Chapter 1 – Memory loss
When consciousness slowly returned little by little, she became aware of her surroundings. For a while, she only felt a splitting headache and her ears still seemed to be ‘buzzing’.
She strenuously tried to open her eyes. The faint moonlight was piercing and everything was just a blur in front of her eyes. She seemed to be lying on the cold ground. When she moved her fingers, she touched cold water and damp mud, and her nose could also pick up the smell of grass. She seemed to be on a riverbank in the wilderness.
She gasped for breath and felt a burst of pain in her head. Subconsciously, she raised her hand to touch her head but found that her arm was heavy. After a long time had passed, she managed to touch her head and felt wetness on her hand that seemed to be blood.
She was dazed for a while......what happened to her?
A man ran up to her and quickly asked her. “How are you? Are you alright?”
She could not answer as the pain had drained her energy. Her head seemed to be still bleeding and she blinked hard to get a clear view of the man in front of her but could only manage to see a fuzzy silhouette.
The man seemed impatient and could not wait for her mind to clear up. He dragged her up to the shore, then reached his hands into her clothes and started to fumble around as he shouted. “Where is that thing?!”
Thing? What thing?
There seemed to be sounds coming from a distance and as her ears were still buzzing, she could not hear clearly. The man who was rummaging through her clothes seemed to have heard the sounds in the distance because he stood up quickly and ran off in a flash.
Soon, a group of people had rushed to her side noisily. They were holding torches and yelling loudly. The lights from the torches were so bright and piercing that she closed her eyes. She could hear shouts coming from the people.
“She is here! Found! She is found!........”
Who is searching for her?
Her head was so painful that she was unable to respond. She did not know what had happened. Then she sank into the darkness again.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the black-cyan bed canopy. She moved slightly and realized that she was lying on the bed covered with a soft quilt. Her head did not seem to hurt so much as before. She stretched out her hand to touch her head and found it was covered with a piece of cloth. It turned out her head was bandaged. Slowly and carefully, she turned her head to look around the room she was lying in.
In the middle of the room was a round table and there was only a round wooden tray on the table. A teapot with four cups placed upside down sat in the wooden tray. There were four chairs under the table and one of the chairs was pulled out. Apparently, someone had sat there before. Since the chair was not put back in place, it meant that the person would be back soon, and the lack of a cup of tea on the table indicated that the person should be a servant.
A small square table was placed by the window and a bronze mirror, some combs, rouge boxes, and jewelry boxes were placed neatly on it. A large cabinet stood next to a wall and on top of the cabinet were some miscellaneous playtoys for women. With just a glance, it was obvious that the room was a lady’s bedchamber.
By looking at the exquisite furniture and decorations, the family should be well-to-do but the bedchamber felt cold and deserted and the furnishings were simple and basic. She guessed that the owner of the room should not be someone favored.
Just as she was immersed in her thoughts, footsteps sounded from outside the room. For an unknown reason, she quickly shut her eyes. At this moment, she memorized the position of all the items in the room and the location of the door and windows in her heart. She moved secretly to test and find out whether she had the energy to move.
She subconsciously accomplished all of this in an instant. Her mind was a little confused as though something was wrong but at this moment, she had no idea what was wrong.
The person who entered was a maid who walked with small footsteps. She could deduce from her hearing that the maid was not skilled in martial arts.
Quietly, she opened her eyes and saw the maid’s appearance but could not recognize the maid. She finally realized what was wrong.
It turned out that she could not recall her memories!
The maid was standing at the side of the bed and upon seeing the woman on the bed was awake, the maid greeted her.
“Madam is awake.”
Madam? So this maid recognizes her?
The woman on the bed responded with an ‘um’ but was startled by her dry and hoarse voice.
What happened to her? How long had she been lying in bed?
Being a smart person, the maid brought a cup of water over upon noticing her condition. The maid reached out a hand to support the woman’s head and fed her some water.
She thought back and forth but her mind was still empty. Then she simply endured the headache and sat up to observe the maid’s expression. The maid did not show any cold or warm expression and seemed to be familiar with her. She watched the maid calmly and in her heart, she was wondering what had happened.
