Both of her granddaughters, whom she had bet great hope on, were seriously injured. Fortunately, they were out of danger now. Nevertheless, Madam Dowager was still worried. One of them had internal injuries, and the other one had broken her leg. Now it was hard to tell which one was in a worse state, but they were both in a wretched state anyway. Thinking of this, Madam Dowager felt worried.
There came Ning Zu'an's message after investigation from the bottom of the mountain. He only said that those involved in the accidents were all dead. No one knew what had happened. Maybe they were really accidents. It was hard to believe that both of her granddaughters had such accidents. But so what? With the facts in front of her, Madam Dowager had to accept bad luck without complaint.
Commandery Princess Xianyun had only stayed at the Cold Mountain Temple for a night. After all, she was going to get married soon, so it was impossible for her to stay here longer. Ther
In fact, the door of the hall was not close to them. Nevertheless, as old ladies, Madam Dowager and Mother Qin couldn't see something nearby clearly, but could see something from a distance clearly. If they paid more attention, they would find that it was Xinmei, Ning Xueyan's maid, who stood at the door of the hall. But even if they saw her, they wouldn't believe that Xinmei could see what they had done.It was because it was impossible for an ordinary person to see something clearly from such a distance. However, as a martial arts practitioner, Xinmei had better eyesight than ordinary people. So everything Madam Dowager and Mother Qin had done after they got out of the hall came into her view. She saw Mother Qin pick up the jade pendant in a panic, Madam Dowager's face change and then them leave in a hurry.She waited for another while. As she expected, she saw a maid, who served Madam Dowager, show up there, look around carefully and leave after finding
After having lunch and resting for a while, Ning Xueyan went to Ning Qingshan's yard with Xinmei. It was Ao Chenyi's request that she should take Xinmei with her wherever she went in order to avoid any other accidents.The courtyard, where a patient lived, was usually very quiet. Like Ning Xueyan's courtyard, Ning Qingshan's courtyard was full of the smell of medicine. As soon as Ning Xueyan entered the courtyard, the strong smell of medicine came to her nose. Seeing the four guards in the courtyard, Ning Xueyan frowned and stopped. Ao Mingyu was here?"Fifth Young Lady, you've just arrived. My master has asked me about it several times. I was thinking about coming over to help you in. Unexpectedly, you've arrived."Mammy Luo came out from the room. Seeing Ning Xueyan standing in the courtyard, she immediately came over affectionately and reached out in an attempt to help Ning Xueyan in, seeming to afraid that Ning Xueyan would leave.
"Fifth Young Lady, please, His Highness has been waiting for you in the house for a long time. Fifth Young Lady, you are just playing hard to get and it only makes things difficult for the old servant." Outside the house, Mammy Luo now stopped putting on an act. Her words even skimmed past Ning Qingshan and directly mentioned Ao Mingyu, with added disdain, which tightly pressured her with every word. In her opinion, Ning Xueyan now had no choice but to enter.Ning Xueyan stood up straight. Behind her was a protruding stone amongst the fake mountains, and she reached out for the stone. Her complexion was calm, and her vision leisurely landed on the stone. "Mammy Luo, if I was forced to hurt myself with the stone in Third Sister's courtyard, what would happen to her?"A dainty young lady, with a flowery smile and a gentle voice, disregarded the four unsightly imperial bodyguards and the older female servant who followed her closely, as if she did not realize
Ning Xueyan involuntarily shook a little, and felt a surge of weakness after relaxing. A moment ago, she struggled to confront Mammy Luo and the four hostile guards, for fear that any slight relaxation in will would put her in that catastrophic situation. At this moment, as soon as she relaxed, she felt everything in front of her went black and she went weak and limp.Xinmei intended to reach out, but saw a dark figure flash in front of her. She took two steps back and stood aside with her hands down. Feeling relived, she put the flying needles back into her sleeves and secretly wiped the sweat on her forehead. Prince Yi had come. It didn't matter even if the Third Prince played others tricks.She was at present and certainly knew that the crunch was on the verge of breaking out just now. If Ning Xueyan hadn't threatened with her life, the Third Prince never would have come out to meet her. Of course, even if the Third Prince came out, it didn't mean that t
Ning Xueyan didn't pass out for long. She just felt weak and everything in front of her went black, and then fell down. When she woke up, she was nestled in the familiar arms. She looked up and saw a face that looked even more handsome because of being close to her, and the cold eyes on the face were closed at the moment.Both of them were lying on the bed. Ning Xueyan moved slightly and looked sideways at him.He closed his eyes quietly, with a strand of black hair on his face. His long slanted eyes were closed slightly. His features were as pretty as a picture, and his lips were as red as blood. His dark and long eyelashes were thick and long, without the cold and vicious vibe he usually exuded. He, who was in his quiet sleep, showed a hint of indifference on his handsome face."Do you want to kill him?" With his long eyelashes fluttering, he put his slender fingers on Ning Xueyan's neck where there was a small wound to which the ointment had
