The Demonesses of Wangliang Forest - Chapter 3

Give up on revenge?

Impossible.

As I had said, I was someone who held a very, very long grudge.

If Liang Qisheng dared betray me, I would repay him a thousand times over.

But what if Liang Qisheng were no longer this child’s father? If the course of the child’s future life had nothing to do with him, would the Heavenly Dao still protect him?

I was very eager to find out.

A month later, I entered the Liang household as a maid, posing as an orphan.

The matron had just led me into the rear courtyard when another, plump matron hurried over, her face anxious.

“Where is Physician Chen?” she asked. “Madam’s leg trouble has flared up again. She’s in terrible pain.”

“Is Physician Chen away? I haven’t seen him.” The plump matron paced in agitation. “What are we to do? Ever since she gave birth to the young master, Madam’s legs have been getting worse. These past few days, she hasn’t slept a wink all night!”

She was about to go out and find another doctor when I stepped forward.

“Matron, I could try.”

She stopped and turned to stare at me. “Who are you?”

I lowered my head, speaking softly and steadily. “This servant is called Wan’er. Before my elderly mother died, she spent years bedridden. I learned a set of massage techniques from a country herbalist. They work very well for leg ailments. Perhaps you could let me try.”

The matron looked me over several times. Finally, she gritted her teeth. “Come with me.”

I followed her around turn after turn. Several maids searched me before I was brought before Wang Lian’er.

After so many years, I saw her again.

She was different from the pretty, refined young woman I remembered.

Wang Lian’er had grown somewhat plump. She reclined on a chaise longue, her face contorted with pain.

The matron gave me a shove. “What are you standing there for? Get on with it!”

I answered quietly and approached, lowering myself to one knee before Wang Lian’er.

Secretly gathering demonic power into my palms, I laid my hands over her legs and began to massage them gently.

Her moans of pain grew fainter. A quarter of an hour later, she looked at me in surprise.

“What technique is this?”

The matron hurried to ask, “Madam, what’s wrong? Has she hurt you?”

Wang Lian’er shook her head. “No. It feels very comfortable. The pain isn’t nearly as bad now.”

The matron was delighted. “Wonderful!”

When the massage was over, I rose silently and stepped aside.

Wang Lian’er played with her baby for a while, then looked up at me. “What is your name?”

“Wan’er, madam.”

“From now on, you’ll stay in my courtyard.”

I massaged Wang Lian’er’s legs every day. As my demonic energy soaked into them, the pain grew much less severe.

Everyone in the courtyard began to treat me better too.

The plump matron’s surname was Xu. She had been Wang Lian’er’s wet nurse and had come from the chancellor’s residence with her when she married, to continue looking after her.

She regarded Wang Lian’er as her own flesh and blood. Naturally, she could not bear to see her suffer from her injured legs.

Since I had eased Wang Lian’er’s condition, Nanny Xu was especially kind to me.

“Wan’er, if anything happens, come straight to me. Nanny Xu will stand up for you.”

She took my hand with a warm smile. “Keep doing your very best for Madam.”

“Of course.” I nodded.

Then I ventured, “Nanny, may I ask how Madam’s legs came to be…”

Before I finished, Nanny Xu frowned. “Why are you asking about that?”

I quickly explained, “The physician who taught me said you have to understand an illness to treat it properly. I only want Madam’s legs to heal better.”

Nanny Xu’s expression softened considerably. She sighed.

“Well, it’s not something I can’t talk about…”

She told me Wang Lian’er’s legs had once been perfectly sound. That changed when she was seventeen, the same year Liang Qisheng placed first in the imperial examinations.

Wang Lian’er had been invited on a mountain outing to admire the scenery and compose poetry. On the way, she had lost her bearings and fallen down a steep slope, badly injuring both legs.

The accident was a terrible blow to her.

The marriage already arranged for her fell through as well. Chancellor Wang, distressed for his daughter, had picked a husband straight from the list of successful examination candidates. He chose Liang Qisheng, who had nothing to his name, to marry into the Wang family, and helped his career soar.

His only condition was that Liang Qisheng treat his daughter well.

“Fortunately, our son-in-law is generous and kind. He treats Miss wonderfully, so Master can rest easy.”

Lost in her recollections, Nanny Xu had slipped back into the names she used before Wang Lian’er married.

Realizing she had said too much, she sighed. “Madam can’t be left unattended. I must go.”

“Take care, Nanny.”

On the way back to my room, I could not help scoffing.

“An accident? How could it possibly have been an accident?”

A mountain outing to enjoy the scenery. That sounded all too familiar.

I did not believe for a moment that Liang Qisheng had no hand in it.