"What brings you here today, young lady?" Li Niang skillfully poured tea for her.
Qingying stared at her face for a while, trying hard to recall, but the memory of that time was still vague.
"Is there something on my face?" Li Niang raised her hand and touched her face.
"No..." Qingying awkwardly looked away, picked up the teacup on the table, and took a sip.
After a moment, she said, "Does Li Niang still remember Jiao Jiao?"
Qingying stared intently at Li Niang, not missing a single unusual reaction. Sure enough, Li Niang's expression changed noticeably when she heard the name Jiao Jiao.
This immediately convinced her of what she had in mind.
After her birth mother, Ye Ning, lost power in the Ye family, she was sold into a music brothel. According to investigations, it was the same music brothel that Li Niang had worked in before she was redeemed by Young Master Zou. Based on her fragmented memories, it is not difficult to guess that the two knew each other.
According to Xie Jiaoying's information, Ye Ning died in a fire years ago, but not long after, Liu Yu kept a mistress in Quzhou named Ye Wan.
It was actually Ye Ning.
Many people knew about this, especially after Ye Ning's death, as the news that "General Liu's mistress was the daughter of a disgraced official" gradually spread. Impeachment memorials were even submitted to the emperor. If Liu Yu hadn't been fighting on the battlefield at that time, and the emperor hadn't suppressed the matter for fear of undermining morale, it would have certainly affected Liu Yu's career. Later, this became an open secret.
"Liniang, you must know my mother, Ye Ning, right?"
"You...you are Jiaojiao?" Li Niang's voice trembled slightly as she slowly reached out her hand, but because she couldn't see, it barely brushed past her face.
Qingying quickly grasped her hand and whispered, "It's me."
“Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao…it really is you…” Li Niang excitedly touched her cheek, but dared not use too much force, as if afraid of hurting her, only supporting her lightly, tears sliding down her lifeless eyes, “How have you been all these years? I thought you were dead…”
"I'm fine. I've been living a comfortable life since the Liu family took me away. Don't worry."
Although she couldn't remember much about her childhood, Qingying could clearly feel that she genuinely cared about her.
Looking at Li Niang, her eyes involuntarily reddened as well.
"That's good, that's good... Wait, Jiaojiao, the rumors circulating outside lately about the Crown Prince breaking off his engagement, could it be that Liu Qingying mentioned in them... is you?"
"It's me." She didn't intend to hide it.
"How could this happen? How could they treat you like this!"
"It's alright, Li Niang. I was the one who initiated the annulment of the engagement. It's because I no longer wanted to be the Crown Princess."
Li Niang was half-believing and half-doubting. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and gradually calmed down. Then she began to sort out her thoughts. "So, it's because the Pan family's child was found that they ganged up on you... If that's the case, why has the Pan family been good to you all these years?"
Qingying thought for a moment and said, "When I was first taken in by the Liu family when I was young, Madam Pan gave me a nickname, Shushu. Shu is the Shu in 'quiet and beautiful girl'."
“How could she…” Li Niang paused, then sighed, “It’s better this way. If she treats you as a substitute for Liu Shushu, at least she will pity you a little more.”
"Yes." Qingying naturally understood this as well.
"Jiaojiao has suffered all these years. It is my incompetence that has failed your mother's trust. I was unable to protect you back then, and I am powerless to help you now."
"Liniang, it's not your fault, and I don't need your help. I came to you today simply to find out what really happened back then, and how my mother died."
Her series of questions left Li Niang completely bewildered.
He paused for a moment before beginning to speak: "This is a long story... More than twenty years ago, the Ye family was one of the most prominent families in the capital."
Ye Ning was the youngest legitimate daughter of the Ye family and the most beloved granddaughter of Grand Tutor Ye, a veteran of three dynasties. When she came of age, her graceful dance amazed the entire city, earning her the title of the most beautiful woman in the capital. Later, she followed Prince Xian to fight on the battlefield, proving that she was a woman who was no less capable than any man.
But fate had other plans. Later, Grand Tutor Ye was accused of treason. Ye Ning was still on the battlefield at the time, so he was directly escorted back to the capital. All 107 members of the Ye family were killed; the men were all beheaded, and the women were sold into brothels.
Ye Ning, with her proud spirit, naturally refused to submit. She refused to serve customers at the music hall, and was imprisoned and tortured. However, she refused to die, simply because she was indignant and believed that Grand Tutor Ye had been wronged. She wanted to see the Emperor, but having been reduced to a lowly status, how could she be qualified to meet him?
She endured six months in the music hall before finally giving in. But things took a turn for the better when she took her first client; her first customer was Liu Yu.
Liu Yu had long admired Ye Ning, but when they first met, he was merely a lowly deputy lieutenant, knowing he was unworthy of the Grand Tutor's granddaughter, so he never dared to express his feelings. However, by this time, Liu Yu had been promoted to general and felt capable of helping Ye Ning.
“I was only eight years old at the time, and I was just a maid who swept and cleaned in the music hall. My mother asked me to serve Miss Ye. She told me that Liu Yu said he was willing to help her escape from the music hall, but he still needed my help. I was sold to the music hall when I was six years old. Miss Ye was the kindest person I met. She never beat or scolded me. She would give me delicious pastries and give me purses that she embroidered herself.”
"At the time, she asked me to help her escape her suffering, and I agreed without much thought."
Afterwards, Ye Ning staged a fire. Li Niang helped her distract everyone, and she took advantage of the chaos to crawl out through the dog hole. Outside the dog hole, Liu Yu had already arranged for a fast horse to leave the capital.
After the fire was extinguished, only a charred corpse was found, which Liu Yu had arranged beforehand. Everyone thought Ye Ning had perished in the fire, but in reality, she had already left the capital and gone to Quzhou.
"Liu Yu isn't exactly a gentleman either; she deceived Miss Ye." As she said this, Li Niang gritted her teeth slightly.
Liu Yu hid Ye Ning in a villa in Quzhou, changed her name, and gave her a peasant origin. He doted on Ye Ning, doing everything he could to satisfy her every whim, as if he could offer her anything in the world with open arms if she asked for it.
But Ye Ning wasn't happy. Her heart and mind were filled only with the Ye family and with hatred. Liu Yu had promised her he would investigate the truth and clear Grand Tutor Ye's name, but the matter dragged on and on without any progress. Liu Yu always said he was investigating, but in reality, he dared not get involved in such a major case for fear of being implicated, all for the sake of his career.
Once Ye Ning became pregnant, he almost completely abandoned his affairs in the capital and spent all his time by her side.
"Liu Yu agreed to help Miss Ye on the condition that she become his mistress. Miss Ye was originally such a proud person, yet she still bowed to fate. She was once someone who even disdained the position of Empress..."
Li Niang's tone was filled with endless regret and sorrow.
Qingying's memory of her mother's appearance was no longer very clear, but listening to Li Niang's description, she couldn't help but imagine a woman riding a fine horse, wearing armor and holding a red-tasseled spear.
She was once an eagle soaring through the skies, but in the end, her wings were broken and she was crushed into the dust.
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