The Devious First Daughter

571 - 580

“Who are you?”

That was Ning Xueyan’s biggest question today. What he said was true, but they weren’t things that he should be privy to. How old was he then? He must have been fairly young, so he wouldn’t be so clear about it, especially about her mother’s relationship with the Empress.

If he was merely the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Min, she didn’t think he had any reason to know all these secrets.

Moreover, she was the only one speculating about this matter. She hadn’t told anyone, not even Lanning and Qingyu.

It wasn’t because she didn’t trust them; she simply preferred they didn’t get involved. The more people knew about it, the more troublesome things would be. She was roped into this unwillingly and didn’t want the people around her to get involved.

“I’m your maternal cousin. You can also call me your paternal cousin,” Wen Xueran said, looking calmly at Ning Xueyan. He didn’t give her any chance to avoid the matter. “Our mothers are maternal cousins. Our fathers are paternal cousins who share the same grandfather.”

“So, you’re also a descendant of the former royal family!” Ning Xueyan muttered to herself. After a moment of astonishment, she immediately calmed down. “Princely Heir Wen, I don’t care who you were or are. It has nothing to do with me. I’m just me, a lady from the Lord Protector’s Manor and the current Princess of the Prince Yi’s Manor. You should leave!”

Her mind was a mess. There seemed to be a hint of enlightenment, but also of entanglement. She couldn’t explain it, let alone understand it. But when Wen Xueran opened his mouth to speak, she looked up at him. “Princely Heir Wen, please leave!”

She stood up and walked to the door as if she was going to open it for him.

Wen Xueran understood that he couldn’t be hasty at this moment. He nodded and stood up. Giving Ning Xueyan a meaningful stare, he said, “The only reason I came here today was to tell you your true identity. No matter what, you’re the princess of the former dynasty and a descendant of the former royal family. We belong to the same family. I don’t want you to live without ever knowing your identity.”

Without waiting for her reply, he pushed the window by the back door and turned his head to look at Ning Xueyan who was standing there with her head down. “Cousin, the two of us are the only remaining descendants of the former royal family. I hope we can help each other instead of distrusting and being hostile to each other.”

His figure then disappeared outside the window. If it weren’t for the shaking window frame, she would have thought it was all a dream, an unbelievable dream.

Ning Xueyan returned to the table and sat heavily on the chair. She stared blankly at the pastries on the table, her eyes looking dull under her long lashes.

She didn’t believe what he said. There was only ever one princess in the former royal family and it was impossible for another to appear. Besides, she had never heard that the former Empress was pregnant and left behind another daughter. Yet, she had a feeling that he was telling the truth.

Wen Xueran’s words ought to be true.

With his explanation, everything that she could never explain in the past suddenly made sense.

The birthmark on her body, the strange circumstances in which Madam Ming gave birth to her, the carriage who came for Madam Ming on the night the palace burnt, Ning Zu’an and Madam Dowager’s complete disregard for her… Everything was proof that Wen Xueran’s words were true.

These words weigh so heavily on her heart that she could hardly breathe.

Was Ning Ziying her biological sister from the same parents? That meant that she had been reborn in her own sister’s body.