The Devious First-Daughter

The book was an old book, but Ning Xueyan had never seen this line of small characters before. If this was the case, had they ever been seen by anyone before?

It was the Book of Family Names, a very common book, and a child’s primer. In her previous life, her mother had personally imparted knowledge to her. The Book of Family Names was the first book she learned from. She was familiar with everything in it, and she even knew which page had some creases on it.

She brought this book to the capital in memory of her mother.

So, this book meant a lot of her, as it was something she treasured from the past.

However, such a book was a little different from the usual books. If Qingyu had not accidentally sprinkled water on the book, the handwriting would not have appeared. And she never thought that there would be so many characters in this ordinary book.

The characters gave her a creepy feeling.

Ye:

I hope this message finds you well. The grievances have been accumulated for a long time, and the situation is hopeless. God’s will makes fools of people, and I cannot turn this around. Zi’er is still young, and you… should not take the plunge. Leave as soon as possible!”

It was signed off as: Your Husband, Tong.

On the blotted page, there were not only the characters, but also bloodstains. Ning Xueyan could almost smell the blood from it. It was a bloodletter, meaning it had been written in blood. The dark red handwriting pierced her heart like a sword, and she felt a stabbing pain.

This book was hers, a gift from her mother. It was the first book that her mother had given her. Her mother read all the words in this book with her. But why were these characters in her book?

She crumpled the handkerchief in her hand into a ball, rubbed in her hand, and then unfolded it. The line of blood-stained characters almost made her lose her cool.

As the paper slowly dried, the characters on it faded gradually and could hardly be seen clearly. However, everything in front of her had already stuck in her mind. The characters on it had been printed word by word. She was very sure that it must have something to do with her.

When she was in Jiangnan City, both her father and mother called her Ying’er. But who was that Zi’er? There was also a Zi in her name. When she first met Ning Ziyan, she thought she was in the same generation as “Zi.” But when she saw the names of Ning Yuling and Ning Lingyun, she found that there was no one with the same name in the same generation of sisters.

Later, she learned that girls were not named according to the generation name, so her “Zi” and Ning Ziyan’s “Zi.” was a coincidence. Was she this Zi’er?

As for this “Ye” and “Tong,” she had never heard of them. There was no such character in the names of her father and mother, so it could not be them. But if were not them, how could this book fall into her hands? The blood-stained characters, together with the wide bloodstain, appeared in her mind, one by one.

Why did he write those words in this book? It must have been an urgent and helpless situation. The husband must have written the last words reluctantly, before his death. He had asked his wife to escape with his child. Wasn’t that from the previous dynasty?

Such a conversation suddenly appeared in her mind.

“Ying’er, this is the first book that I gave you. You should take good care of it and keep it all your life.” The woman’s voice was gentle.

“Yes, Mother. Ying’er will take good care of it and keep it all my life.” She answered innocently, in a childish voice.

“Ying’er, even if you get married in the future, you have to set out in a bridal sedan chair with the book inside, and then pass it down to your children, okay?” The woman said with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll pass the book to my children. But Mother, what is marriage?” The little girl asked blankly.

She touched the pages with her trembling hands and could stay calm anymore. Was this her biological parents’ last words? Otherwise, why did her mother remind her about the value the Book of Family Names time and again? These long-lost childhood memories had disappeared without a trace. But now, with the appearance of this bloodletter, some traces of her memories suddenly reappeared.

Zi’er? Ying’er?

Another thing suddenly came to her mind. The mysterious woman, whose voice was similar to Ya Moqin’s, seemed to have addressed her as Zi’er when she first saw her. Then, her mother laughed it off and said that she was Ying’er, instead of Zi’er.

She still remembered that her mother looked extremely natural at that time. She patted her head casually and let her read and play the lyre as usual. Her mother had assigned these tasks for her. In the morning, she played the lyre and read books. In the afternoon, she rested and could walk about in the garden.

And her mother, who had always been calm, suddenly made an incoherent statement. At that time, it was in the afternoon.

There seemed to be thousands of knots in her mind, but she did not know how to start unraveling them. She only felt that these knots were so entangled, that it was hard for her to breathe. The deeper she was involved, the more chaotic it became. It was so messy that she almost wanted to cut everything off and start all over again.

“Cut everything off and start all over again?” Ning Xueyan exhaled a long breath from her chest and leaned back to calm herself down. This matter could not be rushed. If she managed to find the nun named Jingkong, she could figure out everything. However, she had to think about Xia Yuhang first. What did he want to do with these books?

