I woke up as the Villainous Empress

After Yu Ling escorted Yang Ning to her chamber, she was shocked to see the conditions in which she was living. ” Lady Yang Ning, is this your chamber?” Her face turned solemn as she looked around Yang Ning’s chamber.

Yang Ning is the eldest daughter of the Yang Household, however, her chamber was nothing like her elite status. The chamber had nothing but a wooden bed with an uncomfortable and hard mattress for her to sleep on, a mirror table that seemed to be worning out as well and its corners were also chipping up.

Not only that, she was appalled to see the conditions of the wall and the curtains. The walls and the ceiling were built with sandstone bricks only and had no paint or fancy wallpaper on them. There wasn’t a single painting or decoration in the room.

The curtains were also of cheap material and looked old and dirty.

Not only that but her chamber was also situated in the back side of the household, away from the chambers of all the family members and it was near the servants’ quarters.

That’s not how a noble lady’s chamber should look like. It’s as if they have converted the storage room into her chamber.

So much disrespect!

___

.....

Yang Ning sat on the bed with Yu Ling’s help and didn’t notice the change in her expressions. She was too exhausted to worry about anything anymore.

Earlier, her legs were hurting so badly from standing outside for so long. Now she can take a breath of relief.

After settling on the bed and putting her injured legs up on the bed, only then Yang Ning replied to Yu Ling’s question, ” Yes. This is my chamber. Lady Yu Ling, thank you for taking my side earlier.” Yang Ning looked up at her and thanked her sincerely.

Aside from Xiaowei, Court Lady Yu Ling was the first woman who supported her since she came into this world. Otherwise, almost everyone here tries to humiliate her and is waiting to see her doom.

Yu Ling politely smiled at her and said, ” Lady Yang Ning, You do not need to thank me for something so trivial. I was simply doing what I have been sent here for.”

“Also, you do not need to address me so formally. You’re soon going to become the Crown Princess. You can simply call me by my name, Yu Ling. It will be better this way.” She said,

Yang Ning shook her head fervently and said, ” Ow...How can I do that? You’re older than me and are more experienced in life. I cannot dare to be disrespectful to you. Instead, you should call me Yang Ning rather than Lady Yang Ning.”

” I will feel comfortable this way.” Yang Ning insisted. She always feels strange when everyone addresses her as Lady Yang Ning.

Since she has never received this much respect in her life, she still cannot get adjusted to such formalities.

She doesn’t want Yu Ling, who is older than her, to do the same around her. It will only make her feel uncomfortable.

Yang Ning doesn’t mind addressing Chang Ah or Yang Luoyang by their names because she doesn’t respect them in any way.

However, she cannot dare to disrespect Lady Yu Ling, with whom she has fallen in love. How can a woman be so graceful and charming at the same time?

She is truly the definition of a Girl Crush.

The way she acts or speaks, and everything she does screams elegance and refinement. However, her cold eyes and sharp words can slit anyone’s ego in two parts.

She has to get this woman on her side.

Yu Ling was pleasantly surprised by Yang Ning’s affable personality and could see her sincerity through her eyes.

The rumors that she had heard from the other maids about her dark and vicious persona, seem like all were a trap to tarnish Yang Ning’s reputation. She has lived long enough to find out if anyone is lying or not by looking into their eyes.

Because eyes are like a mirror to humans. You can lie and hide the truth but your eyes will reveal you’re true feelings.

Yang Ning doesn’t seem like the person who tortures her maid or looks down on everyone. Otherwise, why would a servant kneel on the ground and plead on her behalf?

In Yang Ning’s eyes, she could see her sincerity and determination.

She had seen earlier the way she twisted Xing Bao’s wrist and was impressed by her capability to protect herself.

To become the Crown Princess, other than being elegant and graceful, and responsible, one needs to know how to protect herself from the cruel palace as well.

Yang Ning has all the qualities of becoming the Crown Princess. That is for sure.

__

“Alright. Since Lady Yang Ning is insisting so much and is also younger than me, I will call you Yang Ning in private. However, we have to follow the protocols in front of the people.” Yu Ling gave in to her request.

“You must be tired. Let me get your night clothes for you to change into.” Yu Ling said and went to get her clothes from her closet.

Yang Ning didn’t stop her and let her do the job for which she came here.

Just as Yu Ling was wondering how Yang Ning could live in such dire living conditions, she was horrified to see her wardrobe collection when she opened the closet to get her night clothes from it.

Considering her noble status and soon-to-be part of the royal family, she should have at least two large closets full of colorful and bright dresses. Instead of that, she only had a handful of dresses and all of them were low-grade and cheap quality for a lady from a noble family to wear.

There aren’t many accessories and ornaments to wear with the dresses either.

She is the eldest daughter of the Yang Household and soon going to become the Crown Princess. She should be conscious of the way she carries herself in public.

However, if she goes out in public while wearing these low-material, worn-out dresses, what will people think of the royal family? Her image is now associated with the reputation of the royal family.

Now when she thinks about it, she has always seen Yang Ning wearing plain and simple dresses.

When she saw her for the first time at the Birthday Banquet Celebration of His Highness, the dress that she chose to wear that day, caused quite a commotion among the guests.

Yang Ning explained that she wore a plain yellow colored dress to sympathize with the people who are struggling to survive the drought crisis and were fighting for their lives.

Even though she wore a plain outfit, she still managed to attract everyone’s attention, and her strikingly ravishing looks glorified the worth of the dull and faded dress.

It was all due to her breathtaking beauty that she made this shoddy and dull dress look like an expensive, custom-made dress.

However, her dazzling beauty doesn’t allow anyone to look down on her and treat her poorly. The Yang family is not lacking in any way. Yang Luoyang is the Head of the Finance Department at the royal court and has more than enough wealth and assets with him.

How can he allow his daughter to lead such a dull and frugal life? The condition of the chamber and her wardrobe collection was worse than a servant in the Yang Household.

Earlier, the Head Maid was also wearing more rings than Yang Ning owns with her. Just how poorly they are treating this girl?

When she witnessed the argument between Yang Ning and Yang Luoyang earlier, she thought that he was furious at her for getting into a complicated situation at the royal palace. However, seeing the state in which Yang Ning was living, she realized that the relationship between the father and daughter is not as harmonious as she had expected.

The picture of a loving father that Yang Luoyang portrays in front of the world was just another facade of him.

Zheng Liang was right. The image of the Yang Household in front of the world is very much different from reality.

If that’s the case, then it’s high time for her to do some cleaning of this place. Because that is why she has been sent here.

___

After Yu Ling helped Yang Ning to change into a comfortable set of night clothes and tucked her into the bed, she heard Yang Ning say, ” Lady Yu Ling, can I ask you something?”

“Yes. Please go ahead.” Yu Ling said.

” Earlier you said that His Majesty sent you here to look after me. However, I requested His Highness to give me a maid to serve me until I recovered. Can you explain how you were allotted here?” She asked curiously.

Yu Ling smiled at her and said, ” Because it was His Majesty who gave me permission to come here. Although it was His Highness who requested me to come here, without His Majesty’s permission, he couldn’t have done anything since I am His Majesty’s person.” She explained.

” I serve His Majesty at the main palace. However, I couldn’t deny the request of the Crown Prince because it was the first time he had requested me to do anything for him. How can I not do it? That’s how I came here to serve you.”

Yang Ning was speechless as she never expected that Zheng Liang would send His Majesty’s court lady to serve her rather than a maid. How can she accept this favor from him?