The Devious First-Daughter

What happened to Junior Concubine Xu was finally suppressed in the manor. All the people in the manor received the order, so everything remained the same as before when the gate of the manor opened the next day. But nobody would mention the tactful and popular Junior Concubine Xu again, as if she had never been in the manor.

Since Ning Zu’an did not go home that day and Ning Huaiyuan was lay in bed to recuperate, the manor was unusually quiet.

These were the internal affairs of the Lord Protector’s Manor, and the influence had been minimized, so no outsider knew that a concubine of Lord Protector ended up dead for her use of the witchcraft in the manor.

What caused a sensation was the news that six candidates among those Young Ladies who attended the Beauty Contest held by the imperial palace won the contest. However, to everyone’s surprise, instead of being sent to the manor of the two princes and Prince Yi as the rumors said, all of them were sent to the imperial palace to serve the emperor.

People were confused, but there were rumors in private that the emperor would issue a decree and who would be the consorts of these princes would be revealed soon.

This led to a lot of speculation. As such kind of topics was related to this country’s future, people were talking about it privately.

Ning Xueyan did not expect that at this sensitive moment, she would have received an invitation from Commandery Princess Xianyun to enjoy flowers. She picked up the invitation and examined it carefully. With her long eyelashes trembling, she was left speechless.

The invitation was beautifully designed. Just like Commandery Princess Xianyun, it was both fresh and elegant, which made people feel like a spring breeze. The pattern was plain but elegant with a cluster of grass on the green path. From the picture and the unrestrained calligraphy under it, one could tell that Commandery Princess Xianyun had put a lot of effort into the design of the invitation.

As a matter of fact, Commandery Princess Xianyun had nothing to do with her. Except for the time when she pretended to be Ao Chenyi’s favorite concubine, she had only seen her once in the Lord Guardian’s Manor. At that time, she only figured out that Commandery Princess Xianyun wanted to associate with the Lord Guardian’s Manor. However, Ning Xueyan heard nothing about it anymore and since then, she did not see her again.

To Ning Xueyan’s surprise, the invitation was not sent to Bright Frost Garden, but to Madam Dowager’s Lucky Garden. It was said that Commandery Princess Xianyun wanted Madam Dowager to invite Ning Xueyan and Ning Yuling for her.

As Ning Qingshan’s injuries had not recovered yet, she was not on the list of the invitation. It sounded reasonable, but Ning Xueyan still felt something wrong. After such a long time, Ning Qingshan’s injured hand should have almost healed, so it would not stop her from enjoying flowers. Why didn’t Commandery Princess Xianyun invite her?

It was abnormal that she had deliberately mentioned that Ning Qingshan’s injuries had not recovered yet.

Instead of inviting Ning Qingshan, who was about to marry Third Prince, she invited Ning Yuling, who was humiliated to the extreme.

“Miss, how about we reject her invitation on the grounds that you’re not feeling well?” Lanning also felt something wrong, so she asked.

Putting down the invitation in her hands, Ning Xueyan stood up and walked to the dressing mirror gracefully. “It’s unnecessary. Since Commandery Princess Xianyun had sent me the invitation, I have to go. Besides, it’s said Ning Yuling had started preparing for some time, and she was waiting for me to go with her,” she said.

Since her return to the capital city, Ning Yuling did not have the opportunity to attend the party outside. So many things had happened. Even if people did not have any evidence, there were rumors about her indiscretion. Therefore, it was rare that someone would like to invite her to attend a party. If Ning Xueyan turned down the invitation, Ning Yuling, who was supposed to go with her, would miss the opportunity. Then Madam Dowager would definitely blame Ning Xueyan for that.

Seeing that Ning Yuling’s face had recovered, Madam Dowager planned to put her to good use again.

In Madam Dowager’s eyes, the role Ning Xueyan would play today was to help Ning Yuling get back to the noble Young Lady circle. Otherwise, Ning Yuling would feel embarrassed to show up in front of others.

What was more, whatever Commandery Princess Xianyun’s purpose, no accident would happen. Otherwise, she would not be the smart Commandery Princess Xianyun.

Since Ning Xueyan had made up her mind, Lanning came over to comb hair for her again. She put her long, black hair into a beautiful bun and left some bangs on her forehead, which made Ning Xueyan look extremely refresh. Then Lanning put on a white dress for her, with only a pair of cuffs and the collar were decorated with delicate embroidery.

Ning Xueyan’s delicate face looked more beautiful with the fresh dressing on. Her childish look seemed to have faded away and was replaced by natural charming. However, there was a coldness in her watery eyes, as the cold mist under the moonlight. Except for her indescribable beauty, she looked both graceful and calm.

After getting everything ready, Ning Xueyan walked out of Bright Frost Garden with Qingyu, heading for the gate of the manor.

At this point, Ning Qingshan was enjoying the scenery in the pavilion on the rockery in the garden, wearing a suit of jade-green clothes. It was spring and the flowers were blooming in the garden, so it was the best season for scenery. Her hand injuries were almost healed, except for the scar on her finger and palm, which could not be removed for the moment, so it was hard to see her injuries.

However, Ning Qingshan was clear that she had a hidden illness because of the injuries. When the weather was fine, it was not obvious, but when it was cloudy or rainy outside, her palm would be in pain. She could not lift anything a little heavier. As she had suffered from this because of Ning Xueyan, the hatred in her heart for her became stronger.

If it were not for that b*tch, she would not have been in such a miserable situation!

“Is that the Fifth Young Lady?” She saw a person in a light-colored dress in the distance. With a more careful check, she found it was Ning Xueyan, who was rushing out of the manor.

“Yes.” Caifen, who was standing by her side, looked in the direction and nodded.

