"Sister, the welcoming procession will soon arrive at the city gate. Why don't you escape?"
Ning Yuwan opened her eyes and saw red silk ribbons everywhere in the room. She turned her face and saw herself in the gilded mirror with rippling blue - green pupils, crimson lips, and a pearl crown on her head, looking every inch a new bride.
Where was this?
Before she could recover from the shock, she heard a familiar yet annoyingly affected voice in her ear, "Sister?"
Sister?
There seemed to be resentful wails echoing deep in her soul.
Ning Yuwan suddenly tightened her fingers. The pain of her nails digging into her flesh made her feel as if she had returned to the moment when she was kicked hard in the stomach while pregnant with "Ping An". Her beautiful eyes were filled with venomous hatred.
That's right!
She remembered. Originally, she, who had been sleeping for a thousand years due to the exhaustion of spiritual power, had exchanged souls with a resentful one.
She used her last bit of spiritual power to reverse time and space and transform into a human body to avenge the soul, while the latter would sacrifice its soul for her to refine into spiritual power!
Now, she was Ning Yuwan.
Seeing that she didn't say a word, Ning Yuqin was afraid of missing the time and actually made the decision on her own to remove the pearl hairpins and ornaments for her.
"Sister, don't waste any more time. If the bridal sedan chair arrives outside our mansion, you'll really have to marry that person! He's been ill in bed all year round, moody, and likes to bathe in human blood. Aren't you afraid?"
Her tone was as obedient and kind as before, but Ning Yuwan already knew her true face and retorted coldly, "Escape? I don't care about my reputation, but what about you?"
As both were daughters of the Ning family, they would rise or fall together.
In her previous life, Ning Yuwan had grown up in the countryside. Due to Ning Yuqin's repeated urging and deception, she didn't have time to think carefully and chose the worst way out.
In fact, if she had thought it over carefully, Ning Yuwan was the daughter that her parents had finally found. If she really didn't want to marry, she could just talk to her parents clearly. There was no need to run away on her wedding day.
It not only shamed the Ning Mansion but also damaged the harmony between the Yongning Marquis Mansion and the Heir Apparent's Mansion.
Ning Yuqin's fingers stiffened, and she forced a smile unnaturally. "Sister, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. As long as sister is happy all her life, I'll be happy too."
Her reputation wouldn't be ruined!
As long as she tricked Ning Yuwan away, Ning Yuqin would take her place in the bridal sedan chair and marry the sickly heir apparent, Yan Zhao, whom she had been longing for.
As for what would happen later, she had already planned it out. Ning Yuwan would knock out her sister and throw her into the bridal sedan chair in order to escape the wedding.
All the bad reputations would only fall on Ning Yuwan.
It was a win - win situation!
"No need."
"Sister, don't hesitate anymore. I heard that that person has a lot of concubines in his backyard, and they're all very jealous. If sister goes in, you'll probably be torn to pieces by those women."
Ning Yuqin couldn't wait to continue helping, but Ning Yuwan dodged her. "I said no need!"
"Sister?"
Ning Yuqin obviously didn't expect Ning Yuwan to be so uncooperative. Different from her timid and submissive self when she first returned to the Ning Mansion some time ago, now there was a faint shadow of vigilance and resistance.
Immediately, she bit her lower lip aggrievedly and pretended to wipe away her tears. "Does sister think I'm being nosy? I'm just worried that sister will be wronged in the future."
The current Ning Yuwan didn't buy her act at all. "Today is my big day. Sister, please don't cry, or you'll bring bad luck."
Ning Yuqin stopped in her tracks and looked at Ning Yuwan complicatedly.
Ning Yuwan carefully put on the pearl hairpins that she had taken off before. In the mirror, her eyebrows were as beautiful as a painting. Her face after cleansing was delicate and rosy, and a peach blossom bloomed on her forehead, looking like a new - born.
"I'm willing to marry the heir apparent, and I believe that the heir apparent and I will be honest with each other and live in harmony as husband and wife."
"As for the concubines in his backyard, if they dare to cause trouble, as the heir apparent's wife, I have the right to drive them out of the mansion."
"Sister, please take back your concern for me."
"But the heir apparent is cruel and heinous! I heard that he even likes to make night - walking lanterns out of human skin..."
Ning Yuqin kept scaring Ning Yuwan over and over again, but Ning Yuwan just wouldn't be fooled.
Was she, a dragon, afraid of a human?
What a joke!
Ning Yuwan frowned slightly and pretended to be angry. "Yuqin, our parents adopted you and taught you etiquette and shame. Have you fed them all to the dogs?"
"The heir apparent's father was once a general who defended the country. A tiger doesn't give birth to a dog. How could his son be a coward? Don't bind him with the stupid prejudices of others."
