Chapter 22: The Ten Evil Spirits

  Charlotte and Mary finished breakfast, as usual rode Hans uncle's horse to Edward's house, after saying goodbye to Hans uncle at the back door of Edward's castle, Charlotte drilled into a low and dark underground room.

  More than a dozen servants from the Edward family have arrived, all of whom are changing clothes. The rules of the Edward family require that the servants wear uniforms made of linen, with the same color and texture, the only difference being the style. Male servants wear overalls with aprons, while female servants wear skirts with aprons. Charlotte did not want to change her clothes in public view, she always wore her uniform at home before coming.

  Charlotte walked past several maids who were changing clothes, some of whom smiled and greeted her, while others pretended not to see her and turned their heads away. Among these maids, many secretly admired the handsome Lestin, and his mother's enthusiasm had brought Charlotte a lot of jealousy. She didn't care, for even without Lestin, her beauty would still bring her the resentment of shallow people.

  She opened her own closet, which was filled with today's laundry. At first glance, the dirty clothes in her closet seemed to be more than anyone else's, but upon closer inspection, it turned out that these clothes were all soft and easy to wash. Charlotte was grateful to the middle-aged aunt, who had helped her sincerely no matter what. It seemed that she would have to visit her aunt's house more often in the future, and helping with the cleaning would be a way of repayment too.

  Carrying a large basin of clothes to the riverbank below the castle, where the maids wash their clothes together. Since many people harbor resentment towards Charlotte, no one dares to befriend her. Charlotte takes the wooden basin and runs to the side, making an effort to finish washing quickly. She wants to end early because Uncle Hans promised to teach her horseback riding from today. It's said that Lady Edward loves horseback riding, so maybe approaching the upper class of the Edward family through this interest is the best way. Charlotte thinks this as she washes clothes with more energy.

  As noon approached, the sun scorched the earth, and the air was filled with the smell of damp mud. The riverbank became cool, so Charlotte stopped carrying a basin to wash on the stone slab and began washing directly on the grass by the river. Charlotte's frostbite had improved somewhat in the summer, but it was still red and swollen. She deliberately ignored her ugly fingers and focused on washing clothes. A few women gathered together in the distance, whispering and occasionally glancing at Charlotte with hateful eyes, as if they were plotting something. One woman was pushed forward, she slapped the hand of the woman who had pushed her, muttered a few words, and then obediently approached Charlotte. The maids washing clothes by the river all stared at the woman, watching with an attitude of waiting for Charlotte to get into trouble.

  Charlotte, lost in thought, didn't notice someone slowly approaching from behind. The clean clothes were piled up in the basin, and Charlotte was rubbing the last dirty one in her hands. The stone slab by the river was very slippery, and Charlotte crouched down carefully to prevent herself from slipping. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a shadow gradually looming over. Charlotte suddenly stood up, that woman had ill intentions, seeing Charlotte stand up and being startled, without caring about the consequences, pushed Charlotte into the river with one hand. Charlotte was already standing unsteadily, and after being pushed by the woman, fell into the river without any suspense. In fact, the woman just wanted to throw her clothes into the river to make the middle-aged aunt dissatisfied with her, who knew Charlotte would react so big and scare her.

  The river's surface looked calm, but the current was actually very rapid. Charlotte couldn't swim and when she suddenly fell into the water, she flailed about helplessly. The river carried her away, and she began to sink. The onlookers who had been watching the commotion rushed over to rescue her, with some already running back to the castle to find the middle-aged aunt. The plotters, feeling guilty, picked up their baskets and left the scene.

  Lisitin was discussing with his mother about moving out, and his mother almost agreed. A lower-ranking servant rushed in, panting, and loudly shouted that something was wrong. Lisitin, whose conversation had been interrupted, looked at the servant kneeling at his feet with a cold gaze.

  "What's the hurry, no elegance at all?"

  "Oh no, Lord Liszt, Charlotte has fallen into the water!"

  Lysander was incredulous. How could Charlotte, so cautious a person, have fallen into the water? It couldn't be that someone had harmed her! His fingers clenched involuntarily, his knuckles whitening.

  "How come? Where?"

  "By the Xinao River outside the back door, hurry up and save her, adults!"

  She seemed very anxious, but in fact she had no relationship with Charlotte at all. At this time, it was just to please Liszt and the middle-aged aunt.

  "Lead the way!"

  To save time, Liszt chose to let the woman lead the way. The middle-aged aunt couldn't keep up with their pace and was left panting behind them.

  The water was about to overflow her head, Charlotte struggled desperately for a few times and got her head out of the water again. She grabbed this lifesaving straw and shouted loudly "Save me! Save me!" The maids on the shore finally couldn't hold back, someone jumped into the river with a splash, trying their best to swim towards Charlotte. Seeing that someone was coming to save her, Charlotte gained strength again and paddled several times to keep herself from sinking. The maid in the water was less than four meters away from Charlotte, and everyone on the shore was sweating for them. This river drowned ten people every year, and locals called it "Ten Evil Spirits", each life feeding one evil spirit. Charlotte's situation was still lucky, with so many people around, the chance of being rescued was great, but who would be sacrificed to feed the evil spirits instead of her?

  Lestin arrived at the riverbank and saw Charlotte struggling in the water, her life hanging by a thread. His heart was shaken to its core, and he almost kicked the servant who tried to stop him from jumping into the water. It wasn't until his mother stepped in front of him that he stopped, the middle-aged aunt's face filled with pain, her voice trembling as she cried out

  "Everyone knows you can't swim, Charlotte will understand, don't be foolish! Mother is begging you!"

  Lissten refused, he still insisted on pushing his mother away

  "Sorry."

  Like this, the silly and non-swimming Lestin also jumped into the river, but he calmly jumped into the water without struggling or splashing, and instead floated on the surface of the water flowing towards Charlotte. The middle-aged aunt watched her son nervously until he continued to float on the surface before slightly relaxing. Her son was sillier than anyone else, but also smarter than anyone else.

  The maid was getting closer and closer to Charlotte, victory was in sight, Charlotte's heart couldn't help but flutter with excitement. But before she could get too excited, she noticed something was off. The river water around her began to flow slightly faster, a whirlpool gradually formed and grew larger. The maid was still approaching her, Charlotte was stunned, the second cursed spirit appeared!

  "No! No! Go back! Hurry up and leave! Don't come over!"

  Charlotte shouted loudly, trying to get the maid to return. This time Xiao Bai was not by her side, and with such a powerful opponent, why should she drag innocent people to their deaths!