"You've never shown any sign of familiarity with Lady Yuan," said someone.
Ning Fengnian took a startled step back. He had always been straightforward. Since he had acted as if he didn't know her, it meant he truly didn't recognize her.
"Now you know," Ning Fengchen said as he slowly got up from the ground. With his true self fully exposed, he no longer felt guilty or ashamed.
He put his hands behind his back and sneered. "If it weren't for you, Wanrou would have been my wife sooner or later."
"Ridiculous nonsense!" Ning Fengnian was annoyed by his sense of entitlement. "Before you came along, the Yuan family had already arranged a marriage alliance with the Yongning Marquis Mansion."
The time when Ning Fengchen saw them was just the first meeting between Ning Fengnian and Yuan Qingrong. If they took a fancy to each other, they would exchange their birth details and set a wedding date.
Ning Fengnian and Yuan Qingrong had fallen in love at first sight, which was why they had become a loving couple.
Moreover, Yuan Qingrong had never had any feelings for Ning Fengchen. How dare he!
How dare he be so arrogant!
Ning Yuwang had only given Ning Fengnian the painting scroll, and he had also sent the mansion guards to investigate other matters.
For example, Liu Ruyi's true identity, and Ning Fengchen's secret plans.
After all, Ning Fengnian had been the Marquis of Yongning for many years. Although he was overly kind, he would never show mercy to those who intended to frame him.
"Losers are always at the mercy of the winners. If I hadn't spared you out of brotherly love and gotten rid of you earlier, the entire Yongning Marquis Mansion would have been mine, and so would Wanrou!"
Ning Fengchen didn't know what Ning Fengnian was thinking. Instead, he laughed arrogantly.
It was just that he had been too impatient after losing the painting scroll, so he had come without any plans or backup.
Otherwise, he would have fought back desperately.
What he didn't know was that even if he had made preparations, he would still have failed.
How could Ning Fengnian have allowed him to fight back?
He had already arranged for people to arrest all of Ning Fengchen's bodyguards and thugs on the spot.
Those who were guilty had been handed over to the authorities, and those who were innocent had been dismissed with money.
In the Ning Mansion, only a few maids and servants could be seen. Everyone else had left long ago.
Even Ning Fengchen's wife had left with the money because of his neglect over the years.
"Humph!" Brotherly love? It was a joke.
It turned out that there really was someone who called his elder brother affectionately to his face but secretly coveted his elder brother's wealth and sister - in - law.
Ning Fengnian felt as if he had swallowed a fly. He closed his eyes and waved his hand. "From today on, we are no longer brothers. You have committed a great crime, and I will send you to the prefect. If he sentences you to live, you will live; if he sentences you to die, you will die."
As for Ning Fengchen's wealth, most of it had been built and expanded with the support of the Yongning Marquis Mansion.
Now that the truth was out, Ning Fengnian was not a fool. He would naturally take it all back and give it to the poor in winter.
Ning Fengchen was not afraid. He just looked at the backyard with a lingering and affectionate gaze.
He didn't plead for mercy. He just said softly, "Don't tell her."
At this moment, his obsession still remained. He didn't want to leave a bad impression on Yuan Qingrong.
Ning Fengnian trembled his beard and snorted angrily. "Lady Yuan has never thought of you. Whether she knows or not has nothing to do with you!"
But although he said so, he would never tell Yuan Qingrong such filthy things, for fear of dirtying her ears.
He stood with his hands behind his back, listening to the sound of Ning Fengchen being dragged away. In his mind, he vaguely remembered the laughter and joy of their childhood when they climbed trees and raced horses together.
He could still hear Ning Fengchen's heroic words from his childhood in his ears. "When I grow up, I will also work together with elder brother!"
It seemed that... only memories remained...
Three months later, it was also a snowy day.
The capital city was completely covered in white, and the cold air was everywhere.
Liu Ruyi was sentenced to death for attempted murder.
As for Ning Fengchen, since his crime was attempted frame - up and murder, he was sentenced to exile in the Great Wilderness.
