Chapter 84 The Past

Although Yangzhou is Ning Yuan's ancestral home, she was born and raised in the capital and has never been there in person.

When she was young, her father also returned to the ancestral home several times, but he only brought Mingwei and his younger siblings, leaving her alone in the huge Ningguo Mansion.

In that family, she seemed to be an outsider living under someone else's roof forever.

Fortunately, she finally got her reward after all the hardships, and she can run a new home together with the man next to her.

It was a good season in the south of the Yangtze River, with small bridges and flowing water, and misty rain, as if it was an ink painting in front of her eyes.

The two walked side by side on the bluestone road beside the clear water, and Shen Yan took her into a small courtyard with blue bricks and black tiles.

Looking at the closed door, Ning Yuan was inexplicably nervous.

Shen Yan wrapped her hand, and the two walked forward together. The little flower dog that was sleeping beside the flower bed suddenly stood up and barked at the two of them.

Ning Yuan was frightened by the sound and took a step back. After discovering the instigator, he let out a low growl from his throat, and finally frightened Xiao Hua with a "woof".

Xiao Hua's momentum weakened, and with a "woof", he went into the flowers.

She raised her eyes and comforted Shen Yan: "Don't be afraid."

... He is so old, would he be afraid of a puppy?

But he was very satisfied with Ning Yuan's subconscious action to protect him.

He was in a very good mood, with a smile on his lips, and said: "Why are you still barking like a dog?"

"Because I stay with dogs all day." She said calmly.

... She was implying that he was a dog?

The corners of Shen Yan's lips slowly straightened.

"Oh... I didn't mean to scold you." She explained.

"You know, there is a dog hole at the back of my yard. When I was a child, a puppy that was abandoned really came in."

This book is exclusively compiled for you by the LK team. "I saw that it looked pitiful, so I thought about feeding it some food. It tried to chase me away, just like I just chased away that little flower."

"I put the food on the ground and walked away, and then it dared to slowly come over to eat it."

"Later, we became friends."

She glanced at him quietly: "I was young at that time and didn't have many friends, so I wanted to talk to it, so I learned a few dog barks."

Shen Yan's mind suddenly emerged with a pink ball lying on the ground, its clear eyes looking into the dog's eyes, and then it barked a few times in a childish voice.

The corners of his lips, which were originally tense, were slightly raised by her cuteness.

According to her personality, she had learned more than just a few sentences.

Perhaps she naively thought that she and the puppy would be able to communicate without obstacles one day, so she could learn so vividly.

Perhaps the noise outside disturbed the people in the room, and footsteps were heard from inside.

The bolt was pulled out, and the door opened a little, and then opened a little wider after seeing who was coming.

Ning Yuan met the slightly cloudy eyes behind the door.

After a while, the originally small hall seemed a little crowded because of the presence of two more people.

"You, are you the young master?" The woman was a little hesitant.

The man in front of him didn't look very easy to talk to. He also had a reserved and cold temperament, as if he kept people away from him.

But when she thought that he was the sponsor who paid for her son's medical treatment, she felt that he should be a kind person.

Shen Yan nodded and said straight to the point: "I think you also know why I'm here. Tell her everything you know."

*

At that time, Ning Siru followed the orders of his parents and the matchmaker and married Ning Yuan's mother Li Zhilan.

He thought she was as gentle as water, quiet and generous as the world said, but after marriage, he felt that she was quiet and boring. When she was alone in a room with him, she was more like a piece of wood that he could play with.

But the purpose of marrying a wife is to have someone to take care of the house and carry on the family line.

He didn't care too much whether she would please him, and he could always get by.

Until one day, Ning Siru came to the Ming Mansion to attend a wedding banquet. He was forced to drink too much wine at the banquet, and when he woke up, he found that he had slept with a strange lady.

He panicked immediately.

He valued his reputation more than anything else. If this matter got out, he would be finished.

Fortunately, Ming Weian comforted him: "Don't worry, sir, I will never let others know about this."

He didn't believe it at first, but looking at the gentle eyes in front of him, he felt for the first time what it was like to be respected by a woman.

Later, this matter was indeed not leaked to the world, but for some reason, Li Zhilan knew about it.

But she was his wife, and she would know sooner or later.

Ning Siru's suspicions disappeared, and gradually turned into guilt after learning that the young lady's marriage proposal was not successful.

So he had the idea of ​​taking Mingwei as a concubine.

Li Zhilan was pregnant with his child at this time. A pregnant woman was not suitable to serve her husband, so it was reasonable for him to take a concubine.

Who would have thought that when he made this request to his wife, she, who had always been timid, refused.

She said, "If I take such a person back home, I'm afraid that my family will be in trouble in the future."

He was a little dissatisfied, but because of Li Zhilan's family, he didn't dare to be too disrespectful, so he had to bury this resentment in his heart, but Mingwei easily saw through it.

"It's okay, Duke. I just admire you and don't care about the status. If you like, I can be your concubine."

Ning Siru was deeply moved by these words. He thought he had tasted the taste of love for the first time.

He and Ming Wei were a pair of miserable lovers, and Li Zhilan became the one who tried to break up the couple. He began to hate her, ignored her, and almost never set foot in her yard.

Ming Wei also moved out of the Ming Mansion and lived in a small courtyard.

