Chapter Twenty-three

Su Xiaobai woke up in a room that was exquisitely decorated. To call it elegant might not do it justice. The furnishings, the decoration pieces, the dressing mirror across from her, the armchair, and even the bed beneath her were all crafted from yellow pear wood. On the wall hung a painting of a lady stepping out of a bath, and nearby was a screen depicting a scene of birds competing for food. The entire environment was imbued with a classical, ancient charm. If not for the clothes she was still wearing from before, Su Xiaobai would have thought she had somehow traveled back in time.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened the night before. Her last memory was of being in the Wuling minivan, possibly crashing into the guardrail, followed by a strong impact to her head. Everything went black, and she lost consciousness. After that, she had no idea what had transpired.

Could it be that she was really kidnapped by that General Manager Chen from Jin Cheng and brought to this strange place?

Su Xiaobai sat dazedly on the bed, a thin quilt with a peony embroidery draped over her legs. Strangely, although the room had no air conditioning, it was unusually cool.

Well, Su Xiaobai had no idea where she was. This was the "Peony Room" among the twenty-four rooms of "Gulin." Zhou Qi, a man with quite a bit of creativity, had somehow gotten his hands on an ancient garden design manual passed down in the martial arts world. The book detailed the work of a famous garden designer from the Tang dynasty who had designed gardens for high-ranking officials. The book covered everything from the design of the gardens to the arrangement of water features, pavilions, and even how plants and decorations inside the rooms should be positioned according to feng shui. One section talked about a set of "twenty-four rooms" designed for a royal grandson, each named after a flower or plant. In addition to the "Peony Room," there were others like the "Begonia Room," "Fragrant Plum Room," "Spring Arrival Room," "Hibiscus Room," "Lotus Room," and so on. Each room's design and decorations were entirely different, and some even had women's undergarments, such as bodices and skirts, to add a bit of playfulness.

Zhou Qi had taken a liking to the concept of the "twenty-four rooms," and in a burst of enthusiasm, had the place built according to the descriptions in the book.

Su Xiaobai pulled back the quilt and got out of bed. The bed wasn't flimsy, but the slightest movement made it creak with a "creak, creak" sound. The noise was faint but somehow peculiar.

She walked to the mirror. The blurry copper mirror wasn't as clear and bright as modern ones, but she could still make out the small cut on her forehead. Thankfully, it wasn't a serious injury, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

If only Su Xiaobai knew what was going on. Most women would have completely broken down or been in a panic if they were kidnapped and thrown into an unfamiliar environment. But here she was, worrying about the condition of her face instead.

Next to the vanity was a window, one of those old-fashioned, carved wooden ones. She gently pushed it open and found that outside, there were pavilions and halls, with a small artificial mountain and flowing water visible in the distance.

Su Xiaobai was secretly startled. It wasn't that she hadn't seen such pavilions before—there were many old royal mansions and aristocratic houses in Mingzhu City that dated back to the Qing Dynasty. But this place was different; it was clearly newly built within the last couple of years, and the scale was rather large. She couldn't tell if it was intended for commercial use or as a private residence, but one thing was certain: the owner of this place was not ordinary. Just the cost of the land, several thousand square meters, was astronomical.

While Jin Cheng Corporation was large, Su Xiaobai still didn't believe that Manager Chen could have bought this land.

She pulled her gaze away and slowly put on her high heels. As she did, she remembered the conversation with Su Bai from last night. What did Su Bai mean when she said she was "tired"? It was clear that she had said she was the one who was going to let things go, but now, Su Xiaobai had woken up in her place. Sitting on the bed, Su Xiaobai slammed her fist down on the quilt. "Su Bai, Su Bai, since you know all the dirty things your husband has done, why not just divorce him? Now look at you, hiding away. Not only do you suffer, but has that man ever cared about you? Fine, fine, you hide. Go ahead, hide. I'll divorce him for you!"

The words were spoken with an overwhelming boldness, and if Su Bai had heard them, she would have probably cried in panic. But the thing was, just because Su Bai was too reluctant to end her relationship with Fang Cheng, didn't mean Su Xiaobai had any such hesitation. Besides, she had been given this opportunity.