Ning Yuqin was slightly stunned and stared at the back of Ning Yuwan's head resentfully. A country girl dared to act like an elder sister and teach her!
But she couldn't fall out with Ning Yuwan for the time being. If there was a dispute, her parents would surely side with Ning Yuwan. As an adopted daughter, she naturally couldn't fight against the biological daughter.
"It's my fault for speaking rashly. Sister, don't be angry."
"Hurry back to your room and reflect on yourself. Do you want the wedding maid to hear your unrestrained words?"
Ning Yuqin lowered her head and obediently agreed. After walking out of the room, she stamped her foot and cursed in a low voice, "Refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!"
She called over a maid and whispered a few words in her ear before feeling triumphant.
Fortunately, she had planned two ways. Otherwise, with Ning Yuwan's abnormal behavior today, her plan might have failed completely.
Inside the room, Ning Yuwan raised her eyes and lips. "Ning Yuqin, how far will you go when you're cornered?"
In her previous life, Ning Yuwan accidentally learned Ning Yuqin's thoughts.
There were no elders in the Heir Apparent's Mansion, and with the heir apparent being sickly, once she married in, she would be second only to the highest in status and would gain all the power and benefits.
But at that time, Ning Yuwan was already forced to be someone's wife and had no right to think about the truth hidden behind.
On the roof.
Yan Zhao coldly looked down on the entire Yong'an Marquis Mansion from above.
People were coming and going to offer congratulations. The Yong'an Marquis and his wife were beaming with joy, and below was the pair of sisters who seemed to get along well but were actually at odds.
"Master, do you want this subordinate to help the heir apparent's wife?"
Behind him, A Si respectfully asked for instructions.
Obviously, the two of them had already witnessed the "confrontation" between the two sisters.
"Playing such inferior tricks on this heir apparent. Is this the kind of girl the Yong'an Marquis Mansion has raised?"
Yan Zhao pursed his lips. His pale and sickly face was full of meaning, and his long and alluring eyes showed a bit more contemplation.
A Si was stunned for a moment before realizing that he was talking about Ning Yuqin, who intended to swap identities.
"But, the heir apparent's wife..."
Ning Yuwan's sincere confession just now had even slightly touched him.
After all, in the entire capital city, there were too many people who were afraid of the heir apparent's bad reputation. Hearing that there were many concubines in the Heir Apparent's Mansion, even fewer people were willing to marry him.
Rarely did someone "recognize a hero with discerning eyes"...
"Mind your own business!"
Yan Zhao jumped off the roof, and his figure flashed and disappeared.
A Si was left gaping in surprise. Could it be that the heir apparent was going to run away from the wedding?
Inside the room.
"Miss, the wedding details are complicated. Madam is worried that you won't be able to eat anything all day. This is the bamboo shoot and fish fillet congee she prepared for you. She asked you to fill your stomach first."
The little maid with lowered eyes handed over a bowl of congee. If you looked closely, her fingers were trembling slightly.
Ning Yuwan didn't seem to notice. "Where's mother?"
On the wedding day, the bride's mother was supposed to say goodbye to her daughter.
"Madam is entertaining the ladies in the front hall and will come to see you later."
"Got it. You can go."
Thinking of her mother, Ning Yuwan's eyebrows softened a little.
Although she wasn't the real Ning Yuwan, influenced by the soul that hadn't been completely refined in her body, she naturally felt close to Ning Yuwan's mother.
"Could this be the blood - related kinship that I don't understand?"
Ning Yuwan murmured to herself. A thousand years was too long. She only vaguely remembered that she was born between heaven and earth without parents, so naturally she didn't understand the bond of family.
Suppressing the slight restlessness of the soul in her body, she said, "Don't worry. I will avenge you!"
Ning Yuwan didn't like plain food. She only took a few sips of the congee and then put it down.
She painted her eyebrows in front of the mirror. Although the wedding maid had just done it for her, she preferred a bolder look.
While painting, Ning Yuwan suddenly fainted in front of the mirror.
"Miss, she's fainted."
The originally closed door was pushed open. It was Ning Yuqin and her personal maid, Hongye, who came in.
"Hurry up and take off her clothes and help me put them on."
The mistress and the maid were in a hurry. Because Ning Yuwan had refused to escape the wedding before and wasted some time, the bridal sedan chair had already arrived at the door.
Ning Yuqin helped Hongye put Ning Yuwan behind the screen. Her bright red fingernails scratched Ning Yuwan's face. "Ning Yuwan, you'll never be able to defeat me!"
A smug smile curved her lips. "I'm the unique heir apparent's wife!"