The next thing Shen Minyao knew, she was already inside a private room of the hospital. When she opened her eyes, she wasn't sure how long time had passed since she trekked down the Qingqiu Mountain, along with her human contractor. She tried to make sense of her new surroundings, trying to figure out if there was impending danger waiting to strike at her.
"Miss! You are finally awake!"
Miss? The fox woman blinked. This was far from the title she was accustomed to. Her past servants had called her Niangniang, but since she was now in a new host, the fox woman supposed that she needed to get accustomed to the new era.
In her past life, wasn't she an imperial noble consort of an emperor? One rank lower than the queen of the empire? Still, with her charisma and prowess, even the official wife of the emperor couldn't outwit her.
Her previous host had been long gone, and right now, she had to live as Shen Minyao, taking over the identity of her newest host. As the fox woman forced herself to sit up on the hospital bed, memories of the original Shen Minyao entered her mind, reminding her of the grievances and heartaches she endured in this life.
"Miss! You shouldn't force yourself to move!" The same young woman she heard earlier panic next to her bed, but the fox woman ignored her as she focused herself on sorting the events that happened throughout Shen Minyao's life.
Ha? Did Shen Minyao really believe the lies of her cousin, Shen Qing?
The fox woman rubbed the area between her eyebrows and sighed. Her host's body was so skinny, and it would take her some time before she could transform this body once she took care of her body a bit more.
"Miss, are you hurt somewhere? Should I call the doctor to see you?" the young woman asked her nervously.
The fox woman lifted her head to finally acknowledge the human accompanying her. According to her host's memories, this young woman's name was Fu Xiyan. She was a daughter of a maid of the Shen family and had been Shen Minyao's closest companion for a long time.
She then looked around her surroundings, noticing a distinct scent of disinfectant wafting through the air. It was enough for her to scrunch her nose in disgust.
"Miss, don't think about that cheating bastard anymore. If he so wanted to be with Shen Qing, let him be. For you to try to take your own life at Qingqiu Mountain… wuuu… Miss Yao was really unfair to me." Fu Xiyan wailed next to Shen Minyao's bed.
The fox woman didn't say anything but understood what had happened… except for the fact that Fu Xiyan was wrong, assuming that Shen Minyao wanted to kill herself. In fact, it was Shen Qing and her older brother who had forced the young woman to death.
"How long have I been here?" She asked Fu Xiyan, noticing how weird her clothing was. The fox woman then reminded herself that she was now living in a totally different era, far from what she'd been accustomed to in the past.
"You were found with another man on the road near Qingqiu Mountain three days ago, Miss. You've been unconscious since then." Fu Xiyan explained, still a little worried that her miss would dare to hurt herself again.
"I see…" Shen Minyao whispered.
The fox woman heard footsteps outside the hallway and could feel the aura of hatred and disgust coming her way. The corner of her lips lifted. By now, she was sure that Shen Qing had already informed her father about what happened and told him lies to ruin Shen Minyao's reputation.
There was a loud knock on the door before the doorknob shook. The person on the other side of the door tried to step inside in such a hurry, and the fox woman couldn't wait to see the drama unfold in front of her. She wanted to see how petty and horrendous these people who dared to bully her host. Since she was now living as Shen Minyao, she promised to the original soul that she would seek justice in her stead.
Fu Xiyan shivered and gave her miss a worried look before she hurriedly unlocked the door to see who it was. Since they were younger, Shen Minyao had a habit of locking her doors in a failed attempt to avoid her abusive stepmother and her half-sister, and so Fu Xiyan had also done the same thing if it could give her miss a sense of security.
"What took you so long to open the door? Do you really want to anger me to death?" A loud voice said. It was General Shen, the cold-hearted father of Shen Minyao that she rarely saw growing up. The man was tall and had a domineering aura around him.
Ah, Shen Qing had really done a good job in fueling her father's anger with a few words. The fox woman thought.
As soon as General Shen saw her daughter, he glared at her furiously.
"Have you really no shame at all? You don't even pay respect to me as your father and want to keep me out?" He yelled at his sick daughter angrily.
Shen Minyao raised a slender brow and sat regally on her bed like a queen that had just woken up from her deep slumber. It didn't matter if she was dressed in a flimsy hospital gown with her hair unkempt; her whole demeanor spoke volumes to everyone who saw her. Her eyes swept at everyone before settling her gaze towards her estranged father.
"General Shen, do you expect a sickly patient to welcome you warmly and open the door for you? Have you ever seen a patient forcing her way to welcome a guest? I'm sick and weak, and yet my father would rather raise his voice without asking how I'm faring? You disappoint me, General Shen."