“Madam Ming’s matter, Madam Ming… is the daughter of the minister of the previous dynasty… was married to… to the marquis and gave birth to Fifth Young Lady…” Mother Chen stuttered.

“Mother Chen, if you just know such things, then you’d better go back!” Ning Xueyan said with a cold smile. The black jade-like eyes were so deep that they could seem to swallow humans up. Seeing that, Mother Chen trembled and did not dare to hide anything anymore. Now she found that Fifth Young Lady was the most scaring one. “How could the people of the mansion of the past think Fifth Young Lady was the timidest one?”

“Fifth Young Lady, Madam Ling has some ornaments, which were Madam Ming’s in the past. It is said that they are from the palace of the previous dynasty.” She gritted her teeth and knew that she had no choice but to disclose important information because Fifth Young Lady seemed not a soft-hearted person. “If I don’t tell her anything useful today, it is possible that Fifth Young Lady will dispose of my nephew in the prison directly.

“Now Fifth Young Lady is not only Fifth Young Lady but also the consort of Prince Yi.”

“Ornaments? Jade pieces? The valueless ornaments taken from Vice Minister Ling’s home?” Ning Xueyan looked at Mother Chen without showing her feelings, but the latter began to sweat when she saw the look in her eyes. Thinking that Ning Xueyan did not believe her, she said hurriedly, “They are truly from the palace of the previous dynasty. It is said that Madam Ming had an exceptionally good relationship with the empress of the previous dynasty, and those things were granted to her by the empress of the previous dynasty.”

“The empress of the previous dynasty? My biological mother in my previous life? My biological mother in my previous life had a very good relationship with Madam Ming. This is not something valuable. Since one was the empress and the other was the daughter of a noble family, having connections for the two of them was a must, so it was quite normal for the empress to grant a few things at that time.

“But why did she grant so many things and all of them were treasures? Is it that the relationship between Madam Ming and my biological mother was so good at that time? But no one has ever mentioned it before.”

“Ostensibly, Madam Ming didn’t have a good relationship with the empress of the previous dynasty, so when the previous dynasty was ended later, no one knew about it. Later, I heard that when the empress of the previous dynasty escaped with the princess of the previous dynasty, those who had connections with the princess of the previous dynasty in the past were all investigated, but Madam Ming was not,” Mother Chen whispered in a trembling voice.

This was a secret about the Lord Protector’s Manor. In order to catch the empress and princess of the previous dynasty at that time, many related people were thrown into prison, and even many families were murdered. In fact, people who were murdered were mainly those who had good relationships with the empress of the previous dynasty formerly.

Instantly, the whole capital was in turbulence, and people panicked as the investigation was carried out.

And topics about the empress of the previous dynasty became a taboo. Those who had connections with the empress of the previous dynasty all tried their best to hide, and no one dared to get involved in the case because it would lead to the death of the whole family.

“So my mother didn’t tell others that she had a close relationship with the empress of the previous dynasty, right?” Ning Xueyan thought about it, rubbed the teacup twice with her fingers, and then asked in a seemingly casual way, “The thing has passed for so many years now, and things of the previous dynasty have also passed, in fact. So, even if we speak of them, it doesn’t matter!”

“That’s to say, whether I know this or not, it’s not important. Mother Chen, you’d better pick up something useful to tell me. If you continue to say anything useless, I will have to go because I am busy.” Looking bored, Ning Xueyan put down the cup in her hand as if she was about to leave.

Mother Chen became anxious when she saw that Ning Xueyan was about to leave. “Fifth Young Lady, these things can’t prove that Madam Ming and the empress of the previous dynasty must have had any relationships, but some things are real. The day the palace was on fire, I, your old servant, saw a carriage come to the back gate of Ning Manor. The carriage rider didn’t get off but asked to meet Madam Ming. When Madam Ming came out later, she got on the carriage and left stealthily. She left for a long time that night, but the marquis didn’t come back that night, so he didn’t know Madam Ming returned very late.”

“A carriage rider met her stealthily, and the carriage then returned to the back gate.” Ning Xueyan bit her lips, concealed the excitement in her eyes, and held the teacup tightly, but she asked peacefully and indifferently as if she was not very interested.

“What does it prove?”

“The person who accompanied Madam Ming back was a man, and he also helped Madam Ming carry a bag of things. When he went to the back gate, he handed the things to Madam Ming and went back.” Mother Chen swallowed hard as if she saw how Madam Ming dressed in a cloak gingerly go in from the back gate that night.

She did not go with a maid or an older female servant, and the carriage driver was a man. Although she did not see him clearly, Mother Chen felt that he was not an ordinary coachman because he had a very imposing appearance. He talked with Madam Ming at the gate for a while before the latter entered the house with the things.

Of course, she told what she had seen at that time to Madam Ling. This situation clearly showed that Madam Ming had an affair with someone!

But when Madam Ling hurried over there, she saw no soul outside the backyard, and she would not get anything even if she conducted an investigation.

“What happened next?” Ning Xueyan pressed calmly. If there were only such things, it was not enough to prove anything. Such things without proof should not have the power to prove anything.

“La—later, Madam Ming got pregnant!” Mother Chen took a look at Ning Xueyan, with fear in her eyes for a moment.

“Pregnant?” Ning Xueyan suddenly opened her eyes wide.

