108 Bride-in-making
-1 month later-
Yang Ning was lying on the bed in her chamber and was staring at the canopy of white and translucent curtains of her bed.
Unlike her previous bed, which had a hard mattress and one pillow that was difficult to sleep on, this bed not only has a soft and cushy mattress but also has several pillows and cushions that make her sleep like a baby at night.
Everything in this chamber is so luxurious and grand that she is finally getting the feeling that she is a noble lady and not some side character of a maid in the novel. Otherwise, while living in her previous chamber, she always wondered why Yang Ning lived such a miserable life yet she supported her father after marrying Zheng Liang.
She can never understand why Yang Ning wanted Yang Luoyang to acknowledge her as her daughter rather than sever ties with that man.
Rather than siding with her father who never treated her like a daughter and punished her for no reason, if she had tried to convince Zheng Liang that she is not the bad guy in the whole situation, wouldn’t the situation have been better?
He would not have only protected her from her father who always finds ways to torture her but also wouldn’t have let her die in vain either.
“Well, if she had used her brain like that, I doubt the love story between the male lead and the female lead would have bloomed.” Yang Ning remarked, wondering what would have happened to the story of the novel if Yang Ning hadn’t followed her father’s evil steps and become the so-called villain of the story.
However, she is not going to do that.
.....
Unlike the leads in the other transmigration romance novels that she has read in the past, who try their best to follow the novel’s story and help the male lead and the female lead to meet and get married, she is going to do the opposite.
She will do her best so that they could not meet or at least try to keep them apart.
Because if their love story bloomed, then she would have to die. She cannot let that happen, not in this fictional world at the least, which doesn’t feel fictional at all.
It might be fictional for her since she has read the novel, but the people here are living and breathing. How can it be fictional then?
While Yang Ning was thinking about what the future holds for her, Xiaowei knocked on the door and entered the chamber after Yang Ning responded to her knock.
After Lady Yu Ling scolded Xiaowei for not knocking on the door before entering, Xiaowei has been following the rules and regulations diligently and always makes sure to knock before entering the chamber now.
“Milady, you must be starving, right? You only had some fruits and nuts in the morning along with tea after all.”
” Here is your meal. Please have some food and regain your energy.” Xiaowei said while she placed the food tray on the table in the chamber.
“Yes. I was wondering when you will bring my food. I am confused why Lady Yu Ling didn’t prepare the noodles for breakfast in the morning and sent me the fruits and nuts to eat instead.” Yang Ning pouted as she recalled how she didn’t get to have her delicious breakfast in the morning.
Food is the only thing that gives her happiness in the world. Otherwise, everything is so dull and can be tedious for her sometimes.
Xiaowei glanced at Yang Ning and immediately looked away from her. She pursed her lips and didn’t respond to her words and continued to prepare the meal table silently.
When Yang Ning smelled the delicious and mouth-watering aroma coming from the dishes, she was drooling. She hurriedly got off the bed and went to the table while adjusting the sleeves of her dress, preparing herself to lunge at the food like a hungry hyena.
However, her excitement died down when she noticed the quantity of food on the tray.
“Xiaowei, what is this? Why did you bring me only half a bowl of rice to eat? Also, why are there more boiled vegetables than meat?”
“Are you sure you brought the correct food tray to me?” Yang Ning was bewildered when she saw the much less quantity of food on the tray. It’s almost half of the amount of food that she eats daily.
Xiaowei looked at Yang Ning apologetically and said, ” Yes. It is the correct food tray. I didn’t bring it here mistakenly as yours.”
“From now on, you will be getting similar meal trays because you need to...look prettier on the day of your wedding. These are the words of Lady Yu Ling.” Xiaowei reported feeling guilty toward her lady.
She knows how much Yang Ning likes to eat and in the past few weeks, she has been eating every single meal with undying enthusiasm towards the food.
However, since the royal wedding is in two weeks, they need to be mindful and alert about every single thing.
To make sure Yang Ning looks prettier and skinnier on the day of her royal wedding with the crown prince, they need to control her meals and make sure she doesn’t eat anything that can make her gain weight at her wedding.
“What? Lady Yu Ling said that?” Yang Ning was baffled at Xiaowei’s words. “How...how can she do that to me? Xiaowei, You know this amount of food will do nothing to me. I didn’t have a heavy breakfast in the morning, you could give me a sumptuous meal for lunch at the least.”
” If you cannot do anything, bring me some more meat at the least. A few pieces of meat? That’s too little.” She tried to persuade Xiaowei to bring her more food or meat at the least.
How will she survive the next two weeks like that if they feed her like that?
Xiaowei clasped both of her hands in front of her and lowered her head. ” I also want to do that, however, I cannot overlook Lady Yu Ling’s orders.”
“Milady, everything is for your sake only. The royal wedding is in two weeks, you need to make at least this much effort to look prettier on the day of the wedding.”
Yang Ning scoffed in disbelief and felt like crying. ” Why do I have to do this? I am already beautiful enough. I don’t know anything about it. Bring me more food.” She complained and ordered Xiaowei to bring her more food.
Yang Ning is thinner and prettier than her past self. She already looks beautiful as it is, why is there such a need to make such attempts to look prettier?
Xiaowei pursed her lips and didn’t respond to Yang Ning’s words. Her master is Yang Ning but she cannot ignore Yu Ling’s orders as well.
She wants the best for her lady after all. If not for Lady Yu Ling, Yang Ning wouldn’t have enjoyed all these household luxuries.
Yang Ning pursed her lips and knew that Xiaowei will not do anything against Lady Yu Ling’s orders anymore. She sighed and waved her hand and asked her to leave.
Looks like she will have to eat like this for the next two weeks from now on.
“Is Lady Yu Ling still angry at me?” She wondered while looking at the amount of food on her tray. She pulled the chair and sat on it to have her lunch while wondering how to make her give her more food from now on.
The last time they went to the palace without telling Lady Yu Ling when Zheng Liang was confined in his chamber, Lady Yu Ling didn’t allow Yang Ning to leave the Yang Household for the whole month.
She was planning to visit the palace until the punishment of Zheng Liang wasn’t over. However, Lady Yu Ling didn’t allow her to sneak out of the household and kept her eyes on her like a hawk.
Not only that, but she also increased the level of difficulty of the etiquette and manners that she was teaching her. She did everything just to punish her for not following her words.
She would have rebelled if it had been someone else, however, since it was Lady Yu Ling, she knew that she was worried about her and meant well for her.
It was a way of Yu Ling that she used on her to punish and discipline her. She wasn’t sure if she learned to be disciplined, but she sure learned many skills in such a short time.
She learned to brew tea, arrange flowers, do embroideries, and whatnot. She cannot say that she is good at these things but she at least learned how to do all these things.
She thought that Lady Yu Ling had stopped getting angry at her anymore, but seeing the food tray, she wasn’t sure about it anymore.
While learning all these things, she realized that her life is not going to be a flowery road at the royal palace. Even though she got to know a person like Yu Ling, she cannot expect everyone to be the same as Yu Ling who would treat her nicely.
Even though she told Zheng Liang that he is not allowed to have any other consorts other than her, she was expecting many other problems at the palace that will be more annoying than Chang Ah and Xing Bao.
She was expecting a miracle before she gets married to Zheng Liang and she will go back to her world before things mess up even more. However, before she knew it, the royal wedding was hovering over her head like a dark and gloomy cloud.
Yang Ning sighed heavily before picking up her chopsticks and murmured to herself before she started eating, “Fang Li, you’re an athlete, an athlete never gives up. No matter how hard the situation is. I am sure everything will get better soon. Soon!”