Chapter 260

Chapter 260

I believed in ghosts and gods, the Eight Trigrams, and the Five Arts of Metaphysics.

But I did not believe in traveling through time.

I knew I could not have traveled into the past. Before I woke up, Seventh Master and I had fallen into a deep pit, and then I had lost consciousness.

So I had to still be inside that pit.

Everything before my eyes was only an illusion, perhaps a more advanced form of Ghost Wall.

If I believed I had traveled through time, I might remain trapped here forever.

Footsteps soon sounded outside the door. They faded into the distance, which meant the two children had run off.

They were probably Luo Xiuzhu’s older or younger brothers, sons of Master Luo.

But I had heard them say that Luo Xiuzhu was not the daughter of the Seventh Concubine and Master Luo.

Had the Seventh Concubine been unfaithful and given birth to Luo Xiuzhu by another man?

In that era, such a thing could have gotten her drowned in a pig cage and condemned by everyone around her.

But a prominent household cared about appearances. They could never let word spread and make themselves a laughingstock. Only the people of Luo Mansion would have known about the Seventh Concubine’s affair.

Perhaps that was why she had been shunned inside Luo Mansion.

And since Luo Xiuzhu was not Master Luo’s child, her status would have been despised in those days too. That was why the others in Luo Mansion had bullied and humiliated her.

The information Boss Lin gave us really was flawed. Perhaps the truth was nothing like what the file described.

I opened the door and crept out like a thief.

Spotting the direction the two children had taken, I followed them.

It was nighttime in Luo Mansion, though I did not know the exact hour. Since the children had not yet gone to bed, it was probably still early in the evening.

I followed them without seeing anyone else along the way. The servants of Luo Mansion had likely already retired.

The mansion was enormous, and we wound through its passages for quite a while.

Soon, I saw another small figure.

She sat on a little stool beside a large pile of dirty clothes.

Her tiny body was barely strong enough to lift the wet clothes out of the water, but she kept working.

Even the servants of Luo Mansion were already resting, yet she was not allowed to stop.

This was the same little girl Seventh Master and I had seen: Luo Xiuzhu.

She looked exactly the same as when we had seen her, right down to her clothes.

The little girl had not lied to us. She really had been washing clothes before she died. She would die on this very day.

Hidden in the shadows, I watched the two boys sneak up behind her. When she was not looking, they suddenly pulled away her stool.

The little girl landed hard on the ground and knocked over the bucket. Water and clothes spilled everywhere.

The two boys burst into laughter at her humiliation.

Anger flared inside me. These two little brats were already vicious troublemakers at their age.

The girl climbed to her feet and glared at them. Children usually shouted and cursed when angry, but she did neither.

From her expression, it was not that she did not want to. She simply did not dare. All she did was demand, “What are you doing?”

“Xiuzhu, don’t be angry. We’re only playing a joke on you.”

“Hee-hee. That’s what you get for stealing my pastries.”

“If my mother finds out, you’re finished.”

The little girl suddenly froze, instinctive fear flashing across her face.

She must really have stolen the pastry.
“I won’t tell my mother if you apologize for what you did.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Just saying sorry isn’t enough.”

The smaller boy clasped his hands behind his back and declared arrogantly, “When I do something wrong, my mother makes me kneel. You stole my food, so you have to kneel to me. That’s your punishment. Once I’ve punished you, I won’t tell on you.”

The little girl dropped to her knees without a second thought.

The sight made my heart ache.

Life was truly miserable for a child no one loved. Someone told her to kneel, and she simply did it.

“Hahaha! You really knelt!”

The two boys doubled over with laughter.

They picked up water dippers and poured water over her head as if entertaining themselves.

The little girl knelt on the ground, too afraid to curse at them. All she could do was bow her head and cry.

“Xiuzhu, if you steal from me again, I’ll tell my mother.”

“My mother says thieves have no dignity, just like your mother.”

“Your mother has no dignity either. She had you with another man. She’s a whore, and so are you.”

The little girl had endured everything without protest, but when they insulted her mother, she raised her head and glared furiously at the two boys.

“You can insult me, but you can’t insult my mother! She’s already dead. You can’t lie about her!”

“But it’s true. All our servants know your mother cuckolded Father. Father pushed her into the well himself. Ask him if you don’t believe us.”

“My mother didn’t do that! Father didn’t push her! He didn’t!”

Finding courage from somewhere, the little girl suddenly charged forward and shoved the foul-mouthed boy to the ground.

One child wore rough, homespun clothes while the other was dressed in silk and brocade. When the boy fell into the water and soaked his expensive clothes, he burst into angry tears.

He rose, pointed at the little girl, and cursed her viciously. “You and your mother are both whores! I’m telling on you. You’re finished!”

With that, he and the other boy ran off to report her.

The little girl stood frozen, her face deathly pale. She probably knew she was about to be punished.

I hurriedly leaned out and called softly, “Xiuzhu, come here!”

My voice was quiet, but she should still have heard me. Strangely, no matter how many times I called, she showed no sign of hearing anything.

Before long, a richly dressed, heavyset woman arrived with two servants and immediately began punching and kicking the little girl.

“You little whore! You dare bully my son?”

“Do you even know your place, you little bastard? If our Luo family hadn’t taken you in, you would’ve starved on the streets. You’re just as shameless as that mother of yours!”

The fat woman’s brutality went far beyond discipline. That wretched hag did not even treat the child as human.

I could no longer stand watching. I was ready to go out, fight her, and take the little girl away.

But before I could rush out, a younger woman came running over.

The young woman’s eyes reddened when she saw the little girl being beaten, as though it were her own daughter under those fists. “What are you doing, Second Sister? She’s only a child!”

The fat woman glared at her in displeasure. “Since when is it your place to interfere when I discipline someone? She’s just a little bastard. So what if I beat her? Ninth, don’t think you can meddle in my affairs just because Master favors you now.”

Then she waved to the two servants. “Take the new madam back to her room.”

When the young woman saw the child’s battered body, she sobbed uncontrollably. “Xiuzhu! Xiuzhu! You will all suffer retribution for this!”