The Devious First-Daughter

“Fifth Girl, I heard that Prince Yi asked you to go with him on the boat?” Madam Dowager asked with a smile. Since Ning Xueyan failed to be chosen, Madam Dowager had not smiled at her. Now, she had a broad smile. She was not as gloomy as she had been a few days ago.

“Yes, Commandery Princess Xianyun was there.” Ning Xueyan nodded. She knew what was the meaning behind Madam Dowager’s words. However, it was a foregone conclusion. Madam Dowager would know it, so she might as well reveal something first. In this way, she could offset Ning Ziyan’s incident this time. After all, she mentioned what had happened in the past on purpose. From Madam Dowager’s reaction, she guessed that Ning Yuling had not said anything about it.

She did not believe that Ning Yuling deliberately covered up for her. There must be some reason why she did this. And, this reason was definitely not good for her.

Ning Yuling was not as troublesome as she used to be, but she was depressed. At first glance, she looked gloomy. She was like a viper that was waiting for a chance to strike at people. She was more dangerous than before.

“Did Prince Yi say anything to you after you got on the boat?” Madam Dowager was in a good mood today and had a kind look on her face. She looked at Ning Xueyan with satisfaction. She did not expect that Prince Yi would take a fancy to the Fifth Young Lady. It was terrific.

Madam Dowager was different from Ning Zu’an. She had once thought of sending her granddaughter to Prince Yi’s Manor. However, Prince Yi was famous for being cold and cruel. He had no compassion for women. What’s more, he was ruthless. Even for the beauties sent by the imperial palace in the name of the emperor, he killed them or beat them to death, at will.

If her granddaughter was sent in, she would not even have a chance to live.

Madam Dowager did not care about these things. Anyway, she had a lot of granddaughters. It did not matter whether Ning Xueyan died or not. However, the most important thing was that she was afraid when Prince Yi vented his anger on others. If so, the loss outweighed the gain.

Therefore, no one dared to send beauties to Prince Yi’s Manor, except for the emperor and the empress. The reason was that Prince Yi was capricious and hard to please. What’s more, Prince Yi would give the toadies no benefit, but instead vented his anger on them.

But now, things were different. According to the situation, Fifth Young Lady was to be the co-consort. There had been rumors in the palace that Commandery Princess Xianyun would be Prince Yi’s consort, and there would be a co-consort, according to Prince Yi’s request. Nobody knew who she was for a while. If one took the initiative, it could be seen that he treated Fifth Young Lady differently.

Thinking of this, Madam Dowager looked even more amiable. She had thought that the Third Young Lady and the Fifth Young Lady had failed to attain her hopes. Beyond her expectation, the Fifth Young Lady played hard-to-get and managed to attract Prince Yi’s attention. She had never heard of Prince Yi taking a fancy to any woman before.

“Nothing… nothing, he warned Commandery Princess Xianyun in a few words. I don’t know what he meant by those words, what that has to do with me, and why he wanted me to hear that. There seems to be a favorite concubine in Prince Yi’s Manor. Prince Yi doesn’t want Commandery Princess Xianyun to hassle her.”

Ning Xueyan certainly understood what Madam Dowager meant. She pretended to be confused. What she said was half true and half false, which was very in line with her current situation. She knew what Madam Dowager wanted. She did not want Madam Dowager to have too much “expectations” on her and set about plotting.

“Warn you?” Madam Dowager interpreted warning Commandery Princess Xianyun as warning Commandery Princess Xianyun and Ning Xueyan. The smile on her face faded, and she asked with a serious look.

“Yes, Grandmother. Look, Prince Yi even hurt my hand.” Ning Xueyan aggrievedly stretched out her wrist, which had a circle of red pinched marks on it. It was evident that the person who pinched her did not show any mercy.

“What happened? Did you offend Prince Yi?” Seeing that, Madam Dowager’s face changed. She hastily asked, with a look of disbelief on her face.

Initially, she thought that she could hoard Ning Xueyan as a rare commodity, because Prince Yi took a fancy to Ning Xueyan. But before she got any benefits, she heard the news and was shocked. Prince Yi was not easy to deal with.

“Maybe I was absent-minded when His Highness was talking.” Madam Dowager’s face changed, which was what Ning Xueyan wanted. Seeing that, she bit her lip and explained with hesitation.

“You, why are you so ignorant? How can you not listen to Prince Yi? No matter what he says in the future, you must listen carefully. Don’t irritate Prince Yi.” Madam Dowager growled, and she did not look well. She thought that Ning Xueyan was smart and good-looking, so perhaps she managed to win Prince Yi’s favor.

Thinking about it, how were those good things possible? He chose her as a co-consort because she was cowardly and ignorant. Only in this way, the favored concubine of Prince Yi’s Manor would not suffer a loss. Thinking of this, she felt terrible.

