"Yes, Master."

A servant made an obeisance and responded respectfully.

That night.

The moonlight was as cool as water.

Yun Qingya stood in the courtyard, with his hands on his back, his cool and clear eyes staring into the night sky, a faint smile on his lips. Suddenly, a cyan cloak was draped over his shoulder. He turned around and saw a beautiful girl behind him, and his face softened.

"Since you haven't fully recovered, you'd better not expose yourself to the wind."

Ning Xin faintly smiled, "Brother Yun, what were you thinking about?"

Hearing her question, Yun Qingya turned his eyes to the dark night once again and sighed gently. "I was thinking that if my brother and sister-in-law were still alive, they would feel proud of Little Feng'er' s achievements today."

Ning Xin turned to look at the profile of the man only to find the man in the moonlight was so attractive that it looked as if his whole body was radiating a dazzling light.

"Brother Yun, would you like to hear my story?"

Hearing her words, Yun Qingya withdrew his eyes and chuckled, "If you'd like to tell me, I would love to listen."

"Brother Yun," said Ning Xin, looking up into the night sky, with a bitter smile, "I really envy you. Your father is a true hero! He would rather have his son and daughter-in-law go to war than give his daughter-in-law to an enemy kingdom's emperor as a concubine! This is what a real man would do! If it were my dad, he would probably give me away," Ning Xin's tone was so sad when she said this, "because, he once faced a similar choice, but he chose the Ning Family!"

Whether it was the cold weather or the chill in her heart, Ning Xin s.h.i.+vered, her lowered eyes filled with sorrow.

"Ten years ago, an elder's daughter came back from her years-long travel, and at that time my mother had married my father and became the mistress of the Ning Family! But the elder's daughter had loved my dad since she was young, so she flew into a great rage and asked my father to divorce my mother and marry her."

"My father, for the peace of the Ning Family, didn't do as she wanted nor did he refuse her! So that woman thought it was my mother who was pestering my father. To become my father's wife, she beat my mother to death!"

Ning Xin took a deep breath, tightly clenched her fist and tried to suppress the rage in her heart. But, even so, her heart was still trembling.

"Yes, that woman didn't poison or a.s.sa.s.sinate my mother. She just beat my mother to death in public! Because she knew that her father enjoyed a high status in the Ning Family, and my father would not do anything to her even if she killed my mother."

Yun Qingya turned to look at Ning Xin. He had thought he was quite miserable, but Ning Xin was even more piteous than him. Though she was the n.o.ble heiress of the Ning Family, she had to watch her own mother being beaten to death! How painful it was! Yun Qingya couldn't help but reach out his hand and tightly held Ning Xin's shoulder.

"Brother Yun, that woman was right. Though my father was devastated by my mother's death, he didn't have the courage to avenge my mother, because that woman's father was the head of the elders of the Ning Family at that time. For the sake of the Ning Family, he just endured it! My grandfather learned about this, rushed back to the Ning Family and avenged my mother! Then he took me away from the Ning Family."