I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 121 - 99: Wanxi’s Notes

4800-word Chapter, explaining the story of Ming Wanxi and Huilan in the form of Ming Wanxi’s diary. If you don’t like it, please don’t subscribe; not reading it won’t greatly affect the main storyline.

Be cautious, very cautious!

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[March 3, Shangsi Festival]

It’s Shangsi again. The mountain peach blossoms should all be blooming.

I still remember when I was eight, sneaking out, climbing onto the back of Qing Yang and their carriage, all the way to the grassland on the top of Cuiyun Mountain. The sun was blazing. I suddenly appeared and gave them quite a scare.

The scorching sun made my entire body blister, and my father beat me harshly. My mother cried and cursed me, but I was very happy.

Happy that they still knew, there’s me in this world.

I haven’t been out of Hidden Moon Pavilion for ten years now. I’ve almost forgotten the color and fragrance of peach blossoms, only remembering how beautiful they are, far better than the flowers growing from the graves in my courtyard.

Today a new maid will come to Hidden Moon Pavilion. I should hide first, lest I scare her.

I don’t know how long this maid will last, nor how long I can endure. As long as she doesn’t break the rules I’ve set, I won’t harm her.

[March 4]

This maid is literate, she seriously read the rules I wrote.

Cleaning and cooking, not going places she shouldn’t, not touching things she shouldn’t touch.

It’s evident she’s very scared, but she doesn’t have excessive curiosity. After night falls, she shuts her door tightly, behaving very well.

She should be able to stay a little longer.

[March 5]

Incredibly, there is a peach blossom in my study!

Placed in a pure white vase, on the desk where I usually write ghost stories.

I cried a lot. I thought I’d forgotten the outside world, but seeing this peach blossom showed me the memory from when I was eight hasn’t faded one bit.

I’d rather be blistered all over again, get whipped once more, just to see the world outside.

What exactly did I do wrong?

Why was I born a freak?

[March 6]

Turns out she’s called Huilan, and has a younger sister named Huixin.

Today her sister came to see her. She was so frightened, her face turned pale, forcibly dragging her sister away as if there really was a man-eating Evil Ghost here in the yard.

I forgot, I am that Evil Ghost.

Huilan is timid, she’s scared by the sound of my footsteps, but her cooking is quite good, better than those previous maids who would just muddle through.

Still... not bad.

[March 7]

As expected, Huilan returned with her face all miserable, really thinking the monthly stipend from this courtyard is so easy to earn?

At the beginning of the month, someone should have sent it over, but after delaying seven days, coming to ask would only get half.

Though I am the eldest daughter of the Ming Family, who really cares whether I live or die? It’s only because of family rules that they leave me a bite of food and let me languish in Hidden Moon Pavilion.

Forget it, recently I’ll eat less, leave more food for Huilan. She looks younger than me and has to do so much work every day.

...

[March 10]

For three consecutive days, every meal has included bamboo shoots.

Does the bamboo forest outside Hidden Moon Pavilion have many bamboo shoots?

In recent days, Huilan has gone out early, coming back with a basket of bamboo shoots, washing, peeling, cutting, and drying them in the yard.

The previous maids were all so lazy, and I can’t increase her monthly pay, so who is she being diligent for?

[March 11]

Finally, Huilan changed the dish: a plate of green... wild grass!

Apparently from the backyard, I’ve seen it a few times, turns out it’s edible, quite nice.

Huilan also placed a handful of yellow flowers in my study. I don’t know what they’re called, but they’re very pretty.

She even helped open the windows to ventilate, dispersing the room’s dampness.

The scent of sunlight mixed with the floral fragrance feels very comfortable, but I can’t approach the sunlight, it would make me blister all over.

The drying racks for bamboo shoots outside the courtyard grow in number, and she also climbed out over the wall of Hidden Moon Pavilion, returned with mountain goods I don’t recognize.

This small courtyard of mine suddenly has a hint of life, so wonderful.

It’s unsafe for Huilan to go to the mountain foraging, I’ll give her two Exorcism Talismans.

[March 12]

Huilan’s writing is surprisingly prettier than mine.

Such a diligent and kind girl should be cherished like a treasure anywhere, how could she end up serving as a maid at Ming Mansion?

Is it because of changes in the family?

She didn’t refuse the Exorcism Talisman I left for her on the desk, she left a note expressing gratitude, and even asked if she could read the books in the bookshelf.

Ever since the year I turned ten, when I scared three teachers to death in succession, those books have been gathering dust in the cabinet, and my mother lost hope, no longer using it to decorate her image as a kind mother.

Huilan also brought back a mountain chicken today, the evening’s chicken stew with bamboo shoots was delicious. Actually, I wanted another bowl, but I didn’t dare to go out and tell her.