After returning from the palace to the Feng residence, Serena Feng shut herself away, refusing to go out. She treated all the gossip outside as if she couldn't hear it at all.
It wasn't escapism—she simply didn't care what any of it had to do with her.
Besides, for the sake of Prince Rowan and the royal family's reputation, those rumors wouldn't get too vicious.
After all, if outsiders found out that Rowan's former fiancée had lost her chastity, it would be a huge embarrassment for the Eastlyn imperial family.
For a full five days, crowds gathered outside the Feng residence, hoping to catch a glimpse of the spectacle, but no one saw Serena Feng appear.
Some people did consider climbing over the walls to check inside, but everyone—openly or secretly—had heard the warning Prince Rowan put out.
Don't disturb Serena Feng.
And what about Serena Feng herself?
For those five days, she was at home recuperating from her injuries.
The wounds on her face were manageable—just needed cleaning and bandaging. But the injuries on her body were nowhere near healed so quickly.
That fight at the city gate had felt good, but her whole body was aching now—especially her calf, where Prince Rowan had kicked her in the palace. The pain was so sharp Serena Feng could only grit her teeth and bear it.
Serena leaned over the edge of the bath barrel, soaking in medicinal water while pondering her next move.
Now that her wounds were healing, she had to consider whether to stay at the Feng residence or leave this place altogether.
After thinking it through, Serena Feng decided to stay at the Feng residence.
In both her previous life and this one, her parents had met violent ends.
In her past life, she hadn’t even had a home. To Serena Feng, the idea of 'home' held a special attachment.
The Feng residence might be old and shabby, but it gave her that feeling of home, and she didn’t want to leave...
Besides, the mastermind behind today’s incident was certainly not the Eastlyn royal family. If it had been, they would never have forced her into such a humiliating situation—her disgrace would be their disgrace too.
Under these circumstances, if she left the capital now, she’d probably end up dead within hours!
"Who could it be?" Serena absentmindedly stirred the water in the bath, searching through the memories of the original Serena Feng, only to find she’d never made any enemies.
Still, Prince Rowan did have plenty of admirers—could it have been one of them behind all this?
Annoying!
Serena slapped the surface of the water hard, then grabbed her robe and stood up.
"Forget it, I’m done thinking about it! Anyway, I’ve decided to stay at the Feng residence. Prince Rowan agreed to protect me for half a year—within that time, I’ll definitely find out who’s responsible."
Serena stepped out of the bath, naked, her wet black hair sticking to her back and dripping water...
She didn’t care in the slightest, picked up her clothes and dressed quickly. Her dripping hair soon soaked through the fabric.
Serena didn’t mind at all, and, wearing her half-dry, half-wet clothes, strode out.
Moonlight spilled over Serena Feng, making her look almost like a moonlit fairy!
But as soon as Serena started walking, the whole effect was ruined.
Her steps were steady, her head held high, her chest out—every stride was strong and powerful. There was little feminine softness, but she radiated a kind of heroic energy.
"Serena Feng, you really are something else. How did you change so much in just one night? I thought you’d died in the Feng residence, but... I’m finding you more and more interesting." On the Feng estate’s wall, a man in purple robes lounged carelessly, holding a wine flask—utterly at ease.
This was none other than Crown Prince Terrence Valen of Lyndaria—the same man who’d watched the drama unfold at the teahouse. Bored in the middle of the night, he’d climbed up onto someone else’s rooftop.
...
Serena slept dreamlessly through the night, and the first thing she did upon waking was check the black wristband on her hand.
This wristband was the Smart Med‑Pack that had come with her to this ancient world.
The Smart Med‑Pack was a prototype developed by her institute especially for battlefield doctors. It was still in the trial phase, and Serena had been one of the first testers.
The black wristband bore no markings at all—so plain that if it were dropped on the street, someone might pick it up thinking it was scrap metal.
Yet inside that tiny band, it was packed with microchips.
These chips were linked directly to the user’s brain. Once the Med‑Pack was activated, brainwaves could access all its resources.
Besides surgical drugs and tools, the Med‑Pack could even substitute for large diagnostic machines, performing basic full-body scans.
With this device, she could perform surgery for wounded soldiers not just on the battlefield, but even out in the wild.
This Smart Med‑Pack was Serena’s greatest asset—whether in the modern world or here.
Truth was, the Feng family was desperately poor—so poor that...
For Serena’s wedding, they’d pooled all the Feng clan’s resources, yet only managed to put together eight small chests of dowry.
Luckily, the wedding never happened—otherwise, the Feng family would have been utterly disgraced.
As she looked at the delicate garments in the chests, a trace of regret flickered across Serena’s face.
The original Serena Feng really had been a very virtuous young woman.
If only she could have lived on with her body from the modern world, she might have found real happiness.
Still, losing the Smart Med‑Pack would have been a serious crime. Even if she went back to the modern world, Serena would be in deep trouble...
Forget it. No point thinking about all that. Since she was back in the capital, she’d live well in Serena Feng’s place, and leave the past behind. There wasn’t much worth missing in her old life anyway.
After tidying up the Feng residence, Serena took the last ten taels of silver and prepared to go out and buy some necessities. Five days in the house had used up all her supplies.
But just as she opened the door, she found two officials standing there, hands raised, about to knock.
"Uh?" Serena’s face darkened.
Officials at her door—could this be about Gareth Yan? Wasn’t Prince Rowan supposed to handle that?
"Ahem, Miss Feng, sorry to disturb you." The two officials were surprisingly polite.
Of course, their politeness came from hearing about Serena’s feat at the city gate. Just seeing her made them wince.
"What do you want?" Nobody likes dealing with officials.
Serena’s glare made the two officials instantly step back, heads down. "Miss Feng, we... we’re here to ask you to claim a corpse."
"Claim a corpse?" Did Serena have any relatives left?
"Y-yes, Miss Feng. Your personal maid, Wendy Wan, was found dead by the riverside. She’s in the yamen morgue now. We need you to go identify and claim her." The two officials were deeply frustrated.
This chapter isn’t finished yet~ Please click to the next page to keep reading the exciting story!
They’d worked hard to snatch this job from others, just to see what all the fuss was about and get a look at the famous Miss Feng. But...
After just a couple of words, she’d nearly scared them to death.
"My maid?" Serena couldn’t believe it—someone had actually killed to silence her.
"Yes, Miss Feng." The officials, afraid she wouldn’t believe them, added, "Someone saw her with you at the city gate five days ago, and she never returned to the city. Yesterday, we got a report—there was a body found by the river outside town. It was confirmed to be your maid. Of course, we still need you to take a look."
Normally, you’d send a servant for this sort of thing. But the Feng family didn’t have that luxury—just Serena and her maid. Now that the maid was dead, Serena had to go herself...
A noblewoman living like this—what a stifling existence.
Fortunately, Serena didn’t mind. She was used to doing everything herself. She nodded to the two officials, her attitude much improved: "Very well, gentlemen, please lead the way."
Death deserved respect. Since the girl was gone, she couldn’t just let her body be abandoned in the wild.
Eh?
The two officials were clearly stunned.
They’d expected Miss Feng to just hand them some silver for the burial, not to go herself. Would a noblewoman faint at the sight of the morgue?
"What’s wrong? Aren’t we going?" Serena, oblivious, thought maybe they wanted a tip. She touched her last ten taels of silver, hesitated, then put the money away.
She really was broke!
The officials quickly shook their heads. "No, no, Miss Feng, please..."
Strange things happen every year, but this year seems especially odd.
When did noblewomen get so bold?
Truly bizarre!