Seconds later, she was eating the now cold congee fed to her by Madam Wong in her bed. Her body was so weak that holding the spoon for too long tired her out. It was a miracle that she was even able to get out of bed and  outside to the pavilion. The maid came later rushing in through the main door, pushing it open loudly but it did not startle her at all. She was unfazed and was still eating even when the doctor came and examined her.

“I found nothing wrong with her. She is just weak and needs rest,” he finally said. “Here’s a medication list for a regenerative tonic, get the herbs written here. Boil them together for two hours and feed it to her,” he told Madam Wong. “Ah yes, before I forget. Let her get plenty of rest and do not distress her any further,” the doctor added. The other maid accompanied the doctor and went to fetch the herbs in the recipe.

“Miss how are you doing?” asked Madam Wong as she looked on, concerned. .

“My head still hurts. By the way, who are you? Where am I?” asked the girl.

And slowly, Madam Wong told her who she is.

“Your name is Bai LiQin. You are the daughter of a wealthy merchant. You are now married to the Zhen family and are the lady of the house.”

“Then where is my husband? I do not see him anywhere.”

“Your husband is a heartle-”

“Shush,”  Madam Wong warned Xiao Tao.

Before the old maid could explain to her, a knock came from the door and the maid opened the door for the person. A man, who stood haughtily, stepped into the room. He took one look at the lady and said, “I see that you haven't died.”

And then he turned to Madam Wong, “Take care of the Mistress. Whatever you need, just tell Old Man Kang.” With that said he left the room and the lady bewildered.

“Who does he think he is? Acting so arrogantly.”

“He is your husband,” said Madam Wong.

The lady was surprised. “That man who just left, is my husband?”

“Yes.”

However, the lady was quite puzzled. “What happened to me? Who is he? I don’t understand.”

The old woman held her hand and said, “Let me tell you.” She sat down on a chair and slowly explained to her everything that had happened to her since the day she was born:

The lady’s mother, Mistress Bai, died shortly after giving birth to you. Before she died, she named you after her dead sister, LiQin. Your father remarried later and had another three daughters and a son. Your stepmother hated you because you were more beautiful than her daughters and she was jealous of you.

At first, you were the only child. Thus, your father loved you very much but due to your stepmother badmouthing you to your father everyday behind your back; you grew apart. And with the birth of your other siblings your father was even less concerned with you.

However, thanks to your stepmother’s family support, your father’s business grew, and he became a wealthy merchant. Later, your father listened to your stepmother’s ‘advice’ and agreed to your marriage with the adopted son of the present city lord, Lord Zhen.

Even though he knew that you already had a lover, he broke apart your relationship and sent him away. If that was not bad enough, he was unfortunate and met with a band of bandits and was killed. You had always blamed your father for his death, but being a filial child, you still went through with the wedding. You are now married to the current Master of the house, ZhenYu.

Since that day, the lady entered into the household. You have never met your husband, not even on your wedding night, because he left you sitting there the whole night.

Other than that, because of your sickness due to the grief of losing someone you loved, you spend most of your time in your room nursing yourself. You never cameout, except every morning where you routinely went to the bamboo forest.

Although for dinner, he set the rules to eat with you every day and since your illness started to worsen, those meetings stopped too. You have never spoken to the master as well, maybe you were too shy.

The lady listened quietly to the old maid’s story.