After His Majesty was reborn, the poor little girl in his previous life was spoiled to death

As the night deepened, the octagonal wooden lanterns inlaid with jewels hanging in the corridor of Songshou Hall lit up one by one, casting a warm light in the courtyard.

When Ning'er left the main room, she saw a thin-shouldered and thin-waisted woman standing at the bottom of the stairs, followed by two little maids holding lanterns. She was wearing a lilac-colored cape with a crabapple-bordered pattern, and her silver hair was particularly eye-catching under the lamplight.

It was Aunt Ye.

Seeing that it was Ning'er, she was not surprised at all. She smiled and nodded, and greeted her very familiarly: "Miss Ning."

Ning Er walked down the stone steps, greeted her, and said in a friendly manner, "Auntie Ye."

The two of them were accompanied by Manju, a maid who served in the old lady's room. They turned around the corridor and walked a few more steps before arriving at the hall where the banquet had been held earlier.

Manju smiled and said, "Perhaps it was because it was too dark to see clearly. When the servants were cleaning up earlier, they didn't see the hairpins and rings that Auntie dropped."

As he spoke, he took out the key and opened the door, and several little girls went in and lit the lights.

Aunt Ye nodded and smiled, "It's okay, thank you for your hard work, Miss Agate. I will go in and look for it myself."

Ning Er followed up by saying, "I'll accompany Auntie to take a look."

Agate responded with a smile, then led the little girls out the door.

Walking around the eight-panel brocade landscape screen that was more than a meter tall, Aunt Ye held up a glazed lantern. She lowered her head to look carefully while talking to Ning'er about some family matters in a very gentle manner: "I wonder how old Miss Ning is?"

Ning'er herself lost her mother at a young age, so she instinctively felt empathy and compassion for Aunt Ye, who lost her son at a young age. And seeing how gentle and kind Aunt Ye was, she felt close to her.

She answered, "I was born in the sixth year of Zhaoyuan, so I will be twelve after the new year. But my birthday is older, so I will be thirteen soon."

Aunt Ye's voice was very gentle. She smiled and said, "So that's how it is. What a coincidence. The two young masters were also born in the sixth year of Zhaoyuan."

Ning'er nodded: "I also heard from Madam Zhu that Master Ying and Miss Yao are both the same age as me, but a few months younger."

Aunt Ye's eyes fell on Ning'er's face. She thought for a moment, "Wouldn't the girl's birthday be in March or April?"

When talking about this, Ning Er was a little embarrassed: "It was in February."

Aunt Ye let out a soft "ah". Under the dim light, half of her face was hidden in the shadows, but her eyes were shining.

February of the Guiyou year.

She raised her voice and said, "It happened this month. Miss, you kept it a secret. I think even the Marquis's wife didn't know about it!"

Ning Er whispered, "It's not a big birthday, so don't disturb the Marquis' wife."

Aunt Ye's tone was gentle, but she followed up with another question: "The girl's name has the word 'chao' in it, could it be that she was born on the Flower Festival?"

Ning'er was searching attentively for the hairpin among the large, intricate and fine patterns on the carpet. She was surprised when she heard this: "Auntie, your guess is so accurate!"

"But I was not lucky enough to be born during the Flower Festival."

Ning'er was touched by these words. She couldn't help but say a few more words: "My mother said that I should have been born on the Flower Festival, so she added the word 'chao' to my name. But when the day came, I refused to come out."

Ning'er recalled the scene of her mother lying on the bed, talking to her with a smile on her face, and her heart softened: "My mother stayed up for more than ten days, and when she saw that I was still motionless, she was extremely anxious and thought of many ways."

Her voice was a little low: "After finally getting started, my mother struggled for a whole day and night until the early morning of February 28th, when she finally gave birth to me."

"So since I was little, she just called me Ning'er."

Ye Zhen gently placed her hand on her shoulder and said softly, "Ms. Ning's mother must have treasured her like a treasure."

When Ning'er looked up, she saw tears in Aunt Ye's eyes.

She felt bitter in her heart, knowing that this had aroused Aunt Ye's sympathy for her son. Just by looking at her white hair, one could tell how painful it was to lose a child, and how heartbreaking it must be.

At this time and place, one of them lost her son, and the other lost her mother. Although they were in a wealthy family and lived in luxury, how could they forget the unforgettable pain?

Just as Ning'er was feeling sad, Ye Zhen suddenly said, "Found it."

She looked hurriedly and saw a double-strand butterfly hairpin inlaid with gold, jade and ruby ​​​​and sapphires lying horizontally in Ye Zhen's hand. The butterfly on the hairpin was lifelike and seemed to be about to flap its wings. It was very exquisite.

Ning Er exclaimed: "So beautiful."

Ye Zhen had already adjusted her mind. She smiled and said to Ning Er, "If it's just an ordinary hairpin, there's no need to come looking for it overnight."

She naturally took Ning'er's hand and walked out together: "This is the birthday gift that the Marquis gave me when I was pregnant with An'er. I really can't bear to throw it away like this."

When Ning'er saw her smile as warm as the spring breeze, she suddenly felt that even though her hair was completely gray, she was still very beautiful.

She said thankfully, "Fortunately it was found. Seeing how exquisite this hairpin is, I know how the Marquis treats Concubine Ye."

Ye Zhen said gratefully: "I have to thank Miss Ning for helping me find it."

She smiled deeply, and her pair of autumn eyes fixedly stared at Ning'er: "I felt very friendly when I saw you. If you don't mind, you can come and sit with me when you are free."

Ning Er had not been in the mansion for long after all, and had no idea about the difference between wives and concubines. She replied, "I hope Madam Ye doesn't mind that I disturb your peace and quiet."

As they were walking out of the hall, they saw a man standing in the corridor in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his posture as straight as a pine tree.

It was Xinyuan Hou Shen Chongyan.

Ning Er was about to step forward to pay her respects when she heard Aunt Ye smile and say, "The Marquis is waiting for you, young lady."

The moment he saw Ning'er, Shen Chongyan's originally cold expression softened. He looked at Ning'er and Ye Zhen standing hand in hand and asked, "Did you find the thing?"

Aunt Ye stepped forward and handed the hairpin in her hand to Shen Chongyan for review: "Thanks to Miss Ning and the Marquis, we have found it."

Shen Chongyan's gaze fell on the butterfly that was spreading its wings and about to fly. He still remembered that when he personally put the hairpin on Ye Zhen, she was pregnant with An'er and her hair was as black as clouds.

But now, this hairpin is as bright as it was a dozen years ago, but An'er has long turned into a handful of yellow earth, and the black hair of the person in front of him has turned into snow.

When he spoke again, he had more reminiscence in his voice: "It turned out to be this. Auntie is thoughtful."

Aunt Ye smiled and said, "It's all thanks to Miss Ning for helping me find it."

Ning Er quickly declined: "I didn't help much, but I just followed him around for a few rounds."

Before the Marquis could speak, Aunt Ye took the initiative to bow and leave: "I think the Marquis and Miss Ning still have something to say. My courtyard is a bit far away, and I have to go back to take medicine. I will leave first."

Shen Chongyan nodded.

Aunt Ye led her two maids and was about to turn around and leave, but she seemed to suddenly remember something and said casually:

"I don't know why, but when I saw Miss Ning, I felt that she looked familiar. I felt like I had seen her before, but I couldn't remember who she looked like."

Shen Chongyan's eyes froze.

Before he could react, Aunt Ye covered her mouth and coughed twice, then she supported the maid and went straight away.

Her figure was lingering and gradually disappeared into the deep night.