Initially, she wanted to ask about the happenings at that time, but now she was not in the mood. Without saying anything else to Ning Xueyan, she waved her hand and asked her to leave.

Just now, because the Fifth Young Lady would marry into the Prince Yi’s Manor, she felt comfortable. But now, she heard that Ning Xueyan was not attractive to Prince Yi at all. He had given her a warning even before she married into the Prince Yi’s Manor. Moreover, because she was disobedient, he left a mark on her hand. Knowing that Ning Xueyan was a less favored person, she immediately became spiritless.

What happened yesterday immediately came to her mind again. Junior Concubine Xu used witchcraft to curse others for no reason, and her son kicked her dear grandson and hurt him badly. He had just seen a doctor and taken some medicine. Initially, she was happy about Commandery Princess Xianyun’s invitation, because the Second Young Lady had the chance to show her face again.

However, she did not expect that the Eldest Young Lady would fall into the water, and the Second Young Lady had to come back in advance.

In the end, she was happy that the Fifth Young Lady had gained Prince Yi’s favor. But now, she did not know whether it was a blessing or a curse. Ning Xueyan had displeased Prince Yi before she even officially married Prince Yi. He even became angry and pinched her hands, causing them to swell. It was not a good sign. If she married into the Prince Yi’s Manor, the Fifth Young Lady would have bad prospects.

As a thousand thoughts came to her mind, Madam Dowager felt annoyed and confused. Even her head ached so much that she kept crying out in pain. Therefore, the Lucky Garden was in chaos again.

When Ning Xueyan returned to the Bright Frost Garden, Mother Han had already received the message. She stood at the door and waited. When she saw that Ning Xueyan had come back safe and sound, Mother Han breathed a sigh of relief and took Ning Xueyan into the Bright Frost Garden.

After sitting down, Ning Xueyan thought for a while and asked, “Mother Han, do you know if I have ever had any personal item that went missing?”

Commandery Princess Xianyun’s words were not baseless. Ning Xueyan could not think of any of the so-called personal objects. She was confident that after her rebirth, she had not lost any of her personal stuff. Lanning handled all her things. Lanning was aware and cautious, and Xinmei was smart so that she would not lose something personal.

Moreover, the so-called “personal object” must not only be close to her, but there must be a mark on it. Only in this way could it be identified as hers. However, she knew that she had not lost anything. She had been thinking about it for a long time, on the way back, but she could not recall anything.

“Personal things?” Mother Han asked. She knew that this kind of thing could not be taken lightly. After thinking carefully, she shook her head and said, “Young Lady, you do not seem to have lost anything personal. In the past, Madam dealt with all your clothes. Madam paid great attention to your clothes, so you have never lost anything.”

“I remember that you did not lose any of your personal stuff. Few people came to the Bright Frost Garden when Madam was alive. After Madam died, Lanning and I were in charge of your clothes. Except for us, no one else came to this room. It’s impossible to lose something like that.”

Qingyu thought for a while and said with certainty, “All Young Lady’s belongings are well-arranged. There’s no way you’re missing one. In the manor, no one is kind to you, and many people want to harm you. We pay special attention to this aspect, because we’re afraid that someone will frame you with that.”

Ning Xueyan believed Mother Han and Qingyu, but Commandery Princess Xianyun would not lie. Since Commandery Princess Xianyun had helped Ning Ziyan, she must have some evidence. Ning Ziyan showed her sisterly love toward her over and over again, so she must also have some untoward intentions.

When she pretended to be close to Ning Xueyan, she would say that Ning Xueyan had an affair with Xia Yuhang. Moreover, she was willing to prove that by using Ning Xueyan’s object. Even if Ning Xueyan was set to be Prince Yi’s co-consort, the imperial edict had not been issued yet. Besides, the royal family would not marry a woman who had an affair with someone.

At that time, she would marry Xia Yuhang as a concubine. Besides, as a notorious concubine and the daughter of the principal wife, she would not be as good as Ning Ziyan. On the one hand, Ning Ziyan could suppress her with this. On the other hand, other people’s focus would be on her, rather than on Ning Ziyan.

If Madam Ling and her daughter spread some rumors again and said something terrible about Madam Ming and her, maybe even the scandal that the funeral-to-be-wedding could be reversed.

Ning Ziyan would never lie about such a multiple-purpose thing, so Ning Ziyan must have something of Ning Zueyan’s in her hands. Moreover, this thing must be very personal, which would render her speechless as soon as Ning Ziyan took it out.

But now, no trace could be found. She frowned slightly, hooked the handle of the cup with one finger, and touched it unconsciously. There must be something, but she could not remember what it was, at the moment.

“Young Lady… I think there is an object. It should be your personal item… If there is…” Lanning came in with an ointment for Ning Xueyan. Looking at the three people who were frowning as they were deep in thought, she hesitated for a while and said this uncertainly.

Her words made all their faces change!