Chapter 544   The One Who Had a Piece of His Heart

“Yes, we’re almost done here.” Shocked by the eunuch’s stare, Madam Dowager immediately put on a kind expression and turned to Ning Xueyan. “You should go home first, Xueyan. Prince Yi still needs an explanation, but don’t worry. I won’t let you suffer in vain.”

She was filled with guilt toward Ning Xueyan. When she remembered that Ning Qingshan had caused all of these, she became furious but had nowhere to vent her feelings. As expected of a traitor who didn’t share their blood! Fortunately, there was still Ning Lingyun. Fortunately, the Third Prince had already agreed to accept Ning Lingyun.

Even though Ning Lingyun couldn’t be included in the imperial family records, she had their full support. If she were to give birth to a son in the future, it wouldn’t be hard for her to improve her position. Since Ning Qingshan was so unreliable, they would turn her into a stepping stone for Ning Lingyun!

“Excuse me then, Madam Dowager.” Ning Xueyan stood up and curtsied to Madam Dowager before following the eunuch out of the house.

Outside the door, she found Ao Chenyi standing under a flowering tree with his hands behind his back.

Gorgeous and colorful flowers were in full bloom on the tree. But, no matter how carefully they were cared for, they were no match for the man in the ink-black robe. The red spider lilies on his robe were said to grow only in hell. These flowers were steeped in blood, born from blood, and grew from blood.

People like him were always decisive and firm. He was particularly resolute when it came to matters of the harem. Rather than engaging in this battle of wits, he would rather have offenders beaten or cut to death as an example to the rest.

Her heart inexplicably softened. The blood-soaked red spider lilies were no longer just charming and bloodthirsty.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Ao Chenyi turned his head and a lazy smile appeared on his face. His eyes were dark and unreadable as he beckoned Ning Xueyan languidly. When she finally reached him, the two of them walked out of Lucky Garden together with their entourage of guards and eunuchs following behind them.

Xia Yuhang watched Ning Xueyan leave from a nearby corridor and exhaled heavily, venting the aching pain in his heart.

Was she really not her?

But she really seemed to be her!

There were so many similarities between them. He didn’t notice them before because he wasn’t paying attention, but every time he saw that familiar pair of eyes, the sense of control that had always been his pride would nearly fail him.

She had died then. There was no mistaking it and he had confirmed it himself. But in his heart, he thought that maybe, just maybe, she had been reborn.

When she died, Ning Xueyan was still living in the Bright Frost Garden and they hadn’t met yet.

After she died, Ning Xueyan who came out of the Bright Frost Garden appeared to have completely changed. Of course, he wouldn’t think that someone else had taken Ning Xueyan’s place. But if there was even the smallest shred of possibility that a remnant of her soul was still alive, was there a chance that she had been reborn in Ning Xueyan’s body?

That was the only plausible explanation. The two of them had similar eyes and gestures. They also shared a grudge against Madam Ling.

After hearing that she had nearly gotten into an accident, the first thing he did upon coming here was checking on her. He was only relieved after seeing her sit there, alive and well as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, he felt nothing when he heard that Ning Yuling had passed out from her tremendous pain. In the first place, it was only an accident that he ended up accepting her into his manor.

The one that he had his eye on was Ning Xueyan. In her, he could see the shadow of another girl—the gentle girl from Jiangnan who would make him feel at ease with just a soft smile. It wasn’t until he lost her that he realized that the girl he thought he could live without already owned a piece of his heart.

He couldn’t find the slightest bit of resemblance in both Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling. Ning Xueyan was the only exception. Every time he saw those dark eyes, he would feel that Ning Xueyan was another her, staring at him in disdain, mocking him for his past failure to appreciate her and his current pain and despair.

Had he known at that time how deeply he cared for her, he would have married her no matter what. Even as a concubine or maid who served him in bed, he would have kept her by his side.

That was his plan, so he accepted her dowry with a peace of mind. He might find what he had been looking for in her dowry, but so many years had passed and no one could be sure that she was truly the eldest princess. His investigation stopped there so he decided to marry her and slowly continue from there.

He had been happy that day, happy that he could finally be with her. So what if her position was weaker than Ning Ziyan? He would pamper her more. Besides the title of his first wife, he was willing to give her everything she liked and wanted.

The marriage between the Lord Protector’s Manor and Xia Manor was an alliance of powers. Marrying the eldest lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor was a mutually beneficial matter. Xia Manor had nothing more to ask for when the Lord Protector’s Manor expressed their intent for the alliance marriage and their disregard for the fact that he had a former fiancee. Requesting Ning Ziying’s hand in marriage had been an expedient tactic in the first place.

