The Devious First Daughter

321 - 330

“Ning Ziying is the princess of the former dynasty,” Senior Nun Jing Kong said in a low voice with sadness and anger in her eyes.

“I was the princess of the previous dynasty in my previous life?” As if being struck by lightning, Ning Xueyan felt like her body almost went stiff.

She had imagined thousands of possibilities, but not this one. If she was the princess of the previous dynasty, what was the real identity of the noble Ning Qingshan?

Taking a deep breath, Ning Xueyan could not help but protest in spite of her composure, “Master Jing Kong, you must get it wrong!”

“Fifth Young Lady, since you’re close to the princess and she also left the last words to you, you must have found she was kind of different from ordinary people.” Since she had revealed Ning Ziying’s real identity, Senior Nun Jing Kong did not intend to keep anything from Ning Xueyan.

It was said that the imperial harem was on fire when the former dynasty collapsed. That extremely beautiful empress threw herself into the fire and turned into ashes with the imperial palace. Was the fire in her dreams the same fire burnt in the imperial palace?

Was that why Ning Ziying had no wet nurse before she was three years old and her mother had always tried to hide her from the outsiders? Besides, her mother had made arrangements to confuse the others before she died on Ning Ziying’s way to the capital city. After arriving at the Lord Protector’s Manor, Ning Ziying seldom went out as per her mother’s last wishes and most time, she would wear a curtain hat even if she went out with Xia Yuhang.

“Who is Ye? Who is Tong?” She could not help clenching her fists tightly when she suddenly recalled the blood-stained words in the book of family names.

“The empress of the previous dynasty was called Han Suye. Since the former dynasty belonged to Xuanyuan Clan, its emperor was Xuanyuan Tong.”

For the same reason, all the emperors’ surname of the previous dynasty was Xuanyuan. The last emperor’s given name was Tong. Therefore, Ye and Tong represented Ning Ziying’s biological parents.

“Neither of them… escaped the disaster, right?” Although Ning Xueyan managed to make herself sound calm, her voice was hollow, like floating in the air. She felt as if she was in the ice-house, and if it were not her great self-control, she would have been trembling all over. However, even she tried to keep calm, her face was still as pale as snow, and her fingers could not help but tremble slightly.

She was clear that it was meaningless to ask such a question, but she just blurted it out anxiously.

Everyone knew that the emperor died in the war and the empress was burnt to ashes in the fire with the imperial palace when the former dynasty fell. Though the former dynasty had been replaced, rumors about them were still spreading among people.

It was said that the emperor doted on the empress alone which led to the ruin of his country and his death.

.....

Someone said that the empress with stunning beauty was a sign of the fall of the country. Moreover, the emperor of the previous country gave all his love to her and left all the other women of the harem alone, so it was inevitable for his dynasty being overthrown.

Other people said that the empress had a cruel heart beneath her beautiful face and countless imperial concubines died because of her. When the rebels captured the imperial palace and asked the emperor to turn over his empress, he would rather die than do this.

Someone said that the empress was the evildoer who was born to bring calamity to the former dynasty.

There were so many rumors about the previous emperor and empress. Ning Xueyan had heard many of them, but she only took them as legends and never thought that these had anything to do with her.