The Devious First Daughter

651 - 660

It would be easy to investigate which household such a material went to. The palace would have kept records of outgoing gifts.

The Empress had bestowed the material to both her and Commandery Princess Xianyun, but she received only a small roll of the material. She ended up fashioning several handkerchiefs out of the material, which was why she found the current handkerchief so familiar. Lanning recognized it as well.

Most families wouldn’t be able to afford to use such material. Lanning had met many noble ladies lately, but she didn’t know the lady earlier.

Even more familiar was the cluster of orchid embroideries on the corner of the handkerchief. It was her master’s favorite symbol. It was embroidered on some of her master’s small decorative items.

But, she didn’t know why this symbol would appear on this handkerchief.

“Lanning, you can just put the handkerchief away.” Ning Xueyan smirked, staring out the window with a pensive look. The curtain was only partially lifted, so she couldn’t see much of the outside world.

“Your Highness, if it’s not yours, why put it away?” Heng Yuqing asked confusedly, looking at Ning Xueyan in surprise. She never paid attention to Ning Xueyan’s personal items, so she didn’t notice what was strange with the handkerchief.

“Since Lanning picked it up, she’ll be the one to carry it. It’ll be hard for anyone to say who it belongs to.”

Ning Xueyan sneered and ordered Xinmei to put down the curtain again. When the curtain was just about to cover the window completely, a man rushed out and entered her sight.

Her memory was superb, so she immediately recognized the man the moment that she saw him. He was the man beside Xia Yudong. Ning Qingshan and Xia Yudong were the ones trying to harm her at that time, so who was it this time?

Cheng Yu stormed out, just in time to see Lanning turning away from the carriage. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. When he rushed downstairs, he thought that he would run into her on the stairs. Lanning had just left the carriage at that time, and he wouldn’t have taken much time going down the stairs. It was normal for them to reach the stairs at the same time.

To his surprise, he didn’t see her on his way down. He began to panic. It wasn’t until he rushed out and saw Lanning turning away from the carriage that he felt relieved. She wasn’t gone. She just had business to attend to, which caused a delay.

He didn’t dare to run straight up to Ning Xueyan’s carriage, so he strayed deeper into the bookstore and waited for Lanning to come. Little did he expect that Lanning would be summoned by the person inside the carriage before walking far. This time, he didn’t have to wait for long. Lanning, having received Ning Xueyan’s order, slowly walked over.

He calmed down his erratic heart and took two hurried steps, stopping just right beside Lanning. Pretending as if he had just discovered her, he cried out in surprise and stopped in his tracks. “What a coincidence, my lady. We met again,” he said with a look of astonishment.

Lanning paused and looked Cheng Yu up and down with a frown. She took a while to say hesitantly, “Sir, who are you?”

“I’m…” Her question was like a bucket of water over his fiery enthusiasm.

Who was he? Was he supposed to say that he was the man whom Xia Yudong manipulated to frame Fifth Young Lady Ning before?

In all honesty, he and the Crown Princess weren’t at all close, were they? Never mind her, even her maid was confused about his identity. Lanning stood there and looked him up and down for a long time before questioning him. It was obvious that she didn’t remember him at all.