Xiang Ling felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water on her. She just stared at Fu Xiao in pure shock while her brain struggled to process what her ears just heard.
The previous owner of the body punished her own husband because of a courtesan?
No matter how hard one thought, this situation didn't make any sense. Just what kind of stupid woman the original owner of the body was?
Xiang Ling was about to ask Fu Xiao why no one stopped the previous owner of the body from doing something so stupid and audacious, but when she turned around, there was no trace of the young girl there anymore. She seemed to have left when Xiang Ling was distracted by her thoughts.
Left behind all alone in an abandoned-looking place, Xiang Ling had no idea what she should do next. She took another glance toward the kneeling man before walking away to find the bedchamber. She needed to find out more about the original owner of the body before she could take any sort of action.
She eventually found the bedroom and looked through all the belongings of the previous owner of the body but was surprised to find that there was barely anything inside the bedchamber. In the name of furniture, there was only a bed, a wooden cabinet, and a dressing table sitting in the entire room. The previous owner of the body merely possessed a total of four dresses, including the one Xiang Ling was currently wearing, and none looked pretty at all. Not even a single piece of jewelry could be found and neither was there any money in the entire room.
Xiang Ling was baffled after seeing the state of the room. She couldn't understand why the daughter of a County Magistrate had such a bad living and financial state. She seemed even poorer than peasants.
Walking out of the bedchamber, she spent the next fifteen minutes looking throughout the entire inner courtyard to get an idea about her future house. But the rest of the place was in even worse condition as if no one was taking care of the place.
She was on her way to the outer courtyard when she once again found herself looking at the man who hadn't moved even an inch since the first time she saw him nearly half an hour ago.
Xiang Ling felt her breath catching in her throat as her eyes landed on the most ethereal man the world would have ever seen. His milky skin reminded her of snow. His sharp eyebrows matched his sharp jawline. His eyelashes were long, making her almost jealous, and his thin lips had lost their redness because of dehydration. His body was thin as if he hadn't been eating enough, yet, there was no denying that he was extremely handsome.
After kneeling for so long without any food or water, his health was in a very bad condition. He looked pale and his eyes were closed as if he was fast asleep.
Xiang Ling felt pity for the poor man. He was being punished for something that wasn't even his fault. She took a step forward as the thought of ending his punishment entered her mind but then she stopped the very next second. She still didn't know much about the previous owner of the body, what if she made a wrong decision in haste?
She took one last glance at the man before she turned away and walked out of the inner courtyard. She was on her way to find information about the previous owner of the body before deciding what to do with Master Wei.
She walked out of her courtyard and headed in a random direction to find people. It was weird that so far she hadn't seen even a single servant working in the manor.
She passed through two more small courtyards but there was no one there. She then moved past a garden and two empty pavilions. The more she looked at the state of the manor, the more confused she became. After walking for who knew how long, she finally came across the building that appeared like the main kitchen of the manor.
Suddenly feeling thirsty, she headed inside. She was expecting to finally see the servants of the manor but... there was no one, not even a single soul in sight. Xiang Ling stared at the empty kitchen with her mouth hanging open in shock. The kitchen was not only empty but there was barely anything in the name of rations.
"Do you need something?"
Someone suddenly spoke from behind Xiang Ling, pulling her out of her shocked state. She turned around to face the person who had just spoken and found herself looking at another man who could define the word 'handsome'. No! He wasn't just handsome, he was almost as ethereal looking as Master Wei if not more.
His long black hair flowed past his shoulders in the most beautiful waves. His eyes had a crimson shine to them that matched perfectly with his blood-red lips. His features were just as sharp as his eyes that were staring at her with emptiness filling them.
Despite his ethereal looks, the man was dressed in servant clothes and held a basket of vegetables in his hands as he waited for her to answer his question.
Xiang Ling was about to speak when Fu Xiao suddenly entered the kitchen. The girl's eyes landed on the two people present inside and a horrified look almost flashed past her eyes. She hurriedly came forward and planted herself in front of Xiang Ling. She bowed her head and apologized, "Please don't be angry at Master Xin, My Lady. It's this servant's fault for delaying your evening tea."
Xiang Ling stared at the girl for a while before quickly taking a glance toward the man whom Fu Xiao just addressed as 'Master Xin'. Why was a young master dressed like a servant and working in the kitchen?