Ning Yuwan's voice was cold, yet a smile played on her eyes. "What's even more coincidental is that Lianzi saw her on the street today."
She gently waved her finger. The jadeite jade bracelet on her wrist clinked against the ruby bracelet.
It should have been a beautiful sight, but no one was in the mood to appreciate it.
Liu Ruyi dug her nails into her palm, her mind in a complete mess. "Impossible!"
She just hoped that Ning Yuwan was bluffing her.
But every word from Ning Yuwan was bone-chilling. "Do you think I would know the secrets from sixteen years ago otherwise?"
Sixteen years ago, Ning Yuwan hadn't even been born.
Moreover, she had been wandering outside for more than a decade. If the old woman hadn't told the story herself, how could she have known the inside story?
Liu Ruyi truly believed it. She was annoyed and resentful that the old woman had played such a despicable trick.
She cast a sidelong glance at Ning Yuqin, then suddenly straightened her back. "The old woman can only prove that I lost my virginity the night before. But on the night sixteen years ago, it was the marquis who forced me to accompany him. Maybe the old woman concealed my real situation back then just out of pity for my plight and hoped that I could have a better life in the future."
She was quite smart. With just a few words, she extinguished the hope that had just ignited in Ning Fengnian's heart.
Ning Fengnian's face darkened. He blamed himself for losing his memory of that night, which allowed Liu Ruyi to manipulate him.
"Hmm."
Ning Yuwan seemed to be deep in thought. She gently touched her chin. "What you said does make some sense."
Seeing that she believed her, Liu Ruyi felt secretly happy. She got up from the ground and complained, "The events from sixteen years ago have already hurt me. I hope the eldest young lady won't keep rubbing salt on my wound."
"But what if I just want to rub salt on it?"
As soon as Ning Yuwan finished speaking, Lianzi took action.
She gave a hard kick, forcing Liu Ruyi to kneel on the ground again. "The princess of the heir apparent didn't tell you to get up."
"Ah!"
Liu Ruyi let out a wail and fell to the ground weakly, looking extremely pitiful. But there was no one around to show any pity for her.
She had to put away her affected behavior, bite her lips, and ask, "What else does the eldest young lady want to ask?"
"Let's put aside the matter of the old woman in the Ning Mansion for now." Ning Yuwan lifted Liu Ruyi's chin with great interest. "Then let's talk about the midwife who delivered your baby back then."
"Why is the eldest young lady suddenly bringing up the midwife?"
Compared to the old woman in the Ning Mansion, it was obvious that Liu Ruyi was more panicked when she heard the word "midwife".
The old woman in the Ning Mansion was dealt with by Ning Fengchen, so there might have been some omissions.
But the midwife had always been a pain in Liu Ruyi's heart.
It had been fifteen years since she gave birth to a daughter after ten months of pregnancy in September.
At that time, Liu Ruyi was placed by Ning Fengchen in a remote small house in the countryside. There were only a few families around, and they were all scattered.
As a result, she fainted from exhaustion on the day of her delivery.
Fortunately, the aunt next door saw it from outside the house and kindly rushed to find a midwife for her.
Liu Ruyi was not used to living in the countryside, and there was no one to take care of her. She was so hungry that she looked sallow and thin, and her weak body naturally led to a difficult delivery.
After a day and a night, she gave birth to a daughter, but the baby was stillborn.
She was determined to take the child back to the capital. Unwilling to accept that the child was stillborn, she insisted on having a living baby.
The midwife saw how pitiful and crazy she was and quietly found a baby for her.
She told her that country girls were not worth much, and if she wanted to raise the baby, she could.
Liu Ruyi, who finally got what she wanted, had a malicious thought. Worried that the midwife would spread the matter in the future, she pretended to invite the midwife to have tea.
The midwife believed her. But when she was holding the teacup, she accidentally burned her hand, and all the tea spilled.
It was this unexpected incident that saved the midwife's life.
It turned out that as soon as the teacup spilled, black bubbles emerged, clearly indicating that the tea was poisoned.
