Ning Wanwan paid no heed and still tried to go out. But just as she reached the entrance, she ran into Chan Meiren, who had arrived at her palace gates with reddened eyes.
“Big Sister, I don’t have time for scheming and plotting with you right now. Stop coming to me.” Ning Wanwan glanced at her large, pregnant belly and secretly rolled her eyes.
The Ning Family was on the verge of collapse; she truly had no time to deal with these people.
Unexpectedly, Chan Meiren’s eyes reddened, and tears began to fall, patter-patter. She knelt before Ning Wanwan.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Ning Wanwan hurriedly tried to help her up.
“Imperial Noble Consort, I was wrong in the past. I shouldn’t have provoked and plotted against you. It was all my fault, a thousand times over.”
“Oh, I never took it to heart. Get up quickly. Don’t you try to frame me this time,” Ning Wanwan said. Seeing that she was slow to rise, she feared something might happen and quickly backed far away.
“You all saw that, right? I didn’t touch her,” Ning Wanwan said as if avoiding the plague. The eunuchs standing guard nearby kept their heads bowed low, remaining impassive.
“Niangniang, you are magnanimous. Please save me,” Chan Meiren cried, her face streaked with tears like a pear blossom in the rain.
Ning Wanwan looked at her high, swollen belly, a wave of fear washing over her.
“What on earth are you trying to do?” Ning Wanwan asked.
“Niangniang, save me, save my child.” With a look of terror on her face, Chan Meiren crawled forward on her knees and clutched the hem of Ning Wanwan’s skirt.
Ning Wanwan wanted to shake her off but was afraid of hurting her. This was truly a case of trying to eat mutton but ending up with a rank smell all over.
She knew she didn’t have the brains for palace intrigue. She had been framed and confined before the games had even truly begun. That was why she had been keeping her distance, yet trouble always seemed to find its way to her door.
Ning Wanwan’s inner thoughts screamed: I’ve behaved, please let me go!
“Y-y-you let go first,” Ning Wanwan stammered. Chan Meiren’s belly was so big it looked like she could give birth any day now; she was terrified of an accident.
Chan Meiren was still crying. Left with no choice, Ning Wanwan could only say, “Let go first. We can talk after you let go.”
The moment Chan Meiren released her, Ning Wanwan immediately darted far away.
“Noble Consort Ning!” Chan Meiren looked at Ning Wanwan with pleading eyes.
To get at her today, this woman was really going all out. Her acting was very convincing, completely devoid of the arrogance she had displayed when she provoked her while relying on her pregnancy.
Lüqiu couldn’t bear to watch. “Niangniang, why don’t we hear her out first? After all, she’s asking for your help. Besides, the child is her greatest reliance; she wouldn’t go so far as to use her own child to frame you, would she?”
Ning Wanwan thought that made sense, but why should she help her?
“Go and help her up first,” Ning Wanwan instructed.
Lüqiu carefully helped the woman to her feet.
Ning Wanwan flicked her sleeves and said with feigned arrogance, “Speak, then. But I may not necessarily help.”
Who knew what had driven Chan Meiren to come to Ning Wanwan for help.
“I know I have offended you many times in the past, but I have never truly harmed you, Niangniang. As long as you are willing to help me, I will do anything,” Chan Meiren said.
“And what do you think you can do to help me?” Ning Wanwan scoffed.
Chan Meiren thought for a moment, then, as if having made a great resolution, she said, “Niangniang, come here.”
Hearing this, a crack appeared on Ning Wanwan’s beautiful, cold face. Save me, I’m really about to break. Can you please stop trying to harm me? Can’t I just admit defeat?
If the original owner of this body knew she was living such a pathetic life with her identity and family background, she would probably die of anger.
“If I have any thought of framing Niangniang, may I be struck by lightning and suffer a terrible death,” Chan Meiren said, making such a vicious vow for fear that Ning Wanwan would suspect her.
“Why must I go over there? Just say it directly,” Ning Wanwan said, not understanding why she had to be so secretive.
“If I say it out loud like this, your situation will become even more difficult.”
Ning Wanwan was silent for a long time before she slowly and cautiously walked toward her.
This time, Chan Meiren didn’t pull any tricks. She leaned close and whispered a sentence in Ning Wanwan’s ear.
When she stepped back, Ning Wanwan’s Dai eyebrows were slightly raised.
“What did she say, Niangniang? Why is your expression so grave?” Lüqiu placed a hand on Ning Wanwan’s shoulder, about to give her a massage, but Ning Wanwan reacted strongly and dodged her touch.
Puzzled, Lüqiu asked cautiously, “Niangniang, what’s wrong?”
Ning Wanwan came to her senses, realizing her reaction was unusual. She immediately forced a smile to cover her inner awkwardness.
Chan Meiren had always seen her as an enemy. There was no need for her to doubt someone close to her just because of one sentence.