The Devious First-Daughter

Cheng Yu was a well-known noble childe from the regions south of the Yangtze River. Although he could not compare with the most famous Childe Yueming, he was relatively well known there. Moreover, he was romantic, handsome and talented. In the past examinations, he had won the first place, so he was very confident about this coming imperial examination.

“Win a title, make it to the list and select a husband from the list” was the popular adage.

This was the way that many noble families in the capital chose worthy husbands for their daughters. Because his parents wanted it this way, Cheng Yu was not engaged yet. In his parents’ view, their son was so outstanding and if he could win a title and marry a noble young lady, in this way they would get more help.

However, Cheng Yu did not think so. He had always been very indifferent to women. Some said that he was proud and insolent because of his talent and some said that he was romantic and unrestrained. But no matter what, in the regions south of the Yangtze River, he had once announced that he would not marry a woman who did not have a good appearance. Not only must she be from a good family and conduct herself well, but she must be good-looking. It was really hard to look for such a candidate.

Moreover, a Young Lady usually grew up in her boudoir, so it was impossible for men outside to meet her.

Therefore, his marriage was put on hold. Fortunately, his parents wanted him to marry a noble young lady in the capital after winning a title. At this moment he had yet to find a woman whom he loved at first sight.

The imperial examination was coming soon. More and more people hid in their rooms and reviewed the books. Everyone hoped that they could read more books at this time. Even if they were unwilling to read at ordinary times, they had to concentrate on it now. The more they read, the better they would be. Although making frantic last-minute efforts had only a little effect, it was the best they could do.

Cheng Yu had a bit of leisure time and went to the bookstore with Xia Yudong, the second son of Minister Xia. He got to know him several days ago. Xia Yudong had a good reputation in the capital and they met at a poetry recital event and took to each other instantly. As for Xia Yuhang, he was Xia Yudong’s eldest brother, had a good reputation and talent, but Cheng Yu had never seen him before.

Although Chengyu had never met Xia Yuhang, he highly disapproved of this gifted scholar because he was once famous for a while, but in the end, he was punished over an affair with a woman. In Chengyu’s opinion, so what if Xia Yuhang loved a woman and had a secret relationship with her? In the end, Xia Yuhang still married her! It was not a big mistake from a morality point of view. Chengyu himself was eager to meet a beautiful noble young lady and eventually marry her.

He stood on the second floor and casually flipped through the books. At the same time, he had a chat with Xia Yudong who was standing at the stairs. Suddenly, they heard a flurry of footsteps coming from the stairs. Before their arrival, the young ladies’ voices could clearly be heard. It was as if something had happened and there was a woman moaning.

“Brother Cheng, there is a rare beauty coming from downstairs. Would you like to see her?” Xia Yudong suddenly leaned closer and said this jokingly in a low voice, “She is the most famous beauty in the capital and is known to be both virtuous and talented.”

“Is she a famous noble young lady who has both virtue and talent in the capital?” Cheng Yu’s eyes lit up and he whispered, his heart pounding in anticipation.

Xia Yudong lowered his voice and said, “Of course. Young Ladies of the Lord Protector’s Manor are all beautiful, especially her. Moreover, she is the daughter of the principal wife of Lord Protector and is even more beautiful. Although she is still young, no one can compare to her graceful bearing in the capital.”

“What should I do?” Cheng Yu was a little moved. He shook the folding fan with a flower-and-bird pattern vigorously as his eyes turned in anticipation.

Since he came to the capital, he had seen several noble Young Ladies, but he always felt that they were not good enough. What he came to the capital for was to win a title and marry an excellent woman who would fall in love with him. Besides, he was a romantic by nature, so when he heard that the Young Lady of Lord Protector’s Manor had such a graceful bearing, how could he not take an interest in her?

However, the noble young ladies in the capital often wore veiled hats on their outings, so it was not easy to see their faces. If there was a breeze, it could lift up a corner of the veiled hat for one to sneak a peek. But this was a bookstore, so how could there be a breeze drifting in?

“Come on, give this to them.” Xia Yudong took the fan in Cheng Yuyu’s hand and handed it to the servant standing beside Cheng Yuyu. With that, Xia Yudong handed the monstrous folding fan to his servant, winked at Cheng Yu strangely and jokingly said with a smile, “You just wait and see the beauty!”

After getting their masters’ implicit meanings, the two servants each held a big folding fan and walked slightly to the top of the stairs.

At this time, there was another sound on the stairs. A young lady dressed in elegant clothes came up, followed by a maid. Judging from her slim figure and her maid’s beautiful face, he knew that this lady should be a stunning beauty, otherwise she would not have dared to have such a beautiful personal maid.

Cheng Yu felt excited even before he caught a glimpse of her.

When the woman went upstairs, the two servants standing on both sides had already picked up their big folding fans and fanned vigorously in Ning Xueyan’s direction. These two fans were very big, especially Xia Yudong’s. He came here with a purpose and naturally chose a particularly big and useful one.

As for Cheng Yu, he had asked him to bring a large folding fan.

