"It's a girl! Your Highness, it's a girl."

Feng Ning was stumped by the sudden words that her cry lessened. Even though she was sure that she should have died, how in the world did they even say that it was a girl as if she had just been born.

You got to be kidding me, right?

Opening her eyes, Feng Ning was stumped when she saw the beautiful decoration within the room. At the same time, the layout of the bed along with their clothes.... How was it the modern world?

There was no lamp, no proper ceiling, their clothes were more like robe and it didn't smell like hospital at all.

It was surely the ancient world, right?

Incense stick at the side, the wooden decoration in the room, the hanfu* style clothing, along with the ancient looking bed. As for the woman on the bed, she was wearing loose robe and her hair stuck onto her face. Beads of sweat had formed because she took a long time to deliver the baby. Yet, the messy appearance didn't erase her elegance in the slightest bit.

"A girl again?" the cold voice coming from the woman caused Feng Ning to startle.

It was then she recalled the way the servants called the woman in front of her.

'Your Highness.'

No wonder that there were a lot of people around her and that she was displeased upon knowing her gender. For those in the Imperial Family, what they wanted the most was a boy so that they could clinch onto the throne.

So, was her father a prince or the Emperor?

While Feng Ning let her mind roamed, the woman had dressed herself carefully. She was tired after giving birth, but she didn't let it affect her that much as her gaze was very cold. It didn't look like the gaze of a mother to her daughter.

She looked at the baby on the maid's arm with the urge to strangle her. How come her luck was so bad that she gave birth to two girls in a row.

Hadn't she worked hard enough with her husband to be able to get children?

"Your Highness, Master is here."

"Call him here."

"Yes."

A man strode inside. He had regal aura and his eyebrows were sharp. However, the disappointment on his face when he saw the young baby was undeniable. He looked at his wife. "Ya'er."

"You're so useless." The woman, Lin Xie Ya looked at her husband in annoyance.

"We can try again, alright?" The man coaxed his wife.

Lin Xie Ya snorted and looked at the baby. She lost interest as she already had one daughter before this. Waving her hand, she ordered the servant, "Send her to the Peony Courtyard. Let her stay there."

"But Your Highness..."

"Do as I say." Lin Xie Ya's tone was cold.

"Yes."

The servants scurried away while carrying the tired baby. After crying so much, it was undeniable that Feng Ning was so tired that she could barely open her eyes. However, she still could hear the servants talked as they carried her away.

"To think that Her Highness would send the princess away so soon."

"Her Highness longs to have a son so that she could get back at her brother for marrying her away. Master might be the Prime Minister, but his position is not good enough for Her Highness," the servant sighed.

The servant looked at the young baby and sighed. "Poor princess. To be born in this family, it was her bad luck."

"It's better for her to be here. Haven't you hear that..."

Feng Ning couldn't stay awake and drifted to sleep. All that she could remember was that she was now in an ancient world and that she was born as the princess. Ugh, recalling the low position women has in this era, Feng Ning felt that her problem had just begun.

Time passed swiftly.

Being a baby, Feng Ning could only stay awake for a few minutes each time to ask for some meal before drifted back to sleep. It took her months to be able to gather more information about her new identity. Thankfully, her parents still gave her name during the 100 days' ceremony.

Her name was the same, though, Feng Ning.

It baffled her how it could coincidence so perfectly, but she felt that it was good enough. She didn't need to get used to a new name.

Living as a baby with the memory of an adult was tiring, though. Feng Ning had to be thankful that her physical body was still in charge most of the time, allowing her to shut the shame of wetting the bed and having to be fed by others. Her consciousness couldn't even take control of her body properly until she was around 2 years old.

'Being born as a baby is such a hassle.'

Unable to control her body perfectly, Feng Ning just shut her consciousness whenever it was time for her to eat or pee. She really couldn't withstand the shame of having to be taken care by others.

Before she came here, she was already over 18 years old, ah.

After living for such torturous time for two years, she heard from the servants that her mother was pregnant again.

This time, they were all praying hard for the baby to be a boy.

Feng Ning had never met her mother and father.

Not even once.

They never came to this deserted Peony Courtyard.

Thankfully, the servants were more of a chatterbox in this courtyard. Feng Ning managed to gain a lot of information.

Such as: her mother was married away because her brother didn't want her to compete with him for the throne. They were asked to take their husband's surname, which was why her mother was determined to have a son. Even though she was married away, she was still part of the Imperial Family, which was why her husband was not allowed to have any concubine.

The current emperor didn't have a son yet, which was why the crown prince's seat was still empty.

At the same time, her mother had a sister who was also similarly married away. But different with her, her sister didn't have a child so far. Thus, her mother was slightly winning because she had two daughters.

Oh well, it had nothing to do with Feng Ning.

She was just glad that the servant still treated her politely even though many of them just came here because she was not hard to manage. Compared to her older sister who threw tantrum every few days, she rarely cried.

Thus, the servants liked to stay here more.

Speaking of her older sister, Feng Ning had never met with her either. It seemed that she had been confined in her courtyard too.

"Your Highness, would you like to eat?" a servant asked when she saw Feng Ning stared at her.

Feng Ning was only listening in to their conversation. She still couldn't speak properly, though. Being only 2 years old on, Feng Ning could barely walk around with the maidservants guarding her.

"Niii."

"Yes, Princess?"

Feng Ning stumbled forward and grabbed the pouch on the ground. It smelled sweet, though Feng Ning had to admit that she didn't know which flower used to make it.

The servant giggled. "It seems Her Highness likes the fragrance pouch."

"There are more inside. Would you like me to carry them for you, Your Highness?" the other servant asked softly.

Feng Ning looked at the servant and wondered how normal 2-year-old kid would be able to understand. She turned her attention back to the small pouch as the two servants continued to talk.

She pretended not to understand.

'I'm just a baby, just a baby.'

While convincing herself in her mind, Feng Ning somehow managed to pass as an ordinary child. She would rather act stupid and didn't understand anything while gathering information. In any case, she didn't have to worry about not having enough to eat or cold at night.

Being the neglected princess like this was good enough for Feng Ning.

It was much better than her previous life where she lived a miserable life and had to work like hell just in order to be able to eat a little bit of food. The only thing lacking here was the affection from her parents.

But Feng Ning didn't care about it. Living as an ignorant and stupid princess should be good enough.

And with her age, it would be easy for her to pass unnoticed.

At least, for now.

Learning how to live in this era was more important than anything. Feng Ning didn't want to die just because she didn't have any manners.

Time passed.

Feng Ning heard that her mother gave birth to a pair of phoenix and dragon twins. The corner of her lips curled up slightly as she could guess that from now on, this family would be at the center of attention.

On the other hand, Feng Ning was still struggling to learn how to walk properly, the language and accent of this world, along with some other etiquette that she learned from watching the servants.

Hmm, she had to say that this place was very complicated.

...

(A/N): Hanfu style was one of the few ancient Chinese type of clothing. It's supposed to be one of the oldest type. It has long sleeve and usually had various type of images drawn on it or it can also be pattern... Well, it's best if you just search the word in the internet to get the picture.