“Go ask where she is going,” Ning Qingshan said with a frown. She had known what had happened yesterday. After the incident of Junior Concubine Xu, the manor was extremely quiet. She was surprised that Ning Xueyan was going out at this moment. “She has been cautious, but why is she rushing out of the manor at such a sensitive moment? Doesn’t she worry that it will annoy Madam Dowager?” she wondered.

According to her instruction, Caifen inquired about the information and came back soon. “Third Young Lady, I’ve already made inquiries. It’s said that Commandery Princess Xianyun invited Second Young Lady and Fifth Young Lady to enjoy flowers. The invitation was sent to Madam Dowager and the two Young Ladies left the manor after Madam Dowager’s permission.”

“Commandery Princess Xianyun’s invitation? Why did she only invite Ning Yuling and Ning Xueyan, but not invite me?” Ning Qingshan thought it was obvious that Commandery Princess Xianyun looked down upon her. She thought she was much more distinguished than the stupid Ning Yuling and the humble Ning Xueyan, so she was confused why Commandery Princess Xianyun did not invite her.

Thinking of this, Ning Qingshan was very upset and her face immediately darkened.

“Did they say anything else?”

“I, I heard…” Caifen hesitated for a moment, but under Ning Qingshan’s cold gaze, she reported in a hurry. “I heard that because your hand was injured, Commandery Princess Xianyun didn’t send the invitation to you. Third Young Lady, it seems she did this out of her concern for you.”

“Instead of sending me the invitation, she invited another two Young Ladies who are inferior to me! Besides, she especially mentioned my injuries. She is rubbing salt in my wound, isn’t she?” Ning Qingshan thought with a gloomy look. If the inviter took her seriously, even if she could not attend the party, she would send her the invitation.

The meaning behind this was completely different.

As a matter of fact, Commandery Princess Xianyun had nothing to do with Ning Qingshan. Three years ago, Ning Qingshan was very young and unremarkable. As those noble Young Ladies were busy making friends with the principal wife’s daughters of other manors, nobody had time to pay attention to her, an adopted daughter of Lord Protector. Since Commandery Princess Xianyun was the daughter of Empress Dowager’s family, of course she did not know Ning Qingshan.

However, it did not make sense for her to have invited Ning Yuling and Ning Xueyan alone and forgotten Ning Qingshan. Ning Qingshan thought there might be something she did not know. Otherwise, Commandery Princess Xianyun had no reason to mess with her. After all, she would at least become the Third Prince’s co-consort soon.

Ning Qingshan was a suspicious person and now she became even more restless. She looked in the direction Ning Xueyan left with a darkened face, frowning. After quite a long time, she stood up and said to Caifen, “Go get ready. If people ask, just tell them that I’m going out to take a walk.”

Could that because she had been in the manor for so long time and became ill-reformed?

“Miss, after that accident yesterday, Madam Dowager is still secretly investigating the cloth. If you go out at such a moment…” Caifen paused for a while. Mammy Luo also secretly watched on the spot when Junior Concubine Xu had her accident. When she mentioned that the cloth used on the puppets of witchcraft, Caifen felt extremely nervous.

Only Bright Frost Garden and Foggy Courtyard had such kind of cloth.

“Anyway, I’m not the only one who has such cloth. Maybe Junior Concubine Xu got the cloth from Bright Frost Garden. It’s impossible for Ning Xueyan to keep much the leftover material of such cloth in her place.” Ning Qingshan stood up with a sneer.

Since both the two knew that they were at odds with each other, Ning Qingshan did not care even if Ning Xueyan suspected that the cloth was taken from her place. Junior Concubine Xu was dead, and it was said that her personal maid had been taken away from the manor last night. Until now, she had not come back yet, so she might have already been executed.

If Madam Dowager suspected her, she would also suspect Ning Xueyan!

What was more, it sounded more reasonable if someone said that Junior Concubine Xu had asked her maid to steal the cloth. Now the cloth was made into clothes and no one knew where the leftover pieces were. Therefore, nobody could find the evidence at all.

“Got it. I’ll arrange for it now. Do you want to go to that courtyard now?” Hearing what Ning Qingshan said, Caifen nodded and felt a little relieved. As it was her who had passed the cloth on to Junior Concubine Xu, if anyone looked into this matter, she might be found out. Therefore, she had been worrying the whole last night.

A case like that would bring bad luck to whoever was found out!

“Yes, just go there. Since my aunt is in that courtyard, I’ll go and chat with her there. Remember, pick a better dress for me,” Ning Qingshan said casually. She had been recuperating in the Lord Protector’s Manor for some time, so she was ill-informed and knew nothing about what happened outside. Now she was almost healed, so she needed to go outside to see what was going on. Besides, she must show an imposing manner in front of people today.

She could not bear Commandery Princess Xianyun’s deliberate neglect of her.

If it had been in the past, Ning Qingshan would not have been so annoyed for such kind of things. However, she had been losing ground all the time, so she was no longer that confident. Therefore, she immediately burst out of anger at the news.

In fact, Commandery Princess Xianyun did not mean to make things so complicated. Since Ning Qingshan was going to marry Third Prince, Commandery Princess Xianyun could please Ao Chenyi by suppressing her. She did not go too far with a reasonable excuse for not having invited Ning Qingshan, so anyone who was sensible would not complain about this. Moreover, this Third Young Lady was well-known for her sensibleness.

It was a pity that not everything would go the way people expected.

“Yes, I’ll go and arrange for it right now.” Caifen nodded and then ran to the Foggy Courtyard. She had to send a message first. Otherwise, if those people did not make any preparation for Ning Qingshan’s sudden arrival, Ning Qingshan would lose her temper again. Since she was driven out of the imperial palace, Ning Qingshan became moodier. Although Caifen was her henchman, she was always scolded by her.