"Miss, do you want to visit Her Highness?" a maid around the young teenage age asked softly.

Sitting on the garden, Feng Ning didn't answer immediately. Her pitch black eyes were looking into the distance. There was no emotion visible in her expression. In the next moment, Feng Ning lowered her head, looking like a troubled child.

"But Impelial Mothel nevel called me." (But Imperial Mother never called me)

Since she was only 3 years old, her tongue hadn't grown up well. Feng Ning found it really difficult to speak properly and sighed whenever she heard herself talked. She really couldn't bear to listen to it.

The maidservant, Xiao Yu, felt her heart ached terrible when she saw Feng Ning like that. Xiao Yu was only a few years older than Feng Ning and had been selected as her maidservant from a long time ago. She had watched Feng Ning grew up and naturally knew that this little girl could barely do anything as she was confined in this quarter.

Peony Courtyard.

While the name sounded beautiful, it was nothing more than a cage for the young princess who was thrown here from the very moment she was born.

"The young prince and young princess have just been born not long ago. You can visit Her Highness to congratulate her, Miss."

Congratulate her mother?

Feng Ning sneered internally. Having staying quiet as a baby or toddler who supposed understood nothing, Feng Ning had overheard a great deal of information. However, she had no intention of visiting her so called mother who didn't even care for her and threw her here.

In her past life, her parents loved her greatly to the point that they didn't mind sacrificing everything for her. Thus, Feng Ning couldn't bring herself to care for this so called imperial mother and father who didn't even care for her wellbeing. They abandoned her and expected her to care for them?

Feng Ning was not a saint.

If not for the servants taking care of her ever since she was young, she would have never survived this long.

And as a rather introvert girl in her past life, Feng Ning was never good at social interaction. She could only do her best to not be a bother to others and tried to do what she could in order to work better. But in the end, things didn't end well for her.

Those who failed in their EQ would only suffer.

At least, that was how it was in the modern world before Feng Ning transmigrated to this ancient time. And Feng Ning had learned many things. Right now, all she wanted was to be able to life a quiet life, not expecting anything.

Especially from those so called parents.

"Thele's no need. Impelial Mothel should be lecupelating now. I don't want to distulb hel," Feng Ning answered in clear voice. However, her downcast expression and lowered head made her looked like a pitiful child no matter which angle one saw her.

(There's no need. Imperial Mother should be recuperating now. I don't want to disturb her)

"Yes, Miss."

Xiao Yu felt troubled when she saw Feng Ning acted like that. For some reasons, she felt an air of maturity from Feng Ning, yet the action was not any different from how an ordinary child would act.

Thus, Xiao Yu was confused.

"Miss, there'll be teacher assigned to you starting tomorrow. Would you like to prepare for the lesson?"

Feng Ning was speechless. She was only 3 years old and they were already giving her teacher to learn? Forget it, she should have long expected that she could not use common sense when talking about these people.

How in the world did they expect a normal 3-year-old kid to behave?

Forget it.

She did need to start learning about etiquette since her mother and father would not take the time to teach it to her.

"I'll just see tomollow." (I'll just see tomorrow) Feng Ning then averted her attention back to the lotus pond in front of her. it was much more interesting than studying what she would eventually had to learn and in the future, enter the brutal war of words with the other women.

Feng Ning felt headache when she thought about the future because in this world, women were nothing more than decoration. Even if she was a princess, it was not much different and only served as making things more difficult for her to live.

Xiao Yu nodded and didn't pester Feng Ning too much.

The next day, a teacher did come. She was a middle aged woman who looked elegant despite half of her hair had turned white. Looking at the barely three-year-old girl in front of her, even she felt a bit helpless.

"Feng Ning gleets Teachel Xi." (Feng Ning greets Teacher Xi)

Teacher Xi nodded. She was one of the few etiquette teachers in the Palace and had been instructing the princesses. However, this was the first time she had a disciple that was so young that it was a bit unsettling.

Normally, Feng Ning would be taught by her mother or her mother's servant at this age. But right now, a teacher was sent over in order to teach her the basic that she should have gotten from her mother.

"Starting today, I'll teach you about the etiquette. If you can't follow, tell me, alright?" Teacher Xi wanted to be strict, but seeing the cute expression on Feng Ning's face, she really couldn't bear to. If only this little girl was a little bit older, she might be able to do that.

"Yes!" Feng Ning nodded rigorously.

Thus, began the torturous day of studying for Feng Ning.

After dropping out of university, Feng Ning never thought that she would be studying again like this...

...

Another two years passed quietly.

Feng Ning had started to read the books in the study room quietly. She was baffled when she first took a look at the book because many of them were still written in bamboo strips. Just what was this era?

But upon seeing the name of the kingdom, Feng Ning was sure that she was not within the same history.

Thus, she learned everything that she could learn to find out just where she was. Reading everything discreetly, she locked herself in the study room whenever the servants were not looking and read for at least two incense sticks* of time.