When the two folding fans were waved forcibly, Ning Xueyan felt the strong wind blowing before her and immediately stopped in shock. The veil under the cap was blown against her face. Fortunately, Qingyu had sewn up the veil fork below, or it would have blown aside and exposed her whole face.

But even so, the wind brushed aside the veil from her chin and revealed her light cherry lips. Set against her creamy white skin, it was a pure vision of beauty that shone in the sunlight. Even though it was just a passing glimpse, it was still amazing.

The wind ceased and the veil dropped down again. Under the veil, Ning Xueyan’s jet-black eyes were now wide open, when it was previously closed against the strong wind. She looked coldly at Xia Yudong who stood at a near distance and the other young man who was looking directly at her.

“Second Young Master Xia, what are you doing?” Lanning came from behind Ning Xueyan and stood in front of her and addressed him angrily.

“Ah, it is Fifth Young Lady of Lord Protector’s Manor. I am sorry. I never expected that Fifth Young Lady would come up. I was playing a joke on Brother Cheng just now and wanted to see which brother would come up and frighten him. I am really sorry to have scared you, Fifth Young Lady!”

Xia Yudong laughingly stepped up to make a deep obeisance and apologized profusely.

“He said that he was playing a joke on his Brother Cheng and thought that it was another man coming upstairs.” Ning Xueyan sneered in her mind. Qingshan almost fell when she made her way upstairs just now. Ning Qingshan, Ning Lingyun and even their maids were screaming, so how could the people at the stairs not hear it?

Seemingly, Caifen should have come up to Xia Yudong a moment ago. Ning Qingshan wanted to get Xia Yudong to “save her like a hero”. However, she, Third Prince and Fourth Prince saw Xia Yudong and Ning Ziyan together later, so this plan was in vain.

It seemed that today’s ploy was quite similar to that one. She thought that Xia Yudong had lost contact with Ning Qingshan because of this, but now, it seemed they were really in cahoots with each other.

She shifted her gaze from Xia Yudong’s face to the other person and then gave a slight frown. That young man looked handsome and had excellent facial features. Besides, he was dressed decently, so she knew at a glance that he must be from a noble family. He exuded a natural and elegant aura.

There was a trace of faint irony on her eyebrows. No wonder Ning Qingshan had made a joke in private and asked what kind of man she liked before. She had curtly said that she appreciated a natural and elegant man, but she did not expect that Ning Qingshan had actually taken great pains to find such a man for her.

Seeing that Cheng Yu was still in a daze, Xia Yudong pulled hard at his sleeves and he immediately came out of his reverie. In the regions south of the Yangtze River, Cheng Yu was a romantic scholar and had certainly come across many beautiful ladies, so he was good at judging what a Beautiful Lady should be like. Now when he saw Ning Xueyan, he immediately felt that Xia Yudong did not lie to him.

The veil flew up in the air and revealed half of her face. It was just a fleeting glimpse, but it haunted him. How could he not be tempted by such a beautiful lady?

“Fifth Young Lady, I am Cheng Yu from the regions south of the Yangtze River. Brother Xia and I were rude to you just now and I beg your pardon.” After fixing his clothes, Cheng Yu followed Xia Yudong and apologized. He tucked up his sleeves and bowed deeply to Ning Xueyan, seeming to be extremely polite, except that he looked straight at Ning Xueyan first. Now he behaved normally and did not sneak a peep at Ning Xueyan.

“Fifth Sister, what’s wrong? What happened?” Ning Qingshan came up at the right time. When she saw Ning Xueyan standing at the stairs and Xia Yudong was also there, she asked in surprise, “Second Young Master Xia, why are you here?”

“Third Young Lady and Fourth Young Lady, I was joking with Brother Cheng just now, but startled Fifth Young Lady. I am apologizing to Fifth Young Lady. Third Young Lady, please help us. We really did not know that Fifth Young Lady was coming up. If we knew, why would we be rude to Fifth Young Lady?”

Xia Yudong repeatedly bowed to Ning Qingshan and Ning Lingyun with a flattering smile, as if he regretted what he had done.

“Fifth Sister, forget it. Second Young Master Xia and Childe Cheng did not mean to do that,” Ning Qingshan turned around and smiled at Ning Xueyan. She pulled Ning Xueyan aside and pointed at the books on the bookshelf. “Look, there are so many books. We are sure to find the books we want. Don’t be unhappy. It was just an accident. Our Fifth Young Lady is always gentle, so you will not really be angry with them, will you?”

She spat out the latter words softly, which was not like the way that she deliberately ridiculed Ning Xueyan in daily life. It seemed that she really thought that Ning Xueyan had a good temper.

Ning Lingyun, who had been standing behind them, looked up at Cheng Yu and then stared at Ning Qingshan’s back. With that, she lowered her head thoughtfully.

“Let’s go there and read!” Ning Xueyan’s gaze lingered on Chengyu and she had a faint cold smile under the veiled hat. She did not say anything more to Xia Yudong, but just made a slight bow and turned to walk inside. Since she was here, of course she would choose some books and take them back.