The autumn wind blew heavily, bringing bouts of chill.
Liu Ruyi crossed her arms over her chest and directed things with assurance, as if she had already anticipated the praise from Ning Fengchen after he learned what she had done.
Although her actions had been a bit reckless, she had ultimately accomplished the task.
Ning Fengchen shouldn't blame her and deduct her reward, right?
"Liu Ruyi..."
Just as she was happily daydreaming, a voice like a ghost's murmur came to her ears.
It was both familiar and strange.
Liu Ruyi's movements suddenly froze, and the smile on her lips also stopped.
There had been no movement from Ning Yuwan in the house behind her for a long time. She guessed that Ning Yuwan was already dead.
But would a person turn into a fierce ghost so soon after death?
Ning Yuqin beside her showed no reaction at all, as if she couldn't hear the ghostly voice.
Liu Ruyi felt a little scared in her heart. She slowly moved closer and closer to Ning Yuqin.
But it seemed that the ghost also followed her movements. The icy breath enveloped her face and body like a vast expanse.
She couldn't help but shiver. Where was there any trace of the overbearing and arrogant look she had just had when she wanted to silence them?
Her terrified movements were so obvious that even Ning Yuqin beside her was startled.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Ning... Yuwan..."
It seemed as if something was tickling her ear, making it itchy. Liu Ruyi couldn't help but reach out to scratch it, but she pulled out a wisp of black hair with a burnt smell.
Burnt smell?
Liu Ruyi was shocked. She tremblingly threw the hair on the ground.
Regardless of Ning Yuqin's stunned expression, she shouted hysterically, "Ning Yuwan, I'm not afraid of you."
"Oh? Really not afraid?"
Did she really think Ning Yuwan didn't see how Liu Ruyi was shrinking in fear and almost peeing herself?
Ning Yuwan asked with amusement. Liu Ruyi's eyes widened. Then, as if she had just realized something, she suddenly turned around.
Ning Yuwan and Lianzi were standing right behind her, staring at her.
"Do you like this surprise?"
Ning Yuwan raised her eyebrows, and a hint of mockery flashed across her eyes.
"You're not dead?"
Ning Yuqin spoke at the same time as Liu Ruyi, equally incredulous.
The two of them had clearly seen with their own eyes that Ning Yuwan and Lianzi were in the sea of fire and were about to be burned to death.
But now, the two of them were perfectly fine, not even a single hair had fallen out.
The corners of Liu Ruyi's eyes drooped. There was no burnt hair on the ground at all, only a few straws.
Taking a closer look, there was no mansion in front of her at all.
There were also no people around them.
It seemed that everything had just been an illusion.
Liu Ruyi suddenly swallowed hard. No wonder she had felt so uneasy in her heart just now.
No wonder when the house was on fire, it was so quiet around that even the neighbors next door hadn't been alarmed to put out the fire.
Could it be...
She was dreaming!
Soon, Ning Yuqin found the answer for her.
She frowned tightly and vaguely remembered that when she had seduced Yan Zhao, she had also been in an illusion.
"Did you use the illusion powder again?"
Ning Yuqin's fingers trembled slightly, in disbelief.
Ning Yuwan, who had used the illusion for the second time in Yongning Marquis Mansion: You guessed wrong!
"Is all this fake too?"
Ning Yuwan didn't answer, but Ning Yuqin understood the strange smile on her lips.
She immediately knelt on the ground, "Father, Qin'er was wrong."
She was different from Liu Ruyi, who was still confused.
Having experienced the illusion again, she already knew to be sensible and shouldn't continue to contradict Ning Fengnian and make mistakes.
She also knew very well that although Ning Fengnian was upright, he always softened up to gentle words.
Even if he didn't want to forgive her now, he would calm down after a while.
"Ning Yuqin, you..."
Liu Ruyi obviously didn't expect Ning Yuqin to be so spineless. She glared at her angrily.
But soon, she also lost her backbone.
"Marquis, if you hadn't favored the eldest miss and let her humiliate me, I wouldn't have resorted to such measures."
She simply thought of a reason and even intended to force Ning Fengnian to feel guilty again.
However, Liu Ruyi had clearly shown her cruel intention to kill just now. How could Ning Fengnian still believe her?