But the truth was different. The day before, Su Bai had inexplicably been "knocked out" of her consciousness. She thought that Su Xiaobai wouldn't appear for some time, but to her surprise, when she woke up the next day, it was still Su Xiaobai occupying the body and mind. What Su Xiaobai didn't realize, however, was that she could no longer "share" consciousness with Su Bai. In other words, Su Xiaobai had no memory of the events from the night before, including meeting with Ganxin, Xu He, and Ni Yuan.

Su Xiaobai stepped out of the room and walked a short distance. She discovered that there were indeed many rooms here, with names like "Lotus Room" and "Fragrant Plum Room." The faint scent of flowers lingered in the air, and even the floorboards were wooden, making the sound of her high heels especially crisp.

She wandered around the second floor for quite some time, but didn't see anyone. Su Xiaobai wasn't about to go downstairs rashly. Before she figured out where she was, she needed to come up with a way to escape. Who knew whether there might be a row of men in black standing below? She also wasn't sure if this place had anything to do with Jin Cheng.

Although she couldn't figure out where she was, Su Xiaobai actually liked this place. Especially the pavilions and halls, with carved railings and jade fittings. If she had the money, she'd love to build one of these for herself. Of course, it was just a fantasy—she knew with her current abilities, she could only dream about it.

Propping her chin with one hand, Su Xiaobai leaned against the railing of the corridor, her eyes slightly dazed as she gazed at the distant pavilion. Just then, a breeze swept through, lifting the strands of her hair behind her. She looked a little like the beauty in the poem, "A beauty rolls up her pearl curtain, sitting with furrowed brows, her tear stains visible, but who knows the sorrow in her heart?"

At that moment, Ganxin just happened to come upstairs to grab something. Zhou Qi, Xu He, and Ni Yuan were downstairs admiring some new objects. There were a dozen walnuts intricately carved with "secret maps." The craftsmanship was impressive, as the walnut shells, only about a centimeter in diameter, had various scenes carved on them. To view them properly, one had to use a magnifying glass. One of the pieces was particularly delicate—it depicted a woman on a swing, and when touched, the swing seemed to sway slightly, making those who were admiring it sigh in amazement.

Ganxin saw the woman resting her cheek on her hand, deep in thought. She immediately recognized her as the one Xu He had rescued the night before. Originally, Ganxin had intended to ignore her, but to her surprise, the woman suddenly froze, her eyes wide in shock. She clutched her chest with one hand, while the other stretched out towards the scene below.

"Is she seeing a ghost or something?" Su Xiaobai muttered, and her words fell clearly within earshot of Ganxin. Ganxin's steps faltered, and she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow to look at her. At that moment, Su Xiaobai seemed too shocked to regain her composure and was still staring intensely at the scene below. Ganxin followed her gaze.

Downstairs, a woman was holding a man's hand while wiping her tears, seemingly crying inconsolably. The scene was rather touching, and the man seemed moved by her tender, fragile appearance.

"Oh? Isn't that Su Miao's brother-in-law?" Ganxin wasn't overly surprised. Since he and Su Miao were in the same circle, she recognized the man as Fang Cheng. As for the woman with him, Ganxin didn't care to know. However, she had heard that Su Miao had been investigating Fang Cheng lately, probably due to her sister's involvement. Once anything related to Su Miao's sister came up, Su Miao was truly ruthless.

Ganxin shook her head, not wanting to get involved. Just as she was about to leave, the woman turned around, her face carrying a slight mocking expression that she hadn't quite managed to hide.

"Hey, little brother, could you lend me your phone?" Su Xiaobai stared intently at Ganxin, her expression slightly playful, as if caught between surprise and teasing. She then bit her lip lightly, exuding a carefree, unruly charm. It was a look that contrasted sharply with the fragile, tearful woman from the night before.

Ganxin suspected that either this woman was a master at pretending, or she had really taken some kind of drug.

Either way, this version of Su Xiaobai certainly piqued Ganxin's interest. He was curious to see how well she could pull off her act.