Chapter 1(1)

Jingguo, Jinling.

It was the twelfth lunar month, the weather was cold and the ground was snowing heavily.

It was getting late, and the whole Yuan Mansion became as quiet as the streets of Jinling. Except for the slaves on duty, everyone who could rest got into bed early. While shivering and getting into the cold bed, they sighed that winter was really sad and looked forward to the early arrival of spring.

On the east side of the Yuan Mansion, in a rather exquisite courtyard in the Yin Qing Residence, the main room was brightly lit at this time. Miss Yuan Jianing, the eldest daughter of the Yuan Mansion, was sitting uneasily and staring at the window. The windows covered with thick window paper only reflected the swaying shadow of the lights, and could not see the outdoor scenery.

The eldest maid Jin Xin, who was standing next to Yuan Jianing, gently placed a small copper hand warmer in the palm of her hand, and carefully tested the temperature of her hands before saying softly: "Miss, it's getting late, it's snowing heavily outside, and even though there is a brazier in the house, it's really cold. Why don't you go to bed and rest for a while?"

There is a soft and thick duvet on the bed, and a heater has been put in it early to warm the quilt. It is comfortable to lie down in it now.

Yuan Jianing shook his head, looked at the door with a thick curtain, and sighed, "Why hasn't Jinying come back yet?"

Jin Xin knew that her young lady loved to worry. As long as she had something on her mind, she would not go to bed anyway, so she had no choice but to accompany her and wait eagerly for news about the other maid, Jin Ying.

Yuan Jianing is the first of the third generation descendants of Yuan Mansion, and is a veritable eldest sister in the third generation. She has many younger brothers, sisters, and cousins. She has been used to taking care of the younger ones and worrying about them since she was a child. Sometimes people often laugh at her. She is a mother-in-law at a young age, and she is more provocative than her mother. Yuan Jianing does not take it seriously. It is worry that should be worried.

Yuan Jianing's mother, Yun Qingluo, has a relatively cold personality, and she is also the eldest daughter-in-law of Yuan Mansion. She is usually more majestic than loving.People say that children often have complementary personalities to their parents. Yun Qingluo is proud and arrogant, while Yuan Jianing has a gentler personality. Although her younger siblings like to laugh at her and make trouble for her, in fact they also like her more and always pester her. They really love her.

At this time, the master and the servant were secretly anxious. There were rapid footsteps outside. Yuan Jianing stood up immediately. Jin Xin opened the door curtain first, and saw Jinying holding an oil-paper umbrella, but she was still half covered with snowflakes and was about to walk in. She hurriedly said: "Oh, shake the snow at the door quickly, don't bring the cold air in, be careful to freeze the lady."

Yuan Jianing didn't care about these details. He just stared at Jinying and asked anxiously: "It doesn't matter. Jinying, how is he? Is he gone?"

Jinying put down her umbrella, shook off the snow on her body with the help of Jinxin, and stood at the door and replied: "Miss, His Royal Highness ate the food sent by the lady, but he did not want to return to the palace. He said he wanted to stay here all night and devote himself to Aunt Ye."

Yuan Jianing frowned and asked, "It's so cold, why does he have to stay in the mourning hall all night? Isn't it freezing? Didn't my father send anyone over?"

Jinying shook her head and said, "My servant didn't meet anyone else. Maybe it's because His Royal Highness entered the palace incognito and didn't want to see anyone else."

Yuan Jianing sighed again, squeezed a few times with his little hands, walked around the room twice, and walked under the window. He heard the wind outside getting louder and louder, with a sharp whistling sound. It was conceivable that the stronger the wind and snow would be, the colder it would be in the second half of the night.

She couldn't help it anymore and said, "No, I want to go over and have a look. It's not a big deal if he's frozen. Isn't it going to be a big deal if he brings down father and Yuanfu?"

Jin Xin and Jin Ying looked at each other, secretly amused. The young lady cares about His Highness, but she still has to make excuses. It's true.

Although Yuan Jianing has a gentle personality, she is not weak. As long as she makes up her mind about something, no one else can persuade her.So after hearing what she said, Jin Xin and Jin Ying hurriedly got the thick jacket they had gone out and the new fox fur coat made this year and put it on for her. They also got a hand warmer to take with them, and then they personally held an umbrella for her and walked out of the courtyard.

Aunt Ye's yard is not in Yinqing Residence, but is located in the northeastern corner of the east side of the original mansion. It is a separate courtyard and is quite spacious. It has its own independent small garden, rockery, and verandah. Its specifications are actually far better than those of ordinary aunts. However, because the male master has never been here, it has been deserted for more than ten years.

