The Devious First-Daughter

Ning Qingshan was secretly taken away by the people of Honored Consort Ya that night.

“Aunt.” Seeing Honored Consort Ya sitting high in the hall, Ning Qingshan felt wronged and immediately burst into tears. She went forward and knelt in front of Honored Consort Ya’s knees, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong? Why don’t you come up and talk?” Seeing Ning Qingshan so aggrieved, Honored Consort Ya rubbed her forehead and gestured for her to sit down. Then she waved her hand and all the other palace maids and eunuchs left, leaving only one confidant behind.

“Aunt, do… are you feel satisfied with Ning Xueyan? Don’t you want me?” Ning Qingshan stood up obediently, and looked at Honored Consort Ya pitifully, with tears in her eyes.

“Shan’er, how can I not want you? You’re my closest relative. I’m relieved that the Third Prince is with you.” Honored Consort Ya’s head ached. She sighed and comforted her niece.

One of them was her niece, and the other was her son. She hoped that they would be in love with each other. Besides, it was not just a matter of the two of them. Some of her father’s arrangements and some of Ning Qingshan’s means made this marriage necessary.

Ao Mingyu did not say anything before, but he was making trouble at this point. How could Honored Consort Ya not feel worried?

“Since you want me, was it my cousin’s idea today?” Ning Qingshan’s tears were about to fall. She looked at Honored Consort Ya with a pitiful expression.

“Shan’er, did you accidentally reveal what happened three years ago?” Speaking of this, Honored Consort Ya was also angry. If it were not for that, she would have not have done such a stupid thing for her son today, and left a handhold for others. It ended with nothing definite, because of Ning Xueyan’s discomfort.

Thinking of this, Honored Consort Ya became more annoyed, and her face darkened.

“What happened three years ago? What happened three years ago?” Ning Qingshan was stunned at first, and her face suddenly turned pale. Her lips trembled. “Aunt…Aunt, are you saying that cousin knows about the incident that happened in the imperial palace… three… three years ago?”

It was her secret and also the start of her confidence in Ao Mingyu. She had always thought that she would find a place in her cousin’s heart, if there was such a thing. But what did Honored Consort Ya mean now? Did she mean that her cousin knew that she and her aunt had schemed against him?

What… what should she do?

Would her cousin abandon her? Would he not marry her because of this? She was anxious and started to sweat. She looked at Honored Consort Ya blankly, hoping to hear a different answer from her. It was not the worst answer she had thought of.

“Yes.” Unfortunately, Honored Consort Ya dashed her hopes. She could not stand up any longer and felt weak. She hurriedly grabbed on to a chair and sat down. Her legs were trembling.

“Don’t worry. I said it was all my doing, and it was all my idea. You don’t know anything about it, so it’s not your fault.” Honored Consort Ya could not bear to see her so frightened. She sighed and stretched out her hand to hold her trembling hands.

“Aunt, you said… said it’s your idea? Cousin… cousin, did he believe it?” Hearing that Honored Consort Ya had taken all the blame, Ning Qingshan finally felt like she had been given a lifeline. She immediately held Honored Consort Ya’s hand and cried with excitement. Just now, she thought it was all over with her cousin.

Given her cousin’s haughtiness, how could he allow her to lie to him?

“Although he does not trust others easily, he still trusts me like a mother. Don’t worry, he won’t trouble you anymore, but how did you let him find out?” Honored Consort Ya had a headache when she thought of this. It was not a big deal at first, but now it caused so many problems. Her son was so determined that she was caught unprepared.

She did not know why her son thought of what happened three years ago.

“Aunt, I don’t know. I did not tell anyone about it. When I was in the palace, I lived here alone. Apart from me, there were only the servants in your palace. Could it be that the people in your palace said something that my cousin found out?”

Ning Qingshan said this resolutely.

Her words were reasonable. Honored Consort Ya thought of the people who might have known about it and felt that she should handle the people in her palace. She nodded and said, “Maybe it’s the people in my palace. Well, I’ll investigate it later. Now it’s Yu’er who is creating trouble for me because of this matter. He said that if he needs to marry you, he must marry Ning Xueyan.”

Sure enough, the Third Prince was interested in Ning Xueyan. He threatened her aunt with this matter. Ning Qingshan was both jealous and angry, but she couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.

The incident happened three years ago, and it was because of her.

However, she was reluctant. How could she accept that Ning Xueyan, a coquette, would be entering her cousin’s Prince’s Manor? No, she could not let that happen.

“Aunt, do you think the Lord Protector’s Manor will marry her to Cousin?” Ning Qingshan asked bitterly, but she could not let it show on her face. Instead, Ning Qingshan had a look of concern for Honored Consort Ya.

Her words brought some bad memories to Honored Consort Ya. At first, it was because the Lord Protector’s Manor was unwilling to marry their two daughters to Yu’er. Madam Dowager of the Lord Protector’s Manor had secretly refused. Otherwise, it might not have fueled Yu’er’s obsession. Now, he forced her to accept Ning Xueyan, due to the past.

Ning Xueyan had not entered the door yet, but their mother-child relationship was already disharmonious So, it was impossible for Honored Consort Ya to like Ning Xueyan.