The maid put down the cup then turned around to meet her eyes and said. “Madam is injured. Madam should rest.”
Injured?
The woman on the bed tried hard to recall but unfortunately, she had no impression of how she got injured. In fact, she had no impression of anyone or anything in her mind and that included herself as well.
Under such circumstances, if she is to ask the question ‘Who am I?’…….it would be frightening, right?
So, it would be better to pick a safer question.
So she asked. “Since I’m awake, don’t you have to notify other people?”
The words seemed to have caught the maid by surprise. She blanked out for a while and then replied.
“Second Master is busy now and won’t come over. Chief Steward Tie had gone out with Second Master to handle some matters. The doctor said that Madam had knocked her head and the wound had been treated with medicine. After resting more and taking medicine on time, Madam should be fine.”
“Your meaning is…….since the doctor said that everything is fine, so everyone thinks that it’s alright not to come and have a look, is that right?”
The maid was taken aback and it seemed she was at a loss as to the appropriate answer she should give.
The woman on the bed thought hard of the two names ‘Second Master’ and ‘Chief Steward Tie’. She could not think of anything and could not recall her identity.
Anyway, if this situation continues there is no way to hide it, so she simply asked. “What is your name?”
The maid frowned. “Is Madam pretending to be confused? This servant is Xiaoqing.”
“Oh, it’s Xiaoqing.” Then she asked. “Then who am I?”
Xiaoqing gaped in surprise and stammered. “Ma……Madam, did the knock damaged your brain? Don’t you remember?”
“That’s right, my brain is damaged.” She answered calmly and seriously.
Xiaoqing was dumbstruck then took a step back and said. “Ma……Madam, quickly banish such ideas from your mind! Second Master is already angry and if you pretend to be stupid again, he will punish you heavily.”
Madam…….Second Master?
The woman on the bed thought and thought and then voiced out the guess she had formed. “You called me ‘Madam’ and kept on talking about ‘Second Master’…….so is he, my husband?”
This time the maid was not dumbstruck but shocked. She turned around and rushed out the door while shouting.
“Quick! Someone look for Doctor Chen!…….. Hurry, go and fetch Doctor Chen!……..”
In the room, the woman with amnesia was left sitting on the bed. She touched the bandage on her head and said to herself.
“Alright, now I know he is not my husband but do you need to show such an intense reaction?”
After waiting for a long time, that Doctor Chen did not appear but an old woman arrived and barged into the room with several maids in tow. To say she barged in was indeed true because she showed an imposing manner when she entered.
“I heard that something happened to Madam, so this old woman came purposely to have a look.”
Her gaze was sharp. When she was not speaking, her thin lips were pressed tightly together and she looked quite stern.
“Thank you for your concern. May I know who are you?”
Although the old woman was dressed neatly, she could not hide her fatigue and the layer of dust on her. She should have just returned from outside not too long ago and the instant she returned, she came to see her.
She wondered how she is related to this old woman.
“Humph, you truly don’t remember anything? I am Momo Yu.”
The old woman showed an expression that said ‘just keep on pretending to be stupid’ but she still replied.
“I am the Steward Momo in charge of this mansion.”
Just now that maid told her there was a Chief Steward Tie and now this old woman says she is Steward Momo Yu. This place seemed to be a large mansion.
The woman sitting on the bed touched her head again and asked. “Then who am I?”
“Your name is Fengning and you are the wife of my Third Master.” Momo Yu frowned.
“Third Master?”
No wonder the maid ran off so fast. It turned out that she had mistaken the Second Master for her husband. It was indeed too outrageous.
“Is Madam trying to tell me that you can’t remember anything at all?”
Fengning did not reply and continued to ask. “Where is this place?”
Momo Yu said coldly. “Long Mansion in the imperial city.”
Fengning asked again. “What happened to me?”
“You knocked your head.” Momo Yu sneered. “This knock had rendered you stupid. It’s not surprising that Madam can come up with this idea.”
“Do you think I’m acting stupid?”
The old woman’s unkind attitude was so obvious that even if Fengning wanted to ignore it, she could not. A bolt of pain shot up in her head and she shook her head.