Especially since he had heard with his own ears that Liu Ruyi wanted to burn Ning Yuwan to death.
Ning Yuwan's illusion was only aimed at Liu Ruyi and Ning Yuqin. As for Ning Fengnian, he actually couldn't see any illusory sea of fire at all.
He was also an unexpected factor outside of Ning Yuwan's plan.
Ning Fengnian had gone to the heir's mansion to see Yuan Qingrong during the day, but the latter still refused to forgive him and let him come back because of Liu Ruyi.
He could only return dejectedly.
Unexpectedly, he saw Liu Ruyi's action of throwing a torch like setting fire to a house, and her overbearing arrogance when she wanted to burn Ning Yuwan to death.
And...
All of Ning Yuqin's reactions and behaviors.
Suddenly, Ning Fengnian was filled with anger and hatred in his heart. "Someone, send Liu Ruyi and Ning Yuqin to the authorities for investigation!"
Attempted murder!
With the status of the Marquis of Yongning, if Liu Ruyi and Ning Yuqin were sent in, they would definitely stay there for a few years.
"Father, Yuqin is your own daughter. Please forgive Yuqin. Yuqin will never cause any trouble again in the future."
Ning Yuqin panicked. Just thinking about going from a delicate young lady in the boudoir to a prisoner made her mind full of wild thoughts and she became even more afraid.
Liu Ruyi beside her saw that Ning Fengnian showed no sign of guilt at all. She also knew that she had taken the wrong step.
She immediately cried aggrievedly and fell to the ground. "Marquis, I've given birth to a daughter for you. Are you really so heartless to send us mother and daughter to prison?"
Ning Fengnian was a person who softened up to gentle words. Although he was angry, his eyebrows softened a little.
Ning Yuwan let out a soft laugh, which attracted the attention of all three of them.
"Own daughter?"
She walked slowly towards Ning Fengnian, asked him to sit down at ease, and then slowly walked closer to Liu Ruyi and Ning Yuqin. She looked down at them haughtily and arrogantly. "After lunch, I met two people."
Liu Ruyi had been wailing for a long time, but there wasn't a single fake tear on her face.
But Ning Yuwan's gaze was really piercing. She couldn't help but look up.
She didn't understand why Ning Yuwan had suddenly changed the topic.
"One is the old woman from the Ning Mansion who once verified your identity, and the other is the midwife who delivered Ning Yuqin for you back then."
As soon as Ning Yuwan finished speaking, the fear on Liu Ruyi's face was obvious. Then, as if she had thought of something, her eyebrows and eyes showed confidence. "What do you mean, eldest miss?"
Ning Yuwan observed her expression and knew why she had suddenly become confident. She smiled faintly. "Back then, the old woman from the Ning Mansion verified your identity and found that you didn't lose your virginity on the night when father was drunk, but the night before. But she followed the instructions of her master and deliberately said it was one day later, successfully framing father."
This was the first time Ning Fengnian had heard of this. He immediately glared angrily at Liu Ruyi. So, he hadn't let down his wife sixteen years ago!
It was all because of this woman who was good at pretending to be pitiful!
Liu Ruyi forced an unnatural smile. "Eldest miss is really good at telling jokes out of thin air. That old woman from the Ning Mansion passed away six years ago. Where did you meet her?"
After saying that, Liu Ruyi became even more confident. She was even more certain that Ning Yuwan was just making up an excuse to bluff her. She didn't know that she had already known that Ning Fengchen had silenced the old woman.
"Did you ever see the old woman's body with your own eyes?"
Ning Yuwan leaned closer to her, breathing like an orchid. But Liu Ruyi's face gradually turned pale.
"Of course you never saw it. Because sixteen years ago, the old woman from the Ning Mansion ruined father's innocence with just one word and also provided false testimony for you. After the matter was over, how could Ning Fengchen, who had painstakingly set up the situation, let her live? But she had once been Ning Fengchen's wet nurse. She pleaded bitterly to return to the countryside and never enter the capital again. Ning Fengchen still had a bit of humanity sixteen years ago, so he agreed and privately arranged for people to closely follow and monitor her. The old woman knew that as long as she was alive, Ning Fengchen would always have the intention to kill her. By then, he would no longer care about their past relationship. So six years ago, she faked her death and left the countryside, then hid back in the capital."