“They are finally here. Let’s see what she is going to do about this,” said the woman standing beside Wang Qingqing as she gloated.

She was wearing tasseled earrings and they swayed gently as she spoke.

“Qingqing, Hongxiu, stop it already. Let’s see what she is going to do about this,” said a young woman wearing a lavender dress with flowers scattered all over her pleated skirt. Her long dark hair was done up exquisitely in an updo with a gold butterfly hairpin placed diagonally behind her head as long gold tassels hung from it.

Cheng Xiaoxiao had no impression of the woman talking to Wang Qingqing, but they were probably birds of a feather and up to no good.

“Give way to the County Princess. If you disrespect her, His Highness is going to punish us.”

Who was this? Did she have to speak with such an annoying attitude?

Cheng Xiaoxiao had already gone back to Chu Yunshen’s room to play with the baby bird when he went to Su Ninglan’s quarters, so she did not know anything about this young woman with a similar aura as Wan Xia.

Su Ninglan was not wearing any makeup and dressed in a white official costume as usual with her long dress flowing behind her and a white shawl draped over her shoulders.

She had her long hair scattered behind her shoulders and seemed particularly soft.

She seemed like a lotus standing in the breeze.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t as pretty as Wan Xia.

Despite Su Ninglan’s excellent features, she had a high-spirited air.

She was dressed plainly in white, so her outfit was able to reduce this air, but it ended up coming off strange.

Wan Xia’s beauty felt more powerful in comparison. She was always able to garner attention and people were unable to stop looking at her after looking at her more deeply.

Perhaps Wan Xia not only looked beautiful, but she also possessed a captivating quality.

Cheng Xiaoxiao genuinely wasn’t saying this because she was biased towards Wan Xia. She could see how much all these other women envied Wan Xia.

Wan Xia slowly walked up to the women encircling Xiao Qin with the lion cat in her arms. For some reason, all the commotion suddenly died down and all they could hear was Xiao Qin’s senseless rambling.

Xiao Qin stood at the center of the pavilion and looked up at the plaque in a daze as she muttered.

Those women finally made way for Wan Xia. As Wan Xia approached Xiao Qin gradually, Xiao Qin turned her attention from the plaque hanging overhead towards Wan Xia.

“M-m-miss…”

Xiao Qin’s hair was in a mess. Even though she kept muttering, she could only say one syllable.

“Xiao Qin, it’s me. I am Wan Xia.”

Wan Xia held the lion cat with one hand as she attempted to reach her other hand towards Xiao Qin.

She took every step cautiously and with determination.

“Why did you get yourself so dirty? Let me take you back to clean up, okay?”

Wan Xia spoke as she did her utmost to suppress her emotions. Her voice was trembling and so was her outreached hand.

She seemed worried about startling Xiao Qin, so she did her best to control her movement.

Cheng Xiaoxiao could sense Wan Xia tightening her grip on her. Her well-manicured nails had already dug into Cheng Xiaoxiao’s skin, but Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t make a sound and did her utmost to distract herself from the pain.

Since Wan Xia was doing her best, Cheng Xiaoxiao certainly couldn’t burden her.

“Miss? Miss Wan Xia?”

Xiao Qin kept repeating Wan Xia’s words, but she clearly didn’t understand Wan Xia.

“Uh huh! It’s me. I am Wan Xia. Xiao Qin, be good…”

Wan Xia reached her hand out towards Xiao Qin and moved forward slightly.

She choked before she inhaled deeply and moved her hands. “Let me take you back to our quarters. Let’s go back!”

“Go back?” Xiao Qin tilted her head and bit her fingers as she considered Wan Xia’s suggestion.

Before long, Xiao Qin quickly retreated several steps. Her skinny face was filled with fear as she waved her hands wildly in the air. “No! I am not going back! I don’t want to go back! I can’t!”

Xiao Qin moved so swiftly that she inadvertently hit Wan Xia’s hand as she held it out in mid-air.

Cheng Xiaoxiao watched as Wan Xia’s fair hands turned red. She was even scratched and bleeding in some places. Xiao Qin probably dug her fingernails into Wan Xia earlier.

Stupid girl!

Wan Xia should have pulled her hands back.

Cheng Xiaoxiao got very anxious. She reached her paws out and pulled Wan Xia’s sleeve in an attempt to pull her arm back.

Wan Xia stubbornly reached her hand out. She refused to put it down and even went a little closer.

“Xiao Qin, look at me! Don’t you remember me?” Tears burst from Wan Xia’s eyes uncontrollably. She was incapable of containing her tears.

Her tears trickled down onto Cheng Xiaoxiao and felt exceptionally warm.

Wan Xia bit her lip hard as though it could make her tears stop.

“We have been friends since we were children. We did everything together and I would take you everywhere I went.”

Wan Xia’s lips were already torn from the biting and her white teeth were covered with blood that tasted like rust.

Cheng Xiaoxiao raised her head and looked at Wan Xia when she smelled the blood. Wan Xia had turned her head sideways and Cheng Xiaoxiao could see that her lips were red from the blood.

“Xiao Qin, have you forgotten? You loved doing my hair. You were so good with your hands that no one could compare to you. Ever since you fell sick, no one was able to do as good a job. Doesn’t my hair look awful now?”