The midwife couldn't sit still and made an excuse that there was something at home and left.
Liu Ruyi didn't have much strength and couldn't stop her.
When Ning Fengchen finally sent someone to pick her up, she arranged for people to go to the midwife's house to kill everyone, but found that the midwife had already fled with her whole family.
Obviously, the midwife guessed that there was someone behind Liu Ruyi, a young and beautiful woman. Worried about the safety of her family, she simply ran away.
Liu Ruyi lowered her eyes gloomily. "Is the midwife in the capital now?"
For more than a decade, Liu Ruyi had been looking for the midwife.
She didn't dare to tell Ning Fengchen. She just sent people privately to look for her in the countryside.
She had searched all the neighboring villages, towns, and counties, but had never found any trace of the midwife.
Unexpectedly, this old hag had been hiding in the capital!
"Of course."
Ning Yuwan mocked her. "You've searched high and low for her. But when you look back, there she is, in the dim light. Liu Ruyi, how does it feel to realize this so late?"
How did it feel?
Liu Ruyi was filled with hatred. She squinted her eyes and thought to herself: She wished she could kill the midwife and the old woman in the Ning Mansion!
If it weren't for these two meddling old women, she wouldn't have had her thoughts seen through by Ning Yuwan, and she wouldn't have been so desperate as to want to kill someone to cover up the evidence.
"So, Ning Yuqin is not actually Father's daughter."
Ning Yuwan sneered as she revealed the story between Liu Ruyi and the midwife. As expected, not only Liu Ruyi and Ning Fengnian changed their expressions.
Ning Yuqin did too!
She couldn't believe it. She was struck by lightning. Her movements were stiff, and she remained motionless for a long time.
"But it's true that I was insulted by the marquis back then!"
Liu Ruyi put her hands on her hips. "If the marquis can do something unethical, don't blame me for retaliating. Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I will let the whole world know about this!"
Ning Yuwan's eyes were full of pride. "You tried to kill the Marquis of Yongning and the princess of the heir apparent. In the future, you'll just be an ordinary death row inmate in prison. Who will listen to your crazy ramblings?"
Liu Ruyi originally thought that a barefoot person was not afraid of a person in shoes. But she didn't expect that this person in shoes, Ning Yuwan, was not only not afraid of threats but also dared to step on her a few more times.
She was really cruel!
Her mind was in a mess. She originally wanted to buy time, hoping that Ning Fengchen would notice something was wrong and come to save her.
But Ning Yuwan said again, "Moreover, I've already captured Ning Fengchen. He's in the next room, telling everything. He said that you deliberately climbed into the marquis's bed just to get into the Marquis of Yongning's mansion!"
"Ning Fengchen is talking nonsense!"
Liu Ruyi's eyebrows were raised in anger. "Back then, it was clearly him who bullied me and coaxed me to climb into the marquis's bed."
If Ning Fengchen shifted all the blame onto her, she would surely fight back.
"Are you saying that it was Ning Fengchen who bullied you back then, and it has nothing to do with my father?"
Ning Yuwan was extremely surprised. This was the first time Liu Ruyi had seen a reaction other than confidence on her face.
"If I die, Ning Fengchen will be the first to be buried with me!"
Back then, Liu Ruyi was a virgin prostitute in a brothel in the capital. She was bought by Ning Fengchen with a lot of money.
Ning Fengchen looked handsome and gentle. Liu Ruyi originally thought she had met a good man, but she didn't expect that he was cruel and had all kinds of tricks in bed, making her want to live but not be able to and want to die but not be able to.
The next day, he even forced Liu Ruyi to climb into Ning Fengnian's bed. After failing, he just casually threw her in the countryside.
If it weren't for Liu Ruyi pretending to have given birth to Ning Fengchen's child, he wouldn't have even brought her back to the capital.
However, even after being brought back, she still became Ning Fengchen's plaything in bed.
Now, being asked to climb into Ning Fengnian's bed again was not only Ning Fengchen's plan but also her own intention.