"Rest assured. I came up to the mountain today with my favorite concubine to pray for blessings. Unexpectedly, I saw Ao Mingyu bully my girl. It's unbearable to any man. I just slapped him, which is light punishment," Ao Chenyi said listlessly with a hint of coldness across his eyes."Your Highness's favorite concubine has also come. Where is she?" Ning Xueyan blinked her watery eyes and understood what Ao Chenyi meant. She hurriedly got up, looked around, and asked in confusion."Rest assured. Of course, my favorite concubine is in my courtyard. Yan'er, I'm sorry for making you feel aggrieved." She moved her eyes to look around, looking quite cute and cunning. At the sight of this, Ao Chenyi also raised his face and lazily pinched her ear.It meant that the person pretending to be Ao Chenyi's favorite concubine was not here, but in the courtyard where Ao Chenyi usually lived after coming up the mountain. Ning Xueyan didn't live in the courtyar
There was no sorrow or joy on his handsome face, but somehow made her feel that he was gloomy and lonely.He was the only one traveling alone in the secular world. In the empty wilderness, there was only the rolled dark brocade robe and the bright red flowers reflected on it which looked like a touch of darkness wandering in the bloody red hell."What's wrong? Are you afraid?" She didn't know when Ao Chenyi withdrew his gaze, lowered his head to look at her unwearied eyes and lifted the corners of his mouth to show a faint smile.Suddenly, Ning Xueyan shook her head solemnly, blinked her watery eyes and finally looked at Ao Chenyi's face. "Your Highness, rest assured. I'm not afraid!"Her words sounded strange and even not corresponding to Ao Chenyi's question. Nevertheless, her stubborn gaze and her active action of holding Ao Chenyi's hand firmly inexplicably convinced him that the fragile girl in front of him was telling the tru
"What? The Third Young Lady got the Fifth Young Lady involved in trouble?" Madam Dowager beat the table hard and stood up suddenly with the support of her walking stick. She was so angry that her face turned ashen. She had bet all her hope on the Fifth Young Lady, but she didn't expect that the Third Young Lady would do this to the Fifth Young Lady.She was originally delighted to hear that the Third Prince finally came to see Ning Qingshan, and specially told others not to disturb them. Based on the Third Prince's previous attitude, she could tell that he didn't care about Ning Qingshan at all. She had thought that Ning Qingshan had become useless in her plan. Unexpectedly, the Third Prince came here in person. How could Madam Dowager not be overjoyed?However, Madam Dowager didn't expect that things would come to this. Ning Qingshan intended to trap her sister by making the "ambiguous relationship" between the Third Prince and Ning Xueyan discovered. She
"What will you do now?" Ning Xueyan had to take two quick steps to catch up with Ao Chenyi's pace. "Destroy the nine barbarian states alongside Wen Xueran?""No." Ao Chenyi raised an eyebrow and smiled mysteriously. "I'll negotiate with Wen Xueran."Confused, she repeated, "Negotiate?""The people of the nine barbarian states have always been different from those of the central plains. They're valiant and barbaric. For many years, they have wanted to invade us. If it weren't for the princes of Annan holding down the front, the nine barbarian states would have attacked us a long time ago. Annan troops have fought the nine barbarian states more than our troops did, and they have a better chance of winning too."Ao Chenyi said calmly. He didn't like the nine barbarian states in the slightest. If it weren't his father forbidding him from going to the faraway hinterland of the nine barbarian states, where death was almost certain, he wo
It didn't take long for Qingyu to return from the Lord Protector's Manor with a new piece of news. It was said that there had been a haunting in the prayer hall of the manor.Rumor had it that an older maid became ill from the fright of seeing a ghost.A long time ago, the Cloud Reflection Courtyard was said to be haunted too. No one dared to come close at that time, not even during the day. Even though the rumors died down later on, a few people who were deeply affected by the events said that the situation was still grave then.Therefore, even though only a maid had seen the ghost, the rumors spread like wildfire in the manor.The prayer hall used to be Madam Dowager's favorite spot. It was later used to imprison Madam Ling for some time. Now that Madam Ling was dead, everyone feared that she was the ghost. It was said that Madam Ling was an evil woman when she was alive. Even in death, she might become a malicious ghost. The sit
Ao Chenyi was so close that his handsome face was all that Ning Xueyan could see, and he didn't look all that happy. Then, she realized that she had been holding tightly onto a strand of his black hair.She flung her hand and hastily released the strand of hair in her hand. She even caressed the hair on his temples with a wide smile. "Why are you here? When did you come? Why didn't you wake me up?"Ning Xueyan looked truly confused as if she really didn't know that she had grabbed Ao Chenyi's hair until it hurt."Playing dumb, huh?" he said coldly, frowning at her. His slender fingers reached out and lightly pinched the wing of her nose."Ouch!" Ning Xueyan held her nose pitifully. Her limpid eyes seemed glazed over as if brewing tears."Now you know it hurts!" Ao Chenyi's thin lips were curved into a smile. He was satisfied to see her not daring to voice her frustration.Ning Xueyan nodded firmly without
"Can you remember it now?" Ao Chenyi narrowed his eyes and knocked on their table with his slender fingers. His voice sounded a tad threatening."I… I really can't remember." Ning Xueyan felt like she had thought of all the possible answers but she was still coming up empty. She had no choice but to admit her fault."You really can't remember?" His beautiful eyes curved into a charming arc and his expression was sinister. Sure enough, this was a bad situation to be in. She didn't even hesitate to grab his hand with a bright smile on her tender face."Even if I can't remember, you can still remind me, right?" She knew it would pay well to cajole this man.Ao Chenyi wasn't polite with her either. He turned his hand over and pinched her soft face. His expression had improved considerably. There was a faint smile on his face as he asked, "If I tell you, can you really understand and remember what it is?""Of course I can!"
