Chapter 22: Get Out of the General's Estate

"Little Princess, Little Princess, slow down, slow down! Be careful!" Nurse Wang cried out in alarm, rushing out of the kitchen as she saw the tiny child sprinting desperately.

Thump. The little one slipped and tumbled hard onto the ground. Ignoring everything else, Nurse Wang used her lightness skills to reach her in a flash, lifting the sobbing, tear-streaked Lingwei into her arms with a heart full of anguish. "Little Mistress, what is the matter? Who bullied you? Who had the audacity?" Though the little mistress was young, she had never caused her any worry; why was she crying like this now?

"Go away! Liars! You are all liars! I don't want you! Go away!" Lingwei thrashed and beat at her, desperate to escape Nurse Wang’s embrace, her face a mask of uncontrolled sobbing.

"Oh, dear, Little Mistress, what has happened? I..." Nurse Wang, utterly bewildered, asked anxiously, unable to make sense of the outburst.

Lingwei cared nothing for Nurse Wang’s reaction. Her only thought was to return to her small bed, hide under her quilt, and think of nothing at all. If she just closed her eyes and lay still, she could pretend she was dreaming—that what the uncle had said was merely drunken babble, and not the truth.

Lingwei bared her small teeth and bit down hard on Nurse Wang’s arm. Stung by the pain, the nurse loosened her grip, and Lingwei stumbled away, scrambling toward her room.

Nurse Wang started to give chase, but a strong hand caught her. "Don't follow her. It is my fault; I let the truth slip. The Little Mistress knows about the Princess and the General. Let her have some peace."

"What? Zhao Meng, oh, Zhao Meng, you are an old man, how can you be so reckless? Didn't I tell you to keep it absolutely secret? You know what the Little Mistress is like! You, you, you... you have infuriated me!"

"Sister Wang, I had too much to drink. I am sorry; it is my fault. I will watch over the Little Mistress. I won't let anything happen to her," Zhao Meng said, looking at Nurse Wang with a face full of guilt.

Nurse Wang glared at him, frustrated by his incompetence. "Tell me, how do you intend to watch over her? You know as well as I do that the Little Mistress cannot even practice..." She stopped abruptly as Zhao Meng, disregarding decorum, clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Sister Wang, this matter must be buried in your stomach forever."

A chill ran through Nurse Wang. In her agitation, she had nearly blurted out the greatest secret of the General's manor. "Zhao Meng, what should we do then?"

Zhao Meng glanced in the direction where the little girl had disappeared, speaking as if to himself. "Perhaps we should not have raised the Little Mistress like a house cat. We have protected her too well all these years. Have we been wrong?"

Nurse Wang arched her brows sharply. "Zhao Meng, don't you go entertaining any strange ideas. I tell you, we only need to do what the General and the Princess decided. We must guard this manor; they will return!"

Zhao Meng gave a bitter laugh. "Sister Wang, we cannot keep deceiving ourselves. The General and the Princess are not just missing—they were ambushed, betrayed, and forced to leap from a cliff!"

Nurse Wang swung her hand, and with a sharp *crack*, she slapped Zhao Meng across the face. "Zhao Meng, I never thought you were such a cowardly man! You are not even as strong as a woman! I was wrong about you!"

"Sister Wang, I do not wish to be so desperate. I only... I only..." It is said that a man does not shed tears easily, only when he has reached the depths of sorrow. Zhao Meng, an eight-foot-tall man of iron and stone who would sooner bleed than cry, knelt on the ground, his face streaming with tears.

Nurse Wang turned away, unable to bear the sight of his grief. She left him with only one sentence: "Watch your tongue. I will spare you this time, but if there is a next, you will be cast out of the General's manor!"