Xiong Qingzhao

Fan Ping felt like taking Fan Ling around the capital city more, but before he could tell the driver to send them to a famous location, she already told him they should go home.

In her words, "I'll slowly learn about the capital city. No need to rush."

So, even though Fan Ping really wanted to show her the many fun places that the usual young nobles liked to go play, he did not take her and instead had the driver send them home. Although, Fan Ling did once again make another request that was out of the norm for her.

"Da-ge, I'd like an etiquette teacher," Fan Ling told him when they were halfway to the Fan Estate.

Although Fan Ping was shocked, he was also starting to adapt to this new version of his sister who was beginning to learn how to become more independent and reliable.

Thus, Fan Ping calmly stated, "Xiao Ling used to hate learning these things."

Hearing that statement, Fan Ling tilted her cute little head by the side and said, "It's time to grow up and stop behaving like a child."

Even though Fan Ping knew that Fan Ling had completely changed since the day she woke up from her accident, he was still shocked by her words. After all, who knows how long the entire family has been suggesting she start growing up?

"Very well, if that is what Xiao Ling says," Fan Ping gave a quiet sigh of relief after thinking about his changed little sister. "I'll ask mother to request someone to be your etiquette teacher. But…"

"What is it?" Fan Ling turned her head away from the window to look at Fan Ping when she heard his pause.

"Xiao Ling, etiquette is not like what Scholar Yuan teaches," Fan Ping warned her. "It's much harder and you may want to…"

Fan Ping was about to continue by saying, 'give up.'

However, Fan Ling interrupted him before he could finish by telling him, "Da-ge does not have to worry that I'll give up. As a daughter of a duke, I should start paying more attention to not only my reputation but also my actions. If I, a noble young miss, can't even reach the standards for the normal etiquette in the palace, Da-ge, I'm undeserving of being Father's daughter."

This was a speech that Fan Ping did not expect he would hear from his spoiled sister. He thought that she would say that she would try to persist for as long as possible before giving up. However, she decided to even include their family reputation as part of the reason why she chose to learn more about etiquette.

Although Fan Ping was incredibly happy to hear her words, he also told her, "Xiao Ling does not have to put so much pressure on yourself."

"Da-ge, I'm not pressuring myself," Fan Ling gave him a small smile. "I'm doing this for myself. Da-ge has been working beside Father, so Da-ge must know, 'Knowledge is power.'"

After hearing those words from her, Fan Ping no longer tried to advise her. Instead, he gave her his full support.

Well, there was also another reason.

Since the day that Fan Ling woke up, there was no smile on that little cute face. Instead, her face wore a neutral expression throughout the days that she had woken up. In fact, sometimes, people could even mistake her face as showing boredom.

Seeing this extreme change from the previous one where she showed her emotions on her sleeves, Fan Ping was unable to get used to such a calm and quiet sister. Although the family disliked her expressiveness, they did not mind her liveliness - they only hoped that she would learn how to have more respect.

However, none of them expected she would just become a blank canvas out of nowhere.

This little tiny smile on her face was much better looking than any of the other smiles she had given them since she was born for some reason that Fan Ping could not understand. Though, he did not care too much about that for he knew that her very first smile meant that she was truly not forcing herself to learn etiquette because of the family.

At the same time, Fan Ping could now brag to the other two brothers and his parents, 'Haha! Xiao Ling gave me a smile before all of you guys!'

Fan Ping could only imagine just how enraged Fan He and Fan Huiliang was going to be, and how his father would try to punish him. His mother quite loved him for working hard, so she was probably going to be more than willing to forgive. Although, if he stole any more smiles from Fan Ling, his mother would also want to kill him.

Once their conversation was done though, silence abruptly broke into the carriage. Even though Fan Ping wanted to close the distance between him and his sister, he did not know what to speak of as the last time he ever had a full conversation with his sister was a long time ago.

With this, the carriage remained silent all throughout the rest of their travel back to the estate.

