Everything had been a misunderstanding and part of a larger conspiracy. She always thought Si Yi was her benefactor but was unclear of his feelings towards her. As a noble lady, she couldn’t ask him directly about his intentions.
Her half-sister Lin Yutong often helped her strategize ways to win Crown Prince Si Yi’s heart, even personally delivering messages between them. She viewed Lin Yutong as a true sister and never suspected her intentions.
That changed the day the Empress was about to bring the Crown Prince to the Ning Guogong Mansion. As she and Lin Yutong headed to the front hall, a maid urged her to hurry to avoid missing the auspicious time for the coming-of-age ceremony. Lin Yutong pulled her along, and she followed without question.
Upon reaching the Bin Wind Bridge, she slipped and fell into the icy lake water. After waking up, she heard that Lin Yutong had jumped in to save her.
Later, rumors spread that she had deliberately pulled Lin Yutong into the water to save herself, stepping on her body to get ashore. She was branded with the crime of harming her sister.
After being rescued, Lin Yutong went to Xiu Yu Hall to apologize. She was pure and kind, not believing that her sister could harm her. Lin Yutong’s sympathy won her over, and she insisted on protecting her in front of their grandmother. This angered their grandmother, leading to a serious illness.
From then on, rumors circulated in Biandu City that she was cruel, stubborn, and defiant of her elders, having nearly killed her half-sister and made her grandmother ill. Her reputation was destroyed overnight.
Years later, the truly cruel half-sister became the high-ranking Crown Princess, while she, the legitimate daughter of the Ning Guogong Mansion and noble Yunxiang Junzhu, became a wife abandoned by Si Yi and ultimately died miserably in the Cold Palace.
She later realized that Lin Yutong and her mother had been planning for a long time to soar to power. She had been naive, trusting the wicked and excessively loving her “well-behaved and gentle” half-sister, even turning against her grandmother to defend her. Reflecting back, her half-sister was full of flaws.
It wasn’t that they were clever; her soft heart and gullible nature made her easy to manipulate.
Ning Wanwan completely understood.
Fortunately, Heaven had given her another chance.
The next year, Lin Zhengyang married the daughter of the He family as his second wife and soon had a second daughter, Lin Yutong. Lin Yutong was raised by her mother to be impatient and calculating. The old lady noticed this but did not intervene, occasionally warning Wan Wan without much focus.
Ning Wan Wan obediently nodded, “No one can be closer than my grandmother. You are the only one who is good to me, so I will stand by your side and help you establish your authority.”
Old lady Ning was gratified, feeling that Wan Wan had suddenly become enlightened after her illness.
She doted on Wan Wan, gently rubbing her head, and said seriously, “Since that’s the case, quickly get up, wash and change, and come with me to the front hall to welcome the empress and the crown prince.”
Ning Wan Wan’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of the crown prince. She nervously grabbed the bedding.
She remembered that after protecting Lin Yutong and leaving Suyu Hall, Lin Yutong had told her that the crown prince missed her and wanted to meet her at the lotus cave beneath the fake mountain at Xijia Tower.
Still recovering from a coma, she believed it was the crown prince and rushed to the lotus cave.
However, she encountered a masked person in black who quickly attacked her. Before she could react, the assailant began tearing her clothes.
Servants and guests soon arrived, making it seem premeditated. They found her in tatters, disheveled hair, and a crooked hairpin.
The old lady ordered silence on the matter, and everyone remained discreet after the incident.
Eventually, two noble nursemaids from the palace came to verify her chastity, revealing that rumors of her illicit affair in the national prince’s mansion had spread.
Due to this event, Si Yi developed resentment towards her. Although the nursemaids confirmed her chastity, Si Yi was determined to cancel the engagement, and the empress’s wavering stance further damaged her reputation.
A daughter of the Ning national prince could not be a concubine, but Si Yi, her benefactor who had given her jade, inspired her love. To repay his kindness, she wrote him a letter explaining her feelings.
Soon, she received Si Yi’s personal token, affirming his belief in her. They began exchanging letters daily, sharing their emotions.
However, after her reputation was destroyed by the palace’s body verification, her marriage became a topic of discussion. To avoid troubling Si Yi, she asked her grandmother to request the emperor’s marriage decree to silence any criticism. Her grandmother, a first-rank noble, risked her reputation and approached the emperor, who agreed to set a wedding date.
Upon entering the Eastern Palace, she expected an explanation from Si Yi, but instead faced endless torture. For an entire year, he never touched her and rarely saw her. With no children, a significant reason for divorce, Si Yi requested to divorce her from the emperor.
Upon learning the truth, the empress severely reprimanded Si Yi. When he returned to the Eastern Palace, he force-fed her a large bowl of safflower.
She could not believe the person who once saved her could do such a thing, blankly watching his departing figure.
After attempting suicide, she was saved but did not understand how she was deposed until Lin Yutong appeared as the new crown princess.
If Si Zhan had not broken down the door, she might have been imprisoned forever.
Thinking of Si Yi sent chills through her; she did not want to repeat past mistakes and, for the first time, lied to her grandmother: “Grandmother, Wan Wan feels a headache and would like to be alone for a while.”
Her grandmother, shrewd and understanding, gently asked, “Wan Wan, do you not want to see the crown prince?”
Determined to break off the engagement and not wanting to give her grandmother false hope, Ning Wan Wan replied, “I do not want to talk about marriage now. I just want to stay with you for a few more years.”
She expected her grandmother to object, given their childhood engagement arranged by the previous emperor, but the old lady leaned down lovingly, smoothed her disheveled hair, and said earnestly, “If that’s the case, then let’s not meet for now.”
Ning Wan Wan was stunned by her grandmother’s readiness to agree. She worried, “Will the empress blame us?”
The old lady laughed, affectionately pinching her nose and saying, “With grandmother here, you can do as you please.”
Ning Wan Wan felt a sudden pang in her nose, realizing her grandmother’s unconditional support. She reflected on how foolish she had been in her previous life, not recognizing her grandmother’s deep love.
“Thank you, grandmother.”
Seeing Ning Wan Wan’s eyes, red like a rabbit’s, the old lady felt a slight pain in her heart. This child, though merely ill, bore a premature sense of weariness from love and pain.
If Ning Jing were still alive, she would be heartbroken to see Wan Wan like this. The old lady felt guilt for not taking better care of her daughter’s only hope.
At that moment, Aunt Liu hurriedly entered the room, kneeling as she reported, “Old Lady, the servant from the front just came to say that the King of Yi has arrived.”
The King of Yi?
Ning Wan Wan, previously listless, suddenly brightened at the news. — It’s him, he’s here.
Addressing recent questions from little fairy fans:
