Xuezhi knew she shouldn't cry, but she couldn't help it. Thinking of what the little girl had just said to her, she felt a chill. She finally wiped away her tears, raised her head and held Yining's face: "Sister, you must listen carefully to what I am going to tell you next. Don't cry, don't be angry - now those people outside are waiting to see you make a fool of yourself. You must stand up straight. Even if you are not the daughter of the Luo family... you, you are still the daughter of the Gu family. As long as you can get through this, there will always be a way."

"No matter how harshly others say something about you, don't take it to heart..."

Thinking of this young girl, not even thirteen years old, who was about to face the storm head-on, Xuezhi felt so sad that she wanted to cry.

Luo Yining's heart quickly turned cold. For Xuezhi to say such a thing, something very serious must have happened, possibly something she couldn't even imagine. She unconsciously pinched Xuezhi's arm: "Xuezhi, tell me clearly, what happened?"

Xuezhi saw her childish brows furrow slightly, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Sister, you are not Master's biological child. It was Concubine Qiao...who brought someone to Master and told him that you were Madam's...child with another man. Master was just about to come look for you...Remember what I just said. Don't pay attention to what others say! You must remember!"

Luo Yining suspected she had misheard. She tugged at Xuezhi's sleeve and said, "Xuezhi, please stop joking. What did you just say?"

Xuezhi looked at her with a hint of pity.

Yining suddenly remembered that a similar look of pity had once appeared on Aunt Qiao's face.

Luo Yining had originally thought that someone like her, who had lived through a past life, could face any disaster in this one. After all, she had witnessed so much joy and sorrow in the twenty years inside the jade hairpin. But that wasn't the case. Other people's affairs were their own, and one could never truly empathize with their grief. Only when something happened to you could you truly feel the pain.

Luo Yining didn't know how much she had thought about in the past half a quarter of an hour. There were things about her past life, and also about what Xuezhi had just said. She finally calmed down. When she stood outside Luo Chengzhang's study, she looked up and found Luo Yilian standing in front of her.

"Luo Yining." Luo Yilian said to her softly, "You must remember, this is the last day you will be called Miss Seven. You will never be called Miss Seven again."

It should have been an ordinary life. Being a lady for so many years is actually enough.

"Thank you, Sixth Sister." Yining smiled faintly at her.

As she walked up the stairs, she could feel the maids all looking at her, some stealing glances, some staring openly. This was definitely not the case before. Yi Ning took a deep breath and then went into the study.

Yining knew that Luo Shenyuan was looking at her, but she just stared at the painting hanging in front of her.

Standing in the study were Aunt Qiao, Luo Yilian who had just arrived, and Aunt Guo with Xuan Ge'er.

Luo Chengzhang slowly walked up to her, looked at her coldly, and said, "Do you know why I came to you?"

Yi Ning said softly, "Father, I know."

"You call me father?" Luo Chengzhang said coldly, "You are nothing more than the illegitimate child of your mother and a guard, living all these years under the name of the legitimate daughter of the Luo family. How dare you call me father? For all these years, I have pitied your mother's death and treated you well. If it weren't for that, you would be no different from the slave standing behind you. You dare to climb above my station, but I can't bear it."

"Before your grandmother died, she must have discovered that you were not her biological granddaughter, which is why she died in a rage. Despite all this, you still call me father?"

Yi Ning raised her head after hearing this. She didn't look at the way everyone was looking at her. She just said, "Then I won't call you father. After all these years, you only think of yourself as Sixth Sister's father. I never felt that you doted on me in the slightest. Now it seems that you are right."

Luo Shenyuan walked to Yining's side. The little girl was still only as tall as his shoulders. Her face was still a little chubby, but her body was so slender that she looked really delicate.

"Father, Shi Ning did nothing wrong in these matters," he said in a low voice. "No matter how much you hate her, you shouldn't hate Yining. She has always respected you. Last winter solstice, she even made you a cloak. Worried you wouldn't be warm enough, she altered it three times."

Luo Chengzhang slowly calmed down, his heart as if being stabbed by a needle. The girl standing in the hall was indeed petite, and he couldn't help but think of her when she was little, smiling and reaching out for him to hold. Luo Chengzhang turned his head and said lightly: "From now on, you should move out of the Second Wife's house and live in Luming Hall." Seeing Luo Yining would remind him of Gu Minglan, and he really didn't want to see her.

Yi Ning nodded and walked slowly towards the door. Luo Shenyuan tried to hold her back, but she broke free.

Yi Ning looked up at Luo Shenyuan. His eyebrows, which were already thick, became even gloomier.

"Third brother," Luo Yining said to him, "I'm going to move to Luming Hall from now on. I'm afraid I'll move tonight..."

"Yining, if you feel bad, you can cry." Luo Shenyuan looked at her face. She was calm, yet so pitiful. He almost wanted to touch her and comfort her. He wanted to hold her in his arms so that she could cry in his arms like she did when she was a child.

Luo Yining shook her head. She didn't want to cry, at least not now. There were always people waiting to laugh at her, but she couldn't let others laugh at her.

Yi Ning trudged back, her maids following her, and no one dared to say a word. When Lin Hairu heard about this, she was shocked and incredulous, crying almost to death and insisting on coming to find Yi Ning. But Luo Chengzhang didn't want her to go. She was pregnant and due in less than a month, so she couldn't afford to make any mistakes at this time.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!