The Devious First-Daughter

Although it was already spring, it rained in the evening, so the weather was cold. In the evening, all the courtyards closed their doors early. What happened in the backyard had already been spread throughout the manor. Now, not only was Madam Ling ill, but Madam Dowager was sick too.

Coupled with the cold rain, all the people in the mansion felt that the atmosphere felt eerie and their hearts were chilled.

Ning Huaiyuan stopped Ning Xueyan, who had just come back from Madam Dowager’s place. His face was sullen, and his eyes were fixed on Ning Xueyan’s face, with a cold and complex expression.

Ning Xueyan stood still and pulled Lanning, who was in front of her, behind her. She raised her eyebrows and looked at Ning Huaiyuan with her jet-black, jade-like eyes. She did not attempt to avoid him. This was the first time she had seen him since the last time they met.

“You planned this, didn’t you?” Ning Huaiyuan went straight to the point and said, “What’s the hatred between you and Second Sister? You ruined her intentionally.”

Ning Huaiyuan had no evidence of this matter. But after the incident, he asked Ning Yuling about it. Ning Yuling told him that she had planned to frame Ning Xueyan, but nothing happened to Ning Xueyan. Instead, something terrible happened to her, especially the clothes. It was said that the clothes had been sent to Ning Xueyan’s Bright Frost Garden first, and then to Ning Yuling.

Considering these points, he knew that Ning Xueyan must have something to do with this matter. Moreover, he had his suspicions about what happened to Junior Concubine Xu, as well.

Junior Concubine Xu had said that those little cloth dolls were buried in Ning Xueyan’s courtyard, but they were discovered at Junior Concubine Xu’s place in the end. If no one was involved with them, then he could not figure it out. These two things had ended in the same way. How could Ning Huaiyuan not suspect Ning Xueyan?

However, the witchcraft involved a lot, and Ning Huaiyuan could not detach himself from it, so he naturally talked about Ning Yuling’s incident.

Ning Xueyan did not answer. She gave Ning Huaiyuan a strange look. After a while, she smiled in a slightly ironical way. “Eldest Brother, are you trying to say that Ning Yuling is innocent? Or should I be the one to suffer this unexpected disaster? Ning Yuling was the one who suffered that instead. So, I’m the biggest culprit. Eldest Brother, are you here to make a punitive case against me?”

“That’s not what I meant. Don’t you have a responsibility regarding Second Sister’s incident?” Ning Huaiyuan could not answer. How could Ning Yuling be innocent? If she was innocent, she would not have done such a thing. He knew that Ning Yuling wanted to destroy Ning Xueyan.

“Since you did not mean that, you don’t have to ask me. There were more than a thousand people present at that time, and what they saw were no less than what I saw. As for Ning Yuling’s incident, what do you want me to do? To show my sisterhood or to soothe her wounded heart? When you talked about the sisterhood, I wondered if it’s the same sisterhood that almost made me lose my life several times, and even mom was injured.”

Ning Xueyan sneered with a faint smile on her face. She did not know why Ning Huaiyuan blamed her. Outsiders did not know how Ning Yuling treated her, but everyone in the manor knew. If she had not been so lucky when she was a child, she would have died a long time ago.

It was the most ridiculous thing in the world that Ning Yuling, who had tried to force her to die, even wanted her to show her sisterly ties.

“She was too young to know any better,” Ning Huaiyuan said, feeling a little embarrassed. Everyone in the manor had seen how Ning Yuling treated Ning Xueyan, but no one tried to stop her. In the past, they did not think it was a big deal, because she was a weak girl. But now, after Ning Xueyan showed her powerful means, they found that the weak girl was different from before.

“Ning Yuling was too young, so she could do such things over and over again. She asked the servants to beat me, humiliate me, and forced me to die. All the people in the manor are too young too, and have seen her trying to hasten my death? It turns out that I was wrong. Everyone in the manor is a villain.” Ning Xueyan smiled, and her smile was as cold as an old well.

“Ning Xueyan, don’t go too far… Aren’t you afraid that I’ll tell my father about all these things?” Ning Huaiyuan threatened her in anger. He immediately lost his composure after hearing Ning Xueyan’s words.

“These things? What are you talking about? Do you have evidence that I did all these things? Did I ask Madam Ling and Ning Ziyan to steal Xia Yuhang’s marriage and kill Ning Ziying?”

Hearing that Ning Huaiyuan dared to threaten her, Ning Xueyan’s smiling face suddenly darkened and she replied coldly to him.

“Nonsense!” Ning Huaiyuan snapped at her in a panic. Although he was not clear about Ning Ziying’s death, he knew that Ning Xueyan was telling the truth. He was clear about the manor’s plans, Ning Ziyan’s plans, and Xia Yuhang’s affairs. Sometimes, he even created opportunities to bring them together.