“Don’t worry. As long as the chips are enough, the old woman will let her go.” Honored Consort Ya sneered.

“Aunt, do you want Ning Xueyan to be a co-consort in the Prince’s Manor?” Ning Qingshan asked in horror. She clenched her fists under her sleeves and wished she could appear in front of Ning Xueyan right now and scratch her face.

She would never allow Ning Xueyan to marry the Third Prince, and become the co-consort.

“I think that I will not allow her to have a high status, so as not to make things difficult for you in the future. But as the daughter of the main wife of the Lord Protector’s Manor, she should be an imperial concubine at least. Shan’er, how about making her a concubine?”

Honored Consort Ya thought for a while and said this helplessly. Of course, she did not say it all out. Ao Mingyu was angry about the past. For her niece’s sake, she even framed him, regardless of him being her son. He doubted that even if Ning Qingshan had not shown up at that time, it would not matter if he died or not.

Because of this, the relationship between the mother and the son was inharmonious. Honored Consort Ya tried her best to make up for it. After all, no matter how close she was to her niece, her son was the one closest to her. Besides, her son might ascend the throne, so Honored Consort Ya was worried about falling out with her son. She thought that it would be a trivial matter to take a concubine for her son.

As long as her son did not blame her because of what happened three years ago, she did not think that it would be a big problem. Even if Ao Mingyu proposed to take Ning Qingshan as his co-consort, she agreed, after thinking over it for a while.

As for the two daughters of the Lord Protector’s Manor, one would be a co-consort, and the other would be a concubine, which would be not suitable. As long as she gave the corresponding benefits and made some promises to the Lord Protector’s Manor, there should be no problem with the Lord Protector’s Manor. However, there would be a problem with Ning Qingshan because she was slated to be the principal wife of the Third Prince, but now she would only be a co-consort. Thus, Honored Consort Ya was embarrassed to tell her the truth.

However, what her son said was also reasonable. Her niece had misbehaved. When in the yard, someone saw Ning Qingshan, not properly dressed on the bed with the dissipater Ao Xian. Then, on New Year’s Eve, it was said that Ning Qingshan fought with another of her nieces because of Ao Xian. What’s more, his son also said that someone in black had caught her. And, it was hard to know what had actually happened in the darkness.

Her son was the closest to her. Thinking that her son, a prince, had to marry Ning Qingshan, who had lost her reputation, she felt sorry for her son, who had been made a cuckold. Therefore, Honored Consort Ya agreed with Ao Mingyu’s words and decided to make Ning Qingshan his co-consort.

As long as she treated Ning Qingshan well after their marriage, it would make up for her lack of status.

After Honored Consort Ya made up her mind, she wanted to find a suitable daughter-in-law. Of course, she could not say these words to Ning Qingshan right now.

“A concubine? Ning Xueyan will be a concubine?” Ning Qingshan was stunned.

“Yes, Yu’er said that he would marry her as a concubine, instead of a co-consort. Shan’er, do you feel relieved now?” Honored Consort Ya answered with a smile, looking gentle and calm.

The status of a concubine was lower than that of a co-consort. Thinking that her cousin did not ask Ning Xueyan to be the co-consort, Ning Qingshan became less angry. She snorted and said, “Aunt, she will gain extra advantage even as a concubine. She is a maid who does not know anything. How can she become my cousin’s concubine? If she’s unpresentable in the future, what will people think of him?”

“Unpresentable? As the daughter of the principal wife of Lord Protector’s Manor, she can’t be that bad, right?” Honored Consort Ya asked in surprise.

“Aunt, you don’t know the truth. She has been locked up in Bright Frost Garden for so many years. Father and Grandmother looked down on them. She did not even have a Mammy to see to her upbringing, and her mother was the one who taught her. She could only write a few words. How would it be possible for her to know anything about lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting? If she enters my cousin’s manor, she will disgrace him.”

.Ning Qingshan’s tone was disdainful at this moment.

“Didn’t the Lord Protector’s Manor get anyone for her at that time? Didn’t she even have an upbringing mammy ?” Honored Consort Ya sat up straight, her face darkening.

“Of course not. Aunt, if you don’t believe me, you can ask the others. At that time, no one paid any attention to the people in Bright Frost Garden. They watched them grow and die without any interference. How could they ask someone to teach them?” Seeing Honored Consort Ya’s hesitation, Ning Qingshan’s ridicule for Ning Xueyan grew.

“But, Yu’er…” Honored Consort Ya hesitated. Although a concubine was not as good as the consort and co-consort, she would be a concubine, which could be regarded as the daughter-in-law of the royal family. She could not let Yu’er lose face because of her.

“Aunt, if you don’t believe me, why don’t you check it out first? If you produce the evidence, my cousin will drop the idea forever. Anyway, it’s not your fault, but Ning Xueyan’s fault. He can’t blame anyone.”

“Check her out?” These words reminded Honored Consort Ya, and her eyes lit up. “Well, let the young ladies gather together to perform in two days. If she’s unqualified, she’ll be eliminated.”

“Yes, Aunt! that’s a good idea!” Ning Qingshan said with a smile. A trace of cruelty flashed across her face. “It’s not that simple. If the news that she can’t do anything gets out, Ning Xueyan will never marry well in her life!”