It seemed that at this point of the letter, the Empress couldn't continue anymore. There were only tear stains on the paper, followed by wide empty spaces.Then, the Empress said how reassured she was that Madam Ming would be taking care of her newborn. Madam Ming would be a fine mother. She had also asked someone to watch over Madam Ming and the newborn. Their statuses in the previous dynasty had vanished like smoke. Time was always moving forward and the changing of imperial dynasties was inevitable.The only tragedy was the eternal separation of her from her husband, and of her from her daughters.The only reason she had written the letter was that she couldn't help herself. If she never said anything, her child would never know the truth. That would have been for the best. Yet, she couldn't accept this, so she would hand the letter to the person who would be looking after Madam Ming. If Ning Ziying's identity was revealed to the world one d
The news of Ning Zu'an's death shocked everyone in the Lord Protector's Manor. Even though the title had been passed onto Ning Huaijing, Ning Zu'an was the patriarch of the family. Even without the title, he was still the most authoritative figure in the manor.Madam Dowager collapsed as soon as she heard the news of his death. She became ill and bedridden, unable to get up.Ning Xueyan couldn't leave the palace freely due to her status as the Empress. She sent Qingyu and Mother Han to the manor and had them inquire about Madam Dowager's health in her place. Mother Han returned to Prince Yi's Manor afterward while Qingyu entered the palace to report to Ning Xueyan.It was inconvenient for Mother Han to live in the palace because she had a son to take care of. Instead of entering the palace with Ning Xueyan, she stayed in Prince Yi's Manor as the housekeeper. Ning Xueyan was prepared to release her from the manor when the situation stabilized in
"The Empress discovered a secret tunnel under Chenyuan Palace by accident. She never told anyone about it. She even killed the maid that discovered the tunnel with her and accompanied her in walking through the tunnel. In other words, she was the only one who knew about it," Ning Xueyan explained.This was the Empress' secret. To prove it, she used Yun Luoluo's incident as an example. When Ning Xueyan was drugged in Chenyuan Palace, the Empress wanted to take her to a room. There, a man would sneak into the palace through the secret tunnel.If Ning Xueyan woke up and discovered herself in disheveled clothes in the presence of another man, she would surely panic. To protect her secret, she would surely agree with whatever the Empress wanted. The Empress wanted to use Ning Xueyan to force Ao Chenyi into accepting his "affair" with Yun Luoluo.Unfortunately, Ao Chenyi had appeared all of a sudden. She didn't dare to do anything with him around, so
Ao Chenyi didn't try to persuade her this time. This had bothered her for so long that she would continue to suffer for it if she didn't cry it out now. He held her tighter and allowed her to wet the front of his robe. She didn't brawl. All she did was close her eyes and let her tears stream down her face. When her tears finally dried, she sat quietly in Ao Chenyi's embrace for a long time.It was so quiet inside the room that she could finally calm down.Her hands were being held so tightly in Ao Chenyi's hand that she could feel the callus in his palm. He was Prince Yi, the late Emperor's beloved prince who grew up to be the infamous Demon King. Those who mentioned his name would often be frightened and alarmed. Only she knew how difficult his life had been.Ao Chenyi was still young when he drew his elder brother's jealousy and suspicion. He was framed, imprisoned, and nearly died. His fiancee abandoned him at his lowest point, sought shelte
"It was and wasn't an accident. He could only blame himself. No matter what, he was the one who forced my hand and cornered me to this state. He ruined my everything. Him dying in my hands could be considered as his retribution."The Empress began to look calm again. She turned her head and stared at Ning Xueyan with a trace of sadness in her eyes. "I invited you here to ask you to let go of my family. It's all my fault and has nothing to do with my family. They're just a small and useless noble family. In exchange for their safety, I'll tell you a secret."Her voice had lost her previous agitation and anger, leaving only a sense of helplessness. She had never put any hope in her family. She thought that she would be able to help her people after gaining power but now that she was in trouble, she was worried that her family would be implicated and sentenced to death.She had resented her family countless times for marrying her off to the Empero