the blanket she sees nearby.
"Yes, please come in..."
Madam Hua opens the door. She is accompanied by XiaoRue, her loyal assistant, A Tao, and an elderly stranger dressed like a traditional physician. The old man is carrying a large wooden medical box.
"I'm sorry to disturb your rest, my dear, but Physician Fang has come to check your condition. Please bear with us for a little while, alright?"
Madam Hua gently pats TanTan's hand.
TanTan simply nods and allows the man called Physician Fang to examine her using traditional medical methods.
After completing the examination, Physician Fang takes out a piece of paper and begins writing something. XiaoRue steps forward to receive it.
Meanwhile, Madam Hua leans toward TanTan and whispers gently.
"Get some rest, alright, dear? Everything will be fine."
TanTan does as she is told and closes her eyes, although she can still hear Madam Hua speaking to the physician.
"So, how is my Tan Er?" Madam Hua asks.
Physician Fang bows politely before answering.
"Please don't worry, Madam Hua. I haven't found anything wrong with the Young Lady's body. She is simply a little weak and needs proper nourishment to recover."
"But... she has forgotten so many things..."
"Considering her condition, I assume the Young Lady is still suffering from the shock of her recent experience. Being so close to death can cause different side effects in some people. In certain cases, memory loss can be temporary, but it can also become permanent."
He pauses briefly before continuing.
"However, the most important thing right now is that the Young Lady gets plenty of rest and avoids any further stress. I have prescribed some herbal medicines to calm her mind and strengthen her body. Hopefully, they will also help her recover her memories sooner or later. For now, we can only wait and see."
"Very well. Thank you, Physician Fang. A Tao, please escort Physician Fang outside and give him his payment. XiaoRue, immediately purchase and prepare the medicines for Tan Er."
A Tao and XiaoRue immediately carry out their respective instructions.
After everyone has left the room, Madam Hua sits down beside TanTan once again. She looks at her granddaughter sadly.
"What a poor girl you are, Tan Er... My poor child..."
She gently strokes TanTan's hand.
"Don't worry. Ama will do everything possible to help you recover. You are my precious Tan Er, the beloved daughter of my son. How could I ever face your father if anything bad happened to you?"
Her voice becomes softer.
"YiCao... Oh, YiCao... You must continue protecting your daughter from heaven, just as you have sent her back to us alive..."
After gently adjusting the blanket to cover TanTan properly, Madam Hua finally leaves her alone.
TanTan opens her eyes.
"Now, I think I'm beginning to understand more about this Hua MuTan..."
She starts counting the things she has learned.
"She doesn't have her parents anymore. She only has a grandmother who loves her very much. She fell in love with Prince Li, even though he doesn't love her back."
TanTan sighs.
"That could make a good story for a historical drama, but honestly, I don't really care about any of that. My main problem is figuring out how to return to my normal life!"
She looks at the ceiling.
"Let's just sleep for now. Hopefully, when I wake up, all of this will disappear like a bad dream."
With that thought, TanTan closes her eyes and tries to fall asleep.
Night gradually falls.
Unknown to TanTan, a man dressed entirely in black approaches her room. Looking like a ninja, he carefully makes a small hole in the wall and blows some sleeping gas through it using a thin wooden tube.
Before long, TanTan falls into a deep sleep.
The man then secretly enters the room and begins searching every corner. He looks increasingly tense and frustrated when he finally realizes that he cannot find what he is looking for.
Giving up on his search, he approaches TanTan's bed, intending to look around it.
However, he suddenly stops when he hears approaching footsteps outside the room.
Without wasting another second, he quietly disappears into the darkness.
A minute later, XiaoRue enters the room to check on her young mistress.
Seeing that XiaoJie is sleeping soundly, she simply closes the door again and leaves.
Note:
Ama = A shortened form of addressing one's grandmother, usually used by close family members.