All kinds of news were heard by Li Zhilan who was raising a baby in the Ning Guogong Mansion. Today, it was said that the Ning Guogong had found a concubine, and tomorrow it was said that he bought something for the concubine. And she became more and more silent day by day.

It was not until the day when Li Zhilan learned that the concubine was pregnant that she took the initiative to find Ning Siru for the first time and said, "Since she already has a child in the Ning Mansion, why not bring her into the mansion and give her a legitimate status." This book is exclusively compiled for you by the LK team. Duke Ning was proud that she had opened the secret, and hurried over to talk to Mingwei.

Unexpectedly, Ming Wei shook her head considerately and said, "No need, husband."

"You and I have kept our affairs a secret very well. Now many people in Beijing praise you for not marrying new people or going to brothels during her pregnancy. If you take me into your house now, won't your reputation as a chaste and loving wife be ruined?"

Ning Siru frowned: "That being said, I can't always wrong you, not to mention that you are pregnant now..."

"I won't get in the way."

"Husband's happiness is my happiness, how can I wrong it?"

Ming Wei also did not forget to instruct him: "If you want to have a better reputation outside, don't forget to feed your wife more tonic medicine and take good care of her."

On one side, she was cold and considerate.

Comparing the two, Ning Siru's heart became more and more alienated, and he did everything Ming Wei said.

But underneath her tenderness, there was a knife hidden.

Ming Wei didn't want to be a concubine in the Duke's Mansion, she always wanted to be Lady Ning.

But the Ning Mansion already had a Lady Ning, and Ning Siru always wanted to save face and believed that family shame should not be made public. Divorcing his wife was almost impossible for him.

She had long known that Li Zhilan was a perceptive person, so after that night, she deliberately spread the news to her.

Li Zhilan was smart and decent, so she naturally looked down on her despicable means and would definitely prevent people like her from entering the mansion.

And every time Li Zhilan refuted Ning Siru, she undoubtedly pushed him closer to her.

They were not on good terms, and he was in love with someone like her outside. As time went by, even though Li Zhilan didn't like him, she couldn't help but feel depressed for the future of the child and Ning Mansion.

And the medicines she told Ning Siru to feed Li Zhilan were all pungent, warm, fragrant and dry tonics. Long-term use would easily cause liver fire. In addition,

her news was delivered to Ning Mansion again and again, and Li Zhilan would only become depressed and sick, and eventually have a difficult delivery.

When Li Zhilan was about to give birth, Ning Siru happened to be handling government affairs in another place. Mingwei used some money to make concessions to the midwife, asking her to make things worse in the matter of delivery. This book is exclusively compiled by the LK team for you. On the day when the amniotic fluid broke, Li Zhilan fainted several times because of too much pain, and then woke up.

She stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, and just as she wiped the sweat off her forehead, it began to drip down in small drops. She was already in a difficult labor.

Although the midwife took Mingwei's money, she was also a mother and had suffered such pain. She was troubled for a long time, but finally she did not go against her conscience and began to deliver the baby properly.

But when she saw the baby's head, she suddenly found a large pool of blood on the mattress.

Sticky, warm, and endless, as if it was going to drain her life away.

When she took out the newborn, Li Zhilan's hands and feet were already cold and her body was stiff.

Just when she thought she had stepped into the gates of hell, the baby in her arms cried.

With this shrill cry, the almost breathless Li Zhilan miraculously recovered some strength.

She did not die at that time, but briefly accompanied Ning Yuan to spend the last days of his life.

...

The night was as cold as water. Ning Yuan walked onto a stone bridge, holding a confession signed by the midwife in her hand.

When she reached the middle of the bridge, she turned around and looked at the dim river surface.

A hand held her shoulder.

She turned around and saw his slightly nervous expression.

"Don't worry, I won't jump into the river." She said helplessly.

Shen Yan found that she had been with him for a long time, and many times he didn't have to say anything, she understood his intentions, as if she could read his mind.

She sighed softly: "After hearing all this, I don't know who to blame."

"Blame Mingwei for being vicious, but my father was infatuated with and obedient to her; blame my father for being a bastard, but he was deceived and used by Mingwei; blame the midwife for being greedy, but she showed compassion at the last moment and saved my mother's life."

"They are obviously accomplices, but I can't sue them to the government with just one lawsuit."

"Even if I take this sealed confession to my father and let him see Mingwei's true face, the most he can do is divorce me, but my mother will never come back."

Ning Yuan raised her eyes and looked at him: "Shen Yan, tell me, who is wrong?"

He held her hand tightly: "It was wrong from the moment they got married."

"Marriage is not just a grand banquet and solemn ceremony. Only love, understanding and promise can support the long life ahead."

"Rather than tolerance, understanding, management and running-in."

"Many people may not be able to do these things even with their relatives who have been with them day and night, let alone with strangers?"

She raised her eyebrows in surprise: "...Who are you? Get off my husband! He will never say such a thing!"

Shen Yan rarely expressed his true feelings to her, and was at a loss for a moment.

"He only said something like...It doesn't matter who I marry, it's not bad to marry you..."

She smiled playfully, her eyes curved into a pair of crescents.

He realized belatedly that she was teasing him.

She learned bad things from him.

He said patiently: "... I have improved now, is that not okay?"

Just as the two were joking, suddenly a black shadow stepped on the roof of the tile house and landed silently in front of the two. He knelt on one knee and reported: "Oh no! Sir, the young lady's ancestral home suddenly caught fire!"