Chapter 1 Previous Hatred and Drowning

"Miss, Ning Ziying has been beaten and is passed out. Should I continue to beat her?"
Two women in fine clothes were sitting high up in the Yunying courtyard of the Lord Protector's Manor scornfully looking at the thing that was huddled up on the ground. It was badly mutilated and could be recognized as a human being. They picked up their teacups and slowly took a sip of tea.
One of them walked forward and brushed aside the matted hair on the face of that person. She said with affectation, "Sister Ying, wake up, Sister Ying!"
Having been awakened by the pain on her face, Ning Ziying raised her dirty face covered with mud, where a few deep blood stains could be seen that had just been scratched by Ning Ziyan's nails.
"Sister Ying, don't hate your elder sister. You had an affair with another man before marriage. It is really shameful. How could Brother Yuhang marry a dirty woman like you..."
"Ning Ziyan!" she raucously bellowed with difficulty, "it is you who had an affair with a man and made my fiance break it off with me!"
Ning Ziyan put her hand holding a hanky under her nose as if to block something dirty while she said with disdain, "Brother Yuhang and I are fond of each other. It's you who shamelessly messed around with him! At first, I took pity on you. It's OK to let you become Brother Yuhang's concubine as the minister's mansion can afford a concubine who serves me with drinks, but you were unlucky. When you had a tryst with a man, you ran into Brother Yuhang and me, so I had to take action..."
Looking at the perky Ning Ziyan in front of her, Ning Ziying just felt a surge of anger. This woman, who had secretly had an affair with her fiance and even got pregnant out of wedlock, had falsely accused her of having an affair with another man before her wedding in order to take her marriage away! How could there be such a vicious woman in the world like her, whom she had treated as her own elder sister before?
With her eyes full of hatred, Ning Ziying had been beaten unconscious by the servants. She was only able to lie on the ground. Suddenly, she rushed at Ning Ziyan and fiercely bit her hand, making her mouth bloody and teeth break. She felt her teeth cut open the skin on her hand and become embedded in the flesh, where bright-red blood oozed out. It was unknown whether that blood came from her mouth or Ning Ziyan's hand!
Madam Ling, the Lord Protector's wife, who sat next to Ning Ziyan watching the fun, just then rushed over to beat and scold Ning Ziying. But no matter how much pain Ning Ziying felt when her back and body were being beaten, she did not let up her bite. She stared straight at Ning Ziyan and bit her with greater and greater force.
"Bitch!"
A powerful male voice suddenly resounded among the noise, which came from Xia Yuhang!
The next moment, Ning Ziying felt that her abdomen had been ferociously hit by something. Completely unguarded, she was hit and flew straight out, smashing into a large stone by the lake! A mouthful of blood sprayed out, which stained the ground red in front of her!
"How dare you hurt Yan'er! Throw this shameless bitch into the lake," Xia Yuhang said coldly.
"How dare you bite me! Drown this bitch in the lake!" Ning Ziyan shouted with madness...
Ning Ziying wanted to look up at the man who had spoken sweet words to her yesterday but today could mercilessly kill her. However, the next moment several people grabbed her hair and dragged her into the nearby lotus pond.
"Miss!" The scream came from Xiang'er, her personal maid. She tried to look back, but she could not see what was in front of her eyes.
She was violently suffocating and her numb body could not feel pain any longer. With her last bit of strength, she tried to focus her eyes on the faces of Madam Ling, Ning Ziyan, and Xia Yuhang. She smiled silently toward the sky. Her sad, distorted smile could be seen through the fluctuations of the water surface, and it was cold and bloodthirsty...
"Someone come over here, put stones onto them, and make them sink into the water. After tomorrow, we'll tell others that they have drowned." Madam Ling stood up and coldly instructed once the water's surface no longer fluttered and the mistress and her maid were dead.
"Yes, madam!" Several ladies sharply grabbed either side of a stone and tied to Ning Ziying and Xiang'er, then pushed it hard into the lotus pond with a big splash. Immediately, it turned into light ripples. No one knew that the owner of the Yunying Courtyard had died in this lotus pond.
"Yan'er, you were bitten badly by the damn bitch. Go and see the doctor. Don't put off tomorrow's wedding because of that." Madam Ling turned her head to Ning Ziyan and spoke empathetically after she had dealt with everything in sight.
"Mom, don't worry about my minor injury. Will the death of Madam Ming delay my and Brother Yuhang's wedding?" Xia Ziyan pointed to the southeast corner of the backyard where Madam Ming, the co-wife of Lord Protector Ning Zu'an, lived. Just now, someone had reported that Madam Ming was dead!
Madam Ming was the co-wife of the Lord Protector and had the same position as her, the wife of the Lord Protector. If the news were to be spread out, Ning Ziyan, as her daughter, could not marry until three months later. But even though she could wait, her pregnant belly could not!
"That bitch didn't die earlier or later, but at this moment. Don't worry, Yan'er. I will put off the time of her death until the day after tomorrow," Madam Ling snorted coldly. The bitch should have died long ago, but unexpectedly she had a hard life. Her death was postponed for half a month, which happened to be in collision with her baby daughter's wedding day!
As they spoke, their group of people suddenly walked out of the door of the Yunying Courtyard. The last lady to leave closed the door, and the Yunying Courtyard was restored to peace and quiet again. No one would have thought that this empty, closed yard had lost its owner...
But that sinking body suddenly woke up in the water. The floating body made her grasp something in front of her subconsciously.
Awake!
As she opened her eyes and looked at the strange surroundings, Ning Ziying was full of doubts.
She had undoubtedly been drowned in the lotus pond. So, where was she now?