Thinking back to the past, he had even rummaged through her satin clothes. Perhaps he was looking for something like paper or tiles, or anything that could be put in a book. Of course, it could also be put in cloth, so that others could not see it…

“Young Lady, someone from Madam Dowager’s side, would like you to go over there. The servant said that all the young ladies and concubines are already there.” Lanning came in with this message. Anxiously, she looked at Ning Xueyan’s pale face. Since the blood-red characters appeared on the page, the young lady had been sitting alone in the room for almost four hours.

During this period, Lanning also came in and poured tea into her cup. However, she looked at the sky, frowning and seemed to be in a daze. Since she knew the young lady and had been with her for a long time already, Lanning had never seen such a look on her face.

Even though the young lady looked soft, the firmness in her eyes had never gone away. She had never seen such a look of hesitancy on her face before.

“Okay, let’s go!” Ning Xueyan touched her forehead and gave a faint smile. She stood up and straightened Lanning’s skirt. But when she walked to the door, she went to the kitchen, after a moment’s thought. She asked about the dishes for dinner and added some dishes that Madam Dowager liked. Then she turned to the Lucky Garden.

Madam Dowager was happy today, so she had agreed to let everyone have dinner together at the Lucky Garden. If it had not been for this book, Ning Xueyan would have gone earlier. Fortunately, it was not late. She went to Lucky Garden, together with Lanning and Qingyu.

When they reached the door, they bumped into Ning Huaiyuan, so they entered Madam Dowager’s courtyard together.

The room was full of people, and Ning Qingshan was already there. She was chatting and laughing with Madam Dowager. At the same time, there was junior Concubine Xu, who was now the most favored. Thus, she was not as timid as before. She and Ning Qingshan made Madam Dowager laugh time and again.

The other concubines smiled and said something appropriate from time to time. Even Senior Concubine Xu, whose daughter had been locked up in the Buddha Hall, looked good and laughed merrily. She did not seem to be estranged from Madam Dowager, because of Ning Lingyun.

Ning Zu’an had not appeared yet. He was still dealing with affairs in the study, and he asked Ning Huaiyuan to come first.

“Fifth Young Lady, you’re finally here. Madam Dowager has called you many times.” Seeing Ning Xueyan, Junior Concubine Xu smiled at her and then turned to Madam Dowager. “Madam Dowager, look at Fifth Young Lady. She came late because she was dressing up to please you. You should not blame her for coming late.”

Ning Xueyan saw that the clever Junior Concubine Xu was grinning, and her eyes gradually turned cold. She thought that she had nothing to do with her at all, but it seemed that she was trying to find fault with her.

Was she picking on her for coming late?

Madam Dowager, who was initially happy and gay, now had an angry look on her face. The dinner was already prearranged, but Ning Xueyan was the last one to come. If she had no reasonable reason, her lateness could not be justified.

“Fifth Girl, why are you here so late?”

“Grandmother, please forgive me. I was in the kitchen just now and asked about the food tonight. Then, I added some dishes. So, I came a little late. Sorry, if I made you worried.” Ning Xueyan answered calmly. She cast a thoughtful look at Junior Concubine Xu. She was wondering if there would be someone commenting about her late arrival. She didn’t expect that the first person would be her, whom she had no dealings with.

Hearing this, Madam Dowager smiled again. She pointed to a seat at Ning Qingshan’s right and asked her to sit down.

“Madam Dowager, look, I told you that Fifth Young Lady would not be so thoughtless. It turns out that she went to check the kitchen for you. Madam Dowager, you should not tire her out. She is still young and should have time to have fun.”

Not only did Junior Concubine Xu become bolder, but her tongue became even more glib. This time, she spoke up for Ning Xueyan, to make her feel more comfortable. If she had not seen a trace of pride in her eyes, Ning Xueyan would have thought that Junior Concubine Xu was trying her best to show off during her first appearance.

It was interesting. A man whose heart was not content was like a snake that tried to swallow an elephant. She was such a person!

“You’re a good talker. No wonder Zu’an always said that you were very sensible. When the First Madam went to cultivate in the Buddha Hall, you helped her in the affairs of the manor. Later, Third Young Lady and Fifth Young Lady will be going to the palace to join the Beauty Contest. You can help First Madam to manage the affairs. She has praised you for your ability before.”

Madam Dowager said this with a smile on her face. She agreed without hesitation, especially when she mentioned Madam Ling, which meant that Madam Ling had also agreed to this matter. The other concubines, who also had something to say, immediately stopped talking.

Would Madam Ling agree to this kind of thing? Ning Xueyan blinked her watery eyes slightly. Following Junior Concubine Xu’s eyes, she looked at a particular person and narrowed her eyes. “Does it have anything to do with this person now?”