Surprisingly, the congee wasn’t poisoned. Lin Shan ate two bowls and none of her body parts started to bleed or fall apart. Even the servant that delivered food to her left silently. From the looks of it, nothing was going to happen.
Lin Shan couldn’t help but felt unease.
Could Ji Hong Lin really have forgiven her for killing the heaven silkworms? No, no, no! There aren’t many forgiving people out there; Ji Hong Lin is definitely not one of them! She is nuts. She would never let her go this easily. What does she want to do with her?
Lin Shan thought about it for so long that she started to have a splitting headache. The areas that she was tied up previously started to throb as well. It was as if she was being tear apart. Her eyelids started to get heavier and heavier. In the end, she couldn’t stop it any longer and fell into a deep slumber.
Lin Shan had a dream. She dreamt that she was about to get married. She was wearing a red wedding robe and everyone was running towards her congratulating her. Her parents were holding her hands as tears rolled down their faces. They were reluctant to part with her. Even her friends from the modern world were wearing ancient attires and wis.h.i.+ng her happiness.
Lin Shan was ecstatic. She was finally going to marry Lian Feng! Everyone was saying that they will last a lifetime. Underneath her bridal veil, she felt a mix of excitement and nervousness. She couldn’t wait until her groom lift up her veil.
In Ancient China, the bride would be wearing all red and her face would be covered by the red veil. Normally, the groom will lift it up when they are in the room.
The groom finally arrived. She could hear his footsteps. It was strong and steady. She could feel his hot breathing as he faced her. Currently, she was imagining Lian Feng’s expression.
The veil was finally lift and the images in front of her looked very sharp. Instead of seeing Lian Feng, it was Ji Bai Yu’s teasing smile she saw. The corner of his mouth was raised and he looked mockingly at her.
Lin Shan was so shocked that she screamed and slapped him. But instead, she heard a woman yelling, “Ah!”
How come it was a woman?
Lin Shan woke up and saw an angry woman in red clothing. On her face was a clear print of her palm.
“Uh..s-sorry about that! I didn’t do it on purpose.” Lin Shan awkwardly smiled as she apologized. However, the woman was enraged and had already lifted her hand to return her slap.
Fortunately, Lin Shan reacted quickly. She ducked her head and the woman ended up slapping the bed beam instead. Her hand instantly turned red. It was so painful that she became all fl.u.s.tered and exasperated: “Fasten this s.l.u.t up. I am going to beat her to death!”
While she was still speaking, two of her subordinates already came over. One grabbed hold of Lin Shan on the left, the other on the right. Then, the angry woman lifted her hand with no restrain. She was about to slam it down.
Lin Shan quickly yelled: “Wait, you can’t hit me!”
The woman’s hand hovered in mid air. She smiled at her with disdain: “I can’t hit you? Who do you think you are?”
“Well, who are you?” Lin Shan countered.
The woman was astonished by Lin Shan’s reaction. She angrily blasted: “Who I am is none of your business!”
“Of course it is my business. I might be a prisoner, but I’m going to be your future Young Miss. Your Mistress is the one who wants me. Who do you think you are? You even dare to hit me?” Lin Shan suspected that the woman wasn’t sent from Ji Hong Lin and she went all out.
As expected, the woman didn’t dare to slap her anymore. However, her att.i.tude was still very repulsive. “Pss.h.!.+ Young Miss? Do you actually think you will get that position? Mistress is just trying to get revenge. Look in the mirror. Young Master would never be attracted to your type. You’re tras.h.!.+”
“Even if he’s not attracted to me, it’s your Mistress’s decision. If you slap me and caused me to be unpresentable, I don’t think your Mistress will forgive you!”
“You!” The woman in red didn’t say anymore, but she was still furious. After pondering for a few seconds, her eyes turned and revealed her spite. “Hahaha.. you think just because you said those words I can’t do anything with you? Today, I’m getting revenge for my sister no matter what!”
Then, she suddenly pulled out three steel needles.
Lin Shan was stunned. Are you freaking kidding me? Do you think you’re Rong momo*? How many crazy people live in this secretive place?
*This is the character Rong momo from the Mainland Drama “Princess Pearl”. She was the Empress’s aide and known to be very vicious with punishments.
Lin Shan was in despair as she tried to altered the situation: “You must have made a mistake. What revenge? I can’t even save myself. How can I hurt your sister? Do you think I’m a daoist immortal?”
“Stop with the bulls.h.i.+t. If you didn’t try to escape, why would my sister be punished? Too bad for you, you met me today!”
“Wait, your sister is Gui Mei?” Lin Shan finally figured it out. Ji Hong Lin was probably raging so hard that she blamed Gui Mei for letting her escape into the icy warehouse.
“Oh? Now you remember? Well, it’s too late!” The woman in red stabbed the needle into Lin Shan’s arm.
It was so painful that Lin Shan nearly fainted. Now, the woman was about to stab the second needle. Fortunately, someone stormed in and stopped her.
“Stop, Ting Lan!” Gui Mei rushed in. Her face looked pale and she looked much weaker compared to before. However, her presence was still very powerful. She slapped Ting Lan across the face: “Are you crazy? She’s Young Miss. What if you killed her?” Gui Mei screamed.
Ting Lan’s eyes immediately turned red.
“Sister, I’m helping you get revenge!”
“Get what revenge? It was my fault. I was too careless. Why are you blaming someone else?”
“Sister! I….” Ting Lan was so mad, she wanted to spit blood. She looked at the firm Gui Mei, and then at Lin Shan, who was almost unconscious. She stomped her feet and left red eyed.
After Ting Lan left, Gui Mei felt relieved. She turned around and ordered the two subordinates: “Bring Young Miss and follow me.”
Lin Shan had no idea how long she was being carried. She didn’t open her eyes until she felt hot steam surrounding her. It was then she realized she was in a stone room. In the middle of the stone room was a stone hot spring. It was piping hot.
“Help Young Miss remove her clothes.” Gui Mei commanded. Two of the female servants came over and started stripping Lin Shan.
By now, Lin Shan wasn’t in so much pain anymore. Seeing how she was being stripped, she quickly started to fidget: “What are you guys doing? Let me go! Let me…”
Of course, the two servant girls would never take her orders. They took off all her clothes and shoved her into the hot spring. Water splashed everywhere and Lin Shan even swallowed a few gulps of water. She wanted to climb out, but someone held onto her arms and legs, and another person started to wash her.
What kind of feeling was that? She felt like a pig ready to be slaughtered. What an unlucky pig she was. After she was cleaned, she was going to be chopped up. Her market price will be fifteen dollars a pound.
But the treatment of the pig was too good! After bathing, she was even given a ma.s.sage! They even sharpened her nails and painted them. The colour of the nail polish was from a flower. It was red and it made everything felt very surreal.
Suddenly, Lin Shan recalled her dream and had a very bad premonition.
—-Could she be getting married?