Chapter 2 The Madam Of The House

A few seconds later the door swung open and a well-dressed woman entered the chamber. Her hanfu was made out of fine and expensive fabric only the richest of the rich could afford. It was dark green with silver ornaments and flower embroidery. Her silver and jade hair accessories matched her hanfu perfectly.

Li Meixiu gasped. This was truly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her pale skin was flawless, which made it hard to guess her age. According to her hair up-do she must be a married woman.

But it wasn't just her looks. The way she carried herself, head held high, a confident posture, gave everyone the impression that they were in the presence of a noble lady.

Nobody would have guessed that this woman was actually far from noble.

Yin Guang's eyes wandered through the room until they settled at the frail girl at the vanity who was staring at her as if she was a stranger.

Li Meixiu could have sworn she had seen anger flashing in the woman's eyes but in the next moment the woman let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Xiu'er! Oh my! You're finally awake!", she screeched and came running towards Li Meixiu. She took the girl's hands and looked her up and down, as if to make sure she was unharmed.

She wasn't sure why but Li Meixiu felt uncomfortable being near that woman. She tried to pull back her hands but the woman's grip tightened.

Luckily Nanny Han saved her by speaking up.

"I apologize for my rudeness but Second Miss isn't feeling too well yet, Madam. If you allow I'd like to take her back to bed."

Yin Guang squinted her eyes but let go of Li Meixiu's hands.

"I should have you beaten to death for speaking up without permission but seeing as you have Xiu'er's best interests at heart I'll let you keep your life. For now."

Nanny Han bowed.

"Thank you, Madam. You are too kind."

Nanny Han carefully took Li Meixiu's arm and guided her back to bed.

Li Meixiu didn't protest. She felt dizzy and her head was throbbing.

This whole body-switch experience was too much for her. She still needed time to process everything that had happened since she fell under anesthesia.

Apart from that, she was thankful that Nanny Han got her away from the Madam. There was an icy air surrounding that woman and even though she had spoken to her in a friendly, almost caring, manner, her eyes had a certain coldness in them that raised Li Meixiu's hackles.

She felt the Madam's icy glare on her back all the way to the bed but she tried her best to ignore it.

Years in the Fashion Industry taught her to never portray any weaknesses in front of her enemies, to not give them the upper hand or they would stomp her to the ground.

So she tried her best to not show the Madam how afraid she was of her.

Afraid? Her?

Li Meixiu almost let out a laugh.

She had never been afraid of anything.

Growing up without a mother and with an absent father who spent more time at work than at home forced her to be self-reliant and brave.

Fear was a weakness she couldn't afford.

She did have her fair share of Madams to deal with in her last life, so why was she suddenly so afraid of this one?

Maybe there was a part deep within her that wanted to warn her.

What if this Madam had done something terrible to the old Li Meixiu?

How she wished she had access to the memories of the body's original owner!

Nanny Han helped her lie down in bed and covered her with the quilt.

Li Meixiu moved her head, trying to find a comfortable position.

It would take time for her to get used to those strange blocky pillows.

An hour and a half later Lu Dongmei returned with Physician Sun. She had to go in town and fetch him herself since the Madam never allowed servants from Lady Wei's and Second Miss' household to send out messengers via horse.

Even though Lady Wei was the Marquis' main wife she had no authority in this manor. It was no secret that Marquis Li Baoshen only married her due to an imperial decree. He didn't visit her once since their wedding night, not even when she gave birth to his second daughter. He was too busy spoiling his beloved concubine and his other children to care about the two lonely souls that occupied a small part of the manor's northern wing.

The way back to the Marquis' Manor had taken longer than the way to Physician Sun's house at the outskirts of the capital. Physician Sun was an old man way past his prime and thus could only walk so fast. There were other physicians closer to the Marquis' Manor but none of them were as good as Physician Sun. The late Emperor had even offered him the position of Imperial Physician but Physician Sun rejected the offer. He preferred to live a peaceful, humble life instead of ending up getting killed by jealous competitors.