“After that, Madam Ming and the marquis had a dispute because of Lord Ming’s matter. Out of anger, Madam Ming went straight to her manor outside the city and stayed there for some time, and the marquis did not even go there to see her. Later after her return, it was said that Madam Ming fell carelessly on one occasion, and then Fifth Young Lady was born prematurely.”

Mother Chen’s voice became lower and lower, and she looked at Ning Xueyan’s face anxiously. Madam Ming came back at night with a man previously and then got pregnant. After she was pregnant, the child was born prematurely in her manor. At that time, Mother Chen proved again and again in front of the marquis that the child Madam Ming conceived was probably not the child of the marquis.

Of course, what she said was what Madam Ling had asked her to say.

“So, you women thought that I was not my father’s child! And Madam Ling took down my mother from her position because of this!” Something flashed across her mind, and Ning Xueyan almost felt that she was about to catch it. She stared at Mother Chen with her cold watery eyes and an eerily cold smile on her lips. “It turns out this is the truth of the matter.

“So, Ning Zu’an shows no fatherly feeling toward me and didn’t have the slightest wish to help his daughter when she was bullied by Ning Yuling in her childhood. The truth is that in his heart, I am not the daughter of him and Madam Ming. Later when Madam Ling plotted against Madam Ming, he then let it happen so willingly.

“On the one hand, he wanted his son to be the son of an official wife; on the other hand, he wanted to take away the status of the suspiciously unchaste woman! Due to this suspicion, he neither cared to inquire nor to hear anything about the Bright Frost Garden. Even when the woman died, he did not care.”

“Why did those ornaments of my mother that are said to have been granted by the empress of the previous dynasty fall into the hands of Madam Ling?” Ning Xueyan forcefully suppressed the excitement churning in her chest, took a sip of tea, and holding the teacup in her hands, asked with lowered brows.

“When the marquis investigated the man’s information in the madam’s place, he found such a big bag of things and took the bag away directly, and he also warned Madam Ming that if someone learned that she and the empress of the previous dynasty had such a good relationship, the whole family would get into trouble because of her. So, Madam Ming didn’t say anything. When those things were brought back, they fell into Madam Ling’s hands.”

Mother Chen took a stealthy look at Ning Xueyan and found that she had a calm complexion without any feelings in it, as if she did not care a bit whether she was the marquis’s daughter or not. Then Mother Chen was confused about what she meant, but she answered more carefully and clearly, afraid that Ning Xueyan would suspect that she had covered something up.

Gradually, things were put in neat order in her mind.

Later, these things fell into the hands of Madam Ling, who then gave most of them to her elder brother. The whole Protector’s Manor were afraid that others would know that Madam Ming and the empress had a close relationship, so they tried their best to cover it up. Since Madam Ling had learned this secret, Madam Dowager had to let her be the marchioness. For Madam Dowager, no matter who became the official wife, it was not important, as long as the Ning Manor was not affected.

This was an important reason for Madam Dowager to agree that Madam Ling became the official wife in the past, although she did not appreciate Madam Ling, thinking that she was not noble-spirited or well-educated.

As for the jade piece Madam Ling gave the Marquis of Ping’an later, this surely meant that she had told the secret to the Marquis of Ping’an so that Madam Dowager had to let Ning Xueyan marry the Marquis of Ping’an, but her strategy was not good enough, after all, and she was tricked by Ning Xueyan. In the end, she and the Marquis of Ping’an had a bad result. Of course, due to the same reason, the Marquis of Ping’an built a marriage bond with a clan relative of the Ning Manor.

Anyway, Madam Ling and Madam Dowager were in the same boat. Of course, Ning Xueyan believed that Madam Ling would not truly tell this to the Marquis of Ping’an and she only wanted to scare Madam Dowager and force her to let Ning Xuayan marry into the Marquis of Ping’an’s Manor. But Ning Xueyan was sure that Vice Minister Ling should have learned it; otherwise, he would not have been greatly upset that day.

“Mother Chen, I’ve been suspecting the things you mentioned, in fact, but all these are not what I want to know now. Whether I am the daughter of the Lord Protector’s Manor or not, it is not a problem at present. What I want to know now is what on earth Ning Yuling went up the mountain for today?” She raised her eyes lightly and looked at Mother Chen who had an uneasy expression.

“Fifth Young Lady, I, your old servant, really don’t know about it. After Second Young Lady entered the room, Madam Ling just asked me to go out. Later, I went in and poured the water away, but Madam Ling didn’t say anything, and I only heard that Second Young Lady seemed to ask Madam Ling to promise something. After that, Madam Ling asked me to go out again. Inside, they talked in low voices, and I couldn’t hear anything.”

Mother Chen spoke in distress. She did want to listen at that time, but Madam Ling, who always asked the old servant to wait on her in her presence, even asked her to go out directly at that time, and she did not even let her stay the second time she went inside. The door was closed, and she stood outside with Ning Yuling’s maid, so she could not hear anything even if she wanted to eavesdrop.

“You may go back now, but you will need to pay attention to Madam Ling’s behavior. I will ask Xinmei to go there often. If anything unnatural happens, you can simply tell her. As for your nephew, he is fine. Don’t worry,” Ning Xueyan rose to her feet and said lightly after she had now almost asked all the questions she wanted to ask.

“Okay, thank you, thank you, Fifth Young Lady. Fifth Young Lady, please rest assured. I, your old servant, will always keep an eye on Madam Ling and will never let her make any trouble.” Mother Chen heaved a sigh of relief and nodded again and again.