It was obviously done outside her learning time with Teacher Xi.

Today was not supposed to be any different.

Or well, it was supposed to be.

"Your Highness, Her Highness Princess Ya called you to pay a visit in the main hall." A servant came and bowed.

Feng Ning, who was being dressed by her servants, was speechless. She looked at her maidservant, Xiao Yu, who was helping her. "Pick a different dress."

Since she was already 5 years old, Feng Ning no longer had much trouble in her speech. Correction, she had spent so many hours studying how to talk properly until she could finally talk like a normal person.

Feng Ning wanted to cry a few months ago when she finally succeeded.

Though, sometimes she still failed to say the correct thing due to her tongue not being able to say the correct words.

"Yes, Miss."

Xiao Yu was only a few years older than Feng Ning and had been selected as her maidservant from a long time ago. She had two other maidservants named Xiao Lu and Xiao Mu.

Alright, she knew that she had bad naming sense, but it was easier to memorize this way.

The servants also couldn't decline.

*cough*

The dress that Xiao Yu picked was pink colored and looked elegant. Feng Ning was not really picky and it was not like a 'child' like her would be able to know the trend of the clothes well.

After dressed, Xiao Yu tied Feng Ning's hair to form two buns. She smiled when she saw Feng Ning's appearance because the five-year-old princess now looked very cute. In the first place, Feng Ning inherited her mother's beauty and there was a graceful demeanor around her body.

It was hard to dislike the young child.

"Here, Miss."

"Mhm."

Feng Ning looked into the distance as the corner of her lips curled up to form a smile. After five whole years, she would finally meet with her biological mother, father, and older sister.

She wondered how they would look like.

"Your Highness."

The servants quickly greeted Feng Ning when they saw her. Walking from a distance in elegant movement, it made one found it hard to think of her as an ordinary child. Even though she was only 5 years old, the regal aura around her made it hard for one to ignore her presence.

This was the servants first time meeting with Feng Ning, but there was already a deep sense of reverence from the bottom of their heart. It was hard to ignore and all of the servants lowered their head once more.

Feng Ning nodded. "Announce my arrival."

"Princess Feng Ning had arrived."

The door opened and Feng Ning walked into the main hall. There were two people whom she had seen once when she first came to this world. Even though five years had passed, they didn't exactly look that different from before.

Feng Ning also noticed that there was a young girl standing at the side while trying hard to control her emotion. There was also another woman sitting not far from the couple in the middle.

Lowering her eyes, Feng Ning curtsied. "Feng Ning greets Imperial Father and Imperial Mother."

The man, Prime Minister Feng Hou Zheng, looked at his daughter. All these years, he seemed to have forgotten that he actually had a second daughter as there was barely any news from the guard regarding the second princess.

"You may rise."

"Thank you, Imperial Father." Feng Ning adhered strictly to the annoying rule. Even though she wished from the bottom of her heart that she didn't have to do this, she shut her mouth as she didn't wish to create a scene.

Her mother, Princess Lin Xie Ya, waved her hand to the side. "Ning, this is my sister and also your aunt. You can call her Imperial Aunt Ni."

"Imperial Aunt Ni."

Feng Ning's eyes flashed when she heard that, but she showed nothing in her expression. Thanks to the chatterbox servants, she managed to figure out that Lin Xie Ya's older sister was Lin Xie Ni. Lin Xie Ni didn't have any children until now, so she was often in bad mood.

Lin Xie Ni looked at Feng Ning and nodded. She then looked at her younger sister. "Mei Mei*, are you not going to allow me to meet the youngest prince and princess?"

"This is their nap time. I wouldn't want to disturb my babies." Lin Xie Ya looked at her older sister and sneered in her heart. How could she not know that her older sister might even want to kill her son.

As if Lin Xie Ya would allow it to happen.

Lin Xie Ni acted like there was nothing that happened and nodded lightly. She looked at the two children who stood side by side. "Imperial Brother will be holding New Year Celebration next year and invited many other subsidiary kingdoms' representative. It's the mark of his 15 years of reign. Would you attend, Mei Mei?"

"Jie Jie shouldn't worry. I will naturally attend Imperial Brother's banquet." Lin Xie Ya smiled without mirth. She could never forget how her cruel brother killed everyone from the Imperial Family but her and her sister. Despite their begging, their brother killed everyone, following their father's footsteps.

It was as if the tradition of killing their own brothers and the concubines always occurred in Lin Tang Kingdom no matter which Emperor was chosen.

Feng Ning lowered her head. She had long known that the Emperors in Lin Tang Kingdom has always been a bit paranoid. Starting from the current emperor's grandfather, they would always kill the other brothers to avoid other people taking the throne.

Added with the wars that occurred during the previous emperor's reign, the blood formed from the corpses could definitely form a river.

...

(A/N): Incense stick of time = 1 hour