"Miss..." the little maid stammered, "You...you really don't remember?"
Bai Ying gently shook her head, but she already had a plan in mind. Since her cultivation had been severely damaged for the time being, and she had taken over Xia Qingdai's identity, she might as well recuperate here, which would also allow her to avoid the notice of the Huayang Ancestor...
"I really don't remember anything." She leaned weakly against the headboard. "What's your name? Can you tell me...about me?"
The maid's tears welled up instantly: "My name is Xiao Tao... Don't you even remember Xiao Tao, Miss?" She wiped away her tears and hurriedly said, "But it's alright! The doctor said that it's a miracle you survived the fall from the cliff... Your memory will gradually return..."
Bai Ying—now known as Xia Qingdai—nodded slightly. Gazing at the sunlight outside the window, she silently vowed in her heart: Miaomiao, wait for me. Once I recover my cultivation, I will definitely return to avenge you!
Bai Ying listened quietly as Xiao Tao told her story about Xia Qingdai, her teacup growing cold without her noticing.
As the story unfolded, her brow furrowed more and more deeply.
"Miss, you...you've really suffered so much," Xiao Tao said, wiping away her tears. "You were clearly the rightful eldest daughter of the Xia family, but that heartless midwife switched you..."
It turns out that Xia Qingdai was supposed to be a rich young lady born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she was secretly switched by the midwife when she was born.
The midwife, who had taken the money, replaced Xia Qingdai with a sickly daughter from a poor family in the village and took her back to the impoverished farmhouse.
"That family constantly beat and verbally abused the young lady..." Xiao Tao's voice choked with sobs. "The young lady had to work in the fields when she was six, and by eight she was doing all the chores for the whole family. In winter, she didn't even have a decent cotton-padded coat, and her hands were covered in chilblains..."
Bai Ying felt a tightness in her chest.
She seemed to see young Xia Qingdai shivering in the cold wind, her hands, which should have been holding a pen and playing the zither, covered with calluses and scars.
"When I was fourteen..." Xiao Tao suddenly gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, "that family wanted to marry their daughter off to a lame man in his forties from the village for the sake of the bride price..."
Bai Ying's pupils suddenly contracted.
She knew all too well what this meant—at that age, being sold to a strange old man was practically a death sentence for Xia Qingdai...
"Miss escaped with her life on the line." Xiao Tao's eyes lit up. "She overheard the couple's conversation and learned that she wasn't their biological daughter. Using this clue, she begged her way to the Xia family..."
At this point in the story, Bai Ying had already crushed the teacup in her hand.
This Xia Qingdai, whom she had never met, had a fate so similar to hers—both were betrayed by their closest loved ones, and both faced the world alone.
"But..." Xiao Tao's voice trailed off, "When Miss finally returned to the Xia family after all her hardships, Xia Yuwei had already been living the life of a wealthy young lady for over a decade. Although Master and Madam recognized Miss, but..."
Bai Ying sneered and continued, "But in the end, you still favor that 'daughter' you've raised for over ten years, don't you?"
Xiao Tao looked up in surprise, never expecting that the amnesiac lady could see through it all so easily.
Unbeknownst to her, Bai Ying was filled with sarcasm at that moment—she was all too familiar with the pain of being betrayed by her closest relatives.
"And what about Duan Xiuyuan?" Bai Ying asked coldly.
"Young Master Duan is deeply in love with Miss Yuwei..." Xiao Tao hesitated, "But Miss Yuwei is already engaged. So..." Her voice trailed off, "The Duan family, in order to curry favor with the Xia family, actually wanted Young Master Duan to marry you, Miss. They felt... that since they are both of Xia family blood... However, Young Master Duan felt he had a chance to marry Miss Yuwei, and it was you, Miss, who came back and broke them up..."
As for why Xia Qingdai tumbled to the bottom of the cliff, Xiao Tao wasn't entirely sure either. She only said, "Everyone says that Miss Yuwei was chosen by the Immortal Master to be his disciple, but you felt that you were no less capable than Miss Yuwei and also wanted the Immortal Master to take you as his disciple. To prove yourself, you actually went to the edge of the cliff to try to fly on your sword, but the sword didn't take off. You fell straight down."
Xiao Tao cried as she spoke, "Miss, based on my understanding of you, you would never do such a thing! It's just a pity that you have amnesia and don't remember anything. Now that you've barely managed to save your life, you've become a laughing stock in everyone's eyes."
Xiao Tao was feeling sorry for Bai Ying. But at that moment, Bai Ying asked her, "Was I cultivating before I fell off the cliff?"
"No, that immortal said your aptitude wasn't good enough and refused to take you as a disciple. Although you were disappointed, you didn't insist. I also can't understand why you suddenly wanted to fly on a sword... Do you know? You've been lying in bed for a month, and neither the master nor the madam has come to see you once."
Xiao Tao's eyes were red and swollen, filled with indignation for Xia Qingdai. In this vast Xia mansion, only she knew how kind Miss Qingdai was—she would secretly bring her, a lowly maid, medicine for her injuries, and quietly provide her with cotton-padded clothes in the dead of winter. She was the only mistress in this deep mansion who treated her like a human being.
She really hoped that her daughter could have a better life.
As Xiao Tao spoke, she kept looking out the door with anticipation in her eyes: "Miss, don't worry, Master and Madam will come as soon as they hear you've woken up!" Before she finished speaking, she hurriedly lifted her skirt and ran out, her footsteps echoing rapidly in the corridor.
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