Momo Yu stood beside the bed and stared at her coldly. Fengning closed her eyes and when the pain had finally subsided, she had a thought and asked again.
“Then where is my husband?”
Regardless of whether she is pretending to be stupid or not, this question can be asked, right?
“What?” Momo Yu’s eyes showed surprise.
Can it be that it is out of the ordinary for her to ask about her husband?
The situation seemed weird.
“Didn’t you say that I am the wife of the Third Master? Since I am injured, does he not care about me?”
The old woman stared at Fengning and then closed her mouth tightly again without saying anything.
Fengning returned the old woman’s stare calmly. When she thought of this cold deserted bedchamber, it seemed there was no trace of a man living here. The more she thought, the weirder she felt.
“Is this the Long Mansion and is this my room?”
“Yes.”
“Am I an abandoned wife?”
“Not yet.”
“Is my husband dead?”
That must be the reason why the maid had kept talking about the Second Master.
Can it be that the Third Master had passed away long ago?
“No.” Momo Yu was very unhappy. “You’re not allowed to speak such nonsensical words.”
“Then where is my husband? I want to see him.”
Momo Yu narrowed her eyes slightly when she heard those words. After staring at her for a while, Momo Yu turned her head around to order the maid standing behind her.
“Go and fetch Doctor Chen.”
“Does Doctor Chen know where my husband went?”
The old woman let out a humph and sat down on the chair without answering.
Fengning felt the pain in her head had lessened but the questions in her head kept accumulating.
She continued to ask. “Auntie, how did I hurt my head?”
“You should be telling me this.” Momo Yu’s tone was very discourteous and it was obvious she had no patience.
“So it was all of you who lost me and don’t know how I was injured?”
Fengning suddenly recalled the cold water, the damp mud, the piercing moonlight, and the torches…….and that strange man who was searching for something on her…….
Momo Yu did not answer and Fengning continued to ask. “Then who usually takes care of me?”
Momo Yu did not answer but Xiaoqing replied. “It is Xiaoqing who is in charge of Madam’s daily needs.”
“Where is my maiden home? How long have I been married?”
Fengning was asking with eagerness but Momo Yu was feeling impatient. She slapped on the table fiercely and shouted at the maid standing behind her.
“Go and see why it’s taking them so long to fetch the doctor!”
“Auntie, don’t worry. The doctor has to walk and can’t fly over here, right? Don’t be anxious. Let’s continue to talk. We’ll just wait while we talk.”
Fengning ignored Momo Yu’s black face and persuaded her.
“I am not an auntie!” Momo Yu was very angry.
Auntie is an appellation used by the people in the market. In homes of the wealthy, she can still be crudely addressed as an old lady but she is a Head Steward in the Long Mansion, so how can she be called an auntie?!
“Oh, it will be Momo Yu then…….” Very obediently, Fengning changed the way of addressing her and then asked.
“Momo Yu, is your mood not good, or is it that you don’t like me at all?”
Momo Yu did not intend to reply to this question. However, even for one who is petty, one should not speak so bluntly about the attitude of others so brazenly and directly.
What evil trick is this Third Madam up to now?
Unexpectedly, Fengning asked again. “What makes you think I pretended to be stupid?”
Momo Yu finally could not stand it and said bluntly. “Because you are capable of doing this kind of thing.”
“So that’s it.” Fengning was not angry but was only thinking quietly. She looked at the environment of the room, the expressions on the faces of the momo and the servants, but nothing made an impression on her.
Does she actually stay here? Had she really seen them before?
“Can you give me a mirror please?” Fengning’s request made everyone in the room dumbfounded.
After being humiliated by Momo Yu, she can still think about the mirror?
After the mirror was brought to her, Fengning turned left and right and studied herself in the mirror. Except for the eye-jarring bandage around her head, she was quite satisfied with her looks.
Her eyebrows are curved, she has big eyes, a small straight nose, a little cherry mouth…….a great beauty, indeed…….
In her heart, she felt this is how she should look……..but the people facing her are completely unfamiliar……..
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