Wan Xia sniffled as she composed her emotions and turned her head to look at Xiao Qin. The other women standing around her seemed moved when they heard Wan Xia making small talk with Xiao Qin.

Su Ninglan initially felt contemptuous about what Wan Xia said, but her eyes ended up turning red after hearing this.

All the other women reacted the same way. They wanted to see Wan Xia get into trouble and laugh at her about it. However, they ended up feeling ashamed when they saw how loyal Wan Xia was towards Xiao Qin.

Wan Xia bled with every word she uttered. Fortunately, Xiao Qin seemed to regain her senses in the process.

“Wan Xia! Miss Wan Xia is very pretty!” Xiao Qin suddenly smiled in a daze as she looked at Wan Xia.

Xiao Qin stopped hitting her and retaliating. She simply stood where she was and scrutinized everyone before she laughed.

From the looks of it, Wan Xia had successfully triggered Xiao Qin’s memory.

Wan Xia probably did not expect Xiao Qin to praise her for being pretty at a time like this. She stopped crying and smiled with tears glistening in her eyes.

“Xiao Qin also looks good. Xiao Qin is also the prettiest girl on earth.”

“Miss Wan Xia is very pretty! Miss Wan Xia is the prettiest girl on earth!”

Xiao Qin looked at Wan Xia seriously as she spoke.

Wan Xia slowly walked up beside Xiao Qin and smoothed her hair with her hands as she coaxed Xiao Qin, “Xiao Qin, be good. Xiao Qin is so pretty. Will you do my hair for me when you are better?”

Wan Xia noticed Xiao Qin becoming more obedient, so she suddenly held Xiao Qin hard. “Xiao Yue! What are you standing around for? Hurry up and help!”

Xiao Yue had been standing among the women after getting a terrible shock. Now that Wan Xia called her, she snapped out of her daze.

Perhaps Wan Xia was too loud and sounded anxious, so Xiao Qin got agitated once more.

“AH!”

Xiao Qin wrested herself free from Wan Xia. She seemed to be having a splitting headache as she opened her eyes wide in shock and held her head before shaking her body hard.

If Cheng Xiaoxiao saw this on television, she would have considered this melodramatic acting.

However, this was happening to Cheng Xiaoxiao in reality and at such proximity.

This was the first time Cheng Xiaoxiao ever witnessed someone going mad. Xiao Qin’s eyes were filled with fear and agony. It felt as though Wan Xia was some man-eating monster who would devour her anytime.

The patient must be in great pain, right?

Cheng Xiaoxiao might have only been feeling compassionate about Xiao Qin earlier, but she genuinely wished she could recover now.

If Xiao Qin was conscious, she would probably feel heartbroken when she found out how she had hurt Wan Xia.

Why did this happen to her? She seemed even younger than Cheng Xiaoxiao.

Although Cheng Xiaoxiao had died, she had the chance to get reborn. Even though she was now a lion cat most of the time, she did her best to live and refused to waste a single moment.

However, Xiao Qin lost all hope after the incident and ended up hanging on her last breath. Most of the time, she could not recognize the people around her or even herself.

Xiao Qin held her head as she squatted on the ground and sobbed. Xiao Yue didn’t dare make a move.

She halted at the center of the pavilion and didn’t know whether she ought to advance or retreat.

Wan Xia had already reached the edge of the pavilion with the lion cat in her arms along with Xiao Qin. The large man-made lake was behind them.

Wan Xia attempted to bend over and place her hand on Xiao Qin’s shoulder. She unexpectedly got thrown onto the ground by Xiao Qin before she even managed to touch Xiao Qin.

“Miss Wan Xia!”

“Be careful!”

Xiao Yue and the ladies shouted in shock, and Su Ninglan even took a step forward.

Fortunately, Xiao Qin didn’t attempt to do anything else. She simply stood up and stared at the plaque on the pavilion in a daze.

“Xiao Qin…”

Wan Xia held the lion cat in her arms carefully as she struggled a few times but was unable to stand up.

Xiao Qin surprisingly turned her head when she heard Wan Xia calling her.

Cheng Xiaoxiao could not tell what was on Xiao Qin’s mind. There were simply too many complicated emotions running through her eyes.

“Miss Wan Xia, you really are becoming prettier by the day.”

Had Xiao Qin regained her senses?

Before Cheng Xiaoxiao could wrap her mind around it, Xiao Qin jumped right into the man-made lake.

PLONK!

“Xiao Qin!” shouted Wan Xia sadly.

Su Ninglan and the others were at a complete loss when they heard Xiao Qin falling into the lake.

They watched in disbelief as water splashed from the lake and couldn’t believe their eyes.

Wan Xia was the first one to lunge towards Xiao Qin. Wan Xia let go of the lion cat and threw her on the ground. She pushed herself off the ground with both hands before she anxiously ran to the edge of the lake while she pulled her sprained foot along and wanted to jump.

Xiao Yue finally caught on to the situation.

She hurried over to pull Wan Xia, but Wan Xia kept trying to wrest herself free of Xiao Yue. Her face was covered with tears with some loose hair falling over her face.

“Xiao Qin! Xiao Qin! Let me go! I have to save her!”

Other than the initial large splash appearing when Xiao Qin jumped into the lake, it had gone completely quiet.

No one could hear anyone crying for help and all that remained were some ripples undulating across the lake surface.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was unable to shake the ripples off her mind as she looked at them.