“Aren’t they looking into it? Eldest Brother, some things can be investigated into without producing any evidence,” Ning Xueyan said with a soft smile. After that, she ignored the complicated look on Ning Huaiyuan’s face and went to the Bright Frost Garden with Lanning.

After walking for a while, Ning Huaiyuan could not seen from a distance. Lanning asked, “Young Lady, what does the Eldest Young Master mean? To seek justice for the Second Young Lady?”

Ning Xueyan smiled slightly and said, “Justice? Now it’s the fairest way. He’s here to sound out the truth.”

The reason why Ning Huaiyuan stopped her on purpose was not only because of this groundless thing. Except for Ning Yuling herself, he could not tell who would want to hurt her too. Even Ning Yuling herself, at most, was wondering why Ning Xueyan’s clothes were not ripped off, but were only torn instead.

As for the other things, no one could find out.

“Why does the Eldest Young Master want to know? Is he suspicious about all those happenings? Then why did you say that you knew about Young Lady Ziying’s matter?” Lanning asked worriedly.

“Since he’s suspicious, let’s make him even more suspicious.” Ning Xueyan snorted and had a cold smile on her face. He wanted to find some evidence from her, that she had something to do with these things. Ning Huaiyuan was dreaming. The episode about Junior Concubine Xu’s witchcraft and Ning Yuling’s frightened horse, should be the things that Ning Huaiyuan suspected about her most.

It was impossible for Ning Huaiyuan to know that she was the reborn Ning Ziying. When Ning Ziying entered the manor, Ning Xueyan was already in seclusion in the Bright Frost Garden. So, she did not know what had happened. However, she knew that they had tried their best to cover it up.

If she said this at this time, it would disrupt Ning Huaiyuan’s thoughts. No matter how imaginative he was, it was impossible for him to know that she was Ning Ziying. Such an impossible thing had happened, which only made Ning Huaiyuan more confused about who had set up the trap.

She did not need to pretend to be close to Ning Yuling anymore. After all, everyone in the manor knew how Ning Yuling treated her.

In the past, maybe Madam Dowager would punish her because she was not close to Ning Yuling. But now, Madam Dowager would feel better if Ning Yuling were dead.

Night fell, and lights were lit everywhere in the Lord Protector’s Manor. However, because of what happened during the day, the lights in all the courtyards were flickering.

The lights in the Auspicious Clouds Courtyard were also on, and the lights were bright. Madam Ling was sleeping on the bed, still in a daze. After she was kicked by Ning Zu’an and roused by Mother Chen, she had fallen into a light sleep. When Mother Chen retreated, she wanted to blow out the lights. However, she did not let Mother Chen blow out the lights.

Mother Chen had to leave. Madam Ling was half-asleep and woke up with a start, from time to time. In her dream, Ning Ziying appeared with blood all over her body, and her hair was disheveled.

Suddenly, she awoke from her dream. She opened her eyes and saw a pair of big black eyes in front of her. Any average person could not have such black and enlarged eyes. And the eyes were inlaid on a white face that was totally devoid of blood. However, the corners of the mouth were bloodstained, and a rivulet of bright red blood dripped from her face, and the atmosphere was icy cold.

A ghostly face appeared, wearing a fluttering white linen dress. There were blood-stained marks on the linen garment. The faint sound seemed to be in her ears, yet at the same time, it appeared to be distant. “First Madam, I’m here to look for you. I was wronged!”

“Ah!” Madam Ling screamed miserably. She suddenly sat up and shrank to the corner of the bed. Then she waved her hands wildly and said, “It’s not me. Don’t look for me. It’s Xia Manor. They wanted to marry Yan’er. It’s none of my business. Don’t look for me.”

The ghost drifting in front of her suddenly chuckled. Madam Ling even felt the breeze as the ghost came toward her. She had never felt so terrified. She was so scared, it felt as if all her flesh and blood would be blown up.

Her heart seemed to be wrapped by something. A bloodthirsty chill rushed through her bones. She waved her hands unconsciously and screamed hysterically.

“First Madam, First Madam.” The door was slammed open. Mother Chen rushed in and hurried to help her.

“Where… where did she go?” Mother Chen grabbed Madam Ling’s hand. She opened her eyes dazedly and looked at the sky, with a trace of madness.

“First Madam, what are you looking for? There’s nothing.” Mother Chen shook her hand and tried to wake her up.

“She’s here! She’s asking for her life! She’s here!” Madam Ling looked at the sky blankly. Her whole body was twitching in Mother Chen’s hands.

“First Madam, you’re dreaming. It’s not true. It’s just a dream.” Seeing the situation, Mother Chen hurriedly shook Madam Ling’s body again and said.

“Dreaming?” Madam Ling came to her senses. She rolled her eyes and turned to Mother Chen.

“It’s, it’s just a dream, it’s not true!” Seeing that she was finally fully awake Mother Chen breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly reassured her.

“It was just a dream. It’s not true. It’s not true.” As soon as Madam Ling finished speaking, she fell back and fainted.