Chapter 14: Owner Of This Body
Wang Gege gently held onto the young maid’s arm and pulled her to her feet.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Instead of looking relieved, the maid lowered her head with a guilty expression, "Sec—Young Madam, this servant is incompetent."
Wang Gege blinked.
The maid clenched her hands tightly in front of her and continued in a quieter voice, "Because of this servant’s carelessness, Young Madam was forced to apologize to Madam Liu."
The more she thought about what had happened, the worse she felt.
Although Wang Gege had managed to resolve the situation peacefully, everyone in the residence had witnessed the scene. A servant making a mistake was one thing. Having the newly arrived Young Madam lower herself and apologize on the servant’s behalf was another matter entirely.
If word spread outside the courtyard, people might laugh at her mistress. The thought alone filled the maid with shame.
Meanwhile, Wang Gege looked at her for several moments before finally understanding what the girl was worried about, "Oh..."
Then she waved her hand dismissively, "It was only an apology."
The maid looked up in surprise.
Wang Gege genuinely did not understand why everyone seemed to treat the matter so seriously. Back in her previous life, saying sorry had practically been part of her daily routine.
Sometimes she apologized to clients, sometimes to supervisors and it could be said occasionally she even apologized for problems she had nothing to do with.
Compared to that, apologizing once to prevent someone from being punished hardly seemed worth mentioning. More importantly, she did not like the idea of someone being punished because of her.
"You do not need to blame yourself," Wang Gege said. "You have been calling me Second Miss for years. It would be strange if you suddenly changed the habit overnight."
The maid stared at her, and before long, her eyes gradually turned red once more.
Wang Gege immediately became uneasy. The girl looked as though she was even more emotional than before, which only left her feeling increasingly confused.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked cautiously.
The maid instantly shook her head, "This servant would never think Young Madam had done anything wrong."
After that, the maid lowered her head and remained silent.
Several times, it looked as though she wanted to say something, only to stop herself before the words could leave her mouth.
Wang Gege watched her for a while before finally asking, "If there is something you wish to say, then say it."
The maid immediately shook her head, "This servant dares not."
That answer only made Wang Gege more curious. She glanced around the courtyard before waving her hand casually.
"There are only the two of us here." After a brief pause, she added, "I will not blame you."
The maid looked up in surprise. For a few seconds, she seemed to be struggling internally but eventually, she gathered her courage and spoke in a much quieter voice.
"This servant only thought... after leaving the Shen residence, perhaps things would be different for Young Madam."
Wang Gege blinked.
The maid lowered her eyes once more.
"At the Shen residence, whenever disputes arose, Young Madam was often the one who yielded first. If the Eldest Miss was displeased, Young Madam would step back. If misunderstandings occurred, Young Madam would be the one apologizing."
The more she spoke, the softer her voice became, "This servant remembers many occasions when Young Madam remained silent despite being wronged."
A trace of sadness appeared on her face, "That is why, when Young Madam married into the Xie residence, this servant secretly hoped that things would improve."
The courtyard gradually became quiet.
Wang Gege stood there without speaking. Although the maid was talking about Shen Taotao, every word painted a picture of a life she had never known.
The maid lowered her head after speaking, seemingly worried that she might have said too much.
Wang Gege found herself staring at the girl for quite some time. The more she looked at the maid, the more awkward she felt.
The girl clearly cared deeply about Shen Taotao. Ever since Wang Gege had opened her eyes, she had worried, cried, and fussed over her countless times. Despite all of that, Wang Gege still knew almost nothing about the people around her.
More importantly, she knew even less about the life Shen Taotao had lived before arriving at the Xie residence.
If she wanted to survive in this unfamiliar world, she could not remain ignorant forever.
After a brief hesitation, Wang Gege raised a hand and pressed it against her forehead. She needed to act like she forgot her memories, so she could gather more information.
The maid immediately became alarmed, "Young Madam?"
Wang Gege rubbed her temple, "Perhaps the poison left some lingering effects."
The excuse came out naturally enough. However, before she could continue speaking, a sudden sharp pain shot through her head.
Wang Gege froze. The discomfort was so unexpected that her fingers instinctively tightened against her forehead.
At first, she thought it was merely a consequence of pretending to have a headache. However, before she could say another word, a sharp pain spread through her head and forced her to close her eyes.
"Ack—ah!"
The world around her seemed to sway for a brief moment. Then, without warning, an unfamiliar scene surfaced before her.
Cold. The first thing she felt was an overwhelming coldness.
Water surrounded her from every direction, pressing heavily against her body as she struggled to keep herself above the surface. Her chest burned from lack of air and every movement seemed slower than it should have been.
Panic surged through her. Just as her strength was beginning to fade, a voice reached her ears from somewhere beyond the water.
"See?"
The voice belonged to a young woman. It sounded pleasant and almost amused.
"This is exactly why I told you to learn how to swim."
For a brief moment, Wang Gege caught sight of a figure standing near the edge of the lake.
The young woman was dressed beautifully and surrounded by several servants. Sunlight illuminated her face, yet before Wang Gege could see her clearly, the scene began to blur once more.
The lake gradually disappeared. The sensation of drowning faded. In its place appeared another image.
Beneath a tree not far from the water, a young maid was kneeling on the ground. Her eyes were swollen from crying and tears continued falling uncontrollably down her face.
The girl’s shoulders trembled as she repeatedly wiped at her eyes, only for fresh tears to replace the old ones moments later.
"Second Miss..." Her voice was hoarse from crying, "Second Miss, Qing’er is sorry."
The guilt contained within those few words was so overwhelming that even Wang Gege could feel it.
"If Qing’er had remained by your side, this would never have happened."
The maid lowered her head further, her fingers tightening against her sleeves as though she blamed herself for everything.
Meanwhile, the sound of her sobbing gradually became fainter and fainter.
The image before Wang Gege’s eyes began to crack apart like a reflection on disturbed water. The tree disappeared first. Then the lakeside. Then the crying girl.
Qing’er—The name lingered in her mind for a brief moment before reality finally returned.
Wang Gege slowly opened her eyes.
The flowering tree stood before her exactly where it had been moments ago. Sunlight still filtered through the branches and the courtyard remained as peaceful as ever.
Yet the maid standing in front of her no longer felt unfamiliar.
The name escaped her lips almost unconsciously.
"Qing’er...?"
The maid immediately froze. A look of surprise flashed across her face before concern quickly replaced it.
"Yes, Young Madam." She hurried forward and carefully supported Wang Gege’s arm, "Are you alright? Did your head hurt again?"
Wang Gege stared at her without answering immediately.
For some reason, the image of the crying girl beneath the tree continued lingering in her mind, making it difficult to separate the memory from reality.
Until now, Wang Gege had never truly thought about the original Shen Taotao.
To her, the girl had simply been the unfortunate owner of this body.
Yet after witnessing those fragmented memories, that vague figure suddenly felt far more real than before.
If she was standing here now, then where had Shen Taotao gone?