Fan Ping was unhappy that he was unable to talk more with Fan Ling and only wished that he could bring up another topic before they had to separate their ways to their halls. However, Fan Ling seemed to not care about small talk with him and quickly walked her way back to her hall, leaving him to stand at the entrance by himself for a short while.

When they first stopped at the entrance though, Xiong Qingzhao, her maid, was already waiting for her. Thus, when Fan Ling walked back to her hall, Xiong Qingzhao was right beside her.

"Did Miss have fun going out?" Xiong Qingzhao asked with a smile on her face.

"Da-ge, we didn't really do much today," Fan Ling answered while they continued walking towards her quarters. "It was quite boring if I had to be honest."

"If only Xiao Qing could go out with Miss, then Miss would definitely have a lot of fun," Xiong Qingzhao pitifully stated with a sad tone like a depressed little puppy.

Xiong Qingzhao was the maid that Fan Ling first saw when she woke up. At first, she did not trust Xiong Qingzhao too much. However, after observing Xiong Qingzhao for a few days, she finally came to the conclusion that the girl would probably not mind sacrificing herself just to let her, the master, continue to live.

At the same time, Xiong Qingzhao did not really have too close a relationship with Fan Ling. Previously, the original soul was too arrogant so Xiong Qingzhao was mainly loyal out of work commitment. If a life-threatening situation came though, she would definitely flee by herself - not caring about Fan Ling, her master.

Only, after Fan Ling woke up and her behavior changed dramatically, Xiong Qingzhao started liking her master more and more. Usually, the original soul never gave her any presents or awards for her services or even the other servants. Once Fan Ling became adapted to her current situation though, she began to award the servants that worked well and deserved praises.

As the maid serving Fan Ling directly and closest to her, Xiong Qingzhao was naturally awarded the most for just her dedication. As a maid, they had to pay attention to the etiquette of a master-servant relationship. But, sometimes she would accidentally speak out wrongly or make opinionated statements as Fan Ling was much nicer than before she had the accident.

At first, Xiong Qingzhao thought that Fan Ling would punish her with a slap or deduction. Instead, Fan Ling just simply supported her opinions as though agreeing or debating with her and asked her for clarification about why she thought so.

In this time and age, there were indeed many nice masters. However, there were no masters that were willing to listen to the advice or opinions of their maids and servants. In fact, that could be considered a punishable offense.

To the servants that served her quarters and hall, Fan Ling was like a goddess that descended from the heavens. She promoted based on work and talent, and also made sure everyone was recognized for their work. At the same time, she completely changed the punishments of her servants.

Fan Ling had been conscious for about a month before Physician Jie finally allowed her to leave the estate to go out with Fan Ping. Despite the fact that only a month has passed, Fan Ling managed to change the entirety of the situation in her hall.

From the previous servants that disliked their master - wishing they could serve someone else, to servants that were more than willing to risk their lives for their master.

In the past, they could be punished for the smallest of mistakes, and these punishments were physical beatings, like dozens of slappings or whippings. Now, the only mistake that would make them receive physical punishment was if they threatened the lives of other servants or their masters.

If they made mistakes like breaking a vase or accidentally ripping clothes while washing, the most that would happen would be that they would have their monthly income deducted. Even then, the servants did not mind because Fan Ling always awarded them with accessories or money if they worked hard enough as a team.

Of course, this did not mean that Fan Ling was very forgiving. In fact, she has stated that she would not mind selling one of them if they dared to betray her.

At the time, Fan Ling even said something super scary to all of them with her very lovable face, "If any of you dare to betray me… just be careful that you will wish to die. Even if it is a painful death…"

Many of them shivered at the tone of her voice. However, what was worse was that she did not disclose how she would punish traitors. She merely gave them a scary smile while making such a statement.

With this, Xiong Qingzhao could tell that her master had changed into someone very different. Although her master was now different from the past though, she would not doubt the person in question.

This was also the same with the rest of the Fan family.

Maybe someone possessed the body of their daughter, or maybe their daughter already died. Maybe their daughter did really come to her senses and knew to change for the better. Whatever the answer though, they did not care as long as their daughter was beginning to learn how to better herself.