The engagement was only made because they thought that Ning Ziying was very likely the eldest princess of the former dynasty. Now that her dowry was about to enter their manor, his parents thought that he needed a wife that would be more beneficial to them. Since Ning Ziyan liked him and was willing to marry him, the alliance marriage between both manors was not a problem at all.

He was quite satisfied with Ning Ziyan carefully trying to win him over. She treated him well as well. With her temperament, she was most suited to be the mistress of his manor. They were close too, having mostly grown up together. She wouldn’t suffer hardship after marrying him.

That was his hope, so naturally, that was what he felt he saw. Afterward, they went along with the mood and had a child together. It was also a guarantee to the Lord Protector’s Manor that he would marry Ning Ziyan. He thought this was only a matter of course. After all, he was supposed to marry Ning Ziying at first.

This also worked to calm Ning Ziyan. At least, she would be reassured in the knowledge that she had given birth earlier than a concubine.

Everything fell into place as if it was meant to be. It was only a matter of time. Ning Ziyan would marry him, and she would be a concubine as part of the dowry. From then on, she would be together with him forever.

As long as she was with him, he would be able to find out if she was the eldest princess. The eldest princess had a butterfly-shaped birthmark on her body. It wasn’t a secret among the nobles of the previous dynasty that the eldest princess of the imperial family had a butterfly-shaped birthmark.

Although he didn’t find exactly what he wanted in her dowry, news from Jiangnan indicated that she was still the most likely candidate to be the missing eldest princess. If he could confirm her identity and report the news to the Emperor, he would surely have made huge merit.

The search for the eldest princess had continued even after so many years. It was clear how important she was.

Once they got married, he would be able to clearly report her identity as the eldest princess of the previous dynasty to the Emperor. This merit would be a major step up for him. If he could make the imperial ranking, it wouldn’t be a dream for him to reach great heights in the court.

But what was with that painting? That beautiful painting was clearly a portrait of a prostitute in the brothel. To think she was dressed in such clothes when she was painted. When he saw that painting, all of his blood rushed to his head. How could she do something so shameless?

Even so, he remained sober and went out of his way to check the authenticity of the painting. The person in the painting had an unmarked skin without the butterfly-shaped birthmark.

That was to say, she wasn’t the eldest princess of the previous dynasty. Not only was she not the princess, but she was so depraved as to meet with a lover and give away such a portrait. Rage consumed all of his sanity. When the Ning Manor asked him how this matter should be handled, he angrily said, “Let them deal with this.”

But afterward, he couldn’t help himself from paying the Lord Protector’s Manor a visit. He felt gratified when he saw how badly she was beaten. It was her fault for being promiscuous and not waiting to be married in the manor like a proper lady. To think that she would have a lover and even have such a portrait painted!

He hated her!

He thought that he had been wholeheartedly thinking about her, but this audacious woman dared to disrespect him. Very well then. He didn’t want this slut either.

So, he watched coldly as someone drowned her in the icy pond. He felt immense gratification when he saw the blood that surfaced on the water as she struggled to breathe. Then, she stopped struggling. Watching the gradually calming pond, he suddenly felt that he was about to lose something. He pushed away Ning Ziyan beside him and rushed toward the pond.

When he pulled her out of the water, she was no longer breathing.

She laid there, pale and stiff. Her face was bloodless but her tightly-pressed lips appeared almost mocking. That was an expression that had never appeared on her gentle face. That smile seemed to be her biggest ridicule for him.

A hole appeared in his heart. He called her name like a madman, wanting to wake her up.

At that moment, he suddenly understood that a woman as gentle as she would never do such a thing. How could she have an affair with another man? There were no men beside her aside from him. What pained him the most was that he only realized this by looking at her lifeless face?

He liked her, and he really did. It wasn’t just because she might be the eldest princess of the previous dynasty and could boost his career. It was simply because of who she was. Before he knew it, she had already entered his heart. Her beautiful face, always accompanied with gentleness and a hint of bashfulness, had turned pale.

He didn’t know how he got home that day. He sat there in a daze all night. When he woke up the next day, he thought that it had all been a dream, a nightmare. Perhaps she would be following a small carriage with her usual gentle smile today, so he got up in a hurry and changed his clothes with the wedding chaperon’s help. He stormed out and happily led his servants to welcome his bride.

It was fake. It was all fake. All that had happened yesterday was fake...

But in the end, he never did wake up from that nightmare. She was dead. She had died that night, drowned in the lotus pond right before his very eyes!