"All these years, I've been raising his illegitimate daughter without knowing it!"
If Yuan Qingrong weren't a noble and delicate lady since childhood, she wouldn't have refrained from wailing and scolding like a shrew.
Nor would she have been bullied at home and then slunk out dejectedly.
Filled with indignation, when she came, she had half - suppressed her emotions, not wanting to burden Ning Yuwan.
But when she saw her dear daughter and heard her kind words of comfort, she couldn't hold back her feelings any longer.
"That mistress looks weak and gentle on the surface, but she always tells Madam about that night in front of her, provoking Madam's anger. Then she lowers her head to admit her mistakes, as if Madam is deliberately bullying her!"
Honglu said indignantly, "And the second young lady, after learning that the mistress is her real mother, she stood behind the mistress without hesitation. Madam raised her for fifteen years, but she never mentioned Madam's kindness in raising her. Instead, she bit back at Madam for not being magnanimous enough and making her real mother live outside for so many years!"
That's right.
Ning Fengnian and Yuan Qingrong forced Ning Yuqin to marry someone beneath her status. Naturally, she harbored resentment.
How could she still stand by Yuan Qingrong's side?
She wished the matter would make an even bigger stir and break up the loving couple, Ning Fengnian and Yuan Qingrong.
Then, with the mistress seizing the opportunity to rise in status, she could plan her own marriage anew.
After just a few turns of thought, Ning Yuwan guessed Ning Yuqin's intentions.
She sneered disdainfully in her heart. A fish on the chopping board still wanted to turn things around. It was really wishful thinking!
As for Ning Fengnian, Ning Yuwan slowly blinked her eyelashes. What Yuan Qingrong and Honglu said was true, but she didn't believe that Ning Fengnian would betray Yuan Qingrong.
There was no other reason. She just thought they were the most harmonious and happy couple she had ever seen in the world.
Ning Fengnian's love for Yuan Qingrong was clearly visible in his eyes and actions, and even outsiders could see it.
They were also the kind of parents she had yearned for over the past millennium.
"Mother doesn't trust Father?"
Her question hit the nail on the head. Yuan Qingrong and Honglu glanced at each other and said awkwardly, "But that mistress has come to our doorstep!"
Although she had once advised Ning Fengnian to take a concubine, in her heart, she was unwilling to share her husband with others.
It was only because of the social ethics at that time that she had to act magnanimously.
But since Ning Fengnian refused to take a concubine, he shouldn't act one way in public and another in private.
"Master also admitted that he had a one - night stand with that mistress," Honglu added eagerly. She had grown up with Yuan Qingrong and couldn't bear to see her wronged.
At this moment, she was also angry with Ning Fengnian along with Yuan Qingrong!
Both of them meant that Ning Fengnian was in the wrong!
"So, Mother's meaning is that you want to divorce Father and never forgive him again?"
Although this was what she had thought, when Ning Yuwan asked this question, Yuan Qingrong was slightly stunned.
Honglu behind her was also extremely surprised, as if she hadn't expected Ning Yuwan not to try to reconcile them.
Instead, she even brought up the idea of divorce!
"From what Mother and Honglu just said, that mistress is good at scheming and loves to play the weak. Coupled with Ning Yuqin's assistance, after Mother divorces Father, it's very likely that there will be another incident of drunken passion.
Ning Yuwan squinted her eyes and said, "By then, with no one to accompany Father, and the mistress tenderly by his side, he might really keep her in the mansion as a noble concubine! Does Mother really want to give her husband away?"
"Who knows how long he has been having an affair with that mistress behind my back!"
Yuan Qingrong said this out of anger. Over the years, apart from going to court, Ning Fengnian had always stayed at home to accompany her.
When would he have the time to meet the mistress!
"Mother, let's not talk about whether there are hidden reasons behind this matter," Ning Yuwan waved her index finger. "Just consider that after all these years, she is still an unacknowledged mistress. Mother should know the difference in Father's heart between you and her."
"So what if it's obvious? I don't care if there are two people in his heart!"
Yuan Qingrong's expression wavered for a moment, but thinking of the mistress's pitiful face, she snorted stubbornly.
"What if there is only one person in Father's heart?"
Yuan Qingrong turned away angrily and said, "I just know that he only has that mistress in his heart!"
"Mother, you should know best who Father really has in his heart," Ning Yuwan saw that she had held back some of her tears and poured her a cup of warm tea. "Especially Father. When that drunken incident happened, the first thing he thought of was that he was afraid you would be sad, so he asked Ning Fengchen to send the woman away. Doesn't Mother understand Father's sincere heart?"
"But..."
But that mistress had become a thorn in her and Ning Fengnian's hearts. Even if they sent her away again, things between her and Ning Fengnian would never be the same as before.
"I understand Mother's concerns. But why has Mother never thought that Father has never betrayed her?"
How could he not have betrayed her?
Ning Yuqin was the evidence of his betrayal!
Ning Yuwan knew she was going to refute and shook her head. "Mother, think about it. A drunk man can force a weak woman, but at the same time, a weak woman can also frame a drunk man."
"But... this is just your assumption!"
"But..." Ning Yuwan smiled confidently. "Isn't her claim of being forcibly violated just her one - sided story?"
Sixteen years ago, Ning Fengnian was just a young man in fine clothes. He wasn't as experienced and mature as he was now. If he accidentally fell into a trap, he might not have seen through it.
Although Ning Yuwan was just speculating, Yuan Qingrong felt a little better.
"Wanwan, Mother knows your good intentions, but Mother and your father may really be separated."
She lowered her eyes, but her heart was stirred by Ning Yuwan's words.
How could she not hope that Ning Fengnian had never betrayed her!
"Mother, do you want to make a bet with me?"
Ning Yuwan put her arm around Yuan Qingrong's and said with a raised eyebrow, "If I guess right, Mother will give me the new shop in your hand."
Yuan Qingrong was very wealthy. In just a short period of time, she had bought many high - quality shops with a wave of her hand.
Originally, she planned to give them as a dowry to Ning Yuqin when she got married.
Unexpectedly, the mistress came to their doorstep, and Ning Yuqin had turned into an ungrateful person.
Naturally, she wouldn't give these shops away.
Even if Ning Yuwan didn't ask for them, Yuan Qingrong would give them to her, let alone that she had asked for them on her own initiative.
"If Wanwan wants them, Mother will give them to you right now!"
Although she wasn't domineering, she had asked Honglu to pack up all her property and bring it out!
Even if she divorced Ning Fengnian, she wouldn't let that mistress take advantage!
"Mother has given me so many things on her own initiative. What I really want is something I've won with my own hands!"
Ning Yuwan blinked and deliberately looked down on her. "Mother wouldn't be afraid to make this bet, would you?"
"Bet then!"
Yuan Qingrong was provoked by her and immediately agreed. "Just as you said, we'll bet on whether he, Ning Fengnian, has ever betrayed me!"
If she lost, it would prove that Ning Fengnian had never betrayed her, and she would be willing to admit defeat.
But what she was afraid of was that she would win.
Yuan Qingrong smiled sadly. In her heart, she didn't want to win at all!
Ning Yuwan didn't give her a chance to be sad again. She said with a charming smile, "Then Mother should get ready to lose!"
In her heart, she was about ninety percent sure that Ning Fengnian had been set up. As for the remaining ten percent, she was worried that someone might have forced him in the end, causing Ning Fengnian to suffer.