If he had come for the First Master or Third Miss the Marquis would have sent out a carriage for him to make sure he'd arrive as fast as possible but for the Second Miss this somehow seemed to be too much of an effort.

When Lu Dongmei opened the door to the Second Miss' chamber she saw the Madam sitting at the table and drinking her afternoon tea.

Yin Guang had stayed in the Second Miss' chambers to "take care of Xiu'er" until the physician arrived but she had just sat down at the table and ordered her maidservant to bring her tea while Nanny Han tended to Li Meixiu's needs and brought her water and a steaming bowl of congee.

Lu Dongmei bowed to the Madam with her head down, making sure to never look her in the eyes. Even though she tried her best to conceal it Lu Dongmei couldn't keep her body from shaking. She feared the Madam ever since she nearly had her beaten to death five years ago.

The Madam had brought seven year old Lu Dongmei to the Marquis' Manor to serve her daughter, the Third Miss, years ago. Initially, everything went well, even though the Third Miss was spoiled and had a bad temper. Whenever things didn't go her way she would throw tantrums and accuse her maidservants of not properly taking care of her which resulted in beatings - often to death.

The other maidservants had told Lu Dongmei to be careful around the Third Miss but she foolishly disregarded their warnings. No matter how bad her temper was, the Third Miss was the Marquis' favorite child. He always made sure that she got the best of everything so naturally, he would also make sure to find her the best husband one day. If her Mistress had a great life, she would have it, too - at least to some degree. Thinking back at it Lu Dongmei realized that she had been too proud, too confident. If she had listened to the other maidservants and let them handle it, she would still be serving the Third Miss.

It had been the Third Miss' tenth birthday and she wanted to wear her favorite rose colored hanfu. They had just finished washing and drying it the day before so it was still in the laundry room. Lu Dongmei had volunteered to bring it to her Mistress, even though the older maidservants told her to let them do it. It had been raining the night before, so it was muddy and slippery outside. If something were to happen to that hanfu, the consequences would be fatal. But Lu Dongmei didn't listen. She only cared about serving her Mistress well. She went to the laundry but on her way back she slipped and landed in the mud - together with her Mistress' favorite hanfu.

When the Third Miss saw her ruined hanfu she accused Lu Dongmei of purposely wanting to ruin her birthday and the Madam punished her with thirty beatings.

Lu Dongmei knew that this would be the end of her. How could a small, nine year old girl possibly survive thirty beatings?

But luck seemed to have smiled down on her that day. Just when she was barely clinging onto life, she heard a girl screaming, "STOP!" and then she felt someone throwing themselves over her body to protect her.

She had been nearly unconscious but she still recognized her savior. It could only be the Second Miss. No one else in that manor, with the exception of Lady Wei, would even dream about risking their own life for a mere maidservant they didn't even know. Even though Lu Dongmei had never seen the Second Miss before that day, she had heard other maidservants talking about her. She was known for her gentle and kind heart. While some maidservants thought of her as pathetic and weak, others wished they could serve her instead. Their life wouldn't be great but at least their Mistress would treat them well.

On that day Lu Dongmei experienced the Second Miss' kindness herself.

The male servants who were tasked with beating her stopped as soon as they saw that they were about to beat the Second Miss. It was true that she was her father's least favorite child but she was still the Marquis' second daughter. Unless he ordered them to beat her they wouldn't dare to hurt her.

The Second Miss then brought Lu Dongmei to her chambers and tended to her wounds herself, never leaving her side. When she was fully healed, the Second Miss offered her a place as her maidservant. It wouldn't be as great as serving the favored daughter but it was better than dying so she agreed.

Since that day Lu Dongmei had been as loyal to the Second Miss as best she could be but every now and then she still wondered if her life would be better if she still served the Third Miss. Sure, she had a roof over her head and the Second Miss was a lot easier to please but the Second Miss had a terrible standing in the family. She would never be able to find a high ranking husband. At most she could hope for a scholar but anything higher than that was impossible. The Madam would make sure of that.