It was said that in prison, because of his gloomy personality, he was disliked and bullied by other prisoners. Two of his arms and one of his legs were disabled.
With the cold weather and the long journey on foot to the Great Wilderness, he probably wouldn't be able to survive.
Sure enough, half a month later, the news came that Ning Fengchen had frozen to death on the way.
Before he died, he was only wearing a thin prison uniform, and there was a handful of soil in his mouth. It seemed that he was extremely cold and hungry.
When Ning Fengnian heard the news, he stayed in his room for three days without going out.
When he came out again, his beard had completely turned white.
This incident had a great impact on him. Yuan Qingrong didn't know the details, so she invited Ning Yuwang and Yan Zhao to accompany him.
After playing a few games of Go with Yan Zhao, Ning Fengnian finally managed to regain his former state.
"The heir is really outstanding!" Looking at the white pieces that were pressing forward step by step, Ning Fengnian twitched the corner of his mouth. He still remembered that on the day when Ning Yuwang returned to her natal home, Yan Zhao had deliberately let him win.
In just a few months, the black pieces were now in trouble everywhere. It seemed that the heir wasn't here to console him but to make him feel worse!
"Father - in - law, your skills have declined after a few days' absence!" Yan Zhao's words were even more blunt, which made Ning Fengnian eager to have another go. "Let's play another game!"
Yuan Qingrong and Ning Yuwang exchanged glances and quietly walked into the room.
"Your father has been in a low mood for several days. If it weren't for the heir, I don't know how long he would have been like this," Yuan Qingrong gently patted Ning Yuwang's hand. "When he was young, he was always open - minded. But as he gets older, he becomes more and more unable to let things go."
Ning Yuwang warmed Yuan Qingrong's slightly cold fingers. "In the future, Wanwan and the heir will often come to accompany father and mother."
"I knew you were the most obedient!" Yuan Qingrong tapped Ning Yuwang's forehead, but her movement suddenly stopped. She couldn't help but think of Ning Yuqin.
"I wonder how Yuqin is doing now?"
Although Yuan Qingrong knew that her adopted daughter, who had been raised for more than a decade, had a vicious heart and had resented and been angry with her at first, because of human kindness, she still thought of her occasionally.
"She should be having a hard time," Ning Yuwang casually replied as she gently wrapped Yuan Qingrong's fur cloak.
Given Tang Sanjin's personality, since Ning Yuqin had turned against him several times, causing him to be locked in the secret room and the wood - shed and suffer physical pain many times, once she fell into his hands, how could he let her go?
Yuan Qingrong hesitated to speak, as if she had remembered something.
"What did mother remember?" Ning Yuwang asked carefully. Yuan Qingrong stammered, "The doorman seemed to receive a letter the other day. The tone of the plea for help in the letter was very much like Yuqin's."
But the other day, Yuan Qingrong's mind had been completely focused on Ning Fengnian.
Naturally, she had no time to care about it. It was only when she saw Ning Yuwang now that she remembered it again.
Honglu pouted and handed over the letter. "Madam, why do you still care about someone who repays kindness with hatred!"
If she had known it was a plea for help from Ning Yuqin, she should have secretly destroyed it.
She wouldn't have let Madam show kindness to such a person!
"Let me take a look," Ning Yuwang took the letter. She faintly smelled a familiar smell of water from the tip of her nose.
It was the smell of the lake where she had once fallen into a deep sleep.
Sure enough, the letter was sent by Ning Yuqin.
After a brief glance at the letter, it was obvious that Ning Yuqin was having a hard time.
The envelope was an old one, tattered and dusty. There were still faint traces of someone else's writing under the black ink.
And the letter inside...
It wasn't really a letter. It was just a piece of paper torn from an old curtain.
On the front of the curtain was half of a faded character "Fu" (happiness), and on the back were densely written black ink characters.
The ink didn't seem to be of good quality, and many characters were blurred.
The handwriting was crooked and impatient, which was different from Ning Yuqin's delicate calligraphy when she was in the boudoir.
No wonder Yuan Qingrong was hesitant!