Aunt Ye was found dead by the maid this morning. Because her title was just that of an ordinary aunt, she would only be kept alive for one day and one night, and she would be buried tomorrow.

Yuan Jianing was shocked when she heard the news this morning. She felt a little uneasy in her heart. She always felt that Aunt Ye's death was a bit unexpected. However, in the evening she received news that His Royal Highness Prince Xuan Yuan had come to the mansion incognito to pay homage to Aunt Ye.

Yuan Jianing now knows that although Aunt Ye is nominally the concubine of her father, Yuan Xiuzhi, she is actually the biological mother of the current Crown Prince, Xuan Yuan. She is actually the woman of the current emperor, Xuan Yu, and has nothing to do with Yuan Xiuzhi. It was just that by some mistake, the emperor who came to the Yuan Mansion to escape his wedding had a one-night stand with Aunt Ye, who was still a maid in the Yuan Mansion at that time, which led to the current embarrassing situation.

Xuan Yuan's original name was Yuan Lang, and he was raised as the third-generation eldest grandson of Yuan Mansion. He was only born half a month later than Yuan Jianing, and he was always treated as a younger brother by Yuan Jianing. The two had a good relationship.

Five years ago, the emperor sent Yuan Lang to follow Yuan Jianing's fourth uncle to Yanjing to build a new capital city. Two years ago, he called Yuan Lang back to Jinling, allowed him to enter the palace, recognize his ancestors and return to the clan, and officially announced him as the emperor's eldest son, changing his name to Xuanyuan.

However, the emperor only recognized his son, but not his biological mother. Xuan Yu only told the outside world that Xuan Yuan's biological mother was an ordinary commoner's daughter Liu, who had died young. He did not take Aunt Ye into the palace, and fostered Xuan Yuan under the name of Queen Xue Zhen, and raised him as his legitimate son.

This is of course good for Xuanyuan's future, but no one knows how Xuanyuan's biological mother, Aunt Ye, feels in her heart. After all, the son she has raised for more than ten years suddenly becomes someone else's, and she, the biological mother, will not be publicly recognized until her death.Will she be happy for her son's sudden rise to success, or will she endure the loneliness of her life?

But in fact, not many people cared about such a little woman, and even fewer cared about her thoughts, joys and sorrows. And just when everyone in the Yuan Mansion thought that Aunt Ye would die silently in the Yuan Mansion, she suddenly passed away.

The day before Aunt Ye's death, Xuan Yuan, the eldest son of the emperor, had just been established as the prince. To say that there was nothing strange between this, even Yuan Jianing, a wealthy lady who did not care about foreign affairs, could not believe it.

When Yuan Jianing saw her parents this morning, her father looked solemn but not surprised. He seemed to have expected this outcome, so he handled Aunt Ye's funeral in an orderly manner without any panic.

Aunt Ye will not be buried in the cemetery of her original family, but will be buried alone in a feng shui place behind Qixuan Temple.

Yuan Jianing's heart sank when she saw her parents like this.

The older she gets, the more secrets she understands, and the sadder she feels.

There are too many entangled interests and ruthlessness in the adult world.

Aunt Ye, who originally wanted to sneak into the bed of the male master Yuan Xiuzhi, probably never dreamed that she would become the emperor's woman, let alone dreamed that her son would become the prince a few years later, right?

She may be very lucky to have survived for so many years.Today's death is just a predetermined ending, right?

No emperor would allow his stain to remain in the world forever, especially when the stain was related to his chosen heir to the throne, and there was no reason to allow her to live.

There is no shortage of emperors in history who have done this by removing their mother and establishing a prince. Xuan Yu is not the first, and I believe he will not be the last.

The three former masters and servants of Jianing braved the wind and snow to walk to the yard where Aunt Ye was. Two lanterns covered with white paper hung at the door of the yard.

Yuan Jianing looked at the two white lanterns with complicated emotions, thinking that these were the only two white lanterns visible in Yuan Mansion, right?

As the prince's biological mother, she ended up in such a miserable state after her death. Yuan Jianing didn't know whether to sigh or not.

Aunt Ye's coffin was parked in the middle of the hall, which was a temporary mourning hall. Some of the items in the room were covered with white paper, and the curtains at the door were replaced with white cloth curtains. The two tall and strong guards waiting at the door were quite surprised when they saw the three former masters and servants of Jianing coming over.