A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return
chapter-1096

Xia Ling’s mind went buzzing and she felt light-headed all of a sudden.

She remembered the stains left on the bed sheets; anyone who saw that would probably know what went on.

She felt so ashamed of herself, she left the table without finishing her breakfast. While Nanny Zhou wasn’t looking, she snuck her way up the stairs, hoping to avoid any contact with her. But alas, she bumped into Nanny Zhou in a fluster.

“Miss?” Nanny Zhou was stunned for a while, and finally understood why she was acting so odd today. “Watch your steps, lest you fall and hurt yourself.”

She dashed up to the room without saying a word.

Nanny Zhou watched her back view disappear into the distance, and then looked down at the pile of dirty sheets and sighed. When she went to tidy up their bedroom earlier, the strange scent had already bothered her slightly. After tossing the sheets and seeing the mess in it, she realized that what she’d been worrying about had really happened. Miss was innocent and unaware, but was Mister insensible too?

She got the sheets washed before bringing a cup of tea to Xia Ling.

On the second floor parapet was that beautiful girl, sitting on a cane chair in her white dress, gazing into the distance. The sunlight that reflected off her highlighted her beautiful lashes and lush hair. She looked so troubled, like a confused little genie.

Nanny Zhou sighed softly before placing the cup of tea on the stool beside her. “Miss, have some tea.”

She was startled from her daze. Upon seeing Nanny Zhou, she couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. “Oh, alright,” she said frantically and hurriedly lifted the cup, accidentally scalding herself.

Nanny Zhou said, “Be careful.” She then took a seat beside her and said in a gentle and calming tone, “I’ve washed the sheets. Miss, will you be sleeping with Mister in the future? I remember you like some little teddy and pastel-colored flower prints. Mister’s bed sets are all too simple and dull, would you like me to get some new ones?”

Xia Ling did not expect her to bring this up and immediately blushed.

Nanny Zhou smiled. “Are you shy now? Well, all ladies have to go through this process. Since it’s already happened, don’t think too much about it.” After looking at Xia Ling’s expression closely, she asked, “Miss, it was… consensual, right?”

“I… I…” her face was getting even redder now. She hung her head low and drank her tea, not saying anything more.

Nanny Zhou was experienced enough to know what was going on—thankfully, the girl before her simply appeared shy, but did not show any signs of hurt or anger. It seemed like this was consensual. What she was worried about was that Pei Ziheng had forced her into it. If that were the case, the consequences could be dire and it’d be a tough mess to clean up. Fortunately, this wasn’t the worst-case scenario.

She kindly said, “Miss, you were adopted into this family since you were a child, and Mister’s mother passed on very young, so there aren’t really any maternal figures in your lives. But for some matters, it is important for an experienced elder to walk you through it. If you’re alright with it, hear me out for a bit. I’ll tell you a little more about women and such matters.”

Xia Ling’s cheeks flushed yet again as she said, almost inaudibly, “Okay.” When she first came to live in the Pei family, her menstruation had not even started yet, and she was still a young and innocent child. When it came, it was this older lady here who had taken care of her and taught her how to care for herself as well. The training camp did not have any sexuality education lessons, and Pei Ziheng had never discussed this with her either. Hence, although she had already “done it” with him, she was still largely unaware of such knowledge.

Hence Nanny Zhou asked, “Did you take precautions?” This was her main concern—Miss was still so young and did not have an official status or title, if she did get pregnant, things would be bad.

Xia Ling wasn’t expecting this question. She wanted so much to hide in a pit.

Nanny Zhou was even more tender now. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Back when I first got married, I didn’t take the necessary precautions and ended up having to go through two abortions. You don’t know how painful that was… as women, we should protect ourselves first. Otherwise, we’ll be the ones to lose out eventually. Do you think we can depend on those men? Cheh.”

Only then did Xia Ling quietly say, “I took morning after pills the last time, but t-this time, I didn’t.”

Nanny Zhou got a shock. So this wasn’t the first time they did it? She got a little more serious. “When was the last time? You can only have the morning after pills after the intercourse. If you do it again on the same day after eating it, it’ll be ineffective. Miss, both of you did not take any precaution at all last night?”

Xia Ling was a little frightened. “I-I don’t know.”

“Did you use a condom?”

Xia Ling shook her head, not daring to look Nanny Zhou in the eye. “I don’t know.”

“Then, did he shoot it inside?”

“What?” Xia Ling blurted intuitively. When she understood what Nanny Zhou meant, her face warmed up again. “M-Maybe…”

“What do you mean maybe, these are things you need to start taking note of.” Nanny Zhou sighed and did some calculations—these few days should be Miss’s “safe period”, so it should be alright, but taking the pill would still be a safer option. But… she already had it the last time, it wasn’t good to have too much of it.

Mister was really too much. He was so insensible, not even caring about Miss’ health.

Nanny Zhou was unhappy about it. She felt almost like this was a common animosity that women had against men in general. If the man in the picture now wasn’t her employer, Nanny Zhou would’ve called him a jerk. And if it was her biological daughter who was being treated this way now, she wouldn’t let the man off either. In any case, Miss was a pitiful girl, she didn’t even have a maiden family to back her up.

As a housemaid, there was only so much she could do.

“I’ll get you some condoms when I’m out later,” Nanny Zhou said. “Even if Mister isn’t willing to put it on, you have to make him do it. You’re still young and it’s too early to have a child. Taking those pills on a regular basis or going for abortions is very harmful to your body; you might even have problems bearing a child in the future.”

She made things sound more serious to ensure Xia Ling took note of it.

As she guessed, Xia Ling was slightly shaken. She nodded her head as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

Only then did Nanny Zhou leave, knowing that she had taught Xia Ling some important things and that she had internalized it.

Pei Ziheng came home earlier that day and even bought a bouquet of roses.

He wouldn’t have guessed that the elderly housemaid was waiting for him the moment he got off the Rolls Royce.

Nanny Zhou said, “Mister, can I speak with you?”

Pei Ziheng had already guessed what she was about to say. The mess that he left in the bedroom this morning made things obvious enough, and Nanny Zhou was sure to pick it up. He waved the chauffeur away and walked towards a corner in the garden before saying, “Go ahead.”

“It’s about Miss.” Nanny Zhou gathered her thoughts for a while. “You know how dependent she is on you. She’s only 16. For all you know, she thinks that her first love would be for life. But you know that you can never marry her. How devastated would she be when she finds out?”