Chapter 2: Magic Tricks

  Wooden puppet, yellow talisman, nail, are quite common tools in divination, and their popular uses are well-known to everyone - cursing people to be unlucky.

  The front of this wooden puppet is the real name of Nan Yue Lansheng, and the back is his birthdate. The yellow paper is a common talisman used in Taoist rituals, and it naturally becomes a curse paper as well. The part where the nail is facing directly at the shoulder is meant to make people feel sore shoulders and painful bones, suffering a living death without taking their life.

  Hua Xian was taken aback when she first heard Nan Yue Lan call her "Miss", and then seeing Mu Ou, she pouted and asked, "What's wrong with me?"

  The person cursing her didn't seem flustered, and the one being cursed was calm and collected. "Nothing much, just curious to ask. I couldn't sleep last night, so I cleaned out my dresser and found this. I thought of you as my most beloved and intimate maid, who has been by my mother's side since childhood learning about respecting ghosts and gods. Besides you, there wouldn't be anyone else. But I still need you to admit it yourself, or else I'll just be bothering you."

  "It's late at night and you're still not sleeping, doing the work of a servant. You really have nothing better to do." Hua Leng snorted, "If you want to report to the madam, go ahead."

  "Whether to report or not depends on your next answer." Nan Yue Lan Sheng took a sip of sour plum tea, refreshing and cool, tempting her to drink it all in one go, but she had a habit when eating, her favorite thing was to leave it till last and savor it slowly, rather than having the sweet first, and her self-control was beyond ordinary people. "Why do you do this?"

  There are flowers with long and dense eyelashes, that appearance is still beautiful, in two more years it will be stunning. "Take you to practice, what else can I do? The lady said to learn by applying, before using, one must diligently practice, I couldn't possibly take no fruit to practice."

  "Oh." Nanyuelan Sheng didn't say anything else and focused on drinking her soup.

  Hua Fan turned red with rage, "Oh yeah? I'll tell you, I'm not afraid of you reporting me. When has the mistress ever helped you? You're suffocating! Your birthdate was even told by the mistress. I asked her and she didn't hesitate at all."

  A pair of phoenix eyes smiled and raised, "I thought you were only loyal to my mother, now that you treat me as a sister, how can I do such a thing? Drink, the ice energy is gone and it's not tasty."

  Without a word, he turned his head to look at the two women in the pavilion. A puzzled expression appeared on his normally stoic face. He and Hua were orphans picked up by their mistress, with Hua studying divination and him martial arts, considering their mistress as their master. Later, they were sent to serve Miss Lan Sheng, but it was more like being her watchdogs. In fact, Hua wasn't spoiled, but she disliked how Miss Lan Sheng went against their respected mistress, even though they were mother and daughter, often making things difficult for the young lady. The two had been at odds before Miss Lan Sheng's serious illness, constantly clashing. Now that the young lady had recovered, she seemed like a completely different person, making him think that Hua's dominant situation might change. As people say, after one foot has stepped through the Ghost Gate, their soul returns and they gain great enlightenment. Could it be that Miss Lan Sheng was like this?

  The flower that had been making Nan Yue Lan feel humiliated and depressed all day, this month, jumped up for who knows how many times. With a loud laugh, she slapped the table and said, "Sister? Are you out of your mind? I've already said it before, my life belongs to my wife, if you don't treat her like a mother, then don't blame me for not treating you like a lady."

  "Don't be shy to admit it." Nan Yue Lan Sheng surprisingly said with a hint of sarcasm, "You use me as practice, but not on others. Since it's just practice, the success or failure is fifty-fifty. It's easy to hurt innocent people and have a guilty conscience, but you also need to take responsibility. However, when it comes to your own family members, it's different. There aren't many people in our household, but there are over ten of us. I've noticed that you're always very cold towards everyone except my mother, and now it seems like you're being nice only to me. Although you don't admit it with your words, your actions involuntarily choose me. This is what they mean by 'beating is love, scolding is affection', the wonderful way of getting along in a family. Think about it, isn't that right?"

  "...the flower suddenly bloomed in her heart, making her feel uneasy. She puffed out a hard breath and shouted, "You're looking for trouble! This young lady's only family is the madam, I don't care about anyone else's feelings or take responsibility for them, including that stinky little brat Nuo Guo."

  No fruit, staring blankly, not heartbroken.

  "You won't admit it, and I can't do anything about it." Nanyuelan Sheng actually didn't care, "I just want to tell you, it's better to change to someone else for practicing zha."

  Got what you wanted, "Scared now?"

  "Scared." But Nan Yue Lan Sheng laughed, making Hua Nuo angry, "I'm afraid you're wasting your effort. My mother has never helped me before, I'm sure I don't understand as well as you do, but this birth date and time is different from what I remembered."

  Huh? There's a flower with a stiff expression.

  The day she regained her senses, she only had memories of her past life. However, as time passed, she was no longer completely ignorant of the original owner's experiences. The brain is originally a treasure trove of rich oceans, and when she was physically and mentally exhausted in her previous life, she liked to meditate, which allowed her to see glimpses of the original owner's experiences, like fragments of an old movie, although not all of it, helping her bond with this body.

  As for the real Nan Yue Lan, alas, she was a girl who couldn't open up. She had a father, but his face in her mind was a complete blank, having not seen him for many years and with hazy memories. She had a mother, but her mother's attention to her daughter was very low, and how to please her husband should be the lifelong pursuit. This girl's temperament was stubbornly stuck on trivial matters, completely not understanding that relationships between mothers and daughters, fathers and daughters also need effort to cultivate. Day and night she felt sad and angry, her originally good physique worn down to weakness, and then encountering that unfortunate event, from wind chill to coughing up blood, the illness came like a mountain collapse, and just like that, she was gone.

  "I know you've been feeling guilty about my illness, and that's why you've been eating chicken legs to vent your frustrations. But there's no need for that now. That illness had nothing to do with you from the start, the eight characters were all wrong, how could it have been caused by you?" Nanyuelan Sheng took out another thing and placed it on the table.

  It was burnt black, but it seemed like another doll.

  Flowers were stunned, finally unable to get angry, muttered, "You... you... I didn't want your life."

  "Hmm, after all, I am the biological daughter of the one you are loyal to. Just like that person didn't give you a real eight characters, and left some feelings when taking action." Of course, having spent these days with that madam, Nan Yue Lan wouldn't say her luck was good. She didn't become a beggar, but became a young lady of a wealthy family. The difference lies in not having to worry about starving, the similarity lies in both having to lower their heads to evil people.

  This mother almost ignored her daughter, letting her have the idea of making a quick buck and leaving home just a few days after waking up. She even started planning to implement it, but ended up being sent back home by someone who had no intention of helping her. The lesson she learned from this experience was that she underestimated her own status, and confirmed that the woman was indeed her mother.

  "Even so, madam asks about you, I won't be able to help you hide." Flowers are everywhere, and news will spread.

  "Just be loyal to that person, and don't always contradict me in the future." She was keeping an eye on her, not making a fuss, "Now hurry up and drink the sour plum soup, aren't you hungry?"

  There was a flower listening, which thought it would be cheaper to grow the South Month Orchid. Hold the bowl and drink, after drinking, walk two steps outside the pavilion, then turn back and ask, "I'll ask one more question, how long do you want to sit?"

  "Sit down and wait for him to come." Nan Yue Lan Sheng replied.

  "Who is that person?" At the age of sixteen, she couldn't help but be too curious.

  People who don't want to die won't die. Nan Yue Lan Sheng shifted her gaze and thought, it's about time.